[Chris Brynner]

I had this happen to me today. CarPlay GPS was consistently off, but the BMW map was accurate. The CarPlay map updated its position and direction consistent with my motion. I checked at one point, and CarPlay thought I was exactly one kilometer due north of my actual location. Very strange bug.

 

[Jose1977]

I had this happen to me today. CarPlay GPS was consistently off, but the BMW map was accurate. The CarPlay map updated its position and direction consistent with my motion. I checked at one point, and CarPlay thought I was exactly one kilometer due north of my actual location. Very strange bug.

What baffles me the most is that in my i3s (2018) CarPlay is absolutely flawless.

 

[ssh]

I had this happen to me today. CarPlay GPS was consistently off, but the BMW map was accurate. The CarPlay map updated its position and direction consistent with my motion. I checked at one point, and CarPlay thought I was exactly one kilometer due north of my actual location. Very strange bug.

Remember that GPS is driven by triangulation of satellite signal reception. Depending on the location of the phone in the car, your reception may be limited enough to render the location calculation inaccurate. Some cars (like my 330) have signal boosters for this. I don't think we have any clarity on whether or not the i4 does this, although I believe wireless CarPlay is supposed to include that capability.

 

[Jose1977]

Remember that GPS is driven by triangulation of satellite signal reception. Depending on the location of the phone in the car, your reception may be limited enough to render the location calculation inaccurate. Some cars (like my 330) have signal boosters for this. I don't think we have any clarity on whether or not the i4 does this, although I believe wireless CarPlay is supposed to include that capability.

You can hold the phone out the window and it will not have any affect on location accuracy.

There’s too many people experiencing this issue to just say it’s a discrepancy in phone location and lack of signal booster in the i4

 

[ssh]

You can hold the phone out the window and it will not have any affect on location accuracy.

There’s too many people experiencing this issue to just say it’s a discrepancy in phone location and lack of signal booster in the i4

So what do you think it is? Your only option is that the location calculation is being effected somehow. How do you think it's being effected?

...and have you "held it out the window" for a stretch of time long enough to get a satellite lock?

 

[Chris Brynner]

Remember that GPS is driven by triangulation of satellite signal reception. Depending on the location of the phone in the car, your reception may be limited enough to render the location calculation inaccurate. Some cars (like my 330) have signal boosters for this. I don't think we have any clarity on whether or not the i4 does this, although I believe wireless CarPlay is supposed to include that capability.

The phone triangulation is definitely not the issue. When I opened maps before turning on the car, the position was correct. As soon as I turned on the car and CarPlay connected, the CarPlay map displayed on the car screen was offset.

This wasn’t an issue prior to today.

I tried rebooting my phone, but they did not solve the problem.Disconnecting CarPlay from inside the car also did not. I was able to disconnect CarPlay from the “devices” menu in the car and reconnect. That seemed to resolve the problem.

 

[Jose1977]

The phone triangulation is definitely not the issue. When I opened maps before turning on the car, the position was correct. As soon as I turned on the car and CarPlay connected, the CarPlay map displayed on the car screen was offset.

This wasn’t an issue prior to today.

I tried rebooting my phone, but they did not solve the problem.Disconnecting CarPlay from inside the car also did not. I was able to disconnect CarPlay from the “devices” menu in the car and reconnect. That seemed to resolve the problem.

Keep an eye on it because I’ve also done that and it’ll resolve for a bit and come back.

Once in a while it’ll work perfect, but the issue rears it’s ugly head again and ruins my drive.

 

[ssh]

The phone triangulation is definitely not the issue. When I opened maps before turning on the car, the position was correct. As soon as I turned on the car and CarPlay connected, the CarPlay map displayed on the car screen was offset.

This wasn’t an issue prior to today.

I tried rebooting my phone, but they did not solve the problem.Disconnecting CarPlay from inside the car also did not. I was able to disconnect CarPlay from the “devices” menu in the car and reconnect. That seemed to resolve the problem.

That sounds like interference to me.

Please note: it must be something in the GPS signal reception. There’s literally nothing else it could be.

 

[Chris Brynner]

That sounds like interference to me.

Please note: it must be something in the GPS signal reception. There’s literally nothing else it could be.

I disagree... it might be signal interference, but there are a number of other options.

For one, I believe wireless CarPlay receives its GPS data from the car (i.e., not with a GPS signal booster but with data over the wireless connection). Since the BMW app displays the correct position, unless there's a second GPS antenna, it doesn't seem like strict antenna interference.

Not having access to the Wireless CarPlay data spec, I propose a few alternative reasons for this issue:

1) If the GPS data comes to the phone as a raw stream of decoded GPS signals, then it's still up to the phone to do the triangulation math. Since that data is being retransmitted with a delay, the data path would need to include additional latency information. If that latency was incorrectly calculated or became corrupted in memory, then I think we'd see something similar to this issue.

2) If the GPS data comes to the phone as pre-decoded position information, it's possible that that data stream gets corrupted and the phone has no GPS data to go off of. It would then rely on its other systems (cell tower, wifi, accelerometer integration) to get some idea of where it was.

3) If the GPS data comes to the phone as an initial position and then a stream of deltas, then some corrupt data could make the initial position consistently wrong, but the deltas would mean the position would remain wrong by the same offset for the duration of the trip.

Or it could be signal interference.

 

[ssh]

I disagree... it might be signal interference, but there are a number of other options.

For one, I believe wireless CarPlay receives its GPS data from the car (i.e., not with a GPS signal booster but with data over the wireless connection). Since the BMW app displays the correct position, unless there's a second GPS antenna, it doesn't seem like strict antenna interference.

Not having access to the Wireless CarPlay data spec, I propose a few alternative reasons for this issue:

1) If the GPS data comes to the phone as a raw stream of decoded GPS signals, then it's still up to the phone to do the triangulation math. Since that data is being retransmitted with a delay, the data path would need to include additional latency information. If that latency was incorrectly calculated or became corrupted in memory, then I think we'd see something similar to this issue.

2) If the GPS data comes to the phone as pre-decoded position information, it's possible that that data stream gets corrupted and the phone has no GPS data to go off of. It would then rely on its other systems (cell tower, wifi, accelerometer integration) to get some idea of where it was.

3) If the GPS data comes to the phone as an initial position and then a stream of deltas, then some corrupt data could make the initial position consistently wrong, but the deltas would mean the position would remain wrong by the same offset for the duration of the trip.

Or it could be signal interference.

I get ya.

1, 2, and 3 are "signal reception" issues in my book. But I get your point.

 

[Chris Brynner]

This happened to me again last night. Turning off CarPlay and back on from the i4 devices screen didn't work. Instead, what happened was:

1. Turn CarPlay back on, wait a bit for it to connect
2. Once music starts playing again, switch to the CarPlay screen and open Maps
3. See that the position is correct on GPS
4. Watch the position suddenly migrate to nearly 1km south from my location

Interestingly, the location it moved to was the approximate location of a cell tower. The last time this happened, the offset (at the end of my commute) was 1km north, and there's also a cell tower just about 1km north of my driveway. Theory: the initial positioning data being provided by wireless CarPlay is garbage and it's falling back to the location of the cell tower it's connected to.

 

[ssh]

This happened to me again last night. Turning off CarPlay and back on from the i4 devices screen didn't work. Instead, what happened was:

1. Turn CarPlay back on, wait a bit for it to connect
2. Once music starts playing again, switch to the CarPlay screen and open Maps
3. See that the position is correct on GPS
4. Watch the position suddenly migrate to nearly 1km south from my location

Interestingly, the location it moved to was the approximate location of a cell tower. The last time this happened, the offset (at the end of my commute) was 1km north, and there's also a cell tower just about 1km north of my driveway. Theory: the initial positioning data being provided by wireless CarPlay is garbage and it's falling back to the location of the cell tower it's connected to.

If you take it off CarPlay and look at Maps, it should show the cellular circle if it's not using GPS. But, if you take it off CarPlay, it corrects, doesn't it? I think something's weird about the reception in the car and its communication to the phone.

 

[Chris Brynner]

If you take it off CarPlay and look at Maps, it should show the cellular circle if it's not using GPS. But, if you take it off CarPlay, it corrects, doesn't it? I think something's weird about the reception in the car and its communication to the phone.

Correct, if I take it out of CarPlay it corrects. I agree that it’s definitely something wrong with the comms between the i4 and the phone. Hard to know if it’s a bug in iOS or the car though.

 

[ssh]

Correct, if I take it out of CarPlay it corrects. I agree that it’s definitely something wrong with the comms between the i4 and the phone. Hard to know if it’s a bug in iOS or the car though.

Yeah, although I have a hard time believing it's the phone since it snaps in so quick. I wouldn't expect that wireless and wired analysis on the iOS side is different, so I suspect something in the wireless CarPlay protocols in the car. Worth communicating to BMW to see if an update helps.

 

[Accident]

Last time I had this problem I noticed a couple other issues I didn’t notice before.

• Car Navigation worked fine
• Apple Carplay location 3 miles south of my current location
• My BMW app location sames as CarPlay. 3 miles south
• All apps on my iPhone showing the wrong location. Starbucks app also thought I was 3 miles away
• Car navigation still fine
• No changes after rebooting phone
• After I got home, My BMW app showed that my car was parked 3 miles south
• Problem was fixed next day after I rebooted iDrive holding the volume button 30 seconds

 

[ssh]

Last time I had this problem I noticed a couple other issues I didn’t notice before.

• Car Navigation worked fine
• Apple Carplay location 3 miles south of my current location
• My BMW app location sames as CarPlay. 3 miles south
• All apps on my iPhone showing the wrong location. Starbucks app also thought I was 3 miles away
• Car navigation still fine
• No changes after rebooting phone
• After I got home, My BMW app showed that my car was parked 3 miles south
• Problem was fixed next day after I rebooted iDrive holding the volume button 30 seconds

...and once you were off CarPlay, I assume your location showed correctly in the other apps?

 

[Jose1977]

Last time I had this problem I noticed a couple other issues I didn’t notice before.

• Car Navigation worked fine
• Apple Carplay location 3 miles south of my current location
• My BMW app location sames as CarPlay. 3 miles south
• All apps on my iPhone showing the wrong location. Starbucks app also thought I was 3 miles away
• Car navigation still fine
• No changes after rebooting phone
• After I got home, My BMW app showed that my car was parked 3 miles south
• Problem was fixed next day after I rebooted iDrive holding the volume button 30 seconds

Yup same here. Hopefully it doesn’t reoccur, because I thought I was in the clear and now it happens every once in a while. Can’t explain it

 

[Accident]

...and once you were off CarPlay, I assume your location showed correctly in the other apps?

Yes, everything works fine on my phone as soon as it gets disconnected. I took a screenshot, and I think the car actually shows that it’s parked like 6 or 7 miles miles from my location 🤔

 

[sam011989]

It can be proven to be an issue with the car pretty easily. Connect your phone to carplay, notice the location in maps.
then open the bmw app and look at the cars location that the CAR is self reporting to BMW. You’ll see these locations match.
the incorrect information is coming from the car and we don’t know why. I have yet to do a reset to idrive, but I’m going to try and it and see if it works Even if temporarily.

 

[lukitza]

Hello. I have exactly the same problem with my VW Passat 2015. I use Carplay wired to Iphone 13.
A lot of people with different brands of cars complain over the internet about this problem. Some older cars, some newer cars.
My wife`s Android phone works flawlessly in the same car. So it can`t be a car problem.
On the other hand there are a lot of people that use Carplay with no problem.
I believe it`s a software bug in Carplay that only surfaces in certain situations.