A Windows wizard that installs the MGU App Store on a BMW iDrive 7 or 8 head unit directly from your PC, over the ENET cable. It carries the VIN, head-unit IP and SSH key through the job — the coding backup, root SSH, the coding restore and the Store install — with no dealer visit and no internet in the car.
To install the MGU App Store on a BMW with an iDrive 7 or 8 MGU head unit, the unit needs root SSH, valid coding and the official mgu-store installer. MGU Wizard does the whole job from one Windows PC over an ENET cable: it has you back up the coding, enables root SSH, checks the coding the same way the installer will, and runs the installer, which builds the Store on the head unit. From then on, apps install and update from the Store itself.
The wizard installs the Store; the Store installs the apps. The apps are separate community projects under their own licences, installed and updated on the head unit:
The MGU is the head unit behind iDrive 7 and 8. Taking it from stock to installed apps is not one operation: it is a VIN-bound debug flash for root SSH, a coding backup for what that flash wipes, a coding restore, and the Store install. Each piece exists as a separate tool, and the expensive mistakes come from doing them in the wrong order or skipping the part that looked optional.
MGU Wizard does not reimplement the flasher or the Store. It drives the public-domain idrive7-8-ssh-root tool and the official mgu-store installer, which it downloads and checksum-verifies and runs as a separate process. The wizard adds the connective tissue: it sequences the steps, carries the VIN, IP and key from one page to the next, streams the real output into one log, and stops at the two manual stages no tool can automate.
The two manual stages are the coding backup and restore. Flashing wipes the head unit’s CAFD coding and deletes BMW Digital Key pairings, and the Store installer refuses to run until the coding is valid again. You do those two steps in BimmerCode, E-Sys or ISTA; the wizard tells you when, records the confirmation, and checks the same coding gate the installer will before it lets the install start.
Park the car, connect a battery charger and plug in the ENET cable. Run the wizard as Administrator, press Read IP over ENET and confirm the VIN it reads. An already-rooted unit or the emulator can skip the flash path: choose “It already has root SSH”, give it the connection and key, and test root before continuing.
Flashing the debug image wipes the head unit’s CAFD coding and deletes BMW Digital Key pairings. Back the coding up with BimmerCode, E-Sys or ISTA before you continue; the wizard does not do this step for you. It records the confirmation and tells you exactly what will be lost.
Flash the VIN-bound debug image, enrol the unit and keep SSH on. This is the vendored idrive7-8-ssh-root tool running under the wizard; its real output is streamed into the shared log rather than summarised.
Put the coding back with the same tool you backed it up with. Before the Store installer is allowed to run, the wizard asks the unit the same question the installer will, over SSH and read-only, and applies the installer’s own rule: it refuses when the coding is invalid or default and the app manager is not running. You find out before the installer does.
The wizard downloads the official mgu-store installer, verifies it against the release’s SHA-256, and runs it as a separate process. The Store, updater and renderer are installed; from then on apps install and update on the head unit itself.
Restart the head unit, re-pair any Digital Key phones, and open the Store. The log is saved to %LOCALAPPDATA%\mgu-wizard\logs\; fault scans and backups go under backups\<VIN>\<UTC>\ so a job can be traced back to the car.
The Diagnostics window reads the fault memory of every control unit over the ENET gateway — one functional 19 02 request, one answer per unit — and names each code with the same database the Store’s Fault Scanner app uses, looked up by the unit’s SGBD index. Clearing is behind a confirmation, one unit at a time, and re-reads afterwards so a fault that is still present comes straight back.
It needs no root and no flashing, so it works on a stock car, on NBT/EVO units the provisioning flow refuses, and over a VPN to a remote gateway. Each scan is saved to %LOCALAPPDATA%\mgu-wizard\backups\<VIN>\<UTC>\faults.json with the database’s SHA-256, so a text can be traced to the version that produced it. The same scan is available without the GUI from tools/diag_probe.py.
Diagnostics and the coding backup are free, with no account and no network. The steps that write to the car — root SSH, the coding restore and the Store install — use credits: one credit is one car, permanently, re-runs included. Your first car is free when you link your PC. There are no personal or commercial tiers: a hobbyist with two cars and a shop with two hundred pay the same way, and packs bring the price down to €15 a car.
Prices in EUR, not final until launch. VAT is applied at checkout according to your country and status; businesses get an invoice with their VAT ID. A credit becomes one VIN when you spend it and stays with that car. A pre-activation typed on the website can be moved to another VIN once within 7 days if it has never been used.
On first run the wizard shows a short link code. Sign in on dabgarage.ro with your email and enter it: the PC is now tied to your account, and your first car is free. An account can link 2 PCs.
Identify the car, read the fault codes and back up the coding. None of this needs an account, a credit or the network.
Spend one credit on the VIN the wizard reads from the car, or pre-activate a VIN on the website before the car arrives. The activation is permanent for that car.
Before Check root, Root SSH, Restore coding and Install the Store, the wizard asks dabgarage.ro for a one-time job pass for this PC and this car. The pass is checked before a step starts, never during it, so a dropped connection cannot interrupt a flash.
The shared root key. Every unit flashed this way shares the same baked root SSH key, which is public on GitHub. With SSH left on, anyone who joins the car’s Wi-Fi hotspot and has that key can get root. Keep the hotspot password strong, do not expose the unit to a network you do not control, and understand that a per-car key exists but can only be set once and is riskier — the wizard uses the shared key by default.
iDrive 8 is experimental. The Store’s ID8 support has only ever been tested in an emulator, never on a real ID8 car. Treat it as experimental and do not learn on a customer’s vehicle.
The exe is unsigned. Windows SmartScreen may warn the first time. Check the zip against the SHA-256 published with the release before running it; if it matches, choose More info → Run anyway. Never run a copy from a forum or a file-sharing link.
Only your own car, or one you are authorised to service. Rooting a head unit can affect its warranty, its coding and its Digital Key pairings. The wizard is a repair tool, not a way around a vehicle you do not own. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, BMW AG.