mgu-store

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_key

It 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. Restart the head unit when the installer asks. The Store's tile then appears among the car's apps, and every later update comes through the Store.

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_key

irm 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 }

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, 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:

1. On github.com: your picture → Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Fine-grained tokens → Generate new token.
2. Name it, and pick an expiration (No expiration keeps the car working).
3. Resource owner: your account, or the organisation that owns the repositories. One token covers one owner.
4. Repository access: Only select repositories, and pick the private repositories the car should read.
5. Permissions: add Contents, set to Read-only.
6. 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.

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:

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": true in package.json if 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.

Copyright (C) 2026 Robert Nisipeanu and IterioDev. GPL-3.0-or-later (LICENSE). Third-party parts keep their own licences: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.