PEMP 10.25" Android 13 Screen for BMW F30 F31 F34 F35 F32 F33 F36

I decided to write this review to help people out in case they had some unanswered questions. I have an F33 which is the convertible version of the F32. it's a 2015 428i. It's also fully loaded and I didn't see a lot of answers to questions I had 1st off the packaging is really nice. they include a pry tool that was helpful but I already had my own. everything on the wiring harness was nicely labeled and there was plenty of instructions that will take care of most of your needs and questions. install wasn't too bad. the worst part is removing the trunk interior to disconnect the battery but thats mostly just an issue with the convertibles. there are 10 screws total to remove, they hardest will be the 2 for the screen itself since it's above the AC vents and recessed in. having your own torx screwdriver set makes it a lot easier. also having fishing tape to run the Antenna and GPS is very helpful. the biggest issue I had was getting all the wiring harnesses to fit behind the main CPU. the extra wires made it tight for me. I know I have wires already from the videos since my car is fully loaded and I didn't need to add the 3rd party cameras or anything. Because of that, all I had to do was plug in the main harnesses and swap the fiber optic cable. I didn't need to hook up any aux, it works and switches automatically. I didn't need to wire any UBS either since the car already has them built in. using the device, I seen complaints about the boot up time. If you have it boot to android, it takes about 30 seconds. I set it to boot to OEM and it's up in like 5 seconds, no different from the OEM one. even the usage is 100% no different from the OEM one. all the buttons on the steering wheel work the same and the console. you can't use the touch screen in OEM, if you touch the screen it'll load up the android system. in regards to the android system, you can't use google maps without getting a 4g sim card and data plan. the GPS antennae works but google maps needs internet. same with the music. so you have 2 options if you want the full functionality, option 1 is to get a 4g sim card and data plan. option 2 is to use your phone (if you have an android phone) while using my phone it's all wireless and powered by the phone. ther eis a pre loaded app called zlink. you need your phone connected and paired to it and wifi on and android auto will work perfectly from the phone itself, however not all the buttons work in the car anymore. you have to use the touch screen. the cameras work but the pemp itself changes to aux for everything so android can operate for your music and such. as cool as the android stuff is, since my car was already fully loaded I just set it to boot up to OEM and use the car like I always did. I only purchased this because my OEM screen all of a sudden got a black circle burned into it which seems to be a somewhat common problem. the new screen looks great but it is more reflective and glossy then the OEM one. If your car doens't have all the options, the android PEMP system adds a lot more features and allows you to install additional cameras at a fraction of the OEM price

EDIT: I had some issues with connectivity where I couldn't get my phone to pair. Solving that is detailed at the end. Pictures show the Android screen and Prime Video playing. Carplay works fine but the picture I have of it shows my address so not posting that one. Screen looks nice and it was snappy and touch sensivity is decent. It would be 5 stars except for two issues: 1) connectivity is not great, 2) brightness is too low, and 3) sound is low. Connectivity: Even after fixing my issues, sometimes the audio will crackle on Carplay. It's like the connection gets partly interrupted. Brightness: By using Bimmercode to override iDrive's "dim screen at night" function and turning the brightness all the way up, I was able to get the screen to a tolerable level during the day. There may be more to tweak in settings because sometimes when I turn off the engine, the screen brightens up a little more before shutting off. Weird. However, it's mostly usable if you're not using an app in "dark mode" during the day. (UPDATE: This is heavily dependent on your lights. If my lights are off or I just have parking lights on, the system knows it's daytime and keeps the screen brighter. If I turn on my headlights, the screen dims. Unfortunately, sometimes you want your headlights on during the day for safety, even if it's bright out, and then the screen will be kinda dim but still usable.) Sound volume: It's just too low. Have to crank it up on the volume knob. Still sounds good, but if you crank too loud, you can hear feedback noise. Microphone: BMW has a great built-in microphone for calls. Unfortunately, you lose this when you have this screen. There's just a tiny pinhole mic at the top of the screen which you literally have to yell into for people to hear you. I will update if I find a way to use a different mic. Solving connectivity issues: Tl/dr, I was able to get the bluetooth and the wifi both to work correctly, but it took some time to figure out. 1) Wifi to your home network *will not work* while your iPhone is trying to connect to Carplay. If you attempt to turn off Bluetooth or select a different WiFi network (i.e., select home wifi to override the Carplay connection), it will screw things up. 2) Contrary to the instructions from the manufacturer, I left Blutooth *enabled* in iDrive. But I removed all Bluetooth devices. 3) If you can't get Bluetooth to sync, get into the Android developer options, open the task menu, and reset the Android bluetooth process (if you don't know what this means, this might be too advanced for you). 4) Once your phone is paired and Carplay is working, if you need to access your home wifi network to get updates for your Android apps, turn off your car, power off your phone, and then turn on your car and use PEMP screen to connect to your home wifi network.

The PEMP Android 10.25" upgrade for my F30 has been nothing short of amazing. I replaced the stock LCD 6.5” screen that came with my F30 with this product because I didn’t have CarPlay access and my Bluetooth could only access calls and not audio/streaming audio from my phone. I needed this! Even though I had a technician fix it from start to finish, I was with him throughout the process; it was laid out in the demo video however we had issues with the audio after the installation and had to start the process all over again. I would rate the ease of installation a 3 out of 5. The interface is overwhelming – CarPlay, hosted by an app by ZJinnova (ZLink) is seamless. Connection takes about 20secs and voila! I have attached images of the various interfaces. It’s so amazing how it displays information that was not even there before, like how many liters or gallons of gas I’ve got left. The RPM odometer as well as the speedometer function optimally. The iDrive stock interface cannot be controlled by the touch screen, which is not a bummer at all. Once you touch the screen while in iDrive mode, it switches to the PEMP interface so you will have to control things with the iDrive knob, and oh, the knob works perfectly in the PEMP Android mode; it’s even more perfect in CarPlay (ZLink or whatever it’s called) mode. In android mode, everything works, I can even watch videos on the fly (not advisable though). The browser is also great. Sometimes the system gets confused because your phone could be connected to the iDrive Bluetooth, the PEMP Bluetooth and CarPlay at the same time and you may have trouble with calls but it takes a few moments to master how to go around that – there’s actually a video attached to the installation manual that addresses it. I purchased this along with the PEMP trunk door handle reverse cam and the images are truly 1080p way better than most of the after-market reverse cams around. I am all in all more than satisfied with my purchase! Great value for my money!

Install not too difficult. I put this in a 2015 F32 with the multimedia package (8.8 screen). Looks great, like OEM. Very easily switches between nbt and android, with the audio switching automatically with my system (H/K w/ the optical cables) and flipping to nbt on reverse. Smooth operation and great resolution. I ripped a handful of mixtape videos from youtube and dropped them on a sd card (nice slot on top). I can pull them up and play full screen and give a little video aesthetic to my ride. Carplay is pretty simple and generally comes right up automatically every time I start my car. Also, all my steering wheel, siri, and controll knob buttons work perfectly. My only cons are, given that this has to integrate as an in-between, its not totally seamless, like idrive 7/8, but well executed given the hurdles and the fact that nbt has no idea it’s there. Takes 30-45 sec to boot the android, which there isn’t too much that could be done about that, without maybe a battery in the device that could automatically just put it to sleep instead of restart every time. The 4g channels may not work in the us and lastly, I tend to have some difficult connecting to wifi, as zlink (carplay) is pretty pushy on maintaining connection and control of the screen. If you are mostly using carplay though, this is a good feature that works well to keep you in carplay. I definitely recommend this product, it’s a great upgrade.

I’m the proud owner of a 2015 F31 (wagon!) that was optioned with the technology package. Great car, however, really wanted CarPlay! What sold me on this unit was both the installation video and the answers to the questions - so i took the plunge. Here’s what I learned. 1. The packaging is great, the screen is very nice looking and it came with the tools and wiring bits and pieces for installation. 2. There is a printed step by step instruction leaflet included. I used that and the installation video. 3. In all my excitement, i didn’t put down a cloth over the console before taking the head unit out - be sure to do that before you start!! 4. The biggest pain in the rear is getting the 4g antenna and GPS cable across the inside of the dash. I ended up with both hands and arms coming in at the center of the dash and the end of the passenger side of the dash. Scraped up my wrists a bit, just did it nice and slow. 5. I already had the backup cameras in the car, so i had to take the two optical cables in the original head unit harness (check the pics) and put them into the new connector. Pop out the plastic plug they are sat in and place them in the same space on the new head unit connector. Hopefully the pics i shared help. 6. I tested it all before screwing everything back up :) 7. My new unit was in Chinese, languages is on the left side bar and it was easy to change to English. 8. When starting up the BMW idrive screen came up, however was at the wrong resolution. You can change this in Settings > Factory > Display. I chose the 8.8” NBT option and it worked well. 9. I buttoned everything up, connected the phone and carplay launched! You can also launch the carplay app at anytime by loading the zlink app in applications. Quick Notes Press and hold menu on your idrive wheel to switch between the screen and idrive. The camera view (when shifting into reverse) loads up in the BMW idrive interface - which is fine except you’re now out of carplay / android and back into idrive. So, music, maps etc will disappear. Simply press and hold the menu button to switch back. Basically, you’re switching between two computers. Overall, a very impressive upgrade. I’m super proud i didn’t blow up my car in the process haha, though it really is easy if you take your time and prep.

It’s ok nothing fancy it takes 2-4mins before apple CarPlay connects when you turn on your car surprised it takes that long to connect easy to install just the connection takes awhile the system booth up takes almost 2mins i think it could’ve been better for $400

I have a 2015 328i xDrive and this thing works exactly how it should. The install instructions were a little unclear on what the extra plugs and accessories were for, and the connectivity was confusing at first, but overall I’m extremely happy with the purchase. I have CarPlay, Screen Mirroring, and a way better looking HUD. The iDrive controls still work and can be used as well. You also maintain the ability to go to the car’s original menu. For the price and features, you can’t beat this thing!

It's definitely a very good upgrade that you can make to the car. The screen is very good, big and with very sharp and nice resolution. It's like having a mini Android tablet on your dash. Very well integrated, seamlessly looking as if it were from factory. What I love about it is that I'm using its GPS and processing power instead of using my phone, which only serves as a WAP (hostpot). That way the processing burden of my phone is a lot less compared to using it through Android Auto (or carplay for that matter) which in that case it has to handle everything, specially navigation. It does have AA wirelessly and it works great, but I'm using it as explained before, with all the apps I have in my phone but installed now in the device, from which I use them now. I just have my phone in my pocket with the hotspot activated and that's it. It does integrates well with the factory system and the iDrive knob and steering buttons work as they should. When trying to link it with my hotspot I had and issue with my phone sim card and the support at PEMP help me and guide me well. And whith some additional questions about functionality they also helped great. Always quickly and satisfactory, which is a relief when dealing with the setup of this devices. I'm very happy with it, I truly recommend it. Cheers!