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

[BimmerSass]

Thanks to all the great info I received on this forum, I finally purchased a Black 2018 Rex with 29,000 miles on it.

I love driving this quirky car around. I’m taking my time learning different things about what it can do ( also new to EV’s..but not to BMW) My last car was 2001 330i and pretty low tech. This car has a lot of features..including the ConnectedDrive option and not sure if my car is too old to really benefit for all the ConnectedDrive features.

I don’t really need to monitor my charging too much. I have an 80 mile round trip commute and trickle charge with an upgraded 16 amp charger ( reduced to 12-13 amp) over night. So 6 miles per hour gets me close to 100 % every night.

Real time traffic? I use WAZE is there a difference?

Speech recognition…that would be good for navigation..…but again ..I use WAZE

Remote features might be good …but not clear what would work in my car. I would like to precondition from my phone instead of programming in the car since I leave at different hours. Does that work along with unlocking the car remotely?
Connected parking? How does that work?
BMW Online?
Alexa? I have my Android phone …so I can just ask Google to do something…since it’s already listening

What do you all find useful in Connected Drive?

Thanks in advance.

 

[alohart]

I might be facing this same decision when I return to the U.S. in mid-November. The 4-year warranty on our 2019 i3 expired in September while we were away, so I'm guessing that my ConnectedDrive subscription did as well.

For our former 2014 i3, the various ConnectedDrive services were split into several different subscriptions. Unfortunately, they're now all lumped together in a single more expensive subscription, so there's no picking and choosing among the various services. However, the one service that I did not renew previously was real-time traffic information because it was consistently less than real-time in Honolulu (i.e., it was outdated and not very useful). If you're happy with Waze, ConnectedDrive's real-time traffic information likely wouldn't be an improvement except that it's displayed on a larger screen since you can't display your Android phone screen on the larger i3 display.

It's not clear to me what else of value is included with a ConnectedDrive subscription. I don't know what Connected Parking is. I do occasionally use the MyBMW app to locate where my car is parked, but I don't know if that feature is Connected Parking. I almost always know where I parked, so this is a feature that I probably wouldn't miss.

Our apartment parking garage parking space is 2 floors down and ~150 ft. away with no WiFi connection for a smart EVSE, so I do occasionally monitor with the MyBMW app the charging status during active charging. I typically charge to <90%, so I want to know when to walk to our i3 to end the charging session manually. However, when I start a charging session, I can predict when the session should end, so I typically just set an alarm on my watch. Therefore, I wouldn't miss being able to monitor an active charging session on the MyBMW app.

I've never gotten into talking to electronic devices, so I wouldn't miss the improved online speech recognition assuming that this is a feature. I believe that some level of speech recognition is performed locally, but not using this feature, I'm not qualified to provide advice.

I think I'm talking myself out of renewing our ConnectedDrive subscription. After it has expired, I'll decide whether there's something that I value that's no longer possible, but I don't know what that would be right now. Hopefully, others who depend on ConnectedDrive more than I do will reply.

 

[mojo]

I'm not sure how much this varies from country to country, but what parts of ConnectedDrive you get will depend among other things on what the original purchaser of the car paid for. As far as I can tell, the easiest place to find out is by logging in to the BMW ConnectedDrive Customer Portal, where it will tell you which features are activated in your car, and for how long.

If my car is anything to go by, it's complicated and confusing (e.g. ConnectDrive Services and BMW i ConnectedDrive Services are two different things). Some features require a subscription, and some are active for the life of the car (or, more accurately, for as long as BMW can be bothered to run the infrastructure that it needs to function).

Here's an example of the features on my car, and their validity:

Remote Services: Active, unlimited duration
Apple CarPlay preparation: Active, unlimited duration
Real Time Traffic: Active until 05/12/2024
On-street Parking Info: Active until 05/12/2024
BMW Online: Active until 05/12/2024
BMW Connected+: Active until 05/12/2024
Alexa Car Integration: Active until 05/12/2024
Map Update Package: Active until 05/12/2024
Online Entertainment: Active until 05/12/2024
BMW i ConnectDrive Services: Active, unlimited duration
ConnectDrive Services: Active, unlimited duration
Intelligent Emergency Call: Active, unlimited duration
Teleservices: Active, unlimited duration

Some of this may be determined by local policy (so may be different in the US than the UK), and some features cannot be renewed (e.g. Online Entertainment, which is being discontinued in the UK when existing subscriptions expire).

But you can see from the above that I don't need to renew anything for Remote Services (i.e. all of the features of the myBMW app such as Preconditioning and Timed Charging) to keep working - as long as BMW can be bothered to keep supporting old hardware.

 

[eNate]

For starters, your 2018 should have all features available.

From my perspective, as a former '17 and now a '21 owner, four years total, I fall into the "it's worth it" camp.

I often use remote door lock & unlock.

I often change my departure schedule, and it's much more convenient on the app when I'm thinking about it rather than from inside the car.

I frequently use the on-demand cabin preconditioning.

BMW connected services – particularly voice recognition, POI finding, and real time traffic – have become excellent, and I use them more often than Google Maps and Waze. Plus the in-car nav will pick the more efficient EV routing and update miles remaining based on real life conditions.

I've found my charge history to be useful for tracking mileage back in time, and I find myself monitoring my charge even though it's not really necessary (except for those rate instances when the charge stops at work so I know to go find a new outlet to plug into).

I haven't had to put a dollar value to this service yet, but I'm pretty sure when my free period ends, I'll point up for the subscription.

 

[BimmerSass]

I might be facing this same decision when I return to the U.S. in mid-November. The 4-year warranty on our 2019 i3 expired in September while we were away, so I'm guessing that my ConnectedDrive subscription did as well.

For our former 2014 i3, the various ConnectedDrive services were split into several different subscriptions. Unfortunately, they're now all lumped together in a single more expensive subscription, so there's no picking and choosing among the various services. However, the one service that I did not renew previously was real-time traffic information because it was consistently less than real-time in Honolulu (i.e., it was outdated and not very useful). If you're happy with Waze, ConnectedDrive's real-time traffic information likely wouldn't be an improvement except that it's displayed on a larger screen since you can't display your Android phone screen on the larger i3 display.

It's not clear to me what else of value is included with a ConnectedDrive subscription. I don't know what Connected Parking is. I do occasionally use the MyBMW app to locate where my car is parked, but I don't know if that feature is Connected Parking. I almost always know where I parked, so this is a feature that I probably wouldn't miss.

Our apartment parking garage parking space is 2 floors down and ~150 ft. away with no WiFi connection for a smart EVSE, so I do occasionally monitor with the MyBMW app the charging status during active charging. I typically charge to <90%, so I want to know when to walk to our i3 to end the charging session manually. However, when I start a charging session, I can predict when the session should end, so I typically just set an alarm on my watch. Therefore, I wouldn't miss being able to monitor an active charging session on the MyBMW app.

I've never gotten into talking to electronic devices, so I wouldn't miss the improved online speech recognition assuming that this is a feature. I believe that some level of speech recognition is performed locally, but not using this feature, I'm not qualified to provide advice.

I think I'm talking myself out of renewing our ConnectedDrive subscription. After it has expired, I'll decide whether there's something that I value that's no longer possible, but I don't know what that would be right now. Hopefully, others who depend on ConnectedDrive more than I do will reply.

Hmm. I might be more motivated to get it when winter really gets here and that preconditioning be comes important when is 15 degrees out side.

 

[mojo]

As I already said, you don't need to subscribe to anything for Remote Services - and therefore everything that you can do via the app - to just keep working. It should be active for the life of the car.

 

[EvanstonI3]

As I already said, you don't need to subscribe to anything for Remote Services - and therefore everything that you can do via the app - to just keep working. It should be active for the life of the car.

If you are in the USA, Remote Services are only included for the first 4 years from the first date of Service. Other parts of the world have different arrangements. Owners rarely seem to mention what part of the world they are in and this causes a lot of false expectations and confusion.

Given that the OP is talking about "miles" and "dollars" I assume they are in the USA but I could be wrong.
edit to add: looked up OP's first post and they are in the Eastern part of the USA, so the 4 year rule applies in this case.

 

[BimmerSass]

As I already said, you don't need to subscribe to anything for Remote Services - and therefore everything that you can do via the app - to just keep working. It should be active for the life of the car.

If you are in the USA, Remote Services are only included for the first 4 years from the first date of Service. Other parts of the world have different arrangements. Owners rarely seem to mention what part of the world they are in and this causes a lot of false expectations and confusion.

Given that the OP is talking about "miles" and "dollars" I assume they are in the USA but I could be wrong.
edit to add: looked up OP's first post and they are in the Eastern part of the USA, so the 4 year rule applies in this case.

I live in the Washington DC area ….so 4yrs are up. So every time I try to use ConnectedDrive it sends me to the shop to buy the subscription.
So are you saying in other countries the remote services are for the lifetime of the car? Looks like the US Market got screwed again….add that to the list….along with Hold State of Charge option…

 

[mojo]

Yes - exactly as shown in the third post above. In the UK (and I guess the whole of Europe too) a significant number of the options are "for the life of the car" (as defined by BMW).

TBH I don't understand the logic of "country-specific" variations like that. You would ~think~ it would make life simpler for their support teams if it were consistent globally. But then again, the laws in some countries force certain things on them (e.g. the broader 8 year warranty requirements in some US states?) and I guess they reckon that they will recover the cost of those provisions by cutting back elsewhere?

It may be that - in the case of Remote Services - it's possible to sign up with a mobile phone service provider to get service for a long (possibly unbounded) length of time in Europe, but not in the US? I guess you would only know the detail if you worked for the relevant part of BMW...

 

[duanew]

I have a 2019 and am in a similar place with the subscription and its price. I plan on buying a Road Top module from aliexpress to gain Android Auto and use Waze and other apps instead. I will miss out on remote setting changes and monitoring along with preconditioning.

I have found that the included traffic avoidance is not the best and won't miss it. Finding charging stations is clunky. I think using phone apps will be better overall.

 

[Arm]

I have always had ConnectedDrive and to me it's worth it. I can't stand Waze...I think it's awful.

I use my ConnectedDrive a lot. Sending requests, locking/unlocking/pre-conditioning/maps, etc.

 

[BimmerSass]

I'm not sure how much this varies from country to country, but what parts of ConnectedDrive you get will depend among other things on what the original purchaser of the car paid for. As far as I can tell, the easiest place to find out is by logging in to the BMW ConnectedDrive Customer Portal, where it will tell you which features are activated in your car, and for how long.

If my car is anything to go by, it's complicated and confusing (e.g. ConnectDrive Services and BMW i ConnectedDrive Services are two different things). Some features require a subscription, and some are active for the life of the car (or, more accurately, for as long as BMW can be bothered to run the infrastructure that it needs to function).

Here's an example of the features on my car, and their validity:

Remote Services: Active, unlimited duration
Apple CarPlay preparation: Active, unlimited duration
Real Time Traffic: Active until 05/12/2024
On-street Parking Info: Active until 05/12/2024
BMW Online: Active until 05/12/2024
BMW Connected+: Active until 05/12/2024
Alexa Car Integration: Active until 05/12/2024
Map Update Package: Active until 05/12/2024
Online Entertainment: Active until 05/12/2024
BMW i ConnectDrive Services: Active, unlimited duration
ConnectDrive Services: Active, unlimited duration
Intelligent Emergency Call: Active, unlimited duration
Teleservices: Active, unlimited duration

Some of this may be determined by local policy (so may be different in the US than the UK), and some features cannot be renewed (e.g. Online Entertainment, which is being discontinued in the UK when existing subscriptions expire).

But you can see from the above that I don't need to renew anything for Remote Services (i.e. all of the features of the myBMW app such as Preconditioning and Timed Charging) to keep working - as long as BMW can be bothered to keep supporting old hardware.

Even though I live in the US and don’t get the same free perks, your list and explanation of the BWM I ConnectedDrive and ConnectDrive are helpful. Your list is too. I think I will eventually get the subscription…but I have more pressing items I want to get first like getting all my coding features set and winter tires/wheels..

 

[BimmerSass]

For starters, your 2018 should have all features available.

From my perspective, as a former '17 and now a '21 owner, four years total, I fall into the "it's worth it" camp.

I often use remote door lock & unlock.

I often change my departure schedule, and it's much more convenient on the app when I'm thinking about it rather than from inside the car.

I frequently use the on-demand cabin preconditioning.

BMW connected services – particularly voice recognition, POI finding, and real time traffic – have become excellent, and I use them more often than Google Maps and Waze. Plus the in-car nav will pick the more efficient EV routing and update miles remaining based on real life conditions.

I've found my charge history to be useful for tracking mileage back in time, and I find myself monitoring my charge even though it's not really necessary (except for those rate instances when the charge stops at work so I know to go find a new outlet to plug into).

I haven't had to put a dollar value to this service yet, but I'm pretty sure when my free period ends, I'll point up for the subscription.

Thanks for the info. Interesting that it navigates based on most efficient route. Well it does work out to $10 a month, so when you look at it that way it’s not bad…I just hate giving it all up front.

 

[alohart]

Well it does work out to $10 a month, so when you look at it that way it’s not bad…I just hate giving it all up front.

In the past, BMW USA has offered Black Friday discounts on some ConnectedDrive services subscriptions. I haven't paid attention in recent years, so I don't know whether that's still happening. Might be worth checking during November.

 

[BimmerSass]

Well it does work out to $10 a month, so when you look at it that way it’s not bad…I just hate giving it all up front.

In the past, BMW USA has offered Black Friday discounts on some ConnectedDrive services subscriptions. I haven't paid attention in recent years, so I don't know whether that's still happening. Might be worth checking during November.

Good to know, I will keep my eye out for a Black Friday Promo…guest I better opt back in to emails for BMW.

 

[bmwnomad]

I don't think the Black Friday Connected Drive deals included the US, they were always Europe. I could be wrong, but googling over the past few years has shown it's European/Japan only.

 

[alohart]

I don't think the Black Friday Connected Drive deals included the US, they were always Europe.

I renewed my real-time traffic information subscription in our 2014 U.S. i3 with a Black Friday discount several years ago, so they have been offered in the U.S. in the past.

 

[bmwnomad]

several years ago

Exactly

 

[frictioncircle]

I don’t really need to monitor my charging too much. I have an 80 mile round trip commute and trickle charge with an upgraded 16 amp charger ( reduced to 12-13 amp) over night. So 6 miles per hour gets me close to 100 % every night.

Real time traffic? I use WAZE is there a difference?

Speech recognition…that would be good for navigation..…but again ..I use WAZE

Remote features might be good …but not clear what would work in my car. I would like to precondition from my phone instead of programming in the car since I leave at different hours. Does that work along with unlocking the car remotely?
Connected parking? How does that work?
BMW Online?
Alexa? I have my Android phone …so I can just ask Google to do something…since it’s already listening

Hello BimmerSass, congrats on the new wheels!

You're getting many opinions and suggestions here so it will take some time for you to consider all the input.

I got my first i3 in 2014 (BEV). In 2021 I upgraded to an i3s (also BEV). I don't use any mobile apps while driving and only use what's available via iDrive. What follows are my responses to your queries.

Monitoring charging – this was a novelty when I got my 2014 (in 2014) but after a few months I realized that if you know the EVSE (aka "the charger") that you're using, in general it functions as a normal appliance. Can things go wrong? Yes! Do you have an important destination you need a full battery to reach the next morning? In this case you might want a mobile app so you can check SOC (State Of Charge). But if your range needs are less critical then you might find that you don't need to closely track your SOC.

Real time traffic – as you're using Waze I don't think you'll get better nav & routing results with ConnectedDrive.

Speech recognition – in iDrive Settings (or Vehicle Settings) there should be an option to allow / restrict cloud-based speech processing. In using the i3's tech in non-cloud based processing, it's pretty good. Press the microphone button on the steering wheel and say "Play Kendrick Lamar" and 99% of the time it will work.

The ability to precondition – if you know your departure time in advance you can pre-program this into the i3 using the iDrive controller – no need for a mobile app. As you mention that you leave a variable hours then this might be the "killer app" reason to use Connected Drive.

Remote unlocking – this requires you to be signed into the ConnectedDrive app (perhaps called MyBMW?). It can take up to 30 seconds for the remote unlock request to reach your i3.

ConnectedParking – If you're driving in a municipality that supports this, when the iDrive display is showing the live map, streets that have available parking will be hilighted with blue outlines. I've driven in two cities that provide this data but the i3 regularly shows plenty of available street parking yet local street signs have restricted parking to certain hours or for residents with permits – I consider it a useless feature.

BMW Online – I use this for two things. First, press the Speech button on the steering wheel and say "Weather" and the iDrive display will show you the weather forecast based upon your location. If you press the Speech button and say "News" the iDrive display will switch to the news feed from Reuters.

 

[Riled]

2 things worth considering:

• Your car insurance may offer a discount if you have a car tracking/location service, which the Connected app does. This can completely offset the cost of the app or more.

• 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.