BMW Connected drive 3G to 4G?

[Anonymous]

But I did find out that my car is equipped with a 2G combox.

How did you find this out???

 

[bilbobalrags]

FYI > BMW 2017 i3 build date is 11/16
I came into this discussion knowing nearly nothing about 2G/3G/etc technology. I'm very phone averse. So when I had the conn-drive fail I pinged BMW customer service. I got an email from them stating I was driving a 2G vehicle ( thus SOL ). Perhaps it was a typo or some other glitch but I had/have no way of knowing - a follow-up email was never answered. Searching the web yields a wide variety of conflicting info. My BMW dealer (genius ?) has been non-responsive for over a week. BMW state it will inform via email or first class mail of upgrade eligibility. I have received neither - I have an active connected drive subscription until Jan next year.
Some of those posting herein seem to me that they are likely affiliated with BMW. If so, you should announce the fact for obvious reasons.
In any case, whether I am captive under 2G or 3G, I feel BMW should make whole we folk who find their $45-$50 car seriously crippled after merely 4-5 years of ownership. Surely they knew that 2G-3G would sunset in the near future - and they were equipping (some?) cars with 4G in 2016. 2G sunsetting was already common knowledge - done for bandwidth reasons with 5G on the horizon. They had to have known 3G would be next.
So educate me.

 

[EvanstonI3]

FYI > BMW 2017 i3 build date is 11/16

Thank you

So educate me.

Actually it works the other way around, by providing enough information, you help educate US.
We don't know everything. We are just a bunch of other i3 owners. We have just as many questions as you do and have found BMW to be a poor source of reliable information. So we all gather it ourselves, in our own way(s), from other actual owners, and then rely on the data gathered to make a relatively informed opinion. Until new information comes along that changes that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I personally find it very difficult to believe that your car has EITHER a 2G OR 3G TCU (Telematics Control Unit) based on the responses of other owners over time. That does not mean you are wrong. It means the information you have been provided with is wrong.

I have seen posts from owners with 2017 model cars built in July or August 2016 who assumed they had 3G and just did not pay attention when their Connected Subscription ran out. They were urged to try to renew Services to see what would happen. Because they were able to renew Services past Feb 2022, that STRONGLY implies that they have a 4G TCU. Otherwise BMW would not allow the Service to be renewed.

I can't diagnose what the issue is with your Connected Drive Subscription. That fact that it "stopped working" in October when your Services are supposed to be through January 2022 is concerning. It is possible that the TCU went bad. It could happen. Or it COULD be that the car was first activated in October 2016 just after being built, the original 4 year subscription ran out in Oct 2020, someone renewed it for a year and.... it just expired on its own? When did you buy the car?

I would suggest that you confirm what version TCU that is installed in your car, and you can do this by popping up the rear seat and looking at the cluster of electronics boxes on the Driver's Side.

The VERY FRONT module is Black Plastic. This is the TCU. You won't be able to see the label until you remove a couple of support struts. But if/when you do, you can then slide move the modules around enough to see the LABEL that is on the Front which is normally hidden when everything is strapped down. Don't unplug anything. Just move things around.
I did that on my car and found this label:

Note that it says "4G" in part of the model ID. This is different from previous models (they did not say 2G or 3G though).

You have an interesting (and frustrating) problem.

 

[eNate]

FYI > BMW 2017 i3 build date is 11/16

That's going to be a 4G unit then.

When you go to the website or app, are you not presented with the option to renew? That's the giveaway as to what you've got.

As mentioned, my Slurpee Day (7/11) 2016 build date i3 had the 4G box, despite the 3G icon showing up on one of the screens.

I did what Evanston suggested attempting to find the label on my black box, but couldn't locate it despite cramming my phone into all sorts of nooks and crannies to get a clear shot. I stopped short of unbolting anything, and accepted that being given the green light to renew when so many others were receiving cancellation notices as 4G affirmation.

 

[bilbobalrags]

Sorry, slow responding because of time spent wiping egg from my face. It appears my i3 (2017 model) does indeed have 4G telemetrics (good news) despite the ConnDrive folk email to the contrary.
However, the question of why the cursed MyBMW Android app won't work remains unanswered. It's been 2 1/2 weeks since BMW customer service has not responded and 10 days since anything from the local BMW "genius". I think I need to make an in-person confrontation with the local guy.
Any other suggestion as to how to get their attention?

 

[EvanstonI3]

Sorry, slow responding because of time spent wiping egg from my face. It appears my i3 (2017 model) does indeed have 4G telemetrics (good news) despite the ConnDrive folk email to the contrary.
However, the question of why the cursed MyBMW Android app won't work remains unanswered. It's been 2 1/2 weeks since BMW customer service has not responded and 10 days since anything from the local BMW "genius". I think I need to make an in-person confrontation with the local guy.
Any other suggestion as to how to get their attention?

BMW has already given you bad info, I would not expect them to assist you in any useful way with an app.
If the app USED to work and you are CERTAIN that your Services have not expired, I would delete the app from the phone and then re-install it and log in again.

You should also try to access your Connected Account via other means to confirm it is still Active. Go to BMWUSA.COM and click the MY BMW in the upper RH corner to Log In and check your account. Try this from a computer and not a mobile device, although it should work from your phone.

At least one big issue is now a non-issue. That's progress.

 

[bilbobalrags]

All good suggestions thanks, but -
Done all that , several times, in fact last time about 30 minutes ago. I can go onto MyBMW.com, login with the same credentials as the app (confirmed username and pass). From there I can see that my subscription is active.
I've just sent an email to the local Genius complaining about non-communication and stating what I've done and suggesting we meet in person on Monday or Tuesday.
To be continued - time for a stroll to the whisky cabinet.

 

[bilbobalrags]

You triggered a thought. Though unlikely, perhaps it's my Android phone. So, using phone Chrome browser, I logged onto the MyBMW.com website successfully using the same credentials. No problem so it ain't the phone.

 

[eNate]

A long time member / frequent poster on the i3 USA Facebook group posted today that his dealership offered him a 5G upgrade for his 2015 when he casually asked.

Has there been a policy shift inside BMW?

 

[bilbobalrags]

Episode 16 or so of MyBMW app failure.
Finally solved thanks to the help of the local Beemer #1 genius guy. He persevered in getting a useful response from up the line somewhere. So here, verbatim , are the key points - quote

" Delete ALL old BMW Connected or MINI Connected App
Install "Firefox" and set to default browser (this is done from your phone settings)
Enable cookies and javascript in Firefox under settings
Open My BMW app and click login
Login screen will open up in Firefox
Enter credentials and click Login
Return to the app to confirm login worked
Switch default browser back to your preferred browser "

Worked for me. Caveat, I'm on an Android 6.1 phone, Samsung S5 and my default browser WAS Chrome. Why they didn't enable it Chrome is a mystery - it is only worldwide the most popular browser.

So why a browser problem. Here is my guess. Although MyBMW talks to the car via the cell phone network, I think when opening (possibly first time only) MyBMW login page it communicates with the "home office" to verify credentials. Subsequent opening asks only for the PIN. Thus the last list item states it is ok to switch back to another default browser. Maybe someone else knows better.

I'm mostly happy now, and relieved, but still pissed at BMW for not widely informing us about this problem and it's fix. I spent a ton of time and suffered significant angst on this issue. Good luck Beemer gang, and I hope the above is a help to some of you.

 

[eNate]

...
Finally solved thanks to the help of the local Beemer #1 genius guy. He persevered in getting a useful response from up the line somewhere. So here, verbatim , are the key points - quote

" Delete ALL old BMW Connected or MINI Connected App
Install "Firefox" ...

Wete you getting the "Invalid Token" error message when launching the app?

 

[bilbobalrags]

Invalid Token - yes. But also the kickback message changed on later attempts, who knows why, to "invalid client.....unknown client ..... > and some other gibberish"
My advice is, if you are having login problems, try the Firefox process. Easy and can't hurt. But first make sure your car is equipped with, at least, 4G.

 

[eNate]

The Play Store reviews are filled with this Invalid Token complaint, and the app developer had responded to a number of them with this fix. I'm surprised it wasn't automatic when you contacted BMW the first time.

The bug may or may not be Chrome specific. The more general advice is "make a different browser the default browser" but there's a catch: a number of browsers, including Opera, are now based off the Chrome kernel.

So Opera won't work. Dolphin will. I ran into issues with Firefox (I've had to do this twice now), but will try it again the next time it recurs.

Hopefully since the app developer and BMW are aware, this will get resolved shortly.

 

[bilbobalrags]

Interesting ENate, that you had to try it multiple times and that you had Firefox "issues". I think once the credentials are validated that the app is no longer dependent upon the browser. But then I really am naïve regarding apps and such.

But, app developer aside, BMW are surely culpable in this circumstance by not informing subscribers of the baseline conditions required to get the thing operational. And how to mitigate problems.B

MW have never, repeat NEVER , sent me any emails, texts,  or snail mail informing that the old app will be expiring and what to do about it.  No notification re: 2G-3G com boxes upcoming death.  Pure contempt for Beemer drivers.  Think I'll trade it in for an Aston Martin.

 

[frictioncircle]

Pure contempt for Beemer drivers.

What did we do?

 

[eNate]

...BMW are surely culpable in this circumstance by not informing subscribers of the baseline conditions required to get the thing operational. And how to mitigate problems.B

MW have never, repeat NEVER , sent me any emails, texts,  or snail mail informing that the old app will be expiring and what to do about it.  No notification re: 2G-3G com boxes upcoming death. ...

For what it's worth:

When I switched from the old BMW Connected app to the new My BMW app, it was seamless — this problem did not present until later. So I wouldn't classify this necessarily as an installation hurdle, and hopefully most users aren't experiencing this. The rates of complaints about it are fairly low on this forum and on the i3 Facebook groups.

As for notifications, I found out about the new app from a Facebook group, so switched on day 1. Didn't they post an End of Life message on the old app?

And I'm not understanding your complaint about the 3G expiring. It seems to me that owners of affected cars have been notified by mail and email. You wouldn't have received any communication because you're not affected.

 

[bilbobalrags]

I have never received any notification from BMW. The 3G comment admittedly doesn't apply. Sorry for that. But I think we should ALL have been notified of the upcoming changes, the new MyBMW and the expiry of the 2G-3G situation. In my case not.
Your second comment is the same as happened to me with the following exception. I found out about the new MyBMW only because the old app suddenly failed to work. Scouted around and found the new mysterious MyBMW app. I installed it and, like you it worked seamlessly. Just the following day I hit the new app and it said something like "defective token and other gibberish". Thus was the start of my battle.
It works fine now but I always have a sense of dread before I click the button.

 

[Anonymous]

This is interesting as a remote access replacement for 3G sunset. Designed originally for Tesla's by a couple of Tesla engineers.

https://www.openvehicles.com/

https://www.openvehicles.com/buy?fbclid=IwAR26jE7vX4fsHXNu1MT2L_amRp_UnPT-MyRfacDyqxoc5wGlwfIqL344JWM

https://docs.openvehicles.com/en/latest/components/vehicle_bmwi3/docs/index.html

 

[djbrh]

This is interesting as a remote access replacement for 3G sunset. Designed originally for Tesla's by a couple of Tesla engineers.

https://www.openvehicles.com/

https://www.openvehicles.com/buy?fbclid=IwAR26jE7vX4fsHXNu1MT2L_amRp_UnPT-MyRfacDyqxoc5wGlwfIqL344JWM

https://docs.openvehicles.com/en/latest/components/vehicle_bmwi3/docs/index.html

As of now, no support for remote functions like lock/unlock or pre-acclimatize. If it starts to do those things, then it becomes very interesting for those of us getting sunset.


—Donnie

 

[possen]

I just found out about this and am a little upset. The day comes sooner Feb 22, sounds like i3 2014 owners will soon be SOL. Is replacing the box with a 4G box under the seat viable? Seems that BMW would be aware of the 3G to 4G transition as they dealt with the 2G to 3G transition. Why would they make it impossible to upgrade the box?

GM's Onstar was a Over The Air upgrade to support 4G. Why put in non upgradable hardware in BMWs?