Update your Brummstadt head unit online

Before you start

• Internet. Home Wi-Fi is perfect if it reaches the car. If it doesn't, your phone's hotspot does the job. The download is between 1 and about 2.6 GB, so use home Wi-Fi or a phone plan with plenty of data.
• Bluetooth off on your phone. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto use the unit's Wi-Fi to talk to your phone, so while they're connected the unit can't use Wi-Fi for the internet. If CarPlay is still on the screen, restart the unit once. You switch Bluetooth back on at the end.
• Time and power. Plan 30 to 60 minutes, parked, with the engine running. Start the engine before you begin, and if your car has auto stop-start, switch it off for now so the power stays on the whole way.
• A photo of your car settings. Take a quick photo of the car settings on the unit. If anything needs setting back later, you have it right there.

Step by step

1. Get online. Tap Settings, then Network and internet, then Wi-Fi. Switch Use Wi-Fi on and pick your network or your phone's hotspot. When the little Wi-Fi symbol shows at the top, you're online.
2. Refresh the My Car app. Tap Apps, then My Car, then Upgrade on the left. Tap More at the top right, tick Download My Car App and tap Confirm. On the web page that opens, tap Click to download My Car App. Android shows its standard note, File might be harmful: this is the right file, so tap Download anyway. Then tap Open, Update, and Open again when it says App installed.
3. Check for the new system. In My Car, tap Upgrade again, then Check at the bottom. If a window about a CAN upgrade pops up, tap the empty space around it to close it. The top row, SYS, now says Renewable: a newer system is ready. If it says Newest, you're already up to date.
4. Download. Tap Renewable. It changes to Downloading and a percentage counts up. Sometimes the percentage pauses for a few minutes; that's normal, it's still working. Keep the engine running.
5. Install. When the button says Upgradeable, tap it. The unit checks the file (MD5 check), then asks you to confirm and says this operation cannot be undone: that simply means the new system replaces the old one. Leave Restore software default settings switched off and tap Confirm. While it says please do not power off, keep the engine running.
6. Restart. At the end it says Upgrade completed, restarting. The screen goes dark and the unit restarts by itself, sometimes more than once, until you see the Brummstadt logo and then your home screen.
7. Reconnect your phone. Tap Apps, open AppStore and install the newest ZLINK 5. Switch your phone's hotspot off and Bluetooth back on, and CarPlay or Android Auto reconnects by itself. If it doesn't, restart the unit once.
8. Quick check. Try the reverse camera, the steering wheel buttons and the radio. If one needs a setting, your photo from the start has it.

If something looks different

• Your screens don't match ours. Units run different software versions, and lots of owners pick their own theme. Go by the names, like Settings, My Car and Upgrade.
• The Wi-Fi switch turns itself off. A phone link or the unit's own hotspot is still using the Wi-Fi. Switch Hotspot off on the unit, check that Bluetooth is off on your phone, and try again.
• The unit can't find your iPhone's hotspot. Keep the Personal Hotspot screen open while the unit looks for it, and turn on Maximise Compatibility. Leave the phone in the car on charge until the download is done.
• It says Check exception. The unit couldn't reach the update server. Check the Wi-Fi symbol at the top and tap Check again.
• It says Download exception, or the download stops. The connection dropped for a moment. Tap it again, or switch to your other connection, home Wi-Fi or your phone's hotspot.
• SYS says Newest. Your unit already has the newest system. There's nothing to download.