Posted on 05/06/2022 6:24:41 PM PDT by Libloather
The chip shortage that ravaged the auto industry last year continues to terrorize vehicle production in 2022. BMW switched chip suppliers to keep production rolling, but the new semiconductors weren’t fully functional, lacking Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. These made their way into new vehicles, but owners will receive an update with the features.
BMW told Automotive News Europe that it would install the software features via an over-the-air update by the end of June. The chips also lack wi-fi capability. According to the publication, BMW didn’t specify the number of affected models or disclose where they were shipped. However, ANE discovered owners on forums from the US, France, Italy, and more with cars lacking the infotainment tech.
This isn’t new territory for BMW. In November of last year, the chip shortage forced the company to drop touchscreen functionality in models like the 3 Series, 4 Series, Z4, and several crossovers. It’s just not touchscreens and tech that are being affected, either. Earlier this week, Mini announced that it would stop building models with manual gearboxes because it simplifies its lineup with the ongoing semiconductor shortage and supply chain issues.
It’s unclear when the chip shortage and supply chain issues will resolve themselves. In September, BMW and Mercedes predicted that the chip shortage could last until 2023 or later. The disruption has driven up new car prices, and the pair might not be eager to lower them once chip supplies normalize. But that doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon.
(Excerpt) Read more at motor1.com ...
After the VA highway was shut down for 2 days with people stranded during a blizzard?
No thank you on the EV!
In many circumstances, combustion is your friend.
I read somewhere today that the future will be those apps are going to disappear from the car audio unit. You will provide the apps via your phone and CarPlay and the Android version.
I’ve got a rental car right now and I really like CarPlay. They made one really stupid design decision, though. When connected via CarPlay (with a cable), Google Maps only shows the turn-by-turn directions on your phone. The map is only on the car screen. It took me ages, phone restarts, Google Maps restarts, and lots of cursing to finally figure that out.
Remove TWO BUCK from your vocabulary. Two Buck Chuck at Trader Joe’s is now $4.
Super duties have been backordered since #FJB was installed.
I’ve contacted my local Tow truck builder for a 550 gas wrecker, They ordered some in 2020 and they have not even been built yet.
“Why would I want to mirror my phone’s screen on my car when it already has NAV, Sirius, spotify, etc built in?”
Those are subscription services. So some wanting to save money will just play music downloaded to their phone. New Hyundai’s and Kia’s have free basic NAV. But it is subscription to keep active voice input and other features for NAV after the first three years where it comes free with new a car purchase. Its a racket, full fare is $300 a year starting in year four for upgraded NAV, Hyundai’s version of On Star and Remote start functions. My cars free service expired a few months back. I chose not to give Hyundai the $300 dollars to continue. Sure enough a week later the offered 40% off the services and I bit.
Sales remember when dealers pimped the car comes with a cup holders and sales increased.
Put most people in a 1955 chevy and they would wonder how did people live like this.
You have had a couple of replies, but I want to elaborate. I use it to display maps from the phone on the car’s display and to play music or audio books from the phone. I wouldn’t buy a new car that didn’t have it.
So maybe I don't need Android Auto because I can't think of anything more I'd want to do.Call me a Luddite I guess
” I wouldn’t buy a new car that didn’t have it.”
You can put in a third-party unit, of course.
Can you get traffic warnings / status like we do with the Waze app? Also, I prefer to be able to select my mapping (Waze, Google, Apple) rather than rely on the vehicle manufacturer’s choice.
Like I said I'm a bit of a Luddite and,like many guys my age,I'm not very tech savy.For example....I got my first personal PC and my first personal cell phone when I was about 50!
Glad you’re happy with it. My 633 CSi was long before the advent of video navigation in vehicles.
The only thing I would say is that the huge base of Waze users gives terrific traffic coverage, real time, even in my small town.
That was something I used to do regularly when I mainly bought used cars, but I've been happier with the sound system that came with the last two cars I have bought than with any others I have had. Plus, I'm getting too old to do the contortions required to do a decent install, and I'm still too cheap to have someone else do it.
I have never had a car with built-in nav. Do the maps get updated? If so, how (and how well) does that work?
IIRC BMW charges something like $50 for an update but I'm not sure of that.
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