Video input to display screen (mirror iPhone screen)?

I'm starting a new thread, as my quick searches found nothing here in the forum.

Has anyone tapped into the in-car center display screen?
Ideally I'd like to be able to mirror my iPhone to the center screen. Searching the internet, I see some people who have done this for other BMWs but not sure if anyone has done it in the i3, or even got any sort of video feed into the display screen.

I asked Bimmertech and they asked what the inputs are so it sounds like none of their products have been tested with the i3.

How about simply removal instructions for the dash surrounding the screen, so that I can at least see what inputs the screen uses?

Thanks.

It would be great if the display screen had an HDMI-in or even accepted Apple AirPlay. The display is excellent for a vehicle, and could work well for watching a video with a passenger while the vehicle is charging.

I know if you "code" the vehicle you can play videos off of a USB drive.

The i3 can play videos, but without coding, do it only while parked. I don't think it has a 'normal' video input.

jadnashuanh said:

The i3 can play videos, but without coding, do it only while parked. I don't think it has a 'normal' video input.

Click to expand...

Have you tested this? I thought in the U.S. the i3 can't play videos at all, even whilst parked.

thefuturenow said:

jadnashuanh said:

The i3 can play videos, but without coding, do it only while parked. I don't think it has a 'normal' video input.

Click to expand...

Have you tested this? I thought in the U.S. the i3 can't play videos at all, even whilst parked.

Click to expand...

Yes it can play videos off of the USB when parked and I've got it coded so it plays while moving. It's also coded to play a bunch of different video formats.

I'm in Canada, but I don't think it is any different in the US.

Anyway, sounds like no one has added any hardware and hacked the system to bring an external video into the screen. I will research it elsewhere.

..Roger

I've tried this while parked using MP4 and mov files and doesn't play even while parked. Only audio.

What formats are supposed to work?

sfontaine07 said:

I've tried this while parked using MP4 and mov files and doesn't play even while parked. Only audio.

What formats are supposed to work?

Click to expand...

Don't have my USB stick with my test videos on it, with me right now. If I remember I will check and report back tonight or tomorrow.

I would think there is another thread relevant to this subject though. We've gone a bit off-topic.

If you're in the US, you have to code your car to enable it, otherwise it's disabled. Just lookup BMW NBT FDL coding and you'll find tons of into. It's the same system used on all other BMW's


The idrive screen uses the standard LVDS cable. I'm sure you can tap into it easily.

Bimmertech has their own system that allow for miracast input or airplay

http://www.bimmer-tech.net/shop/bmw-3-series-f30-f31-f34-f80/connecteddrive-retrofits/bimmertech-smartview

I'm coded and have video. Not sure about sfontaine.

Thanks, I will look a that Bimmertech product. Bimmertech did say that they don't have experience with the i3 and that there are 3 types of LVDS although they were pretty sure which one it would be.

eneka said:

If you're in the US, you have to code your car to enable it, otherwise it's disabled. Just lookup BMW NBT FDL coding and you'll find tons of into. It's the same system used on all other BMW's


The idrive screen uses the standard LVDS cable. I'm sure you can tap into it easily.

Bimmertech has their own system that allow for miracast input or airplay

http://www.bimmer-tech.net/shop/bmw-3-series-f30-f31-f34-f80/connecteddrive-retrofits/bimmertech-smartview

Click to expand...

Tearing apart the dash to look for inputs seems more difficult than buying the coding cable and coding the car. Or it does to me, I had never coded a BMW previously and it came to me fairly easy, even did it on a Mac.

imolazhp said:

Tearing apart the dash to look for inputs seems more difficult than buying the coding cable and coding the car. Or it does to me, I had never coded a BMW previously and it came to me fairly easy, even did it on a Mac.

Click to expand...

Not sure what you are talking about. My car is already coded. Coding only gives you the ability to play certain video file formats and a whole bunch of other unrelated things. What I'm trying to do here, is get direct input to the screen, so that I can mirror my iPhone to the screen. That is not something that can be accomplished with coding.

Thx.

rsplodge said:

Not sure what you are talking about. My car is already coded. Coding only gives you the ability to play certain video file formats and a whole bunch of other unrelated things. What I'm trying to do here, is get direct input to the screen, so that I can mirror my iPhone to the screen. That is not something that can be accomplished with coding.

Thx.

Click to expand...

Yes, the original topic went askew with others talking about video playback. Good luck with what you are trying to accomplish. I fear it might cause rattles for you or the next owner at some point. I guess I still don't understand why it's so important to be looking at our phones, or a mirror image of them, 24/7/365. But I'm barely a millennial so perhaps that is why.

imolazhp said:

rsplodge said:

Not sure what you are talking about. My car is already coded. Coding only gives you the ability to play certain video file formats and a whole bunch of other unrelated things. What I'm trying to do here, is get direct input to the screen, so that I can mirror my iPhone to the screen. That is not something that can be accomplished with coding.

Thx.

Click to expand...

Yes, the original topic went askew with others talking about video playback. Good luck with what you are trying to accomplish. I fear it might cause rattles for you or the next owner at some point. I guess I still don't understand why it's so important to be looking at our phones, or a mirror image of them, 24/7/365. But I'm barely a millennial so perhaps that is why.

Click to expand...

Sometimes it is just wanting to accomplish something that as a techie seems neat to do, or to have a feature that you think should be there (aux video in) but one application is to use the iPhone's native maps app or to use Waze (3rd part map app) even though the BMW already has Nav. Occasionally, passengers might want to watch YouTube or something too.

Playing video while moving almost anywhere in the USA will get you a moving violation if caught. The only one I know of that comes that way in the USA (well, it's available some places, I think in the USA, too) is on MB, where they have a polarized screen that can show two different images, depending on where you are sitting so that the driver cannot see the video playing, while he has access to the normal display functions.

jadnashuanh said:

Playing video while moving almost anywhere in the USA will get you a moving violation if caught. The only one I know of that comes that way in the USA (well, it's available some places, I think in the USA, too) is on MB, where they have a polarized screen that can show two different images, depending on where you are sitting so that the driver cannot see the video playing, while he has access to the normal display functions.

Click to expand...

Yes thanks for that. The main motivation (for the original post on this thread) is for iPhone map apps and not for looking at videos while moving which is of course dangerous. What is "MB"?

Mercedes Benz...

A number of years ago, I used the video output of a smartphone and ran it to a video input to an Infiniti M35...That was analog, not digital. No idea if the digital input on the i3 is generic or proprietary, but there is no smoking gun, 'standard' video input readily available. Some vehicles will let you run an app on your phone on the display screen...as far as I know, the i3 does not.