BMW initially had no plans of including Android Auto in its vehicles, but with time the strategy changed and the company included the software in its vehicles. For car owners this meant that they had to travel to the nearest dealership to get the Android Auto update. Now, with the latest version of BMW Operating System 7, the automaker is adding support for wireless Android Auto to its compatible vehicles.
BMW has announced that OTA update will begin rolling out for about 750,000 vehicles around the world that are preloaded with the BMW iDrive 7. New BMW models produced after July 2020 come equipped with Android Auto, the cars before this would require an update.
According to BMW, the OTA update for iDrive infotainments system will allow owners to update right in your comfort zone – like you update the OS on phone. The eligible vehicles are expected to begin receiving the update over the “coming weeks”.
The update has begun rolling out for BMWs in Germany on October 19, and through a staged rollout, it will start reaching vehicles in the UK, Europe, Canada, China, and other international markets in the coming weeks. The update for BMWs in the US would reportedly begin in about two weeks from now.
Reportedly, this is going to be a free update and all compatible cars will receive a push notification in their infotainment system or on BMW app on owner’s phones. When the update is available, after the download, it should not take more than 20 minutes to install. Now owners will be able to interact with Android Auto in their cars wirelessly.
