As more advanced head units are finding their way onto our cars, many features that we can enjoy now would not have been possible previously. One of those features is Video In Motion, which would allow the passenger to enjoy some downtime entertainment while you focus on the road.

While the feature is much desired, it is also important to remember that safety is of the utmost importance. Drivers should avoid using the feature if they are easily distracted, as that can negatively impact the safety of other road participants. Thus, be mindful when using Video In Motion.

Determining the type of head unit on your BMW

Even if the feature might be hidden away behind nine locks in the control units that could allow your passengers to watch videos while you are driving, you can just enable it without coding it manually.

OBDeleven One-Click Apps enable you to do so, as the pre-made coding functions have been written, tested, and released for every driver of BMW to use. The smart diagnostic device also offers a One-Click App to enable Video In Motion on other car brands as well, including other BMW Group names (MINI and Rolls-Royce), as well as the whole of the Volkswagen Group (VAG), which includes such brands as Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Cupra, Škoda, Bentley, and Lamborghini.

Nevertheless, if you want to enable Video In Motion on your BMW, you first have to determine the head unit model – in simple terms, the iDrive system – equipped on your car. Since Video In Motion One-Click Apps were developed for the Car Information Computer (CIC), Next Big Thing (NBT), and NBT EVO navigational systems, for the time being, before attempting to activate them, it would be a good idea to check the type of display you have on your dashboard beforehand.

Determining the iDrive system is not necessarily a complex procedure. For one, the model year of your car can help you do so. The CIC system, for example, is present on many cars starting from 2008. Regarding the BMW F-series vehicles, you could find the CIC on the 5-series models such as the F07, F10, and the F11, 6-series models, including the F06, F12/13, and the 7-series designators, namely the F01, F02, F03, and the F04.

The NBT, meanwhile, can be found on all 3-series and 4-series models whose model designators begin with an F, as well as some of the 5-series cars (F07, F10, F11, and F18), and the 6 (F06, F12, and F13) and 7-series (F01, F02, and F03) vehicles. The key to determining the type of head unit you have is the date when your car was manufactured. Taking the F10, the 5-series sedan built between 2009 and 2017 as an example, the CIC was integrated into the dashboard of the models between March 2010 and September 2012. Following the former date, the NBT began appearing on the F10.

As a rule of thumb, the NBT head unit can be found on BMW F-series vehicles built after the second half of 2012, up to the middle of the decade, give or take. The NBT EVO, meanwhile, was built into BMW’s that rolled out of the factory starting from late-2014 – with the only exception being the 6-series models, which received the navigational system from early-2013 – up to the last few years of the 2010s when BMW began switching to the G-series, which has the Media Graphic Unit (MGU) as the head unit. Although, again, there are exceptions, such as the G32, or the 7-series models between July 2016 and 2019.

For the NBT or NBT Evo infotainment systems, an easy life hack is to go to Navigation, Options, Settings, Position & Vehicle History, and Check Version, which will showcase a code at the bottom of the screen, such as the NBT_XXXX or the NBT_EVO_XXXX.

Activating Video in Motion for your BMW

Still, even if the procedure to figure out the exact head unit your car is equipped it can be fairly complicated, activating the feature with OBDeleven is as easy as you like.

Once you plug the device into the car’s OBD-II port and connect it to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth on OBDeleven, navigate to Apps, and then turn on the Video In Motion feature for your head unit. Once you activate the One-Click App, you will have to go through a certain procedure, which is described in the description of the pre-made coding function that you can read on the OBDeleven application.

As stated previously, the feature is disabled for safety reasons and should only be used by passengers in your vehicle rather than the driver. In some countries, having it enabled is illegal, so be mindful before using the One-Click App on your BMW.