[seemebreakthis]

Was going through the specs today with the dealer when I was told Carplay will simply not be available where I am at (Hong Kong). Not even if I pay for the extra cost. When I asked why they mentioned something that didn't make a lot of sense to me - that the iDrive system with Chinese support has the non-standard Gaode maps integrated to it, and therefore Apple Carplay / Android Auto will interfere with it so they cannot be enabled. I strongly suspect they are just making this up.

But I think what happens here is that none of the BMWs in Hong Kong have ever been sold with Carplay installed or activated.

So I am now desperate to find out if it is a matter of coding the iDrive to get Android Auto (in which case I could probably find someone to do it or even find an INPA cable then do it myself..????), or are there hardware parts to be installed and if so, will these parts be already included in my future i4 M50...?

Perhaps some of you with other BMW models could shed some light on this.. I was really taken aback when the sales person told me about this earlier today. I mean it is already 2021 and new cars with Carplay should be a given by now...?!!?

Any info appreciated !

 

[simons700]

Coding probably is not enough you might also need an FSC that can only be genareted by bmw. I would not bet on it being possible!

 

[larbel]

Am in Hong Kong too and have M50 on order.. My sales gave me a completely different reason for not having Carplay, he basically said since iDrive 8 is way more capable than Carplay, there no reason to include it... WTH, new car salesman are just as bad as used car salesman I guess haha... Coming from Audi, both Android Auto and Carplay has been around for 4 or 5 years, I'm so used to it and not sure what to make of this... Plus the Connected app is butchered to hell here, really blows my mind how BMW HK falls so behind from the rest of the world...

 

[seemebreakthis]

Am in Hong Kong too and have M50 on order.. My sales gave me a completely different reason for not having Carplay, he basically said since iDrive 8 is way more capable than Carplay, there no reason to include it... WTH, new car salesman are just as bad as used car salesman I guess haha... Coming from Audi, both Android Auto and Carplay has been around for 4 or 5 years, I'm so used to it and not sure what to make of this... Plus the Connected app is butchered to hell here, really blows my mind how BMW HK falls so behind from the rest of the world...

Yeah they also said something like this to me. We may have the same salesperson

(responding to your other post) I was going to go for the Frozen Portimao Blue but not really sure anymore because of the extra time for delivery. That grey color seems too light to me also. Anyway I guess we will have a few more months to think about it. The sales person basically said we will probably be looking at January or so before we can finalize our order.