BMW owners - any of you fitted a Chinese MMI unit?

[Jefferson D'Arcy]

I've switched to an older model and would like Carplay again.

Have any of you successfully fitted one of the Bimmertech/Unichip/Aliexpress MMI boxes for Android or Carplay? What model have you installed it in and what series of iDrive do you have?

Are there any fitment centres in Jhb or Pta doing this?

Appreciate any pointers

 

[Jefferson D'Arcy]

Sorted…

 

[Grubscrew]

View attachment 1103395

Sorted…

Congratlualtions SAR

 

[Jefferson D'Arcy]

Congratlualtions SAR

Now I'll be able to see your glorious visage when you ring me while I drive around.

I drive around and take calls. Very important you see.

Now, let's about our business.

 

[rh1]

View attachment 1103395

Sorted…

Glad we as forumnites were able to assist you.

 

[airborne]

How much was the landed cost and how easy was it to fit?

 

[BBC]

why isn't it sitting flush?

 

[ToxicBunny]

Yeah I've contemplated doing a similar thing in my F30..

How much was that unit?

 

[Jefferson D'Arcy]

Glad we as forumnites were able to assist you.

I can always count on you lot. Always!

How much was the landed cost and how easy was it to fit?

I paid around $350USD, $100 of which was shipping.

Pretty easy, it took around an hour. Its plug and play but you spend extra time being careful with clips, finding a place to seat the unit and trying to shove the OEM headunit back in without fouling the harnesses. This is based on a 6 Series, other models might be more or less painful.

Note the MMI mic and OEM mics are separate. So unless you add a mic to the MMI unit, you'll need to switch back to BMW bluetooth each time a call comes in which is slightly annoying but not a train smash.

 

[Jefferson D'Arcy]

why isn't it sitting flush?

That was mid reassembly. I did a quick test to make sure everything was working before putting it all together.

 

[BBC]

That was mid reassembly. I did a quick test to make sure everything was working before putting it all together.

Good job then

 

[airborne]

I can always count on you lot. Always!



I paid around $350USD, $100 of which was shipping.

Pretty easy, it took around an hour. Its plug and play but you spend extra time being careful with clips, finding a place to seat the unit and trying to shove the OEM headunit back in without fouling the harnesses. This is based on a 6 Series, other models might be more or less painful.

Note the MMI mic and OEM mics are separate. So unless you add a mic to the MMI unit, you'll need to switch back to BMW bluetooth each time a call comes in which is slightly annoying but not a train smash.

So whatever you did is not a complete new head unit it's just an adaptor that you plug into the back of the existing unit?

 

[Jefferson D'Arcy]

So whatever you did is not a complete new head unit it's just an adaptor that you plug into the back of the existing unit?

That’s right, its a separate logic box. You retain your OEM iDrive (long press on the Menu button activates the MMI unit). You can see it in below pic.

 

[ToxicBunny]

I can always count on you lot. Always!



I paid around $350USD, $100 of which was shipping.

Pretty easy, it took around an hour. Its plug and play but you spend extra time being careful with clips, finding a place to seat the unit and trying to shove the OEM headunit back in without fouling the harnesses. This is based on a 6 Series, other models might be more or less painful.

Note the MMI mic and OEM mics are separate. So unless you add a mic to the MMI unit, you'll need to switch back to BMW bluetooth each time a call comes in which is slightly annoying but not a train smash.

Mind posting a link to the unit you bought?

At $350 I'm potentially interested in the idea, everything else I've seen is north of R10k which is just a bit excessive to have some extra features.

 

[Jefferson D'Arcy]

Mind posting a link to the unit you bought?

At $350 I'm potentially interested in the idea, everything else I've seen is north of R10k which is just a bit excessive to have some extra features.

Sure.

I think it was this one: Ali

The more expensive solutions are probably full headunit and screen replacement, either with newer BMW components or aftermarket.

 

[airborne]

That’s right, its a separate logic box. You retain your OEM iDrive (long press on the Menu button activates the MMI unit). You can see it in below pic.

View attachment 1103467

Nice, I like solutions that keep things near OEM.