Optional ConnectedDrive services no longer available in store

[Lysander]

How can we tell what telematic unit is in the vehicle. My 2017 REX is early in the production year.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't read any suggestion that BMW will do anything to continue ConnectedDrive services for 3G i3's beyond February, 2022, which would require replacement of the 3G telematics module with the 4G model.

I agree with Art - BMW is basically saying they are looking at how to allow 'connected' renewals and service for 3g equipped cars up to, and only up to, the shutting down of 3g by ATT, with no upgrade path to 4g. Basically BMW is saying that if you have a 3g equipped car, after February 2022 your 'connected' car will no longer be connected to anything because BMW is not going to spend the money to put an upgrade program in place.

 

[rtanov]

Basically BMW is saying that if you have a 3g equipped car, after February 2022 your 'connected' car will no longer be connected to anything because BMW is not going to spend the money to put an upgrade program in place.

Can they do that? I've signed a contract to buy their car and certain services that come with it. I've paid them cash for that 6 years ago, I expect them to keep their end of the bargain.

They should at least change the welcome screen to read "Welcome back to the 20-th century!"

 

[RonR]

I don't read any suggestion that BMW will do anything to continue ConnectedDrive services for 3G i3's beyond February, 2022, which would require replacement of the 3G telematics module with the 4G model.

I agree with Art - BMW is basically saying they are looking at how to allow 'connected' renewals and service for 3g equipped cars up to, and only up to, the shutting down of 3g by ATT, with no upgrade path to 4g. Basically BMW is saying that if you have a 3g equipped car, after February 2022 your 'connected' car will no longer be connected to anything because BMW is not going to spend the money to put an upgrade program in place.

After re-reading this, unfortunately I think both you and Art are correct. More than upset about this. This capability is something I use very often and had a large influence on why I purchased the car in the first place. Will follow-up with BMW and let you know what I hear back (if anything).

IMO, the absolute minimum they should have done is provide a straightforward upgrade path for the telematics box to support 4G. From other things I've read, it sounds like even if I shell out big $$$ for the box used in the later i3's, it's not a simple drop-in replacement...

 

[Anonymous]

Can they do that? I've signed a contract to buy their car and certain services that come with it. I've paid them cash for that 6 years ago, I expect them to keep their end of the bargain.

Apparently they think they can - all of the 'new' connected service offerings come up as 'not available for your vehicle' in the BMW subscription store if you have 3g, and several people with 3g who had a connected service subscription just expire, were told it could not be renewed because renewing it for a year would extend the subscription past the ATT 3g sunset date. I'm wondering how they will address the 3g owners, like myself, who have connected service subscriptions that came new with the car, that don't expire until 2026.

 

[alohart]

Can they do that? I've signed a contract to buy their car and certain services that come with it. I've paid them cash for that 6 years ago, I expect them to keep their end of the bargain.

Somewhere in the sales agreement that we signed or maybe on the ConnectedServices Website could be weasel words that allow BMW to blame the premature ending of ConnectedServices subscriptions on the cell phone carrier being used (AT&T in the U.S.) and thus avoid their responsibility to do anything about the problem ("It's not our fault that AT&T discontinued 3G service.").

 

[Lysander]

Can they do that? I've signed a contract to buy their car and certain services that come with it. I've paid them cash for that 6 years ago, I expect them to keep their end of the bargain.

Apparently they think they can - all of the 'new' connected service offerings come up as 'not available for your vehicle' in the BMW subscription store if you have 3g, and several people with 3g who had a connected service subscription just expire, were told it could not be renewed because renewing it for a year would extend the subscription past the ATT 3g sunset date. I'm wondering how they will address the 3g owners, like myself, who have connected service subscriptions that came new with the car, that don't expire until 2026.

When I went to renew my eDrive subscription it had a grayed out link to renew even though there was a message stating it could be renewed within 30 days of the expiry date. I called "customer service" and was told that all I could get is "Connected Drive" which seems different in its feature set. Other than "Connected Drive" all other options were not available.

Does my ability to get Connected Drive for the next year indicate I have a 4g? If this is the case what happened to eDtive? Is it deprecated?

 

[Anonymous]

Does my ability to get Connected Drive for the next year indicate I have a 4g? If this is the case what happened to eDtive? Is it deprecated?

What year is your car? 4G telematics were installed starting mid-to-end 2017.

 

[EvanstonI3]

How can we tell what telematic unit is in the vehicle. My 2017 REX is early in the production year.

Do you know the Build Date? (Month/Year on label on the door)
Mine is 04/17 and I apparently have a 4G Telematics Control Unit in my vehicle (according to the sticker on the unit)

The only way I know of at this time to see if you may have a 3G or 4G is to physically access the Telematics Control Unit under the rear seat and look at the label.

Once you pop the seat, there are 2 groups of "boxes". Look on the Driver's Side if your car is Left Hand Drive.
The Telematics Control Unit is the box at the very FRONT of that group and the label is not visible because it is also facing the front and up against the rear seat support wall.

Remove the bracket holding that group in place (3 small bolts). Then you can tilt the group backwards a bit to see the label. If you want more access you have to remove the larger support bracket that is blocking everything.

This is what my label looks like, note the "4G" part of the TCB4G-01 T2-US-4G after Model:
Earlier labels do not have that.

 

[symonray]

UPDATE-- I am able to renew online the ConnectedDrive services for another 12 months for my 2017 i3 Rex. It looks like they have combined some of their service package offerings into a single ConnectedDrive package for my vehicle. One strange twist to the story is that I cannot renew the ConnectedDrive and RTTI traffic service packages at the same time in the same virtual store shopping cart but can renew them individually in separate transactions. I was thinking that maybe RTTI is already included in the combined ConnectedDrive package, but I don't think that is true based in the package descriptions on the ConnectedDrive website.

 

[eNate]

Interesting, because I assumed that RTTI is a necessary component of Connected Drive, if in fact "the system" is truly plotting the most efficient EV routing.

If they're in fact separate, it makes me question whether dynamic routing doesn't factor in average speeds.

 

[i3ing]

My 2016 connected drive subscription runs out next month and I am still not able to renew. Like others have mentioned BMW needs ro come up with a solution. I don't see a new Connected drive option to subcribe to on the website.

 

[tezarc]

Received this email a couple days ago. Looking like BMW won't be offering any sort of upgrade option for us 3G telematics owners. My ConnectedDrive & RTTI is paid till 11/2021, so I get 3 months free. YAY /s

Important changes to the ConnectedDrive Services offering on your vehicle.
UPCOMING 3G CELLULAR DISCONTINUATION

Dear X,

There are important ConnectedDrive service changes affecting your 2014 i3, Vehicle Identification Number ending in XXXX.

Due to a phasing out of the 3G network by cellular carriers, ConnectedDrive services can no longer be supported starting February 2022 for your BMW. The decision to phase out 3G network technology was made at the discretion of the respective cellular carriers and lies beyond the control of BMW.

We want you to be able to enjoy ConnectedDrive services for as long as they are supported for your vehicle, so a complimentary Connected Package Professional or BMW Assist Safety Plan subscription will automatically be activated for your BMW until February 1, 2022. Your vehicle will receive all services within the Connected Package Professional or BMW Assist Safety Plan subscription that it is technically capable of receiving.

To ensure you receive the complimentary services, you will need to “Update Services” via iDrive, as outlined below. If after performing an “Update Services” you do not have the services available to you, please contact BMW Assist Customer Care at 1‑888‑333‑6118 or [email protected].

We regret that ConnectedDrive services will no longer be supported as of February 2022 for your vehicle but hope that you enjoy the complimentary ConnectedDrive services in the meantime.

BMW ConnectedDrive


HOW TO UPDATE SERVICES

Depending on your vehicle’s Model Year and Make, navigate to “BMW Assist”, “ConnectedDrive” or “Apps” using your iDrive controller.

Under BMW Assist or ConnectedDrive:

•Open “Options” (physical button surrounding your iDrive controller)
•Click on “Update BMW Assist”

Under Apps:

•Click on “All Apps”
•Open “Options” (physical button surrounding your iDrive controller)
•Click on “Update apps and services”

 

[Fisher99]

I haven't received such a letter. Yet... But that stinks... I just heard that FCA is going to be offering a 4G upgrade for my 2013 RAM truck, although I haven't seen the price yet. Seems like BMW could do the same.

 

[alohart]

Looking like BMW won't be offering any sort of upgrade option for us 3G telematics owners.

That sucks :evil: A few used 4G telematics modules are probably available. However, apparently replacing the 3G with the 4G version isn't as simple as one would hope. The new SIM information must be registered with BMW somehow which might require special software.

 

[tezarc]

If I'm going to have to go out of pocket without BMW's help to get this to continue working I'd be looking towards 5G telematics like BMW and Samsung announced during CES 2020 and skipping LTE entirely. Don't care to have to deal with this every 5 years.

 

[eNate]

Anybody know if the current 4G BMW telematics units also support 3G?

Remember when 4G was first rolling out the coverage was at first limited, then spotty, so phones needed to be able to still operate on 3G, and perhaps my first 4G phone still had CDMA as a backup.

Anyhow, per tezarc's comment above, I don't expect dominance from 5G -- even though I have good 5G coverage at home and at work in Oakland, I know the signal is limited in distance and assume that 4G is going to be needed and will remain as the cellular backbone, particularly in lower-density areas.

Any insight on this?

 

[Anonymous]

assume that 4G is going to be needed and will remain as the cellular backbone, particularly in lower-density areas.
Any insight on this?

From what have heard, carriers plan on keeping 4G around for at least another decade - so minimum 10 years.

 

[alohart]

After I complained about being able to use the 10-year ConnectedDrive services subscriptions that were included in the purchase price of our 2014 i3 for less than 8 years due to BMW not providing a reasonable upgrade path to a 4G telematics module, I received this boiler-plate reply:

"Due to a phasing out of the 3G network by cellular carriers, ConnectedDrive services can no longer be supported starting February 2022 for select vehicles. The decision to phase out 3G network technology was made at the discretion of the respective cellular carriers and lies beyond the control of BMW.

We sincerely apologize that we are unable to continue to offer those services to you in your current BMW. If you have any further questions or feedback, please contact BMW Customer Relations at 1-800-831-1117."

So by February, 2022, I and all other early U.S. 3G i3 owners will lose all Internet connectivity to their i3's so won't be able to use the BMW Connected or My BMW app to monitor charging, send navigation destinations to our i3's, remotely lock or unlock our doors, etc. and won't be able to subscribe to real-time traffic information or other ConnectedDrive services. I realize that I had none of these capabilities in any previous vehicle, but I now value this connectivity. Sad

 

[Fisher99]

I'll admit that the only thing I really use the connected services for is to "climatize" the vehicle, but I use that often enough in the winter or hot summer that it really makes me angry to be losing that feature. I do have the panic button my remote configured to climatize the vehicle but that obviously only works at short range. Not when I'm at a ballgame, restaurant, etc., and want to come out to a climatized car. Really ticks me off. I wonder if we'll see any aftermarket solutions for this? Maybe from companies who provide aftermarket Android Auto/Apple Carplay, etc.