[bmwetsu]

I have a 2019 US Spec BMW X3 M40i, but I'm currently stationed in Germany. I have some items on order from Amazon that I hope will allow me to use European trailer attachments with lights (European Thule Easy Fold XT2) since it's the law here. My main issue is with not being able to use Apple Car Play or the cars built in cellular since it's tide to US and the BMW dealerships here say they can't/won't switch it out for the European version. Has anyone found a way to get this done?

[teaston]

If you find a good BMW retrofitter they may be able to do it, but I can't imagine it would be cheap.

Are you sure CarPlay won't work? It uses your phones data connection so I can't see why it wouldn't work.

[Fast400]

Lots of coding involved..can be done though
If you're in the K-town area, go to BMW Military Car Sales and talk to Mathias Hemmer. I'm sure he knows some good folks to help

[ultimatebacon1]

Commenting just because I’m curious as well. Similar situation, only I have a 30i. I haven’t tried car play yet, my car doesn’t get off the boat for a few more weeks, but I know the BMW Connected app won’t work. You’d think it would be as simple as swapping out the SIM card for whatever card they use in Europe....

[bmwetsu]

Originally Posted by ultimatebacon1

Commenting just because I'm curious as well. Similar situation, only I have a 30i. I haven't tried car play yet, my car doesn't get off the boat for a few more weeks, but I know the BMW Connected app won't work. You'd think it would be as simple as swapping out the SIM card for whatever card they use in Europe....

I talked to both Euler BMW dealerships in the K-Town area, and they say you can't just swap the sim like in older cars. I read in another thread about someone swapping the entire Telematics control unit. Euler BMW Service Shop will not do That as they Said they can not guarantee it will work. Their parts department will order it for me, but I need to find a shop to do the swap and the unit needs to be tied to the VIN which will disable the factory on that came with the car.

[bmwetsu]

Originally Posted by Fast400

Lots of coding involved..can be done though
If you're in the K-town area, go to BMW Military Car Sales and talk to Mathias Hemmer. I'm sure he knows some good folks to help

We're does he work? I've talked to the service department at Euler here in K-Town and they won't touch any of the conversions because they said they can not guarantee things will work afterwards.

[bmwetsu]

From another thread, I found something that will give me Apple CarPlay and give full screen mode as well. I'm waiting on the ODB cable to arrive from Amazon so I can flash it. I'll keep you posted.

[ND40oz]

The issue is there's no AT&T data connection to do the OTA activation which is why none of the ConnectedDrive features work. Since for some reason BMW thought it would be a great idea to charge us $300 for CarPlay and then decided to tie it to ConnectedDrive so that a year later they could make it a subscription service, they've effectively killed it from working correctly outside of the vehicles home region.

Then for the 2019 year they did the same thing to Mini, thanks guys.

I have not found anyone willing to even sell me the euro trailer hitch to use with my Thule bike rack. As soon as you give them a VIN they state they can't sell it because it's not compatible. So if you find someone willing to sell and install the hitch, I'm in. My Volvo dealer had no issues installing the electric folding XC90 hitch for me but it's now the only vehicle I can use my bike rack on.

[bmwetsu]

Originally Posted by ND40oz

The issue is there's no AT&T data connection to do the OTA activation which is why none of the ConnectedDrive features work. Since for some reason BMW thought it would be a great idea to charge us $300 for CarPlay and then decided to tie it to ConnectedDrive so that a year later they could make it a subscription service, they've effectively killed it from working correctly outside of the vehicles home region.

Then for the 2019 year they did the same thing to Mini, thanks guys.

I have not found anyone willing to even sell me the euro trailer hitch to use with my Thule bike rack. As soon as you give them a VIN they state they can't sell it because it's not compatible. So if you find someone willing to sell and install the hitch, I'm in. My Volvo dealer had no issues installing the electric folding XC90 hitch for me but it's now the only vehicle I can use my bike rack on.

I ordered my Thule rack from Amazon.de. The thing to keep on mind is that the European version of the Thule racks i found are designed to attach to European ball and not the USA trailer receivers that the Thule USA racks do. So I ordered a European size ball and replace the USA one that I had for my 2" receiver. The biggest issue is that Europe require working lights on the bike racks because they obscure your lights and plates and I haven't found anyone who would make the proper wire to go from USA to European. The Thule rack I bought uses a 13 pin plug. Between Amazon USA and DE, I was able to order the parts so a coworker could make a cable for me that goes from the USA round 7 pin to the European 13 pin. Actually he made me from the USA round 7-pin to the European round 7-pin, then used and adapter to go from European 7-pin to 13-pin. He said making the cable was actually easy (for him), I would have screwed it up. I'll keep you posted on the CarPlay once my cable arrives, hopefully this coming weekend.

[ND40oz]

Originally Posted by bmwetsu

I ordered my Thule rack from Amazon.de. The thing to keep on mind is that the European version of the Thule racks i found are designed to attach to European ball and not the USA trailer receivers that the Thule USA racks do. So I ordered a European size ball and replace the USA one that I had for my 2" receiver. The biggest issue is that Europe require working lights on the bike racks because they obscure your lights and plates and I haven't found anyone who would make the proper wire to go from USA to European. The Thule rack I bought uses a 13 pin plug. Between Amazon USA and DE, I was able to order the parts so a coworker could make a cable for me that goes from the USA round 7 pin to the European 13 pin. Actually he made me from the USA round 7-pin to the European round 7-pin, then used and adapter to go from European 7-pin to 13-pin. He said making the cable was actually easy (for him), I would have screwed it up. I'll keep you posted on the CarPlay once my cable arrives, hopefully this coming weekend.

Yeah, I have the Thule 929. It's easy to put on on the XC90. Open the hatch, press the towbar button, towbar deploys, place the rack on the ball, press the handle down and lock it. Then the 13 pin connector plugs directly into the side of the towbar.

I was hoping to do the same on both the X3 and Countryman but no one will actually sell me the euro towbar even if I try to buy it with just the part number. Then I'd have to find someone willing to code the vehicles for it.

The CarPlay feature not being available is the most annoying thing. There's absolutely no reason for BMW to tie its activation into ConnectedDrive, especially for the 2018 models where it was a standalone option. It's something I would use daily unlike the bike rack and don't have access to it.

[bmwetsu]

Originally Posted by ND40oz

Yeah, I have the Thule 929. It's easy to put on on the XC90. Open the hatch, press the towbar button, towbar deploys, place the rack on the ball, press the handle down and lock it. Then the 13 pin connector plugs directly into the side of the towbar.

I was hoping to do the same on both the X3 and Countryman but no one will actually sell me the euro towbar even if I try to buy it with just the part number. Then I'd have to find someone willing to code the vehicles for it.

The CarPlay feature not being available is the most annoying thing. There's absolutely no reason for BMW to tie its activation into ConnectedDrive, especially for the 2018 models where it was a standalone option. It's something I would use daily unlike the bike rack and don't have access to it.

Making a cable ended up being a dead end. Apparently the US spec trailer wiring merges the brake and turn signals on the same wire and the European lights require them separate. So now I have to look into finding someone to switch the factory wiring for the trailer from US to European, and that is becoming a huge issue to find so far.

[TheusBimmer]

In my random searches, I found this product that looks like it will be able to convert US to EU wireing signals (and then I guess you can use the other converter EU 7-pin to 13-pin).

https://trailerlightconverter.com/

Hopefully it works. Let us know.

[TheusBimmer]

With photo that shows the light conversions and should resolve the issue of right/left turn stop into two separate signals

[bmwetsu]

Originally Posted by TheusBimmer

With photo that shows the light conversions and should resolve the issue of right/left turn stop into two separate signals

Thanks, I've ordered it and will let you know how it works, it should arrive in 2-3 weeks.