The Android 10.25" Screen Journey Begins...

[Bilbofraggins]

Originally Posted by jvirgi

so you have the aux cable running from the new harness and going to the aux in center console. Did you also make sure to put bmw audio for the aux? Is volume up high enough? also, the green wire you had to put into the new harness is in place?

i wonder if you can test if the unit is sending audio by plugging the aux cord into a speaker rather than the car's port?

“Green wire”.... you mean the optic fibre swap....

Will check BMW audio..

Trying to figure out which canbus option you guys selected...

Thanks folks..

[Bilbofraggins]

Question for those of you with a wire purple line marked CAN1 and CAN B are they supposed to be connected.... mine are not...This may be the source of my issues - they were not connected out of the box but are a match...Grabbing a pic from online sellers with the same set-up..it "looks" connected out the box...

Getting somewhere with how car play connects..

But my unit is always on... with resultant CIC and Junction box errors showing up when I scan...

When I plug in the head unit it is straight-on to Idrive even if the vehicle is off

[Bilbofraggins]

Originally Posted by Charlieborg

I just bought the same one! It arrived today! Cant wait to get it installed! Any advice ?

Which one did you Get?

How did you make out?

[Bilbofraggins]

Well folks, for anyone out there... the disconnected purple cable noted above was the problem.... all is well - and seemingly working....

On arrival that was not plugged together.. so don’t expect simple plug and play as you get it...I took it for granted that it was good to go as there are plenty of unused connections. A lesson learned...

It’s easy to run the aux cable... thanks for the info here... I only took off the first upper section of carpet ran the 4 foot aux cable and inserted a wrapped coat hanger diagonally for the last bit into the center console. I drilled a hole beside the aux connector rather than filing - you can’t see it... Suggest a right angle plug with a straight thin barrel plug... attach the straight end to the end of your coat hanger and pull back through...

Thanks again to all that posted in this thread and to those that responded to PM...

Airborne...

[Aferanova]

Originally Posted by Bilbofraggins

Well folks, for anyone out there... the disconnected purple cable noted above was the problem.... all is well - and seemingly working....

On arrival that was not plugged together.. so don’t expect simple plug and play as you get it...I took it for granted that it was good to go as there are plenty of unused connections. A lesson learned...

It’s easy to run the aux cable... thanks for the info here... I only took off the first upper section of carpet ran the 4 foot aux cable and inserted a wrapped coat hanger diagonally for the last bit into the center console. I drilled a hole beside the aux connector rather than filing - you can’t see it... Suggest a right angle plug with a straight thin barrel plug... attach the straight end to the end of your coat hanger and pull back through...

Thanks again to all that posted in this thread and to those that responded to PM...

Airborne...

Wow! Great Job! So happy you got this working well. I didn't even recall that connection from when i installed.

For the time being, i've left my phone connect BT to BMW, so that when i use carplay, it uses the OEM mic. I tried a lavalier external microphone but it didn't seem to work well picking up audio that was from a distance. I'll probably look at other external mic's to use

I have not installed the extra speaker that came with the unit but curious if others find the system audio better using that speaker than the vehicles?

[Bilbofraggins]

jvirgi...Now to get into the finer details...carplay connects immediately via the android hotspot...

My harness came with the 3.5mm plug connected to a plug in the harness....definitely no sound on my model year/vehicle build date (Nov 12) that way...I did read that people with 2013 built in 13...don't need to run an aux feed as they have the F series software...

With regard to aux cable...I used one of the new type with a mic capability....turned out to be a bad idea...screws with the stereo and only feeds the rear speakers...changed to the one they included Bingo...blew my brains out...Not sure if I will buy another...and keep using their's.

Just tried to watch a shutdown after without locking....vehicle went to sleep after the programmed 7 minutes...On that note...don't code the X6Ms for a shorter shutdown time...as you will mess up the engine cool down routine...

So just going to re-run the aux..again...and then get to know how I want to connect in the future...

But nice to see this working including the Idrive knob on the Idrive and Android sides...

[Aferanova]

Originally Posted by Bilbofraggins

jvirgi...Now to get into the finer details...carplay connects immediately via the android hotspot...

My harness came with the 3.5mm plug connected to a plug in the harness....definitely no sound on my model year/vehicle build date (Nov 12) that way...I did read that people with 2013 built in 13...don't need to run an aux feed as they have the F series software...

With regard to aux cable...I used one of the new type with a mic capability....turned out to be a bad idea...screws with the stereo and only feeds the rear speakers...changed to the one they included Bingo...blew my brains out...Not sure if I will buy another...and keep using their's.

Just tried to watch a shutdown after without locking....vehicle went to sleep after the programmed 7 minutes...On that note...don't code the X6Ms for a shorter shutdown time...as you will mess up the engine cool down routine...

So just going to re-run the aux..again...and then get to know how I want to connect in the future...

But nice to see this working including the Idrive knob on the Idrive and Android sides...

Wow, didn't realize some '13s worked without aux. i had tested mine without aux and it didnt work which makes sense - mine was built 09/2012.

nice - I was playing with adding an external mic using the extra cable that plugs into the screen... but will see if i find a good option. Are you just using the screen's junk microphone for carplay?

So for carplay when you say immediately, how long for you? mine usually takes 15-30s depending on the day. I'm not doing anything with the hotspot though so curious if that makes it faster. If yours is faster, how are you setting up the hotspot?

[Bilbofraggins]

Definitely go with the hotspot... android something will be transmitted... password 0000... As with any wifi type setting... you only do this once...the ZLink startup is then automatic and reasonably fast...

I didn’t run any extra mic’s sound quality is distortion free... good enough for now...

So right now I’m not not using the BMW side as far as I can tell...��

Biggest thing to crack is how to increase Idrive brightness...

[Aferanova]

Originally Posted by Bilbofraggins

Definitely go with the hotspot... android something will be transmitted... password 0000... As with any wifi type setting... you only do this once...the ZLink startup is then automatic and reasonably fast...

I didn’t run any extra mic’s sound quality is distortion free... good enough for now...

So right now I’m not not using the BMW side as far as I can tell...��

Biggest thing to crack is how to increase Idrive brightness...

are you using an iphone or android phone for the hotspot? I assume you are going into the apps section to setup the hotspot rather, not the bluetooth. I think when i've tried this with my iphone in the past, it frequently disconnects.

And yea, i'm wondering if the idrive brightness just keeps resetting once the screen turns off and resets. Almost like we need to put it into the CIC 7 series presets on how it displays. I also feel like the screen resolution is slightly off using the 7 series, but not positive.

[Bilbofraggins]

Using Iphone...just turn on the hotspot on the android and it shows up... I have it as auto-join...

Later I’ll try the actual E70 setting...currently still on Fseries/10.25

I can’t change the Idrive brightness at all... don’t really care from here...

I might get my computer software updated to the latest E71 version at the dealer that may make it possible to skip connecting through aux - but right now it seems fine..

[Bilbofraggins]

Originally Posted by CPN83

I have the same issue with the OEM screen display, The E70 CIC setting does not work correctly and I am currently using the CIC_7Series setting. The issue I have is the OEM system is quite dull and there is no way to increase the brightness.

If I use the correct CIC_E70 setting the brightness is correct but the resolution is not.

Did you ever figure this out?

[CPN83]

Originally Posted by Bilbofraggins

Did you ever figure this out?

I did not, still trying to work out what the fix might be. I am 100% convinced its an issue with the firmware on the android unit though.

[Bilbofraggins]

Anyone who has issue with the IDrive brightness, manage to resolve the issue?

I hardly use Idrive now...but would like to hear if anybody has managed to increase the brightness beyond 50%....

Thanks....

[CPN83]

I am still trying to find a fix, Trying to explain this issue to the seller of my unit has been impossible as they want to see a photo which just does not show the issue. For me its the reverse/360 cameras that I really want it fixed for.

[Bilbofraggins]

My OEM cameras are fine..Hope you nail it...

[Dawgz]

Originally Posted by Bilbofraggins

My OEM cameras are fine..Hope you nail it...

You keep the 360 view with this?

[Bilbofraggins]

Originally Posted by Dawgz

You keep the 360 view with this?

Yes....

[mica81]

Hey guys just wanted to warn you about the Ali Express seller "MEKEDE". As long as you don't have any problems, everything is fine, only if you get some you only have trouble. I bought the display and everything was great. After 2 months it didn't work anymore. Contacted MEKEDE and tried everything that he told me to test. Still without function. Then he said to send it back. So sent back for 60 € shipping and nothing has happened since then. 4 months ago now. I don't recommend buying there.

[Jon_G]

Originally Posted by argento

Well, it's been about 3 weeks since I took my car out and yesterday I started the car and drove off...carplay immediately came up on the screen. But then I touched the screen and nothing, it was locked. I couldn't even get to the OEM side until I pressed the radio button on the iDrive. The touch screen remained not working. I parked and forgot about it, will check again today, assuming it was a glitch....

Did this resolve itself? I've been following along in the thread, trying to decide if the 4x4 unit is the way to go. Very close to pulling the trigger and buying it.

[Jon_G]

Hey All - this is a great thread. I'm trying to decide what 10.25" unit to buy, and also somewhat curbing my expectations as appropriate. I just read through all of this thread, and it's super helpful so far. Anyone have any updates on their 10.25" systems, which one they are, and what they like and/or don't like? I'm personally mainly wanting this for the screen upgrade and to use carplay (i'm an ios user) with streaming music and maps mainly. I'm hoping for sound as good as the OEM bluetooth. I've seen a lot of notes on that here and in other threads too—also really helpful! Anything else I should look out for? Any final solutions regarding which DAC to use? Other thoughts? I'm leaning towards the 4x4 shop unit.

[argento]

Originally Posted by Jon_G

Did this resolve itself? I've been following along in the thread, trying to decide if the 4x4 unit is the way to go. Very close to pulling the trigger and buying it.

It only happened that one time.

Will get you some info on CarPlay at startup soon...

And I have a stack of DACs to test...

[Jon_G]

Originally Posted by argento

It only happened that one time.

Will get you some info on CarPlay at startup soon...

And I have a stack of DACs to test...

Thanks argento - I'll look forward to hearing about both parts, the CarPlay startup sequence, and what DACs you land on. That will be really helpful for me too.