[EnlightenedOne]

Just got my M340i... trying to figure out the best setup for using all the fancy tech.

So far here's what I've done:
Setup wireless CarPlay
Setup the mic button to long press for Siri
Turned off "Hey Siri"

So, even though the car has built-in nav and apparently has built-in Spotify (which is pretty cool)... I'm just solely using CarPlay for nav and for Spotify... and basically anything else (phone interface, etc.).

Is there any reason to use any of the BMW stuff, or should I just drop right into CarPlay as soon as I start the car each time?

I've noticed that sometimes the car will properly remap the center console buttons to CarPlay, so pressing Media goes to Spotify on my phone directly, pressing Map goes right to Apple Maps, pressing Phone goes right to the CarPlay iPhone interface, etc. but it seems like sometimes this doesn't get setup correctly. For instance, sometimes I'll be in the CarPlay Spotify interface, but when I press the Map button it takes me to the BMW Navigation screen instead of Apple Maps via CarPlay... Anybody else have this issue?

Any other tips and tricks for the best way to setup the interface or use it? Thanks!

[AP]

Any particular reason you are using CarPlay?
I know many people rave about it
I tried it and can to the conclusion that it didn’t give me anything that the built in sat nav would give me
If you have aHUD then the bmw nav will integrate nicely with that and give you a map view as well

Personally didn’t like the interface if CarPlay as it looked a bit “fisher price” to me

Each to their own of course, just suggesting you may want to give the built in nav a go and see if you prefer that

You’ll get RTTI aswell and for a small annual subscription you can by the speed camera alert which I’ve found very useful. Again if you have a HUD it’s right in front of you

Integration works perfectly as far as I’m concerned

I don’t use Siri and just rely on the hey bmw to do something whether that be make a phone call, test message, satnav or choose a radio station
You can control the car as well, turn off heated seats for example

Just my thoughts

[Bc2005]

I also like the BMW Nav interface better than CarPlay and Apple Nav.

For example, with the BMW nav (or map) I can zoom in and out quickly with the iDrive controller to look at the name of a street nearby or the entire route big picture. It’s a very simple tactile reach and turn for the controller wheel. With CarPlay I have to look at the screen, find buttons, etc.

If you are a diehard Apple Maps person there is a learning curve for iDrive vs. CarPlay, but overall it works well.

BMW iDrive also works fairly well for Siri-like functions. You can ask it to “find the nearest Home Depot” , or “take me home” to activate navigation and route me home. It’s not as good as Siri, but I still use it frequently.

[EnlightenedOne]

Originally Posted by AP

Any particular reason you are using CarPlay?

Maybe I'll give it a try and see if I can get used to the built-in apps. The main things I use in the car are Spotify, Nav, and the Phone... and it just seems like the CarPlay versions of these things work better. For instance, the Spotify app has much of the same functions as the full app on the phone... I'm not sure if the iDrive version is as robust, but it is nice that there is even an iDrive version of Spotify at all.

I wasn't sure if the iDrive Maps app would be as up to date as far as stores, restaurants, etc. as Apple's version. Apple Maps also shows directions on the HUD, but maybe it's not as detailed or something.

If you aren't using CarPlay then how does the interface work for things that you play from your phone such as podcasts, etc.? Do you have to use the phone to find/play them and then play them via Bluetooth? Or I guess in those instances I could always use CarPlay for the podcast interface and use the iDrive interface for everything else.

If my iPhone is connected via wireless CarPlay is there some setting within iDrive that tells the car what I want to use the center console buttons for? Like if I've decided I want to use the iDrive interface for maps and for Spotify is there a way to set the center console Maps and Media button to go to the iDrive version instead of the CarPlay version?

If I use the iDrive phone can the BMW Assistant use my phone contacts? Do I have to download them to the car or something?

[AP]

Can’t speak for Spotify as I don’t use that
The bmw satnav will show in the HUD a zoomed in view of a map is if you are say a riundabout, it will show the car as it drives around and where your exit is

When I tried CarPlay I don’t recall that feature being there

Map updates are free for (at least in the U.K.) the first 3 years, after which you pay annually. Each quarter , via the connected drive logon website, you can download these (use a 64GB flash drive). Then you update the car. You may also receive OTA updates aswell potentially but they will be small updates as opposed to a complete map refresh

You can also send destinations to the car from your phone using the bmw app. I’ve never had any issues with this , it has found everything I have wanted. You can obviously send this ahead of time and pick up these sent destinations next time you are in the car. You may actually find this an easier way of entering in an address.

Music via iPhone can’t speak about as I used a flash drive in the usb slot.

[G22b58]

So, remaining question and some hints:
1) The phone contacts are loaded automatically to the iDrive.
2) I don't connect (Andriod Auto, in my case) but can still use long press to activate the phone's assistant. (Limitation is that I can't see the phones display.) I use it to call contacts from my phone book, since BMW did not implement voice detection in my native language.
3) Playing music from (a physically small) USB memory works very well. Shuffle or linear play can be limited to one folder, artist, album, playlist or all titles on the memory and resumes from where I left it. At least in iDrive 7 there is a "side effect" from the information cashing that iDrive features. So to update any music files, I use 6 similar USB memories in a round-robin sequence. (6 sticks are more than the cache remembers.)

[EnlightenedOne]

Okay, I gave it all a try today... my conclusion is iDrive is nowhere near as good as CarPlay... guess YMMV. I found the navigation to be lacking basic things (display of next turn on the screen, map automatically zoomed at appropriate level for next turn/speed, display of destination street address/announcement of street number upon arrival, correctly determining requested destination, etc.). The Spotify app on CarPlay is also much better. I couldn't even find a way to pause/stop a song from playing from the built-in app. It just has forward and backward buttons but no stop.

Definitely will be sticking with CarPlay. I still haven't figured out how to make the Map button in the center console go to Apple Maps though. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it takes me to the iDrive Maps... not sure what happens to make it go to Apple Maps.

[G22b58]

Originally Posted by EnlightenedOne

Okay, I gave it all a try today... my conclusion is iDrive is nowhere near as good as CarPlay... guess YMMV. I found the navigation to be lacking basic things (display of next turn on the screen, map automatically zoomed at appropriate level for next turn/speed, display of destination street address/announcement of street number upon arrival, correctly determining requested destination, etc.)....

Not trying to convince you, and I haven't tried navigation in iDrive 8, so it could be different. But in iDrive 7 there are several ways to display navigation information. I set instrument cluster to "Route Preview". It displays (more than one) upcoming turn and ETA until approaching a turn and then display a simplified zoomed graphics. The control display can be switched to show navigation info in several ways and I have auto zoom and display of next turn active.

(There is one thing I miss; the system rely heavily on RTTI to know when the road ahead is blocked. At times when that information is missing, I find no quick way to tell the navigation that "the given route is blocked for xx distance". There is however memory to define areas that I always want to avoid, but that is not a quick process, on the fly ..")

[Dan B]

I like Android auto on longer trips so I can use Waze. I have run a number of side-by-sides with Waze and Google Maps and I think Google has a better algorithm but Waze's community alerts is very nice.

[RSnic]

Hi,

I haveca 2020 M340 so I have iDrive 7; additionally, car has HUD, which I really like. Also have Anson phone with Android Auto.

I typically use BMW nav with RTTI except when I'm getting to an area where traffic can be a problem (like the tunnel crossing in our area); then I switched to Android Auto & use Google Maps because I have found Google Maps to be consistently more up-to-date on traffic. BTW, I still get navigational prompts in the HUD, as well as audio directions

FWIW!

[EnlightenedOne]

Originally Posted by G22b58

Not trying to convince you, and I haven't tried navigation in iDrive 8, so it could be different. But in iDrive 7 there are several ways to display navigation information. I set instrument cluster to "Route Preview". It displays (more than one) upcoming turn and ETA until approaching a turn and then display a simplified zoomed graphics. The control display can be switched to show navigation info in several ways and I have auto zoom and display of next turn active.

(There is one thing I miss; the system rely heavily on RTTI to know when the road ahead is blocked. At times when that information is missing, I find no quick way to tell the navigation that "the given route is blocked for xx distance". There is however memory to define areas that I always want to avoid, but that is not a quick process, on the fly ..")

Thanks, no worries on convincing, I appreciate any info about it. I might give it a try again and see if I can tweak the setting you mentioned. The big thing I noticed was that there wasn't much information about upcoming turns being displayed (map didn't zoom in enough, etc.) and that when I got close to the destination it didn't show the destination address or announce it. Many times if I'm going to a house or business that I haven't been to before I have to look for the street address number on the building as the navigation tends to be slightly off from the exact destination. I'm used to Apple Maps announcing the destination address once I arrive so I can make sure I am at the right building.