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🚗 BMW CarData → MQTT Bridge

After BMW disabled access for bimmerconnected, an alternative solution was required.
The best working replacement is the new BMW CarData MQTT streaming interface,
which this bridge connects to and forwards to your local MQTT broker.

A small C++ bridge that connects BMW ConnectedDrive CarData (MQTT) to your local Mosquitto MQTT broker.
It authenticates via the official BMW OAuth2 device flow and continuously republishes vehicle telemetry in real time.

You can run it directly on Debian/Ubuntu/Raspberry Pi or inside a Docker container – both options are fully supported.

🧩 Features

  • MQTT v5 protocol with reason codes and reconnect logic
  • Automatic token refresh using BMW’s refresh_token
  • Local watchdog & reconnect if the BMW broker drops the connection
  • Publishes a small JSON status message (bmw/status) showing online/offline state
  • Lightweight: depends only on libmosquitto, libcurl, and nlohmann/json (header-only)
  • Runs perfectly on Debian, Ubuntu, or Raspberry Pi OS
  • Docker support with ready-to-use docker-compose.yml

🧱 Project Structure

bmw-mqtt-bridge/
│
├── demo/                     # Example web client (map demo)
│   ├── bmwmap.html           # Simple HTML page showing vehicle on a map
│   └── README.md             # Instructions for demo usage
│
├── scripts/                  # Helper scripts and utilities
│   ├── bmw_flow.sh           # Start OAuth2 device flow and fetch first tokens
│   ├── compile.sh            # Simple build script (g++)
│   ├── docker-entrypoint.sh  # Entrypoint for Docker container
│   └── install_deps.sh       # Installs dependencies (libmosquitto, libcurl, etc.)
│
├── src/                      # Main C++ source files
│   ├── bmw_mqtt_bridge.cpp   # Core bridge logic (BMW ↔ MQTT)
│   └── json.hpp              # nlohmann/json header (MIT license)
│
├── .env.example              # Example environment configuration
├── docker-compose.yml        # Docker Compose setup
├── Dockerfile                # Docker image definition
├── LICENSE                   # MIT license
└── README.md                 # This file

⚙️ Requirements

Tested on:

  • Debian 12 / Ubuntu 22.04+ / Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm
  • libmosquitto ≥ 2.0
  • libcurl ≥ 7.74
  • g++ ≥ 10
  • (optional) Docker ≥ 24 with Compose plugin