BMW Apps (6NR) retrofit

[vishwen]

Hi Guys,

My dealer told me it is possible to retrofit the 6NR

do you guy think it is worth do it?

[PatrickC23]

Sorry - what is 6NR?

[AGS]

Originally Posted by Patsc23

Sorry - what is 6NR?

BMW Apps

[PatrickC23]

Originally Posted by AGS

BMW Apps

ah thanks - what is so good about BMW Apps? Must have option?

[stealth.pilot]

Not worth it.

[Neil McRae]

for internet radio is a must have here in the UK as we dont have sirus and have nothing but advertisment stations with the odd bit of music.

[PatrickC23]

wat else does BMW apps allow u to do?

[jphughan]

OP, the only retrofit for BMW Apps I'm aware of is unofficial. There are vendors who can do it via some iDrive updates, coding, etc, but I'm not aware of any official retrofit offered by BMW.

As for functionality, right now BMW Apps allows PlugIn (native iPod interface displayed on iDrive for song selection, Genius Mixes, etc) and playback of videos stored on the device; both of those features require an iPhone 4/4S and the Media cradle (there isn't a Media cradle for the 5 yet). The other features that work over plain old USB are Pandora, MOG Radio, and BMW Connected, the latter of which includes a lot of Web Radio stations. Theoretically third parties can build apps that interface with iDrive, but thus far no one else has.

I got BMW Apps including the Media cradle on my M3. I sold the cradle a few months later never having used it. Video playback only works while parked, and PlugIn was kinda cool but the native iDrive interface for controlling an iPod/iPhone is good enough that it wasn't worth it, plus PlugIn didn't pass info to the split screen Entertainment View very well.

Pandora, however, IS very well done if you have BMW Apps. If you don't, apparently getting Pandora audio to your car over USB is pretty unreliable (Bluetooth works fine though), and in either of those connectivity options without BMW Apps you don't get album art and song metadata put up on iDrive, and your only playback control is skipping to a new song, not changing stations or up/downvoting songs. With BMW Apps you can do all of that as long as you're connected via USB.

And as others have said, for many people, Web Radio alone is worth the cost. For me, I never used it and seldom used Pandora, so it was $250 down the drain, plus the $200 cradle. Live and learn I guess.

[PatrickC23]

Originally Posted by jphughan

Right now BMW Apps allows PlugIn (native iPod interface displayed on iDrive for song selection, Genius Mixes, etc) and playback of videos stored on the device; both of those features require an iPhone 4/4S and the Media cradle (there isn't a Media cradle for the 5 yet). The other features that work over plain old USB are Pandora, MOG Radio, and BMW Connected, the latter of which includes a lot of Web Radio stations. Theoretically third parties can build apps that interface with iDrive, but thus far no one else has.

I got BMW Apps including the Media cradle on my M3. I sold the cradle a few months later never having used it. Video playback only works while parked, and PlugIn was kinda cool but the native iDrive interface for controlling an iPod/iPhone is good enough that it wasn't worth it, plus PlugIn didn't pass info to the split screen Entertainment View very well.

Pandora, however, IS very well done if you have BMW Apps. If you don't, apparently getting Pandora audio to your car over USB is pretty unreliable (Bluetooth works fine though), and in either of those connectivity options without BMW Apps you don't get album art and song metadata put up on iDrive, and your only playback control is skipping to a new song, not changing stations or up/downvoting songs. With BMW Apps you can do all of that as long as you're connected via USB.

And as others have said, for many people, Web Radio alone is worth the cost. For me, I never used it and seldom used Pandora, so it was $250 down the drain, plus the $200 cradle. Live and learn I guess.

actually, I do use Pandora. Other than that, is BMW apps something that is supposed to have more functionality as time passes other than just the apps? I thought I had previously read that its full capabilities hadn't been fully enabled yet. Or is what you see what you get?

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by Patsc23

actually, I do use Pandora. Other than that, is BMW apps something that is supposed to have more functionality as time passes other than just the apps? I thought I had previously read that its full capabilities hadn't been fully enabled yet. Or is what you see what you get?

I edited my post a couple times above to answer the retrofit question and that, but basically BMW has said that they'll be working with third parties to get more apps enabled to interface with the car, but thus far that's only been Pandora and MOG. So it's theoretically possible they'll do more with it, but they haven't announced any timeline or even a list of future apps they intend to get into the market.

[PatrickC23]

Originally Posted by jphughan

I edited my post a couple times above to answer the retrofit question and that, but basically BMW has said that they'll be working with third parties to get more apps enabled to interface with the car, but thus far that's only been Pandora and MOG. So it's theoretically possible they'll do more with it, but they haven't announced any timeline or even a list of future apps they intend to get into the market.

thats funny because I kept going back to reread your post and was confused at how much info i missed the first time. So the connectivity runs off your phone's data connection?

But if you dont get apps, u can still plug in your iphone/ipod?

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by Patsc23

thats funny because I kept going back to reread your post and was confused at how much info i missed the first time. So the connectivity runs off your phone's data connection?

But if you dont get apps, u can still plug in your iphone/ipod?

Correct, since the apps actually run on your phone, they use your phone's data connection (or Wifi if you're connecting to a mobile hotspot or something). If you don't get Apps, you can still use your phone for basic music over USB, Bluetooth audio, and even Pandora -- but Pandora is apparently pretty finicky in that scenario and you lose out on all of the extra display info and playback control. And PlugIn, video playback, Web Radio (from the BMW Connected app), and MOG all become unavailable.

[PatrickC23]

So since it is connected via cradle or plug only one device can be "paired" at a time correct?

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by Patsc23

So since it is connected via cradle or plug only one device can be "paired" at a time correct?

Depends on the car. If your car was produced before 9/2010, then you can play music via either USB or cradle devices, but if there are devices connected to both simultaneously, you'll only be able to pull music from the USB-attached device. From 9/2010 onward in that scenario, I can confirm that you can play music from either device. You can also have multiple devices paired over Bluetooth for Bluetooth Audio and connect to one of those as well. However, any devices that have Bluetooth pairings with Audio enabled in iDrive will have the Bluetooth Audio capability disabled while they're connected via cradle or cable (the phone functionality would continue to work though), and after disconnecting that device from the cradle/cable, you have to go into that device's properties to manually re-enable Bluetooth Audio.

At least that's how it works for the iDrive system immediately prior to the one that was introduced in the 2013 M5, so the above may not be completely accurate for the new system.

[nytrus112]

Why do I feel like my Prius w/Advanced Tech Package (Toyota Entune Apps) is leaps and bounds ahead of the BMW system? Ah wells.