Bimmer-Tech good or bad?

Keiffer-F87 · 03-08-2023, 07:44 AM

Does anyone have any experience with ‘Bimmer-Tech’ and their iPhone & Android integration CarPlay MMI Prime Retrofit for BMWs’? I would like to have ‘Android Auto’ on my 2021 M2C. Thoughts?
Thank

BadgerDog · 03-09-2023, 12:15 AM

I've only used their coding app, which is great. I'm quite interested in this as well, though it's not cheap.

Noh Wan · 03-12-2023, 09:36 PM

I had the Android Auto MMI Prime Retrofit installed and it's... good.

Not great, but I felt it was worth the money. Android Auto (AA) drops out every once in a while and it can be a PITA to get it re-connect. It tends to happen if I've been driving for a while with it linked, stop somewhere for a few minutes and get back into the car. Bimmertech has recently sent me new firmware which will hopefully fix some of the issues but I haven't been able to test it yet. These issues aren't exclusive to the MMI Prime. I've been in cars that have the same issue even with AA supported natively.

I have two complaints. One is and Android issue and the other is an MMI prime issue.
1) If the car connection drops for whatever reason but your phone stays connected, AA will not let you use Google maps on your phone as it belives it's running on the car. This is a huge problem if you're driving in unfamiliar territory, the connection drops and you don't know where you are. It can be a real PITA to get the two things to re-connect through a combination of restarting MMI, your phone, bluetooth, restarting the radio, etc.
2) MMI passes AA through to the touchscreen in your car but it doesn't allow you to use the touch inetrface to interact with AA. Instead the AA screen is overlayed on top of the factory UI. If you start touching the screen with the AA screen it doesn;t look like anything is happening, but you are actually interacting with the underlaying screen, invisible to you, and could be changing settings, radio stations, etc. It's not a problem necessarily, but something to be aware of.

The purchase was worth it or me. I can't offer advice on whether or not it's the best purchase for you, but I don't know any better way to integrate AA into an M2. It's not as well integrated as some factory implementations I've used, but it's no worse than some others.

03-08-2023, 07:44 AM	#1
Keiffer-F87 New Member 2 Rep 6 Posts Drives: 2021 BMW M2 Competition Join Date: Mar 2023 Location: Sarasota, Florida iTrader: (0) Garage List 2005 BMW 330i ZHP [0.00] 2021 BMW M2 Competi ... [10.00]	Bimmer-Tech good or bad? Does anyone have any experience with ‘Bimmer-Tech’ and their iPhone & Android integration CarPlay MMI Prime Retrofit for BMWs’? I would like to have ‘Android Auto’ on my 2021 M2C. Thoughts? Thank
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03-09-2023, 12:15 AM	#2
BadgerDog Private First Class 178 Rep 167 Posts Drives: 2017 BMW M2 Join Date: Jul 2020 Location: United States iTrader: (0) Garage List 2017 BMW M2 [9.50]	I've only used their coding app, which is great. I'm quite interested in this as well, though it's not cheap.
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03-12-2023, 09:36 PM	#3
Noh Wan New Member 24 Rep 26 Posts Drives: M2C Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Chicago iTrader: (0)	I had the Android Auto MMI Prime Retrofit installed and it's... good. Not great, but I felt it was worth the money. Android Auto (AA) drops out every once in a while and it can be a PITA to get it re-connect. It tends to happen if I've been driving for a while with it linked, stop somewhere for a few minutes and get back into the car. Bimmertech has recently sent me new firmware which will hopefully fix some of the issues but I haven't been able to test it yet. These issues aren't exclusive to the MMI Prime. I've been in cars that have the same issue even with AA supported natively. I have two complaints. One is and Android issue and the other is an MMI prime issue. 1) If the car connection drops for whatever reason but your phone stays connected, AA will not let you use Google maps on your phone as it belives it's running on the car. This is a huge problem if you're driving in unfamiliar territory, the connection drops and you don't know where you are. It can be a real PITA to get the two things to re-connect through a combination of restarting MMI, your phone, bluetooth, restarting the radio, etc. 2) MMI passes AA through to the touchscreen in your car but it doesn't allow you to use the touch inetrface to interact with AA. Instead the AA screen is overlayed on top of the factory UI. If you start touching the screen with the AA screen it doesn;t look like anything is happening, but you are actually interacting with the underlaying screen, invisible to you, and could be changing settings, radio stations, etc. It's not a problem necessarily, but something to be aware of. The purchase was worth it or me. I can't offer advice on whether or not it's the best purchase for you, but I don't know any better way to integrate AA into an M2. It's not as well integrated as some factory implementations I've used, but it's no worse than some others. __________________ 2020 M2C Be healthy. Be nice. Do interesting things.
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