[sjb993]

If an iPhone is connected to a USB port in the car using a cable, will data be sent to Carplay via the cable rather than wirelessly?

Thanks for any answers.

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by sjb993

If an iPhone is connected to a USB port in the car using a cable, will data be sent to Carplay via the cable rather than wirelessly?

Thanks for any answers.

No, BMW only supports Wireless CarPlay and Wireless Android Auto (if on iDrive 7)

[blewcheese]

You can still charge via usb and use Carplay if that's in the back of your head.

[sjb993]

Thanks for the replies.

I haven’t really used Carplay in the past, but today I thought I’d give Waze a try. I quite liked it, but boy does it use up phone’s battery quickly.

As I will need to charge the ‘phone whilst driving anything other than short journeys (if I want to use the phone when I get there!), I began to wonder if the cable would also be carrying data to Carplay.

I now wish the car was fitted with the wireless phone charger option. ;o)

[CnSky]

There are a few retrofit options on Amazon that received good enough reviews.

Or as I did in the past install a wireless charge plate in the armrest connected to the USB.

I did this in my E92 a few years back and it worked brilliantly as you can get a way faster charger in there, think some fitted options also exist for the G30 with a shaped rubber Matt to hold the phone and fit snug in the armrest..

The OEM one is known as the phone cooker as it hardly charges at all and slowly heats the phone until it's almost sore to touch it.


QUOTE=sjb993;27935294]Thanks for the replies.

I haven't really used Carplay in the past, but today I thought I'd give Waze a try. I quite liked it, but boy does it use up phone's battery quickly.

As I will need to charge the 'phone whilst driving anything other than short journeys (if I want to use the phone when I get there!), I began to wonder if the cable would also be carrying data to Carplay.

I now wish the car was fitted with the wireless phone charger option. ;o)[/QUOTE]

[sjb993]

Thanks for that suggestion.

I’ll take a look what’s available.

[smacky]

Originally Posted by LogicalApex

No, BMW only supports Wireless CarPlay and Wireless Android Auto (if on iDrive 7)

That's odd since wireless Android/Apple car services are sort of new. As recently as 2018 I remember reading about Audi owners and a few other luxury brands clamoring for wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. Now it's swung the complete opposite direction and now it's only wireless?

I actually prefer wired since I can charge my phone and have the Android Auto features and I don't need to run around with bluetooth on all the time.

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by smacky

That's odd since wireless Android/Apple car services are sort of new. As recently as 2018 I remember reading about Audi owners and a few other luxury brands clamoring for wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. Now it's swung the complete opposite direction and now it's only wireless?

I actually prefer wired since I can charge my phone and have the Android Auto features and I don't need to run around with bluetooth on all the time.

BMW has supported CarPlay since 2017 and Android Auto since 2020. It has always been a wireless connection and has never supported a wired connection.

But you can still plug the phone into the center console and charge while using CarPlay or Android Auto as was mentioned earlier. Not sure why you’re against leaving Bluetooth on though.

[smacky]

Originally Posted by LogicalApex

BMW has supported CarPlay since 2017 and Android Auto since 2020. It has always been a wireless connection and has never supported a wired connection.

But you can still plug the phone into the center console and charge while using CarPlay or Android Auto as was mentioned earlier. Not sure why you’re against leaving Bluetooth on though.

There are a lot of bluetooth devices in my house, including multiple cars. If it's left on and someone starts a car, my phone tries to connect, and sometimes successfully does so, even though I'm in another room. Only once that person has driven away does it disconnect and, maybe, their phone finally connects. I don't know why.

It gets messy with headphones and laptops when it tries to auto connect to the wrong device. It's not a big deal but it's still a Hail Mary when I turn my bluetooth headphones on to see which device it connects to. It's more of a nuisance than anything.

Our 2018 Q7 is wired-only and our 2018 E400 has the wireless capability as well as wired. When I did some research to see if it was possible to connect wirelessly to the Audi, I believe I read that it was either newer feature or required newer hardware in the car that simply wasn't commonplace in the auto industry at the time. It looks like things have changed since then.

"Unfortunately, the vast majority of cars sold with Android Auto lack wireless functionality without an easy way to add it."

https://9to5google.com/2020/12/14/aa...ngle-hands-on/

Although the article is basically an ad for the third party device, the article is from 8 months ago and supports what I said, that Android Auto wireless is not that commonplace. Maybe CarPlay is different. It's also possible BMW embraced wireless across the lineup because they used to charge $100+ to use that feature before backtracking on it.

[Joe-BMW33]

From a charging solution perspective, the wireless charging tray is useless. Slow and overheats the phone, so don't fret about not having it. Your best bet is to get a quality USB-C lighter port charger and a USB-C to lightening cable and plug it into the socket in the center console. You can achieve a 60% charge from 10% in 15-20 minutes, full charge pretty much in 15 more minutes.

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by smacky

There are a lot of bluetooth devices in my house, including multiple cars. If it's left on and someone starts a car, my phone tries to connect, and sometimes successfully does so, even though I'm in another room. Only once that person has driven away does it disconnect and, maybe, their phone finally connects. I don't know why.

It gets messy with headphones and laptops when it tries to auto connect to the wrong device. It's not a big deal but it's still a Hail Mary when I turn my bluetooth headphones on to see which device it connects to. It's more of a nuisance than anything.

Sounds like you need to groom your connections...

BMW supports setting the phone BT phone priority in iDrive that can be used to help control this. No idea about other car makers, but you can try that or unpair your phone from cars you occasionally drive or etc. But you can also keep things the way you like.

Our 2018 Q7 is wired-only and our 2018 E400 has the wireless capability as well as wired. When I did some research to see if it was possible to connect wirelessly to the Audi, I believe I read that it was either newer feature or required newer hardware in the car that simply wasn't commonplace in the auto industry at the time. It looks like things have changed since then.

"Unfortunately, the vast majority of cars sold with Android Auto lack wireless functionality without an easy way to add it."

https://9to5google.com/2020/12/14/aa...ngle-hands-on/

Although the article is basically an ad for the third party device, the article is from 8 months ago and supports what I said, that Android Auto wireless is not that commonplace. Maybe CarPlay is different. It's also possible BMW embraced wireless across the lineup because they used to charge $100+ to use that feature before backtracking on it.

I'm not sure why you're talking about the wider industry. We're discussing BMW. they've only done wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. They were among the first car makers to support wireless CarPlay and they didn't add Android Auto support until Android added wireless Android Auto support to the OS. The previous charge for the feature has nothing to do with it as they never charged a fee for Android Auto.

They've just chosen wireless as their preferred implementation...

I'm sure other makers went wired since wired is cheaper to implement. But BMW cars aren't cheap so...

[CnSky]

Seems you have a very busy Bluetooth house situation.

I have two cars(BMWs), two head sets(Sony and Apple pods) and a few speakers(Sonia) around the house but the phone never randomly connect to the wrong car or other Bluetooth connection. My cars are parked only 3 meters from the office and never get this issue when my wife leaves.

The speakers are in sleep mode when not streaming and the headsets turn off automatically when not in use.

Weird your phone is connecting to the wrong thing, maybe you need to check all setting on phone and peripherals.

[CnSky]

With joe on this, my phone overheated only today on the charge tray (BMW cooker)


QUOTE=Joe-BMW33;27937463]From a charging solution perspective, the wireless charging tray is useless. Slow and overheats the phone, so don't fret about not having it. Your best bet is to get a quality USB-C lighter port charger and a USB-C to lightening cable and plug it into the socket in the center console. You can achieve a 60% charge from 10% in 15-20 minutes, full charge pretty much in 15 more minutes.[/QUOTE]