[luigilauro]

So, I've just ordered a pretty much fully specced 530e xDrive Touring - Luxury edition (~100k euro, but not paying it, it's through a company leasing as a benefit).

For my family and kids (9/9/11) for long trips I also included the Rear Seat Entertainment option, with the idea potentially to watch together something (e.g. Netflix/YouTube). The front screen is not for me (the driver), but more for the passenger obviously.

So I would need to find a way to have the same source on all 3 screens. Also being deep in Apple ecosystem, I would like an easy way to do screen mirroring from iPhones/iPads to the car screens (a single one, or all 3 together).

Also a requirement for me is no HW mods, since it's a leasing, so I'm looking for a solution I can just add & remove easily without altering the car too much.

For those who "don't know", there is an EASY way to get iPhone mirroring + Netflix/Youtube on your iDrive screen even in motion, without any hardware mod or even coding: just buy a CarPlay android dongle, such as these:

• https://icarplaydongle.com/collectio...playdongle-mmb
• https://www.carplaymmb.com/products/...multimedia-box

My problem is that this will work for front iDrive screen, but with no way to also mirror the same source to back screens.

My understanding so far:

1. iDrive screen only has CarPlay as "video" input, no HDMI ports and no easy way to add them (again - I cannot do hw mods)
2. Back screens have a proper HDMI port, but no way to show rear HDMI source to front iDrive screen
3. The only "known" way to display the same source on all 3 screens is TV Plus optional, but I didn't get it (I don't watch TV), and also would anyways blackout front screen in motion, so I would need to code it or something
4. Additionally, screen mirroring is supported only through miracast standard, which means Android only, or selected apps that support miracast (e.g. YouTube)

Potential solutions

1. Since you can use iDrive from rear-seats, if you can also access the "CarPlay" screen from rear screens, then I could buy one of those CarPlay dongles that allows also YouTube/Netflix or any other app available through Google PlayStore, since it's basically an android box. For the car it would be displayed as the "CarPlay" interface on all 3 screens, but in practice it would be a Netflix show, showing up in sync. This would also allow iPhone mirroring, since they also support this!
2. If there is NO WAY to see CarPlay interface from back screens, then another potential solution: there is a specific CarPlay dongle (MMB 11 Plus) that also provides an HDMI port, on top of the CarPlay USB port. If you can use BOTH at the same time, I could plug-in the dongle to iDrive screen, while duplicating the screen via HDMI to the back screens. It also supports iPhone mirroring, so all is covered.

So questions:

1. Does anyone with RSE know if back screens can access/visualize the CarPlay screen as a source?
2. Did anyone find a solution to this problem? I guess I'm not the only one with it. Tried to search the forum (and also other google sources), but to no avail.

Let's try to find a solution together to this one ;-)

P.s. I will update the post if I find one, even 7-8 months from now when I'll get the car, so feel free to "subscribe" to this post, and chime in, if you are interested ;-)

[luigilauro]

I confirm, it seems from this YouTube video that the HDMI port in MMB 11 Plus can be used for MIRRORING to back screens what is shown through CarPlay connection on MAIN screen!

This is wonderful news, it means there is an EASY WAY to have YouTube/Netflix/anything on iDrive screen IN MOTION, and also on the back screens AT THE SAME TIME! And this is just with a 200-300$ box with no hardware mods or coding needed!

And of course this same method is applicable both to original BMW RSE as well as aftermarket back screens or pretty much anything with an HDMI input in the rear!

See it in action here (HDMI mirroring is from 6:20):

[r1cero]

I can only answer the two questions and the answer is unfortunately the same - no.

Without hardware mods there is certainly no way to achieve this. Now when I said this, maybe I could try and connect android phone via screen mirroring and hdmi at the same time and see what would happen. I would just need to source usb-c to hdmi cable.

[luigilauro]

Originally Posted by r1cero

I can only answer the two questions and the answer is unfortunately the same - no.

Without hardware mods there is certainly no way to achieve this. Now when I said this, maybe I could try and connect android phone via screen mirroring and hdmi at the same time and see what would happen. I would just need to source usb-c to hdmi cable.

Thanks, I was hoping CarPlay could by default sent to back screen.

Still, the solution I proposed (MMB 11 Plus or similar boxes with wired CarPlay + HDMI mirroring) should indeed work, as per shown YouTube video!

And this is an EASY SOLUTION, without any hardware mods that enable both iPhone mirroring but also YouTube/Netflix/apps on main screens and/or back screens as well!

[luigilauro]

This YouTube video shows a previous version of the box (9) work perfectly for Netflix and iPhone mirroring on a 2020 530!

Since the older version of the box were already fully functional, I see no reason why latest version of the box with also HDMI mirroring, shouldn't work!

But just in case I will ask them if the newer one with HDMI input (MMB 11) is also compatible with BMW, will get back to you!

[r1cero]

So your idea is to use hdmi for mirroring to rear screens and apple car play for front screen but at the same time. Perhaps, you should check with manufacturor if that double streaming at the same time is possible. And whether there would be any lag between front/rear. But good idea though.

[luigilauro]

Originally Posted by r1cero

So your idea is to use hdmi for mirroring to rear screens and android screen mirroring for front screen but at the same time. Perhaps, you should check with manufacturor if that double streaming at the same time is possible. And whether there would be any lag between front/rear.

Not exactly: my idea is to use the android box through CarPlay on main screen, and use HDMI mirroring to mirror the same thing on back screens. You have the options either to use built-in apps, basically any android app such as Netflix or YouTube since it's an android box, OR to use screen mirroring and therefore to "cast" whatever you want from any phone/tablet, and this supports both android but also iOS (since the box also supports airplay mirroring)!

About using both "ports" at the same time (CarPlay + HDMI): It is possible, as confirmed also by the YouTube video I posted, and there is basically no lag, as also the video shows (see here, from 6:20). If you see, it even allows you to "exit" the CarPlay view from the front to change settings in iDrive (es: climate controls or navigation), and then get back to CarPlay view, while in the back you keep watching the video/CarPlay all the time with no interruptions! And it even supports a remote control to give a completely independent access from the back!

)

So it is indeed a working solution.

The only question is: is the updated MMB 11 Plus box with HDMI port compatible with BMWs?

It seems BMW is "finicky" when it gets to CarPlay dongle compatibility and this is why there is a 'BMW specific' version on their website: https://www.carplaymmb.com/products/mmb-bmw-android-box

This version works, but doesn't have HDMI port for back screens.

Also there is a NOTE that says:

This product only works for BMW models with wireless Apple CarPlay from factory.
Compatible with models equipped with iDrive 6 and early iDrive 7 software. Late 2021/2022 BMW models are not compatible yet.

The updated version has indeed the HDMI port and run also Android 11, but doesn't mention BMW compatibility.

Maybe a v12 is needed that both has HDMI port but also supports BMWs? But this proves is definitely technically possible, since there is a BMW version working!

I will ask them via support.

[luigilauro]

I asked them via mail support, once they get back to me I will update the post!

[r1cero]

Good luck. I've ordered usb type-c to hdmi cable to test my idea with android phone. There is a screen timeout on the phone when screen mirroring but I guess it can be turned off.

[Gautam]

A timely thread for me, I’m trying to do the same. But I’m planning to buy a Samsung tablet just for the car. They’re very cheap on eBay, support hdmi, screen mirroring, Bluetooth mouse & keyboard, etc, and you get a big screen for “free.” Even if you win every other battle with Apple, it restricts what you can watch over hdmi (Ie Netflix will be blocked)

I’ve tried appletv, chromecast & and a Samsung galaxy s8 so far, the latter is the easiest to deal with with rse imho. Apple TV has restrictions on what you can screen mirror (predownloaded Netflix content gets blocked)

[luigilauro]

Originally Posted by Gautam

A timely thread for me, I’m trying to do the same. But I’m planning to buy a Samsung tablet just for the car. They’re very cheap on eBay, support hdmi, screen mirroring, Bluetooth mouse & keyboard, etc, and you get a big screen for “free.” Even if you win every other battle with Apple, it restricts what you can watch over hdmi (Ie Netflix will be blocked)

I’ve tried appletv, chromecast & and a Samsung galaxy s8 so far, the latter is the easiest to deal with with rse imho. Apple TV has restrictions on what you can screen mirror (predownloaded Netflix content gets blocked)

Very true, android is the way to go if you want more flexibility for sure.

Anyways my solution is a pretty universal solution, since it doesn't leverage on apple, but rather an unobtrusive android dongle that can output to both front iDrive screen and back screens at the same time! It allows pretty much any application to be shown on main iDrive screen and/or back screens (BMW RSE or aftermarket), without the need for any "casting" from any device, which is far more convenient in my opinion: you just launch Netflix from the dashboard and you can watch it on any or all screens, even in motion.

Then the additional feature is that this box ALSO supports iPhone mirroring/casting, so you also get the possibility to mirror your iPhone if you want as an added bonus (e.g. show pictures from Photos to your screens, etc..), but for netflix/YouTube or any app, you would just use the android box with CarPlay+HDMI outputs.

I think it's a far more flexible and unobtrusive solution: basically you just need to put the box in the armrest and connect it to CarPlay USB port, and then run an HDMI cable to the back screens HDMI input, and you can easily pass the cable under the seats and hide it accordingly.

No separate device or cables hanging around, nothing to recharge, etc. etc...

[luigilauro]

Meanwhile the reseller got back to me (see attachment)

As I feared the MMB 11 Plus box with HDMI port is not compatible yet with BMW, but they should have a new version of the "BMW" box updated with Android 11 and HDMI port soon, he told me a couple of months.

If this is true we will soon have a confirmed working solution for both issues (screen mirroring for iOS devices, and Netflix/YouTube watching) both for front/back screens, and with no hardware mods or coding needed, just a box to plugin!

[luigilauro]

Originally Posted by r1cero

Good luck. I've ordered usb type-c to hdmi cable to test my idea with android phone. There is a screen timeout on the phone when screen mirroring but I guess it can be turned off.

I see no reason why it shouldn't work, keep us posted! :-)

[Joe-BMW33]

The only way to screen mirror from an iPhone is to jailbreak the phone.

[luigilauro]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

The only way to screen mirror from an iPhone is to jailbreak the phone.

You are correct if you want to screen mirror directly to iDrive software, which unfortunately only support miracast standard, so that's possible from android or very few selected iOS applications (e.g. YouTube), or if you jailbreak your iPhone to support miracast.

But if you read my post, this is not the solution I'm proposing.

The solution I'm proposing is to hook up to USB port a CarPlay dongle that will show to iDrive the CarPlay interface. Many of these CarPlay dongles also supports iPhone mirroring through AirPlay.

This makes possible to do iPhone mirroring without any hardware mods or coding, and without any jailbreak: just plugin the dongle, click on the icon "screen cast" from CarPlay interface, and you will be mirroring your iPhone screen in no time.

Check this YouTube video if you don't believe me (from 5:20):

Now, the only issue is that box is not anymore compatible with the latest ID7 updates, but a new one, which also comes with Android 11 and an HDMI port for mirroring, is supposed to come out in next 2 months.

So hopefully in 2 months or something, a cheap and easy solution will be available.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by luigilauro

You are correct if you want to screen mirror directly to iDrive software, which unfortunately only support miracast standard, so that's possible from android or very few selected iOS applications (e.g. YouTube), or if you jailbreak your iPhone to support miracast.

But if you read my post, this is not the solution I'm proposing.

The solution I'm proposing is to hook up to USB port a CarPlay dongle that will show to iDrive the CarPlay interface. Many of these CarPlay dongles also supports iPhone mirroring through AirPlay.

This makes possible to do iPhone mirroring without any hardware mods or coding, and without any jailbreak: just plugin the dongle, click on the icon "screen cast" from CarPlay interface, and you will be mirroring your iPhone screen in no time.

Check this YouTube video if you don't believe me (from 5:20):

Now, the only issue is that box is not anymore compatible with the latest ID7 updates, but a new one, which also comes with Android 11 and an HDMI port for mirroring, is supposed to come out in next 2 months.

So hopefully in 2 months or something, a cheap and easy solution will be available.

Yes, but this device is for cars that have wired Carplay not wireless Carplay. BMW's only do wireless CarPlay. I totally get how this will worked with wired cars, I actually used a wireless dongle in another car that had wired CP.

But, when you plug this into our USB port, nothing is going to happen. On wired CP cars, it launches CP.

It says all over their site that this is for cars that support wired Carplay. Trust me, I hope I am wrong, I would love to have a box that broadcast an Airplay connection and have my phone screen mirror to it and have it show on the screen. I bet this box does put out an Airplay signal, just can't figure how it will get to the screen from the USB port that does not support CP.

[luigilauro]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

Yes, but this device is for cars that have wired Carplay not wireless Carplay. BMW's only do wireless CarPlay. I totally get how this will worked with wired cars, I actually used a wireless dongle in another car that had wired CP.

But, when you plug this into our USB port, nothing is going to happen. On wired CP cars, it launches CP.

It says all over their site that this is for cars that support wired Carplay. Trust me, I hope I am wrong, I would love to have a box that broadcast an Airplay connection and have my phone screen mirror to it and have it show on the screen. I bet this box does put out an Airplay signal, just can't figure how it will get to the screen from the USB port that does not support CP.

You may be right in the sense that right now the box is not compatible anymore. It uses to be even with 2021 BMWs, but with latest updates it's not anymore (probably some changes from BMW).

You can read this also in YouTube comments: "2021 bmw worked fine now it just boots up and goes away any fix around that . thanks" "same here" etc...

If it stopped to work because BMW switched to wireless CarPlay or other reason I don't know.

What I'm 99% sure is that BMW still supports wired CarPlay. This is easy to test: just disable wifi (used for wireless CarPlay) and connect cable, if it works it means it's using wired CarPlay.

So as long as there is a way to "fallback" to wired CarPlay (plugging in via USB), there is a way for the box to connect to iDrive screen through CarPlay interface.

Again, this used to work up until a few months ago, then stopped working for latest BMW updates, and now they have in the work an updated version that should work even with latest updates, but also provides a more modern Android 11 OS, as well as an HDMI port for mirroring.

As soon as it's available I will buy one and test it :-)

The reseller confirmed me they are testing right now a version compatible with 2022 BMW and should be available to buy in 2 months.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by luigilauro

You may be right in the sense that right now the box is not compatible anymore. It uses to be even with 2021 BMWs, but with latest updates it's not anymore (probably some changes from BMW).

You can read this also in YouTube comments: "2021 bmw worked fine now it just boots up and goes away any fix around that . thanks" "same here" etc...

If it stopped to work because BMW switched to wireless CarPlay or other reason I don't know.

What I'm 99% sure is that BMW still supports wired CarPlay. This is easy to test: just disable wifi (used for wireless CarPlay) and connect cable, if it works it means it's using wired CarPlay.

So as long as there is a way to "fallback" to wired CarPlay (plugging in via USB), there is a way for the box to connect to iDrive screen through CarPlay interface.

Again, this used to work up until a few months ago, then stopped working for latest BMW updates, and now they have in the work an updated version that should work even with latest updates, but also provides a more modern Android 11 OS, as well as an HDMI port for mirroring.

As soon as it's available I will buy one and test it :-)

The reseller confirmed me they are testing right now a version compatible with 2022 BMW and should be available to buy in 2 months.

Let me watch the video and read up on it, maybe there is something to it.

[Joe-BMW33]

Ok, I get how it works, but you basically have to give up traditional Apple CarPlay completely, right? There is no way to have two Apple CarPlay sources configured and switch between the two?

This is something I certainly would like to have plugged into the USB in the glove box and switch to once in a while, but I want the ability to run my traditional Apple CarPlay for my music, maps, etc. I'd have to configure this thing every time I want to use it, and then do the same with my phone as the source. If I could have two instances saved in iDrive, I would turn on the hotspot on my car and use this thing. (Vs using my phone as a hot spot.

[luigilauro]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

Ok, I get how it works, but you basically have to give up traditional Apple CarPlay completely, right? There is no way to have two Apple CarPlay sources configured and switch between the two?

This is something I certainly would like to have plugged into the USB in the glove box and switch to once in a while, but I want the ability to run my traditional Apple CarPlay for my music, maps, etc. I'd have to configure this thing every time I want to use it, and then do the same with my phone as the source. If I could have two instances saved in iDrive, I would turn on the hotspot on my car and use this thing. (Vs using my phone as a hot spot.

This is not exactly correct, you are not "giving up" anything.

Basically, your usual CarPlay connection with a BMW is like this

• CAR <--(wireless carPlay via Wi-Fi)--> iPhone
• CAR <--(wired carPlay via USB)--> iPhone [possible, but useless since you have wireless as well, so no need]

NOTE: wired is also supported by BMW, and it's easy to test, just disable WIFI which is used by wireless CarPlay, and plugin your phone via USB, if you still see the CarPlay interface, it's "falling back" to wired CarPlay

With the CarPlay box, this becomes:

• CAR <--(wired carPlay via USB)--> CarPlay box <--(wireless carPlay via Wi-Fi)--> iPhone

In fact, usually these boxes are used exactly to this purpose, to "add" wireless CarPlay functionality to cars that usually support only wired CarPlay, by providing a "passthrough" CarPlay connection from wired USB connection to wireless CarPlay.

In BMW case this is useless, because BMWs already support wireless CarPlay, so this "feature" is useless for us.

BUT, having the box acting as a bridge in the "middle" of the connection, you can leverage on the box for additional functionalities.

For example this box provides 2 modes:

1. CarPlay passthrough: again, this is useless for us, it's just a passthrough mode from wired to wireless. It will still work exactly as if you had no box in the middle, you would notice no difference at all, except maybe a longer time to connect for the box to boot up, and the additional ICON in CarPlay interface to switch to the other mode
2. Android OS: this uses the CarPlay interface to iDrive to show basically a fully functional android OS media player. So you can use it to install and run any application supporting android (Netflix, YouTube), even in motion, or to do screen mirroring both for Android or even iOS devices, or surf the web or anything you want. It's android. At any time, you can also click on the CarPlay icon to switch back to the traditional CarPlay interface

You can see both "modes" in action in the YouTube video I posted, and also the easy switch between them.

Also the latest versions of this box (MMB 11 Plus) provide an additional HDMI port for mirroring everything that is shown on CarPlay / Android modes to additional screens (e.g. screens in the back from RSE or aftermarket options). So this basically allows to have CarPlay interface visualised and even usable from the back seats (using the box remote).

The only issue is the compatibility with recent BMW updates. The latest version doesn't support BMW, but a new box supporting also latest updates should be available in 2 months, I will 100% get one, test it and get back to you :-)

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by luigilauro

This is not exactly correct, you are not "giving up" anything.

Basically, your usual CarPlay connection with a BMW is like this

• CAR <--(wireless carPlay via Wi-Fi)--> iPhone
• CAR <--(wired carPlay via USB)--> iPhone [possible, but useless since you have wireless as well, so no need]

NOTE: wired is also supported by BMW, and it's easy to test, just disable WIFI which is used by wireless CarPlay, and plugin your phone via USB, if you still see the CarPlay interface, it's "falling back" to wired CarPlay

With the CarPlay box, this becomes:

• CAR <--(wired carPlay via USB)--> CarPlay box <--(wireless carPlay via Wi-Fi)--> iPhone

In fact, usually these boxes are used exactly to this purpose, to "add" wireless CarPlay functionality to cars that usually support only wired CarPlay, by providing a "passthrough" CarPlay connection from wired USB connection to wireless CarPlay.

In BMW case this is useless, because BMWs already support wireless CarPlay, so this "feature" is useless for us.

BUT, having the box acting as a bridge in the "middle" of the connection, you can leverage on the box for additional functionalities.

For example this box provides 2 modes:

1. CarPlay passthrough: again, this is useless for us, it's just a passthrough mode from wired to wireless. It will still work exactly as if you had no box in the middle, you would notice no difference at all, except maybe a longer time to connect for the box to boot up, and the additional ICON in CarPlay interface to switch to the other mode
2. Android OS: this uses the CarPlay interface to iDrive to show basically a fully functional android OS media player. So you can use it to install and run any application supporting android (Netflix, YouTube), even in motion, or to do screen mirroring both for Android or even iOS devices, or surf the web or anything you want. It's android. At any time, you can also click on the CarPlay icon to switch back to the traditional CarPlay interface

You can see both "modes" in action in the YouTube video I posted, and also the easy switch between them.

Also the latest versions of this box (MMB 11 Plus) provide an additional HDMI port for mirroring everything that is shown on CarPlay / Android modes to additional screens (e.g. screens in the back from RSE or aftermarket options). So this basically allows to have CarPlay interface visualised and even usable from the back seats (using the box remote).

The only issue is the compatibility with recent BMW updates. The latest version doesn't support BMW, but a new box supporting also latest updates should be available in 2 months, I will 100% get one, test it and get back to you :-)

So after I configure the box to my car, can I easily use Carplay from my phone like I do now without this device? Can I play my Spotify account on my phone? That is the question.

I understand that these boxes were first introduced to provide wireless CarPlay to wired cars. I had one.

[luigilauro]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

So after I configure the box to my car, can I easily use Carplay from my phone like I do now without this device? Can I play my Spotify account on my phone? That is the question.

Yes, after you configure the box, you can use your iPhone via CarPlay as you usually do (Spotify or anything).

Again: watch the YouTube video and you will see that you get also the traditional CarPlay interface with all the usual functionalities for your iPhone.

Actually, you will also have the ADDITIONAL opportunity to install the same applications (e.g. Spotify w/ your account) on the Android BOX and use it from the dongle directly without even needing your Phone, if that is more convenient for you for any reasons (e.g. iPhone low battery, or forgot at home, or anything).

Of course that is with the new box compatible with latest iDrive updates, since the current sold / out of stock old box, or the newer MMB 11 Plus, are not compatible with BMWs.

We need a "BMW MMB 11 Plus", which as the reseller was telling me, it's under development right now, and should be coming in ~2 months.