Has anyone got CarPlay working? According to the BMW for the VIN I have it says it should work, but I am not sure how it works for an i3 - I can access other connected apps (Spotify etc) but I don’t see CarPlay. Vehicle has latest software…I still need to play around a bit but just wanted to know that someone else has so that I can try harder!
I don’t believe the i3 I had from onto had airplay.
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Apple CarPlay is an “extra”
You may be able to pay yourself for the upgrade in connected services, I remember signing up to Spotify through it for a trial, but gave up as it was no better than BT Audio
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Thanks Kev! Will give it a try.
Edit - tried. Looked. scrub that - it’s £265 !!
Whaaaa?
Then again, it seems to be the way things will be going in the future, Tesla for example fully equip the car for full self driving, but charge over £5000 to “unlock” it! Same with heated rear seats, that’s £300, and all they need to do is enable it, the equipment is already fitted.
Yup. I think it’s becoming more common. Especially for features which may be offered differently in different markets or may eventually come as standard as competitors start to provide them for free. I think it’s becoming increasingly more common to build a common build or few builds with all the hardware as it’s cheaper and gets economy of scale (probably easier to remove humans from the manufacturing process too 
) Then just turn things on by software as needed. I had the same with manufacturer engine modes on a couple of ICE cars where the blocks and ancillaries are all identical - it’s just different maps to between the different ranges (which is why I guess the aftermarket tuning business is ever growing! )
Not a big issue in the scheme of things. Loving the go kart anyway!
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So I’ve just put in a request for an i3 and put the deposit down etc, I know others have said it doesn’t have CarPlay—
I did note on the ‘specs’ page on Onto’s site it lists:
On-board tech
*Apple CarPlay® preparation
Googling that seemed to suggest it was what BMW called it when it was working, but does that just mean it’s capable with an extra purchase? 
Don’t buy it. ONTO don’t guarantee you’ll keep the same car throughout. They might take yours and swap you (for free) into a newer one, or lower mileage if yours is ready to be removed from the fleet and sold. Alternatively if you have a problem you might get swapped into a spare vehicle and won’t get swapped back even after it’s repaired.
You’re going to be looking at mounting your phone in the car instead and connecting via Bluetooth I think, unless you really want to take the risk.
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What you want is one of these, plus your choice of phone attachment.
https://www.brodit.co.uk/brodit/vehicles/BMW/i3/2019.htm
(I didn’t bother actually sticking mine in with the adhesive strips — just left the backing paper on — and it still stayed put absolutely fine.)
Also, the media system in the i3 has a built in Spotify app (and a few others) which generally worked okay.
The built in sat nav was very good I found, and you can update the mapping yourself for free via USB and the BMW website.
Voice control also worked pretty well — better than many newer cars it seems. You can say “online search” followed by where you want to go, if the place isn’t a saved POI.
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I have this one if it helps - it sucks really well to the flat bit in the centre dash on the i3. It also has the air vent attachment if you like them.
VANMASS Car Phone Holder 3 in 1 for Car Dashboard Windscreen Air Vent Compatible with All iPhone https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Z3K8YWR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_7DY487YBE8N0ZV11AG1Z?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
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Thanks all. If it can play Spotify then I’ve no issues using that, that’s the main integration I’d be after.
I’m not popular enough to get lots of calls/texts so between navigation and music I’m set 
My i3 picks up Spotify as soon phone connects to car without any issues
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I did try and activate the CarPlay in mine but it won’t let me for whatever reason. It just says not available in the subscription. Spotify works fine though.
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That mention has now been removed from the car specs page. Boo!
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