An app store for BMW iDrive 7 and iDrive 8 head units (MGU). Browse, install, update and remove apps on the car's screen, from GitHub repositories, web addresses or a USB stick.
It installs:
- the Store app;
- the updater, which downloads and installs what the Store asks for;
- the deploy tool, which performs and can roll back every install;
- app privacy, which keeps installed apps out of the head unit's reports to BMW;
- the renderer, which draws the Store and other apps' graphics;
- Python, for apps the head unit builds from source;
- the internet uplink, for internet through a USB adapter, an LTE stick, a tethered phone or Wi-Fi.
iDrive 8 is tested in an emulator only, not yet on a real car. On iDrive 8, installs and removals take effect at the next head-unit restart.
The Store: apps and head-unit tools from every source.
An app's page, with its source, version and Install.
Installed: the apps and tools on the head unit.
Settings: sources, Wi-Fi, accounts and phone access.
Adding a GitHub repository: pick its releases, tags or a branch.
- A computer (Windows 10/11, macOS or Linux, x64 or arm64) with the OpenSSH client, which all three have built in.
- Root SSH access to the head unit and root's private key. Tools such as idrive7-8-ssh-root set it up over an ENET cable.
- A way to reach the head unit's SSH: the car's Wi-Fi hotspot (default
address
172.16.222.97), ENET, or any other SSH route. - The car parked and on stable power until the install finishes.
Connect the computer to the head unit (the car's Wi-Fi hotspot or an ENET cable), then run the installer with root's SSH key:
# macOS, Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robertnisipeanu/mgu-store/main/deploy/install.sh | sh -s -- first-install --identity ~/.ssh/mgu_root_key# Windows PowerShell
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robertnisipeanu/mgu-store/main/deploy/install.ps1))) first-install --identity $HOME\.ssh\mgu_root_keyIt finds the head unit by itself and says which connection it used.
The other commands below (token, usb-repo, first-install --from) run
the same way, in place of first-install … in the one-liner.
When the installer asks Restart the head unit now? [y/N], answer y
and it restarts the head unit. The Store's tile then appears among the
car's apps, and every later update comes through the Store.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
--identity <file> |
root's private SSH key |
--host <address>, --port <n> |
reach the head unit at this SSH address instead (port 22 unless given); for an SSH config alias, give its port with --port |
--user <name> |
SSH user (default root) |
--ssh-opt <option> |
an extra ssh -o option, e.g. ConnectTimeout=30; repeatable. Through a jump host, give --host too: --host <head unit> --ssh-opt ProxyJump=<jump host> |
--token |
asks for a GitHub token, for private repositories |
--no-uplink |
leaves out the internet uplink |
--no-renderer |
leaves out the renderer |
--no-restart-prompt |
ends without asking to restart the head unit |
With Node.js 18 or newer, the installer also runs as a script:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robertnisipeanu/mgu-store/main/deploy/mgu-install.js | node - first-install --identity ~/.ssh/mgu_root_keyirm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robertnisipeanu/mgu-store/main/deploy/mgu-install.js -OutFile mgu-install.js; if ($?) { node mgu-install.js first-install --identity $HOME\.ssh\mgu_root_key }To take the Store off the head unit, run the installer with uninstall
in place of first-install:
# macOS, Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robertnisipeanu/mgu-store/main/deploy/install.sh | sh -s -- uninstall --identity ~/.ssh/mgu_root_key# Windows PowerShell
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robertnisipeanu/mgu-store/main/deploy/install.ps1))) uninstall --identity $HOME\.ssh\mgu_root_keyIt lists the apps and tools installed through the Store, including other
repositories' tools, and asks Remove all of it? [y/N] (--yes answers
for you). It then removes them and everything the setup changed on the
head unit, and the Store's settings and tokens with them. It ends with one
line saying whether anything is left; running it again finishes what is
left. When the head unit needs a restart to finish, it asks
Restart the head unit now? [y/N]. It finds the head unit the same way
and takes the same SSH options (--identity, --host, --port, --user,
--ssh-opt).
The side menu has four pages:
- Store: apps and tools from your sources, with their state (installed, update available, restart pending, …).
- Installed: what is installed, with Update and Update all.
- USB: what a plugged-in USB stick offers.
- Settings: sources, Wi-Fi, accounts, proxy, phone access, Check now and Restart head unit.
Open an app or tool to install, update or remove it. Updates never install on their own. Tools marked Restart pending take effect after a head-unit restart (Settings → Restart head unit).
The Store comes with these sources: this repository, idrive7-apps, idrive-apps (with the renderer that draws on the instrument cluster and the HUD, and the CarPlay map on the instrument cluster) and car-apps (IterioDev's apps and tools, most of them for iDrive 8 only, at its newest x.y.z tag).
To add one: Settings → Add source, then type owner/repo, a GitHub
link, or the https:// address of a catalog.json. For a GitHub
repository, pick what to follow from what it has: Releases, Tags or
one of its branches.
On iDrive 8, Add source and Add token open the Store's on-screen keyboard while mgu-render draws the Store. On the Store's widget screens (no mgu-render), typing doesn't work yet on iDrive 8: add sources and tokens from the phone page or the computer, or use Sign in with GitHub.
Add an account in Settings → Accounts:
- Sign in with GitHub: scan the QR code, enter the code on your phone and sign in. The repository also needs the mgu-store GitHub App installed.
- Add token: a GitHub token. Typing it on the phone page or with
node mgu-install.js token --identity <key>on the computer is easier than on the car.
Creating a token:
- On github.com: your picture → Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Fine-grained tokens → Generate new token.
- Name it, and pick an expiration (No expiration keeps the car working).
- Resource owner: your account, or the organisation that owns the repositories. One token covers one owner.
- Repository access: Only select repositories, and pick the private repositories the car should read.
- Permissions: add Contents, set to Read-only.
- Generate token and copy it (
github_pat_…); GitHub shows it once.
An organisation may have to approve the token first. For a repository of
someone else's account, use a classic token with the repo scope instead.
Settings → Phone access → On shows a QR code. Scan it with a phone on the car's hotspot to see sources, installs, errors and logs, and to add sources and accounts with the phone's keyboard. Turn it off when done.
The internet uplink gives the updater and apps that need it internet through:
- a USB Ethernet adapter;
- an LTE stick (e.g. Huawei E3372h);
- an Android phone with USB tethering;
- an iPhone with Personal Hotspot on, kept unlocked (tap Trust when asked); its USB music playback stops while it tethers;
- Wi-Fi, such as a phone's hotspot: Settings → Wi-Fi. The car's own hotspot and wireless CarPlay keep working beside it. On iDrive 7 units with a Broadcom radio, WPA3-only networks can't be joined.
The Store shows Online once connected.
Where GitHub is slow or blocked, the updater can download through a proxy
on the same network, such as Clash on a computer or a router: Settings →
Proxy, turn it on and type its address, http://192.168.8.1:7890 or
socks5://192.168.8.1:7891. A proxy that wants a password takes it as
socks5://user:password@192.168.8.1:7891. Everything the updater
downloads goes through it, and builds on the unit too. Turn it off to
download directly again. The phone page has the same setting.
A car without internet installs and updates from a USB stick. On the computer:
node mgu-install.js usb-repo <stick> [github:owner/repo | <catalog URL> | <folder> | <package file> ...]Without inputs it copies this repository's newest release. Plug the stick into the car and use the USB page.
A car without the Store yet installs it from the same folder, with no internet at the car:
node mgu-install.js first-install --from <stick>/mgu-repo/mgu-store --identity <key>Any GitHub repository or HTTPS address can be a source, in one of three layouts:
| Layout | What the repository has |
|---|---|
| Releases | built <id>@<version>.tgz (or .mgu) packages attached to GitHub releases |
| Catalog | a catalog.json listing each package (in a release named catalog, or at any HTTPS address) |
| Repo tree | an mgu-repo.json; the head unit builds the apps from source |
Every app needs:
- No BMW SDK files. The head unit links apps against the SDK already on it.
- A unique id, with a prefix (
acme_gauges). mguHmi:["ID7"],["ID8"]or both.requires(optional): other components it needs, installed first."mguInternet": trueinpackage.jsonif it needs internet.
docs/PUBLISHING.md has the full guide and examples.
Each component's README covers its build and tests.
deploy/README.md has the full installer reference
(every command, including token --list/--remove) and deploy/hu, which
installs components from a checkout; release/README.md
covers releases. CONTRIBUTING.md: versions, CHANGELOG
entries and requires in a pull request.
Copyright (C) 2026 Robert Nisipeanu and IterioDev. GPL-3.0-or-later
(LICENSE). Third-party parts keep their own licences:
THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.