Last year I purchased a new automobile. I looked at the BMW 440i and told the salesman I did NOT like their $300 charge for CarPlay. He said he would cover that cost. Yeah, take it from the discount already due me? I ordered a Audi S5. No crap about charging for CarPlay and it works GREAT with my S5. Boy am I glad I didn't buy that 440i. In a handsfree state (Georgia) CarPlay is a must have! My next car will be the Audi etron GT!
I don't get it. Does CarPlay require a subsciption of any sort from anybody? I thought it worked off of the iPhone like an Apple Watch without LTE.
No, CarPlay does not require a subscription. Turning on the the CarPlay functionality in a BMW requires a subscription through BMW, where in cars from other manufacturers that functionality is on by default.
I don't get it. Does CarPlay require a subsciption of any sort from anybody? I thought it worked off of the iPhone like an Apple Watch without LTE.
No, CarPlay does not require a subscription. Turning on the the CarPlay functionality in a BMW requires a subscription through BMW, where in cars from other manufacturers that functionality is on by default.
It was already ridiculous enough that BMW charged some $300 for CarPlay when some $20k cars throw in CarPlay for free. Their subscription service is yet more money grabbing. Ridiculous.
Oh, did I mention that you can’t even get CarPlay unless you also buy their $2k navigation package?!
I have a 2006 BMW 330i and pretty soon need a new car. It ain’t gonna be a BMW for sure. Next one will be an Audi (etron sportback) or Tesla Model Y.
I put a CarPlay stereo (Sony XAV-1000) in my 2006 325i, and lost the navigation but got it back with CarPlay. Love the car, but hate that I have what looks like my 1976 Datsun Pick-up look for a car stereo in there.
I'm normally very Pro-BMW, but nickel and diming people for what is standard in every other car makes them look like Spirit Airways, and cheapens the brand:
"Want a pillow, that'll be $5,00" "Oh, sir, you have a carry on bag. That'll be $7.50, and if you'd like a bag of peanuts, that'll be a dollar. If you bring your own snacks, there is a $4.00 fee for each item." "Is that for each peanut, or the bag of them?"
BMW is one of only a handful of carmakers that charge for CarPlay access.
This is a greed play. Pure and simple. Essentially, you are renting your BMV for life. Avoid BMW.
Generally speaking, there is a reluctancy for carmakers to get Apple in between themselves and their customers. Therefore, many developed their own navi- and infotainment systems and integrated it with the car to a level that Apple/Android can’t match. The reason is their intrinsic fear for Apple as it tries to become a force in the automobile world - thereby enforcing their UX onto cars - reducing the role of the carmaker to a casing manufacturer. I am not saying what’s right or wrong, but I can understand their reluctancy. And when greed comes into place, we should respect the real champ...
My friend just bought a 2016 Toyota Highlander that does not have Apple CarPlay. It is obvious that Toyota put a LOT of time, resources and effort into developing their inhouse system. It is equally obvious that their inhouse system is crap.
It looks like Toyota is following Honda in their crappy infotainment systems.
BMW is one of only a handful of carmakers that charge for CarPlay access.
This is a greed play. Pure and simple. Essentially, you are renting your BMV for life. Avoid BMW.
Generally speaking, there is a reluctancy for carmakers to get Apple in between themselves and their customers. Therefore, many developed their own navi- and infotainment systems and integrated it with the car to a level that Apple/Android can’t match. The reason is their intrinsic fear for Apple as it tries to become a force in the automobile world - thereby enforcing their UX onto cars - reducing the role of the carmaker to a casing manufacturer. I am not saying what’s right or wrong, but I can understand their reluctancy. And when greed comes into place, we should respect the real champ...
The entire reason that CarPlay and Android Auto exist is because car makers failed so badly at making infotainment. Historically, they opened it up for bids to the usual suspects (Blaupunkt supplied Ford, Alpine did the Bose-branded stuff in GM, etc.) and went with whatever met the price they were willing to pay the supplier. Apple and Google's UX are in cars only because car and radio manufacturers didn't (and arguably still don't) understand UX and meeting a user's goals.
Agree wholeheartedly. My $300 Sony XAV-1000 is far more functional than the $2000 Honda infotainment on our 2006 Odyssey Touring Elite. That system is so illogical that the Honda engineers must be from an alternate universe, where muting the rear speakers on boot up is normal, and 17 button presses is the most efficient way of re-enabling it.
Oh, and for you aspiring car infotainment engineers, there is a very real possibility that the person navigating the system isn't the driver, and can do so while the car is in motion, so please don't disable that when the car is going >5mph.
Subscription to use my own phone in my own car? Hah! Not! It saddens me to know that BMW buyers have become this dumb. I love the older BMWs, I have two; an '87 325es and my wife drives an E61. I'm not a fan of all the electronics in the latter but we got a really good deal on it so we took a chance. It's an amazing vehicle, but repairs are pricy (fortunately I've been able to do a few of them myself they're still reasonably easy to work on). We've looked at several E39s to replace it but just haven't found the right one. No way I'm dealing with all this modern BS.
Agree wholeheartedly. My $300 Sony XAV-1000 is far more functional than the $2000 Honda infotainment on our 2006 Odyssey Touring Elite. That system is so illogical that the Honda engineers must be from an alternate universe, where muting the rear speakers on boot up is normal, and 17 button presses is the most efficient way of re-enabling it.
Oh, and for you aspiring car infotainment engineers, there is a very real possibility that the person navigating the system isn't the driver, and can do so while the car is in motion, so please don't disable that when the car is going >5mph.
This is funny. I like BMW conceptually, but, at least in the US it has a bad reputation for arrogant dealers and a clientele of Arshlochs who don't know how to drive. And being way overpriced. This just takes the cake. I went and looked at BMW in 2016 before getting the Audi and walked away.
Our 2017 Volvo V60 does not have CarPlay (wish it did) and with Volvo going to Android native info systems in the future (not Android Auto overlay but native Android), I'll probably have to unfortunately look elsewhere when we replace the car in 5 or so years.
Look ahead to 10 or more years owning car with CarPlay and AndroidAuto. In next 10 years and over, IOS,Android will change lot as you can see past 10 years. What happens if CarPlay and Android Auto interface changes on Phone side making it incompatible to work with your older car's infotainment system.
People with quick reaction blame BMW. Think,without some short of paid subscription or paid support from customers, car manufacturers have no incentive to help software update on your older car's infotainment system. This breaks or useless Car play/android auto and apps that rely on it. Anyone has suggestion on how to tackle such issue ? Don't tell me solution is buy new vehicle. FYI, I am still driving 1992 Toyota Camry.
Infiniti does not offer CarPlay either. I have an older Infiniti SUV (still a great ride) and have been waiting patiently for Infiniti to include CarPlay in their models before considering getting a new car. My wife needed a new car last year, so I stressed to her to only consider models that are CarPlay equipped.
She didn’t understand the concept why CarPlay was important, but after using it for the last year, she is loves it.
BMW is one of only a handful of carmakers that charge for CarPlay access.
This is a greed play. Pure and simple. Essentially, you are renting your BMV for life. Avoid BMW.
Generally speaking, there is a reluctancy for carmakers to get Apple in between themselves and their customers. Therefore, many developed their own navi- and infotainment systems and integrated it with the car to a level that Apple/Android can’t match. The reason is their intrinsic fear for Apple as it tries to become a force in the automobile world - thereby enforcing their UX onto cars - reducing the role of the carmaker to a casing manufacturer. I am not saying what’s right or wrong, but I can understand their reluctancy. And when greed comes into place, we should respect the real champ...
My friend just bought a 2016 Toyota Highlander that does not have Apple CarPlay. It is obvious that Toyota put a LOT of time, resources and effort into developing their inhouse system. It is equally obvious that their inhouse system is crap.
It looks like Toyota is following Honda in their crappy infotainment systems.
The newer models mostly all have Apple Car Play. But the 2016 model my friend bought still had the junk Toyota was pushing in their go-it-alone effort.
This is the sort of crap that would make me want to switch cars to a different brand.
And when we found out about ours (and quality drop in BMWs as they even reduced number of speakers in base cars and worse sound) then we decided next car after this lease will not be BMW. We already test drove other cars that offer a lot and no foolish subscription fees.
Audi tends to overcharge for car purchase (too high initial price) and then depreciation is really bad.
That is true of ANY luxury brand. Especially the European ones. And BMW is not immune. They ALL overcharge and all have pretty steep depreciation. I'd still buy an Audi over a BMW any day (and did in 2016) if I wanted a premium Euro car. I spent a lot of time looking at BMWs in 2016 and decided that they were much more expensive than I wanted to afford and they were not willing to budge on price on any ordered car (only a small amount on "lot" cars). The Audi dealer was much more open to large negotiations and as an e-tron family, it also qualified for partial tax credits.
I love my Audi A3 e-tron but will probably eventually replace it with whatever EV with 250+ mile range VW has in a hatchback or similar (non SUV/CUV) format. The e-tron is our second car and as such, a 250 mile range is more than enough. (I won't go EV on our main car until real every day range is at least 400 miles, preferably 450, with 80% charging in 15 min).
I have rarely seen factory entertainment units that were capable and well designed. At least a few years ago some manufacturers used standard dual din mounts, so you could fit in a nice aftermarket head unit and bypass all their crap. These days most use custom screens and weird shapes, so forget about just dropping in a nice aftermarket CarPlay unit. Too bad. Up until now I've been able to avoid these cars, but it's getting more and more difficult.
Look ahead to 10 or more years owning car with CarPlay and AndroidAuto. In next 10 years and over, IOS,Android will change lot as you can see past 10 years. What happens if CarPlay and Android Auto interface changes on Phone side making it incompatible to work with your older car's infotainment system.
People with quick reaction blame BMW. Think,without some short of paid subscription or paid support from customers, car manufacturers have no incentive to help software update on your older car's infotainment system. This breaks or useless Car play/android auto and apps that rely on it. Anyone has suggestion on how to tackle such issue ? Don't tell me solution is buy new vehicle. FYI, I am still driving 1992 Toyota Camry.
So, Apple at least tends to have API/ABI stability and supports long deprecated APIs for a long time into the future. So this is less likely to be a problem for most people, and most people do not keep their cars for 10+ years. It may end up being a problem for a small number of people who have a new iPhone in 10 years, say 2029, and are driving a 2017 car with CarPlay.
CarPlay is an overlay and cars with it also have their native infotainment systems so in this case, I suspect you would have to fall back to the native car infotainment system.
I'll say that I am much more likely to want CarPlay than a native system that never gets updated. My Audi nav system is already out of date map wise.
Comments
I put a CarPlay stereo (Sony XAV-1000) in my 2006 325i, and lost the navigation but got it back with CarPlay. Love the car, but hate that I have what looks like my 1976 Datsun Pick-up look for a car stereo in there.
I'm normally very Pro-BMW, but nickel and diming people for what is standard in every other car makes them look like Spirit Airways, and cheapens the brand:
"Want a pillow, that'll be $5,00"
"Oh, sir, you have a carry on bag. That'll be $7.50, and if you'd like a bag of peanuts, that'll be a dollar. If you bring your own snacks, there is a $4.00 fee for each item."
"Is that for each peanut, or the bag of them?"
It looks like Toyota is following Honda in their crappy infotainment systems.
Agree wholeheartedly. My $300 Sony XAV-1000 is far more functional than the $2000 Honda infotainment on our 2006 Odyssey Touring Elite. That system is so illogical that the Honda engineers must be from an alternate universe, where muting the rear speakers on boot up is normal, and 17 button presses is the most efficient way of re-enabling it.
Oh, and for you aspiring car infotainment engineers, there is a very real possibility that the person navigating the system isn't the driver, and can do so while the car is in motion, so please don't disable that when the car is going >5mph.
Subscription to use my own phone in my own car? Hah! Not! It saddens me to know that BMW buyers have become this dumb. I love the older BMWs, I have two; an '87 325es and my wife drives an E61. I'm not a fan of all the electronics in the latter but we got a really good deal on it so we took a chance. It's an amazing vehicle, but repairs are pricy (fortunately I've been able to do a few of them myself they're still reasonably easy to work on). We've looked at several E39s to replace it but just haven't found the right one. No way I'm dealing with all this modern BS.
It's the same reason printer UIs suck.
The company sold its soul years ago and has become the very thing it once lampooned in advertising.
What were once compact, lithe, efficient, moderately priced sports sedans have become large and thirsty and expensive status symbols.
My 2016 VW Golf came with Carplay and Android Auto as standard, as do all VWs.
Money grabbing and a terrible idea. This puts me off the brand completely
This is funny. I like BMW conceptually, but, at least in the US it has a bad reputation for arrogant dealers and a clientele of Arshlochs who don't know how to drive. And being way overpriced. This just takes the cake. I went and looked at BMW in 2016 before getting the Audi and walked away.
Our 2017 Volvo V60 does not have CarPlay (wish it did) and with Volvo going to Android native info systems in the future (not Android Auto overlay but native Android), I'll probably have to unfortunately look elsewhere when we replace the car in 5 or so years.
That is true of ANY luxury brand. Especially the European ones. And BMW is not immune. They ALL overcharge and all have pretty steep depreciation. I'd still buy an Audi over a BMW any day (and did in 2016) if I wanted a premium Euro car. I spent a lot of time looking at BMWs in 2016 and decided that they were much more expensive than I wanted to afford and they were not willing to budge on price on any ordered car (only a small amount on "lot" cars). The Audi dealer was much more open to large negotiations and as an e-tron family, it also qualified for partial tax credits.
I love my Audi A3 e-tron but will probably eventually replace it with whatever EV with 250+ mile range VW has in a hatchback or similar (non SUV/CUV) format. The e-tron is our second car and as such, a 250 mile range is more than enough. (I won't go EV on our main car until real every day range is at least 400 miles, preferably 450, with 80% charging in 15 min).
But for future car purchases, CarPlay is a must.
So, Apple at least tends to have API/ABI stability and supports long deprecated APIs for a long time into the future. So this is less likely to be a problem for most people, and most people do not keep their cars for 10+ years. It may end up being a problem for a small number of people who have a new iPhone in 10 years, say 2029, and are driving a 2017 car with CarPlay.
CarPlay is an overlay and cars with it also have their native infotainment systems so in this case, I suspect you would have to fall back to the native car infotainment system.
I'll say that I am much more likely to want CarPlay than a native system that never gets updated. My Audi nav system is already out of date map wise.