So I got the official word from Mini that there will aftermarket retrofitting of Apple Car Play on non 2018 Countrymans.

They did say that the same was said about Sirius XM Radio and we know how that ended up.

If anyone hears about this possibility please post it.

My Grayson is due to arrive tonight to the mainland. So not to much longer to wait.

 

Everything I’ve read and heard from my dealer is that it will not be available as a retrofit. BMW/MINI have a unique was of implementing CarPlay. They use both Bluetooth and WiFi to enable the wireless CarPlay setup. To accomplish that it requires updated hardware and software. I bet you could buy the parts to make it happen but it would be very cost prohibitive. If you were able to get the parts I doubt you could force the software to work with an earlier model year. I specifically waited for an ‘18 model year for that reason. I placed my deposit in May and I just recently was scheduled for a production slot in mid July.

It’s difficult to find hard facts on the topic.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I had omitted a key word in my post. Mini state there will be NO aftermarket retros for non 2018 Minis. So your reply holds true unfortunately.

 

Since I do not have CarPlay and do not know what it does etc. I just won't look so I will not feel so bad about not getting it. I will have a 2018 without CarPlay since it was built in June.

 

We looked into it as we just purchased a '17 CM (and weren't sure whether to wait or not), and tbh, while I'm not sure about AndroidAuto, CarPlay looked really meh.

All it does is put a basic version of your iPhone's home screen, on the in dash system. It only lets you access the built in Apple Apps (Phone, Messages, Apple Maps, Apple Music), no 3rd party apps can use it (EX: Google Maps), and it didn't seem to add anything the car can't already do with the BMW/Mini software (phone calls, messages, BMW/MINI Navi) and Siri (Hold voice button to toggle).

I could be wrong however, but it seemed pretty pointless since it ONLY supports Apple's default apps.

 

Search the App Store on your iPhone for CarPlay. You’ll find that Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, etc have CarPlay apps. There are also APIs that allow the car maker to write apps that control car features like climate control and seat controls. Hopefully MINI chooses to implement some of those features.

iOS 11 also improves Maps in CarPlay, bringing much-needed Lane guidance and posted speed limits.