[jtp1983]

Hey guys, new 2 series owner, long time BMW owner, with a history of never being satisfied with stock electronics see recent post on my outgoing 135 and the CarPlay install i did just last year:

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show...php?p=23108462

Anyway - having recently purchased a 2015 M235, the lack of CarPlay was driving me nuts after having had it for almost a year in the 1. Well, I am here to tell you that after solving some issues...I don't miss it (in its current iOS 12 form), and also to detail how i went from dealing with wires and fiddling with my phone to having a perfect setup for how I use my phone in the car.

Here were the problems i set out to solve:

- What I actually found that I had used from CarPlay:
- Waze, in particular the social notifications of police and hazards
- Message display and response
- Spotify dash control

- What else i wanted to accomplish:
- Get my 250GB FLAC library currently on my Plex server local in the car for data use reasons
- keep my phone and the FLAC drive connected at the same time
- Fix the problem of wifi staying connected when driving away from the house and losing data until it disconnected
- Get ConnectedDrive spotify to always connect on start
- No wires, get in the car and drop my phone in a holder and drive.

All of this has been solved. I'll break this into sections.

1 - Hardwiring a second USB port and phone mount

After confirming the reports that USB hubs don't work in the center console USB port and that the iDrive head unit cant connect to multiple devices in one port, I did some research and found what I thought would be a workable solution. For those of you that don't know, there are actually two USB connections on the back of the iDrive headunit. I have an NBT EVO, but this is true for most iDrive units. See this page for reference:

http://blog.obdii365.com/2016/09/19/...or-enet-cable/

Note the presence of at least two proprietary connectors for a USB port. So where is this second port going? We don't have the glove box map upgrade port...so what gives? It's actually in your armrest right next to the other one - the snap in adapter. All that is is a USB protocol wiring remapped to a special connector, and an antenna booster - which if you're like me, you have no desire to use, or spend 300 bucks to buy an adapter for that also hides your phone.

Let's cut to the chase - you only need two parts:

USB socket - $35: https://parts.bmwofsouthatlanta.com/...109229294.html
USB cable - $75: https://parts.bmwofsouthatlanta.com/...119251703.html

The USB cable is keyed incorrectly for the iDrive port we will use (USB2), so have an exacto knife ready. there is one small plastic tab on the top of the connector that you can easily slice off and it slides in fine. These are color and physically keyed I believe to avoid assembly line errors, but rest assured this is really just a USB port, it works fine.

I took that USB cable and port and shoved it behind the idrive unit, and ran it up through the vent out to a proclip mount, and now have this:



Proclip links:

https://www.proclipusa.com/product/854721-proclip-center-mount?sSearch=854721

https://www.proclipusa.com/product/7...sSearch=721083

With this installed, I now have the drop in and go aspect working, and a USB connection for ConnectedDrive and charging. Siri EyesFree integration in iDrive covered some other gaps like responding to text messages that already displayed in iDrive. Next step.

2 - FLAC audio

This one was now easy, with the existing USB port not in use in the armrest, I bought an M.2 SSD and a portable USB case. I won't link these as the best deals change constantly, but my case was 15 bucks and and the drive was a 500GB for 60 bucks on amazon. M.2 is nice for size reasons, with a short usb cable it sits comfortable where the snap in adapter is, leaving the armrest still usable for other stuff.

I loaded the drive (formatted NTFS, works fine FYI) with a clone of my plex directories for audio. I am using Microsoft SyncToy for this, any changes to the directory, pull the drive, plug it into my server, run sync toy, and it clones over. Fast, simple, one button. Use the Echo option.

SyncToy

I also had to go through and clean up my audio, as I had always relied on Plex for organization and metadata - this doesnt translate back to the files. So I used MusicBrainz Picard for this:

https://picard.musicbrainz.org/

After cleaning up all the file and folder names and adding proper metadata album covers, it works absolutely perfectly, all the way up to 24 bit 192khz sources. M.2 drive is stupid fast, no issues there whatsoever.

3 - iOS automation

So that left the last step, how to make my iphone do what I want and cover the gaps that iDrive doesnt - like waze notifications. Thanks to Siri Shortcuts, thats now super easy. I setup a shortcut that does the following, in order:

- Open ConnectedDrive
- Open Spotify
- Open Waze
- Set WiFi off
- Set brightness to the level i prefer in the car
- wait 120 seconds, turn wifi back on

I have this saved to a shortcut on my home screen, as currently these can't be triggered by bluetooth connection (yet). I tap it when putting the phone in the dock. This works great, and accomplishes the following:

- ConnectedDrive and spotify always connect every time, first time. no delays, no false starts for Spotify from the dash.
- Waze alerts are running. I should note I also turned off the auto start navigation for Waze, so it doesn't try to always navigate to home or work when you launch it.
- No data connection issues when leaving my house, and with it coming back on 2 minutes later, by the time i need it again, wifi is already back enabled.


Wrap up

I couldn't be happier with iDrive now - there isn't a single thing CarPlay did that this doesn't do, and now I also have FLAC on board. I should note too that having that USB stick means when I get in the car, it defaults to playing from that drive where I left off as opposed to some random Apple Music track, as the phone normally does and is incredibly annoying. I used to need a blank audio track in my phone for that problem, that too is solved. When iOS 13 comes out and CarPlay gets revamped, I may go back to considering the iDrive 6 retrofit, but until then, I don't have any regrets here. I'm a tech junkie and work in cloud software and VR development, my whole house is automated. Believe me when I say I seriously considered 1600 bucks for an iDrive retrofit - but I'm pretty damn happy with this! Hopefully this proves helpful to some of you as well.

[goover]

Nice write up.

How difficult was the USB install? Do you have any photos of a step by step?

[jtp1983]

Not hard at all - unfortunately I didn't take pics but here's the steps (easier from passenger seat):

- pop off vents (just clips, pull straight off on each side)
Remove top screws for control faceplate
- pull off faceplate
- remove screws holding in headunit, slide out but keep all wires connected.
- turn head unit slightly to see connections on back and pull USB2 based on diagram provided above for your iDrive version. There is a plastic pin to push in to unlock the connector and pull out.
- compare the existing plug to the new one and exacto off the plastic edge that is different on the new one (looking at it face on, 1 o'clock position)
-Plug in the new cable.
-plug other end into back of USB port
- plug in device via USB and turn on ACC to test
- if all goes as planned, reverse the above and reassemble.

This is a 1 out of 5 complexity, super easy.

[BEM-S4]

Notes on a 2015 335i Enhanced Bluetooth and USB (6NS) OEM retrofit https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1108386

[jtp1983]

Ah bingo - well there you go, that's exactly it, pics and all - thanks! I knew I couldn't have been the first to do this.

[mburg]

I have a 2019 230 with HK system; Carplay is included in the package. It has the same USB in the console, and according to the owners manual should have a 2nd USB next to the cigarette lighter, which resides between the 2 cup holders and underneath a sliding door; this is not there.

I guess I could do a similar thing but mount the 2nd USB where it is 'supposed to be'.

But I guess my question is why not just use bluetooth for the iphone based aspects of what you are doing?

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by jtp1983

Ah bingo - well there you go, that's exactly it, pics and all - thanks! I knew I couldn't have been the first to do this.

For those who have an unused phone cradle in the armrest that can be removed and the USB can be added there with the same gear you listed. I did that in the F31 and the glovebox approach in the F23.

[snaketh]

Didn't know about Siri shortcuts, that's really cool.

[goover]

Originally Posted by jtp1983

Not hard at all - unfortunately I didn't take pics but here's the steps (easier from passenger seat):

- pop off vents (just clips, pull straight off on each side)
Remove top screws for control faceplate
- pull off faceplate
- remove screws holding in headunit, slide out but keep all wires connected.
- turn head unit slightly to see connections on back and pull USB2 based on diagram provided above for your iDrive version. There is a plastic pin to push in to unlock the connector and pull out.
- compare the existing plug to the new one and exacto off the plastic edge that is different on the new one (looking at it face on, 1 o'clock position)
-Plug in the new cable.
-plug other end into back of USB port
- plug in device via USB and turn on ACC to test
- if all goes as planned, reverse the above and reassemble.

This is a 1 out of 5 complexity, super easy.

Thank you for the reply and your time!

[mike519]

All sounds great, though I am not a fan of an external cradle like that. I would need it in the armrest out of sight.

As far as playing FLAC files from the SSD through the USB port, as far as I understand it, you may be playing 24bit 192khz files, however, I do not believe the DAC in the head unit is decoding at that high a rate so you're not really getting true HiFi audio output. I've been following this in other threads as well...the goal is to get a HiFi audio player to output to an analog input like the old 1/8 mini audio input.

I think BEM-S4 is more savvy on this than I am however.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by mike519

I think BEM-S4 is more savvy on this than I am however.

Viffermike is the true expert, that said...

Best case scenario if you have Aux-in feed signal to system there, take all of the heavy lifting away from the BMW gear. Lacking aux-in, if you have an aftermarket amp and can feed direct to that its a better setup but then you lose some functionality.

In a car lacking Aux-In and only USB or direct to aftermarket amp, I'd make the sacrifice of some fidelity and go USB simply to have everything work nicely like phone, nav, etc.

[HJMII]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Viffermike is the true expert, that said...

Best case scenario if you have Aux-in feed signal to system there, take all of the heavy lifting away from the BMW gear. Lacking aux-in, if you have an aftermarket amp and can feed direct to that its a better setup but then you lose some functionality.

In a car lacking Aux-In and only USB or direct to aftermarket amp, I'd make the sacrifice of some fidelity and go USB simply to have everything work nicely like phone, nav, etc.

Is there an aftermarket processor of any kind that can be used to increase the sound quality, like a DSP that can send a better signal..?