Is $120 for ConnectedDrive worth it, for a 2018 Rex?

[EvanstonI3]

• Some people in other threads have said they use the Connected app to keep the 12v battery fully charged. If you have to leave the car sitting for a while, like a long stint in airport parking, you can use the app to remotely unlock then lock the car doors. This wakes up the HV battery and causes it to apply a charging current to the 12v battery for about 15 minutes.

This is absolutely false. The car will automatically come on to boost the 12v battery if the voltage drops to 12.0 or 12.5v depending on if your car is early software or later. I've documented this on my 2017 BEV. There is no need for external interference.

Another thing I have documented (with my Bluetooth 12v Battery Monitor) is exactly what happens to the 12v battery when you remotely unlock and then lock the doors. Please see this pic of the graph of the 12v in my car sitting in my garage and remotely Unlocking and Locking the car at 1pm and 2pm. Note the voltage before and after each Lock/Unlock command.

 

[mojo]

Agreed - I've seen the same thing on my 2021 i3s. If you unlock the car it doesn't connect the HV battery. You have to put the car into "Drive ready" state (which you can't do remotely, AFAIK).

 

[alohart]

Agreed - I've seen the same thing on my 2021 i3s. If you unlock the car it doesn't connect the HV battery. You have to put the car into "Drive ready" state (which you can't do remotely, AFAIK).

This isn't correct. The HV system turning on and the DC-DC converter turning on to charge the 12 V battery are separate but related events. With a 12 V voltmeter in an auxiliary power port for about 5 years in both our former 2014 i3 and current 2019 i3, and with a 12 V system logger installed for about a year, I can see when the DC-DC converter turns on. The DC-DC converter is a HV device that can turn on only when the HV system is on. If the HV disconnect is disconnected, the DC-DC converter doesn't turn on because the HV system cannot turn on.

There are several wake-up events that turn on the HV system:
• unlocking or opening the frunk, hatch, or doors
• starting HV battery charging
• starting HV battery or cabin preconditioning
• the 12 V battery state of charge decreasing below a certain limit

The IBS (intelligent battery sensor) sends 12 V battery voltage, current, and temperature information to the EDME (electrical digital machine electronics) every 14 seconds. The EDME uses these data to determine whether the 12 V battery's charge level is sufficient to turn on the HV system and to prevent the 12 V battery from freezing. If it isn't, the EDME turns on the HV system and orders the EME (electric machine electronics) to turn on the DC-DC converter to charge the 12 V battery. As EvanstonI3 wrote, this can occur even when an i3 is turned off. My 12 V system monitor has also recorded some of these 1-hour 12 V battery charging events after our i3 had been parked for more than a week when its 12 V battery voltage had decreased below a certain limit due to vampire 12 V loads that are always on.

When I unlock or open the frunk, hatch, or doors, the HV system turns on and the DC-DC converter usually turns on to begin charging the 12 V battery even when our i3 is off. Our 2014 i3 seemed to be more aggressive than our 2019 i3 about turning on the DC-DC converter to charge the 12 V battery. That might be because the charge level of my 12 V battery is probably lower than on most i3's because I typically drive only a couple of times each week. The 12 V battery in our 2014 i3 was more than 7 years old before its capacity decreased so much that it needed to be replaced whereas the battery in our 2019 i3 is only 4 years old so is probably in better condition which might explain why the DC-DC converter doesn't always turn on when I unlock or open the frunk, hatch, or doors in our 2019 i3.

 

[mojo]

That's odd - I wonder if they changed the behaviour on the later vehicles?

I've fitted an LED voltmeter in the passenger's footwell, so I can see the 12V battery voltage at all times (that I'm with the car).

Just now I sent a remote "lock" command to the car (it is normally always unlocked) and the battery voltage stayed around the 12.5V mark. A few minutes later I sent a remote "unlock" command and the voltage didn't change significantly. However, the handbrake warning and hazards switch lighting do come on.

But... if I open the door, loads of things wake up (evidenced by the sound of several relays connecting) - the 12V battery voltage drops to 11.5V for a few seconds and then the DC-DC converter powers up and the voltage rises to over 14V.

So... perhaps the later cars behave differently, or perhaps the behaviour is more complex than any of us have so far worked out. It seems possible that when a lock or unlock commend is received, the BDC checks the 12V battery voltage and starts the DC-DC converter only if it has dropped below a certain level?

[Edit - just re-read your last sentence, and it seems that you are saying the same thing there.]

 

[alohart]

Just now I sent a remote "lock" command to the car (it is normally always unlocked) and the battery voltage stayed around the 12.5V mark. A few minutes later I sent a remote "unlock" command and the voltage didn't change significantly.

I wonder whether unlocking the doors at the car rather than remotely would start up the HV system and the DC-DC converter if needed to charge the 12 V battery. It might be that the HV system starts up when unlocking the doors at the car in preparation for entering drive readiness state with no delay. Entering drive readiness state wouldn't be imminent if the doors are unlocked remotely, so maybe there's no need to start the HV system.

I wish all of this were documented publicly. Maybe it is, but I haven't been able to find it.

 

[mojo]

I wonder whether unlocking the doors at the car rather than remotely would start up the HV system and the DC-DC converter if needed to charge the 12 V battery.

No - just tried that, and unlocking with the remote (or more accurately locking it, observing the impact on the 12V battery and then unlocking it again) doesn't seem to cause the HV battery and DC-DC converter to be connected, and the theory about a voltage threshold doesn't seem to hold up - I unlocked in the dark, so the "coming home" dipped lights illuminated, which brought the 12V battery down into the 11.xV range, but the HV battery still didn't connect.

So I'm starting to think that the behaviour under those conditions might have been changed in later models.

 

[BimmerSass]

The idea of using the app to remotely activate the locks on the door to engage the 12volt is compelling….if I could confirm that would work in my 2018 Rex.

I haven’t left the car sit for more than two days. We travel about 3 times a year, when the i3 will be sitting for 5-7 days. Is that long enough where I should be worried about the health of the 12volt?

Can pre-conditioning with the app work to engage the 12volt?

Thank for everyone’s insights into this dilemma.

 

[alohart]

The idea of using the app to remotely activate the locks on the door to engage the 12volt is compelling….if I could confirm that would work in my 2018 Rex.

If yours is a U.S. i3, its original 4-year subscription to BMW Connected Services has almost certainly expired. The cost to renew for 1 year is $120. That would enable Remote Services that would allow you to interact with your vehicle remotely over the Internet.

I haven’t left the car sit for more than two days. We travel about 3 times a year, when the i3 will be sitting for 5-7 days. Is that long enough where I should be worried about the health of the 12volt?

It shouldn't discharge excessively unless it is failing now. A good 12 V battery should be able to power the 12 V vampire loads like the burglar alarm, the telematics module, and the keyless entry system, among other things while an i3 is parked for at least a month.

Can pre-conditioning with the app work to engage the 12volt?

Preconditioning either the cabin or the battery pack turns on the HV system. If the charge level of the 12 V battery is low enough and/or the 12 V current is high enough, the DC-DC converter should turn on to charge the 12 V battery. However, I believe that scheduled preconditioning repeats only 3 times unless an i3 has been driven. I don't know whether manual preconditioning would repeat more than 3 times if an i3 is parked.

 

[alohart]

I hope that someone in the U.S. can explain how the BMW Connected Services works. Ours expired on 19 September 2023, 4 years after the in-service date for our 2019 i3. On the expiration date, our i3 was in storage with its 12 V battery disconnected, so BMW's servers couldn't connect to our i3 to disable the subscription if that's how it works. When I took our i3 out of storage on 10 November, our subscription seemed to be active still. I could still connect to and control our i3 remotely via the My BMW app, real-time traffic information (RTTI) was displayed on the navigation maps, and weather and news apps in BMW online were still providing current information although this isn't important to me.

Then within the past couple of weeks, a message briefly flashed across the navigation screen stating that my BMW Connected Services subscription had expired. I couldn't locate this message and wasn't able to read it completely. I did notice that RTTI was no longer available, but every other service still seems active. I don't talk to my devices, so I don't care about Alexa integration or online speech processing. Automatic map updates occur only a couple of times each year, so I don't know whether our i3 will receive the next one which is probably 2024-1. I updated the maps manually for 7 years in our 2014 i3 and never noticed any differences, so automatic over-the-air maps updates aren't very important to me.

I used to pay $50 to renew my RTTI subscription, but RTTI wasn't very real-time in Honolulu with most of its information outdated and not very useful. So RTTI certainly isn't work $120 per year to me. I would miss remote services, though.

Please explain why some of my BMW Connected Services continue to function while others don't.

 

[eNate]

My suspicion is that the car companies continue to pay to maintain an active connection to the car, for data collection to their benefit. It's cheap, and data is the new gold.

That some service remain active could be a fluke, or could be a byproduct of their accounts management system. But cynical me says they methodically take features offline one by one instead of cold turkey in order to drag the owner along, hoping they say "oh I liked that feature" when another one disappears, hoping to prompt a resubscription – similar to how SiriusXM takes away some channels and tosses down free listening periods from time to time.

 

[BimmerSass]

The idea of using the app to remotely activate the locks on the door to engage the 12volt is compelling….if I could confirm that would work in my 2018 Rex.

If yours is a U.S. i3, its original 4-year subscription to BMW Connected Services has almost certainly expired. The cost to renew for 1 year is $120. That would enable Remote Services that would allow you to interact with your vehicle remotely over the Internet.

I haven’t left the car sit for more than two days. We travel about 3 times a year, when the i3 will be sitting for 5-7 days. Is that long enough where I should be worried about the health of the 12volt?

It shouldn't discharge excessively unless it is failing now. A good 12 V battery should be able to power the 12 V vampire loads like the burglar alarm, the telematics module, and the keyless entry system, among other things while an i3 is parked for at least a month.

Can pre-conditioning with the app work to engage the 12volt?

Preconditioning either the cabin or the battery pack turns on the HV system. If the charge level of the 12 V battery is low enough and/or the 12 V current is high enough, the DC-DC converter should turn on to charge the 12 V battery. However, I believe that scheduled preconditioning repeats only 3 times unless an i3 has been driven. I don't know whether manual preconditioning would repeat more than 3 times if an i3 is parked.

Thank as always for the great info.

I have less than on month left of my CPO warranty left and am taking it in tomorrow, I will have them check the health of the 12 volt. It was good in July when bought the car. Any tips on what I should hav3 them look while still under the CPO warranty….other that the Air Conditioner/Heater which seems inconsistent when heating.

 

[kweiske]

I bought a 2018 REX, don't have the tech package. I signed up for the Connected service mostly to be able to send destinations to the map and to be able to get map updates. With my previous car, I used to keep my phone mounted to the dash, but I'm trying to stay away from distractions and like being able to use the built-in maps without entering the address by hand.

We'll see in August if it's worth renewing.

 

[kweiske]

I updated the maps manually for 7 years in our 2014 i3 and never noticed any differences, so automatic over-the-air maps updates aren't very important to me.

How do you update the maps manually? I've not heard of this.

 

[mojo]

How do you update the maps manually? I've not heard of this.

It's described in the BMW owner's guide app (actually called BMW DRIVER'S GUIDE in the Android App Store - I guess BMW haven't found out how to turn off Caps Lock yet....).

 

[alohart]

How do you update the maps manually? I've not heard of this.

The following applies to our former 2014 i3 which had the Tech package. It used maps in a different format from i3's without the Tech package and from later i3's like our 2019 with the Tech package. Our 2019 i3 features automatic map updates, so I no longer manually install updates. Your 2018 i3 might also feature automatic map updates such than manual updates aren't necessary.

Various Websites sell downloadable map updates. BMW sells (sold?) map updates on USB drives.

I initially bought a lifetime map update code which I entered when prompted to do so during the map update process. Then whenever the maps were updated, typically a couple of times each year, I found a possibly sketchy download site that offered the new map version at no cost. I always scanned the ~30 GB map update for malware before using it. I then copied the downloaded map update to a USB thumb drive, inserted the drive into our i3's USB port which recognized the update, and started the update process which would take over 10 minutes to complete due to the size of the update files.