Hey guys so I just recently bought a 2016 M235i and love it so far, only thing I don’t like is I’m coming from previously owning two cars with CarPlay. I was wondering if I could swap out the current head unit for a factory 240i head unit that has CarPlay. Not really interested in a aftermarket CarPlay unit. Was wondering if this can be done pretty seamlessly.
You should be able to plug in a wireless CarPlay box (eBay or Aliexpress), utilising the existing display.
If by head unit, you mean the actual iDrive centre console screen, that won’t make a difference at all, except for it being a lot wider than stock.
Realistically, if you fit a CarPlay unit to the car, the unit would have to be “married” to the car through coding. This could be achieved with something like Bimmercode, but more intensive software may be needed like ISTA. Once it’s married to the car, you might have to do some further coding to re-enable some things like navigation, parking cameras and radio antennas. Other modules might need to get to know the new module again, so that means more coding.
It’s not a hardware issue for the most part so much as it is a software issue. In my experience, improperly coded devices can lead to damage, or even potentially tripping component protection.
It may be easier to get something like a BimmerLink MMI retrofit kit. This kit is plug and play for the most part and doesn’t require a lot, if any coding. Plus, it uses the default Apple CarPlay system that BMW uses, so it still maintains the OEM aesthetic.