BMW owners US and UK struggle with non-functioning Apple CarPlay due to DRM failure

BMW drivers who have Apple Carplay in their cars may have problems using it since last week. BMW has problems with the authentication servers, which means that it cannot be verified whether a BMW owner has paid for the extra.

The so-called BMW ConnectedDrive servers had problems, preventing cars from verifying that customers had paid for Apple CarPlay, nor for the other extras ConnectedDrive offers. As a result, CarPlay no longer works in the car at all. BMW is now doing a server migration to improve performance.

The issue affects users in the US and UK, according to Engadget. The automaker tells Engadget that the majority of customers in the US now have CarPlay in their cars again. CarPlay was a separate upgrade at BMW for which a one-off amount had to be paid, but is now a subscription service with monthly costs.

The dependence on authentication servers has always been a thorny issue for opponents of DRM. When these servers experience problems, the products and services under their authority also experience problems, despite remaining fully functional.