Wireless CarPlay
 

I wanted to start a separate thread about "Wireless" CarPlay. Many interested in the new GLE have little or no interest in this technology so a separate discussion is in order.

There's a site devoted to CarPlay news that lists vehicle which support "Wireless" CarPlay. The new A-Class and new GLE are both listed. Here's the link:

http://www.carplaylife.com/feature/h...play-wireless/

Honestly, I dispise carplay. But I use it because what I listen to in the car and the navigation work better when plugged in and I'm using it that way. Hopefully the new MBUX system will just support wireless (Pandora or navigation) connectivity similar to what BMW ConnectedDrive does now and give us more options than what I have now.
I think manufacturers do a much better job and things work better when they use their own system to connect to our phones to get the entertainment/navigation/texts/whatever we want and need. When they have to also get a third party system to work in their vehicles and work properly, just creates another set of problems.

I appreciate you sharing your views and wanted to share my take of CarPlay.

I'm honestly surprised you (or anyone) would prefer Mercedes built-in Nav to CarPlay. IMO their Nav is difficult to use. With CarPlay I can ask for directions while driving and I'm on my way. The maps in CarPlay are way better than the hard to read maps in my GLS. I can send and receive text messages by voice. I can ask for just about any song or album imaginable via Apple Music. As for MBUX, I hope it's miles better than their current Nav system but I reserve judgement on how good the updated Nav works once I can test it out in person. The AR feature for the MBUX Nav looks cool but again I will test it in person and make a judgement afterward.

The downside to using CarPlay (for me) is the need to plug in my iPhone and tuck it away. I often forget my phone when I exit the vehicle. The wireless Qi charger and possible support of "Wireless" CarPlay will solve this obvious annoyance, at least for me.

IMO, The new MBUX with reality navigation would be replace the value of Apple carplay. Hope the new nature language voice command works like siri.

That may turn out to be the case and it would be easier than jumping between CarPlay and MBUX but I still am hoping MBUX supports "Wireless" CarPlay in case I prefer it to the built-in Nav. I also read that Apple is planning an overhaul of CarPlay for iOS 13, some nice improvements are likely planned. So hopefully the announcements back in April about MBUX supporting "Wireless" CarPlay turn out to be true.

I guess I should have explained myself a little better. I dispise carplay because it rarely works correctly. Now when I plug the phone in (which in this day and age is just stupid) it takes me 2-3 times of opening and closing the app I need (mostly pandora) to get it to to work. Then about every 3-4 months I have to totally clear the memory (reset to factory settings) of the car and tell my phone to forget the bluetooth settings and start everything over. But when it works, it is pretty decent but I have seen and used easier systems: BMW ConnectedDrive (yes it's on a newer car and newer software) or Toyota Entune.

The 2019 Audi Q8 supports Wireless CarPlay. Check it out at 18:20 minutes in:



I sure hope the GLE supports it.


.

same here, i really do hope they have wireless apple car play. Every time step in the car, need plug cable in, is pain in the ass :bs:

Wireless CarPlay is supposed to be available.

And I have been using Wireless Carplay with my BMW and I love it, especially now that we have Google Map and Waze in CarPlay.
Not having to plug the phone in every time I get into the car (or forget to remove the phone when I get out) is very nice. My BMW also has wireless charging and would alert you if you leave the phone behind.

Google Map is what I use everyday, mostly for traffic and real time re-routing. The ETA is very accurate, and I really like the way they label alternate route in intersection or fork with "4 minutes slower" or "Similar ETA" so that I can make decisions which way to go in real time. It is so much better than any car manufacturers' navigation systems (includine BMW's and Mercedes') than I am willing to accept the lack of HUD integration. Waze is also nice, but I find it way too aggressive in re-routing from the usual route. Sometimes, it would send me for a detour for saving 1 minute despite having more turns, traffic lights - and it ends up slower than the original route.
And as expected, Apple Music works great in CarPlay.

I love Carplay. Much easier to plug in an address especially using Siri. I don't mind plugging in the phone because it keeps the battery charged. With Apple Music you can pretty much play any song by any artist just by asking Siri.

It looks like wireless carplay is not on the cars that were at the press launch in Texas late last year:

Has anyone seen any videos that confirm otherwise?

The new A Class does not support wireless CarPlay. To my understanding, no MB vehicles yet support it. But as Ron points out, maybe it will be activated as a future OTA update if the head-unit has the needed hardware but I see no logic in disabling wireless CarPlay at launch if MBUX can support it. It's a safety feature in my view. Simply put your iPhone on the charging pad and no need to ever look at your phone while driving. Drivers distracted by their phones is a huge problem in the USA.

Interesting about the A-class not getting it either. My hope was that the new 2020 E-class facelift would get the feature via a "trickle up" from the A-class...guess not!

I became addicted to wireless CarPlay via an aftermarket head unit on another car. My commutes are rather short, and it is so nice to just leave your phone in your pocket and have your podcast pickup right where you left off from your drive into work...tap the text icon and give my wife a heads up I am on my way, etc.

I understand it's not difficult to plug in an iPhone before you drive away...but until you have experienced "keep it in your pocket" wireless CarPlay, you will never want to go back. I feel like those that have longer commutes and want to toss their phones on the wireless charger are in a similar situation. One less cord flopping about. In this thread I realize I am preaching to the choir.

My wife's 2018 G01 BMW X3 has wireless CarPlay. She loves CarPlay, and prefers it over the built in nav system. I like the seamless wireless connection the BMW iDrive makes with her phone when using CarPlay.

I do not care for CarPlay, and use COMAND on my W166.

Found this while searching random stuffs on Google.. Not sure if North America is in it.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...21a7c83bc0.png
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...28fa4efa77.png
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...30053dee86.png

The Tweeter thread above is interesting and revealing. I personally see no reason why MB wouldn't eventually enable CarPlay support in MBUX equipped vehicles (including North America). Likely just working some issues out and taking a conservative approach.

I love carplay and use it for many things every single day. Just an FYI if you have a new larger phone I put my iPhone XS Max into the wireless charging pad on the GLE 450 and it BARELY fits and was hard to get out. Very thin case on it too and if you had an otterbox, etc. I don't think it would fit at all.

Apple car play
 

list of vehicles with wireless car play
https://www.carplaylife.com/feature/...play-wireless/

Option 1: Wireless Apple CarPlay vehicle

The list of wireless CarPlay compatible vehicles is short, but we will certainly see this grow in future models. For now though, below are the available Wireless Apple CarPlay vehicles selling today:

1. BMW 2017 5 Series
2. BMW 2018 3 Series
3. Audi 2019 A6 (unconfirmed)
4. Audi 2019 A7
5. Audi 2019 A8
6. Audi 2019 Q8 (unconfirmed)
7. Audi 2020 e-tron SUV
8. Lamborghini Urus
9. Mercedes 2018 A-Class (Q3 2018)
10. Mercedes 2019 GLE (MBUX system)
11. Mini 2018 LCI Hatch & Convertible range
12. Toyota 2020 Supra

That article was published April 29, 2018 and is incorrect about the Mercedes listed. Don’t know any other way to put it but MBUX doesn’t support wireless CarPlay. Must connect with a cable to use CarPlay.

Add to the list of wireless CarPlay vehicles: 2018 BMW X3

Also add the X5, X7 and any BMW being refreshed in 2019 with iDrive 7.

This is one of the best X7 reviews to date:

From what I am told :

1. Mercedes wanted Apple approval to have BOTH wired/wireless CarPlay for MBUX - as the vast majority of iPhones in use today don't have wireless charging

2. When Apple finally said either/or for CarPlay - Mercedes made the "safe choice" for their customers - OH - and MB also has Android Auto - does your X7 have that ?

Some clarification to "what you heard":

• Wireless charging is not required to use wireless CarPlay which was introduced with the release of iOS 9, before any iPhone had wireless charging.
• Many BMW's (including X7) now support wireless CarPlay. BMW does not support Android Auto. This thread is about wireless CarPlay.
• Many potential buyers still believe MBUX supports wireless CarPlay, it does not.

Mercedes wants CarPlay users to have "charging" during CarPlay use - so that you can use CarPlay in the MB for as long as you want - and when you get out of the Car after continuous use you have as much juice (or more) as you has when you stepped into your MB.

MB has made the correct decision - cable provides charging for ALL iPhones whether the iPhone or the MB has wireless charging or not.

From what I am told - it's Apple that put MB into a bind - Apple suddenly - MB if you offer Wireless CarPlay - then Apple says you can't offer have cabled CarPlay in that same MB - hence the dilemma at this moment

I’m skeptical, that doesn’t sound like Apple. They want people using Car Play and there’s no advantage for Apple! I’d be more inclined to believe that Apple has two separate products-wired and wireless but that seems unlikely. Will the BMW work wired as well as wireless?
Maybe some news will be forthcoming. MBUX has got to have been a very challenging project and wireless could still be on the table along with other enhancements.

As an fyi I just saw this post on the BMW X7 Forum, take it with as many grains of salt as you wish:

Picked up my X7 a week and a half ago and have had nothing but trouble with CarPlay. Tried everything to get it to consistently work but to no avail. Went to the X5 forum and found all sorts of complaints about iDrive 7 and CarPlay. No connection, dropped connection, no music showing, playing a song-stopping at the grocery store-leave phone in car-come back out - start car and NO CarPlay anymore. Also the Apple Pay screen when putting my Xs max in the wireless charger. All of these things I am experience have been going on in the X5 community. All are waiting on a major update to fix it. My software version is 11/2018.55. I love this car but this is very frustrating. FIX IT BMW!

Hi Ron, BMW's new iDrive 7 doesn't support a wired (cable) CarPlay, wireless only.

Thanks Joe...
That supports my theory that there may be a choice of one or the other and Benz choose wired. I would prefer wireless because you can always plug in for charging on a long trip even if your phone doesn't have wireless charging.

I've experienced a few issues using CarPlay but it's not as bad as that post makes it out to be. Apple Pay does pop up when you place an iPhone (that has activated Apple Pay) on the charger base. We noticed it before we purchased the X7 and the genius (that's what they call their tech-savvy guy) told us the charging base has a NFC emitter to work in conjunction with their new Digital Key (credit card like replacement for a FOB). So when you place an iPhone on the charger base it opens the Apple Pay app thinking you are placing the phone near a NFC reader to make a payment. I found I can just swipe up on the phone to close the app but this is a bug BMW will need to fix with an OTA software update. Other than that, CarPlay works for me and often I don't place my iPhone on the charger if I'm making a short run. MB doesn't offer a digital key so their charger base wouldn't require a NFC emitter. One thing I feel BMW did better than MB is they use the entire 12.3" screen to display the CarPlat interface which looks great. MB's wired connection only uses a portion of the screen leaving bars on the left and right. Poor decision IMO but maybe they'll issue an OTA software update in the future that takes the CarPlay interface full-screen or better yet, supports wireless CarPlay. Anything is possible I guess.

Joe, apparently the lates iOS update fixes the issue with Apple Pay appearing.

I just applied the update and tested it and sure enough that glitch has been fixed by Apple. Likely challenging for a car company to support software they have no control over. Thanks for the heads up.

Wife's 2017 X5 50i supports wireless CarPlay. At the time when she took delivery in 2016 (a long time ago yes) it was the only brand I know of that had it, and it works pretty flawlessly wired or wirelessly.
JoeMa - check out BimmerPost forums. Welcome to the brand and chime in on the X7 forums.

You and the wife are very welcome for the info about the very recent IOS upgrade tip that removes the issue of Apple Pay on wireless CarPlay that everyone has been talking about. Now if you could please address all of the other issues it would be great. Thanks!

Have been using BMW Wireless CarPlay for 1+ year - works very well and had none of the trouble above.
Fast connection, great audio quality, and actually works better than my current GLE's wired CarPlay.

Joe, another cool thing you can do with your BMW is coding. X7 is probably too new; but once they figure it out, you should be able to change a lot of the settings through coding.
For example, headlights in North America are crippled and coded to disable all the advance function. Assuming that they have not changed the hardware, you can re-enable the anti-dazzle and variable beam pattern feature of the adaptive headlights through coding, and fully utilize what the laser headlights can do.

Thanks. I signed up for BimmerPost 4 days ago and I'm still waiting for the moderator to approve my membership. The iPhone BimmerPost app looks promising.

Thanks for the info. Is there an iPhone app you use to do this or a device you plug into your BMW to reprogram the factory default settings?

For simple settings change, you can use bimmercode or mycarly apps with a Bluetooth/WiFi OBD adapter. Their web sites have a list of parameters you can change (no X7 at this point).

But for some more complicated change like anti-dazzle/no-glare high beam, iOS apps are not able to do that. You need special program with a laptop+OBD adapter. I would leave it for the experienced/professional coders to make those changes.

Thanks for info, I would be interested in opening up those laser lights to their full potential someday. I still cannot use Bimmerpost, I’ve been waiting for the moderator to approve my account for five days now. Ridiculous.

We still like you here Joe😘

Thanks Ron. I’ve enjoyed this forum immensely and will likely keep track of deliveries and pics in the coming weeks but I’m finding I have less and less to contribute so I’m trying to stay out of the conversations. Can’t wait to hear your reactions to your new GLE.

Arghhh!
Just Got New 2019 E450 CABRIOLET, Carplay only works plugged in, With an almost $100,000 Canadian car, Minimal should be wireless Carplay!, Cheez, was on convention and rented a compact Chevrolet and it had it??? Cmon' Mercedes!!!!

Frustrating yes and makes the wireless charging pads a bit redundant since you'll be plugged in... but on the other hand, I don't think I'd be a fan of the BMW approach where you have to pay after the "subscription" runs out for wireless carplay!

As I recall Apple only supports one or the other so a manufacturer must choose wired or wireless. I’m not sure that the wireless charging can keep up with the battery drain on a wireless system. That and the fact that a lot of phones don’t support wireless may be the reason Mercedes went with the wired option.

you have to pay for wireless carplay in bmw? that doesn't sound right...

You may want to look a bit "deeper" at BMW's wireless CarPlay...

1. That particular system takes the info from your iPhone - routes that thru Servers in Germany - then routes it back to your BMW.. complicated AND that whole system went down for about 2 weeks last month. The Mercedes system is hardwire ... your phone .. your MB.. I am more OK with that - aren't you ?

2. Yes - there will be a BMW subscription fee https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/24/...pples-carplay/