Quote:
Originally Posted by z0mghii
Personally, I'd 100% recommend the listing that I posted. All these units are essentially the same, with minor tweaks in the software. There's a huge thread that you can do some research here - https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1675929
I was debating between getting the bimmertech one (~$700) vs the listing I posted (~$250), and thought $250 was a small enough risk in case things didn't meet my expectations and I would just write it off.
I can say with full confidence this mod is the best thing I've done for this car, it just makes the car so much more modern. I enter the car, phone stays in the pocket, it connects to android auto through wifi and bluetooth, then I hold the menu button for 3 seconds to switch to the ANDREAM software, tap ok through the idrive controller and google maps and spotify starts playing automatically. It's almost identical to a native OEM implementation, all steering wheel functionality and idrive controller works. Voice assistant button on the steering wheel triggers google assistant.
> Wireless carplay is what I'm prioritizing along with great audio quality. I'd prefer little to no drop in audio quality if possible. (Coming from plugging in directly)
Hm, if you were originally plugged in through AUX, I just can't see audio quality through bluetooth match AUX quality. The way this system works is it has it's own bluetooth chip, and during the installation step, you actually have to route a wire from the box to the AUX port in your car (see FAQ in the bimmerpost link up top). If you're looking to continue to use AUX for your phone, then none of these boxes will work. Additionally, I'll also note that I haven't tested carplay only android auto.
With that being said, the bluetooth quality is identical or even better than the idrive unit. One of the biggest frustrations I had was that bluetooth on the idrive unit was horrible. It would connect to my phone but never played sound out. I constantly had to reconnect bluetooth to get it working. I notice no difference in sound quality between AUX and Bluetooth, though I'm not a sound expert |
Would you give more details as to how Android Auto works with this? I don't have any desire to move to IOS. I'm making due currently using the Smart Mirror box and mating my Android phone that way. Do you use the iDrive controller to access the various Android Auto apps? If Android Auto works well with the new MMI, I might upgrade from my old version.