BMW is again delivering vehicles with Carplay and Android Auto. Vehicles that BMW delivered without Carplay and Android Auto by April 2022 will have these functions retrofitted via a software update.
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Here you can see Apple Carplay in a BMW M340i xDrive.
© Gabriel Nica/Shutterstock.com
Updated May 17, 2022:
When asked by PC-WELT, BMW confirmed that vehicles had been delivered without working Carplay and Android Auto for four months. The problem should now be solved and the affected vehicles should get the missing functionality via software update. BMW writes verbatim:
“Due to current supply bottlenecks for semiconductors, new hardware for so-called head units was used in a number of BMW models (vehicles with Operating System 7). As a result, the BMW Group was able to meet the vehicle delivery commitments it made to its BMW customers, despite global supply shortages for semiconductor components for head units. For a short period of time, from January to April 2022, however, it was not possible to certify the software required for the special function: integration Apple Car Play and Android Auto, Wifi hotspot and remote software upgrades via Wifi at the same time and, as a result, parallel to the new head- to offer unit hardware. This resulted in a temporary omission of these non-critical functions.
As of today (May 16, 2022), the software is certified and has been available with all functions including integration of Apple Car Play and Android Auto, Wifi hotspot and remote software upgrades via Wifi since May 1, 2022 across the board in newly produced vehicles. Vehicles that were produced without the appropriate software in the period from January to April 2022 will have the software made available over the air over the next few weeks with our remote software upgrade campaign-22-03.
Vehicles in Germany and a number of European countries are particularly affected. Vehicles in the US market are not affected by this.”
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However, BMW did not say which model series are affected and how many vehicles are involved.
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According to Automotive News Europe, BMW is currently delivering vehicles without Apple Carplay and Android Auto. However, BMW intends to deliver both smartphone interfaces via an over-the-air update by the end of June 2022 at the latest. The reason for this is a change in chip suppliers that took place at the beginning of this year.
The chips supplied by the new supplier are not yet compatible with Apple Carplay and Android Auto. Therefore, BMW must first install a software update on the affected vehicles so that the chips support Carplay and Android Auto. This issue affects BMW vehicles built during the first four months of 2022.
BMW intends to deliver this OTA software update by the end of June 2022 at the latest. However, BMW does not say which model series are affected by the problem. In addition, BMW is not telling how many new cars have been delivered without CarPlay and Android Auto support. However, vehicles with “6P1” in the production code were definitely delivered without Carplay and Android Auto, as the group revealed.
In addition, BMW is not telling which markets BMW vehicles were delivered with the new chips and without support for Carplay and Android Auto. According to The Verge, drivers from the USA, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and France probably reported the lack of support for the two smartphone interfaces.
In November 2021, BMW delivered new cars with limited functionality. At that time, the touchscreen function was missing in various vehicles.
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