

With the appropriate hardware fitted in your vehicle, BimmerTech, unlike BMW, can do the BMW CarPlay activation even if you live in a country which is not on the Apple CarPlay availability list. You can check here if your BMW needs one and if so - order it with us. In some cases, you might need to add a WiFi antenna if your car does not already have one, to allow establishing a wireless connection between your iPhone and BMW head unit. If your BMW is equipped with a compatible head unit, BimmerTech can perform a software activation to enable Apple CarPlay. Even if you have a vehicle from 2016, 2015 or 2014 with recent technology, your vehicle may only have the ID4 hardware, or the older head unit hardware, regular NBT. In other words, your BMW needs the latest on-board computer and operating system. Option 1: Activating your factory BMW Wireless CarPlayīMW Apple CarPlay compatibility is limited because it requires the NBT Evo head unit with ID5 or ID6 software. Which you choose to go for will depend on your vehicle and budget. If you've got your heart set on adding Apple CarPlay to your BMW, you have a few options. If you want to find more about retrofits for BMW 3-Series, check out our guide on F30 upgrades.

If you're interested in upgrading your older car with BMW CarPlay (aftermarket option included), read on for a few possible solutions. G14, G15, G16Īlthough only vehicles produced after 2017 are officially compatible with Apple CarPlay, the right hardware retrofit can also let you add CarPlay to vehicles without factory support. Here’s the complete list of BMW models with Apple CarPlay as of August 2022, provided by Apple:

It’s only available for 2017 and newer models, leaving many BMW owners without the option to enjoy it in their cars. It’s a very useful feature that enhances your driving experience, so make sure you find out more about Apple CarPlay if you aren't already familiar with it.īMW CarPlay is quite a recent thing. With the help of Siri, you can control all of the best Apple CarPlay apps without taking your hands off the wheel. You can listen to music with iTunes, Spotify or YouTube Music, make calls and send texts via WhatsApp, get directions through Apple Maps, Google Maps or Waze, and more - all while staying focused on the road. If available in your BMW, Apple CarPlay lets you connect your iPhone to your BMW and use the iOS apps on the built-in dashboard display.
