[OpenAir]

Originally Posted by cehlion

Takeaway here is that 3G in the upper right hand corner isn't the tell, more likely if you have the other mid year updates (Hvac cluster, etc) you likely have the updated Tech. Also this is the earliest build date I have heard of with these updates...just to be clear your a coupe and not a convertible right?

I have the convertible, but what drove me was the 3G visual. Still not sure I believe them as everything in my area is 4G.

[German1967]

I talked to the BMW Genius line:
Statements as follow: only 2015 2-Series verts receive OTA updates.

They cannot confirm remotely what individual unit has been installed in a specific vehicle. A dealer will be able to confirm the actual technical unit installed.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by OpenAir

Talked to BMW today and this is what I've learned:

1. Have the latest "upgrade" with the HVAC cluster.
2. OTA's are free for 3 years
3. I have the 4G LTE, but I'm showing 3G as they have not rolled it out in my area yet.

Build date was 17 Feb 15.

My question is: Who is "they"? BMW? A cellular provider? Which begs a next question: Which cellular service are "they" employing?

Man. My build date was Feb. 1. That means the 2015.5 switchover happened sometime in February ...

[Pyewacket69]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

My question is: Who is "they"? BMW? A cellular provider? Which begs a next question: Which cellular service are "they" employing?

Man. My build date was Feb. 1. That means the 2015.5 switchover happened sometime in February ...

Oh, you know... Them. Those folks. The guys in the know...

That bunch...

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by Pyewacket69

Oh, you know... Them. Those folks. The guys in the know...

That bunch...

[OpenAir]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

My question is: Who is "they"? BMW? A cellular provider? Which begs a next question: Which cellular service are "they" employing?

Man. My build date was Feb. 1. That means the 2015.5 switchover happened sometime in February ...

"who is they" are the cellular towers, I could not find out if it was AT&T or Verizon who is providing the service. With that came my final question, should I believe them as both carriers have 4G LTE all over the DC area!

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by OpenAir

"how is they" are the cellular towers, I could not find out if it was AT&T or Verizon who is providing the service. With that came my final question, should I believe them as both carriers have 4G LTE all over the DC area!

And I'm in Dallas, which is AT&T HQ country and a frequent U.S. test market for new mobile tech and service upgrades. That said, even here 4G/LTE can be spotty ... but not no-service-anywhere spotty ...

[OpenAir]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

And I'm in Dallas, which is AT&T HQ country and a frequent U.S. test market for new mobile tech and service upgrades. That said, even here 4G/LTE can be spotty ... but not no-service-anywhere spotty ...

Understood, but I can stand right next to the car and my Samsung pulls 4G...I have AT&T and my friend has Verizon and has 4G in the same area.

Hence I'm a little confused still.

[Pyewacket69]

Originally Posted by OpenAir

Understood, but I can stand right next to the car and my Samsung pulls 4G...I have AT&T and my friend has Verizon and has 4G in the same area.

Hence I'm a little confused still.

Here's something...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Assist" rel="ugc" target="_blank">http://<a href="http://en.m.wikipedi...BMW_Assist</a>

OK... Who provides GSM nationwide?

That should narrow the provider list down a couple of notches...

I'm betting on AT & T.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by Pyewacket69

Here's something...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Assist" rel="" target="_blank">http://<a href="http://en.m.wikipedi...BMW_Assist</a>

OK... Who provides GSM nationwide?

That should narrow the provider list down a couple of notches...

I'm betting on AT & T.

GSM is also known as 2G. It's the cellular tech that preceded 3G, which preceded 4G/LTE. That said, because it's digital it's essentially backward-compatible -- and every cellular provider uses it. BMW Assist may very well still use 2G for things like location tracking since 2G coverage is larger and more globally universal than any other cellular digital tech, but you can bet that the Nav system and BMW Connected uses 3G at a minimum.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by OpenAir

Understood, but I can stand right next to the car and my Samsung pulls 4G...I have AT&T and my friend has Verizon and has 4G in the same area.

Hence I'm a little confused still.

Man, I would be, too. Like I said in a previous post: something doesn't compute about your EVO HU and its SIM ...

[Pyewacket69]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

GSM is also known as 2G. It's the cellular tech that preceded 3G, which preceded 4G/LTE. That said, because it's digital it's essentially backward-compatible -- and every cellular provider uses it. BMW Assist may very well still use 2G for things like location tracking since 2G coverage is larger and more globally universal than any other cellular digital tech, but you can bet that the Nav system and BMW Connected uses 3G at a minimum.

I believe Verizon uses CDMA, doesn't it?

[OpenAir]

Originally Posted by Pyewacket69

I believe Verizon uses CDMA, doesn't it?

Verizon is CDMA

[Luftwaffe1O1]

Originally Posted by OpenAir

Verizon is CDMA

Also CDMA and LTE. As more LTE features keep getting rolled out, I wouldn't be surprised if the C2k portion gets dumped in a few years.

[Pyewacket69]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Indeed.

As I said before, I'm only mildly bummed about the other '2015.5' improvements that seem to have been instituted with 03/15 builds, including the white-to-orange HVAC display, the aluminum trimmed center A/C vents, and the dropping of active sound. I can live without 4G, too.

But I'm P.O.ed about the free OTA Nav updates because it's a service that adds measurable value to the car. It's not so much the off-model-year timing that BMW decided to use; it's that it decided to institute it across the entire 2-series line (and not just for 'verts as originally stated by BMW) without making any sort of announcement about the increased scope of the switchover.

I'll keep y'all posted in a separate thread ... and by the way: I may ask how many other 2015 2-series owners with the Tech Package (and, hence, Nav Professional) and a pre-March 2015 build date are out there in that thread. This affects all of you.

This may be old news, but I had some time to kill, so I went to the BMW web-site vehicle build section and performed a build on both a 235i coupe and 235i convertible.

If you highlight the NAV line item under the Technology package, it gives a detailed description of the NAV capabilities on each car.

Only the convertible states the maps upload over the air. The coupe's description says nothing about over the air updates.

Like I said, this may be old news to everyone...

[isthar]

At the risk of getting in trouble... a) as many of you know, you can update your nav on your own w/ use of some computing tricks and/or remote services... b) my dealer actually told me that "they'll take care of me" re: nav upgrades (which means either they can somehow slide you into "free upgrades" or similar, likely when you just recently bought a car from them, etc.)

No guarantees on what I said, but there you go. For example, I my car has 2015-1 and I know there's already 2015-2.

[wjones14]

Thought I would bump this thread to see if anyone had confirmed one way or the other about 2015 coupes getting free map updates. With my Feb 2015 build that doesn't include the aluminum air vent trim, I'm guessing I missed out on the 4G Nav unit, but not sure.

I called my CA on Saturday to ask if there were free map updates - my car is due for its first service in April, and I figured if the update was free I'd get it done then. My CA does have the BMW Genius title, but she didn't know the answer to that question and was going to get back to me. I'm still waiting for the answer.

In the meantime, anyone here know if map updates from the dealer are free during the 4 year free maintenance period?

[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by wjones14

Thought I would bump this thread to see if anyone had confirmed one way or the other about 2015 coupes getting free map updates. With my Feb 2015 build that doesn't include the aluminum air vent trim, I'm guessing I missed out on the 4G Nav unit, but not sure.

I called my CA on Saturday to ask if there were free map updates - my car is due for its first service in April, and I figured if the update was free I'd get it done then. My CA does have the BMW Genius title, but she didn't know the answer to that question and was going to get back to me. I'm still waiting for the answer.

In the meantime, anyone here know if map updates from the dealer are free during the 4 year free maintenance period?

i think they will charge you like $200 for it...
but you can get the maps online and generate the FSC code yourself

http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1054704

[wjones14]

Originally Posted by pikcachu

i think they will charge you like $200 for it...
but you can get the maps online and generate the FSC code yourself

http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1054704

Thanks pikcachu.

I have read the threads about downloading the torrents and generating the code, but just not comfortable doing that stuff.

The dealership did give me a pretty good deal on the car, and gave me a nice bag full of about $100 worth of BMW goodies - hat, mug, key chain, cleaning products, etc. So who knows, maybe they'll give me a free update too.

If not, then I may just bite the bullet, cross my fingers, and get the maps online like everyone else.

[OpenAir]

Originally Posted by Kiwi

Only 3g sim cards as just checked a 220i convertible today at my dealer.

Correct, 4G LTE never made it. You can look at your i-drive and see what connection you have. When my phone was pulling 4G LTE, car showed 3G.

[Zooks527]

Originally Posted by OpenAir

Correct, 4G LTE never made it. You can look at your i-drive and see what connection you have. When my phone was pulling 4G LTE, car showed 3G.

I'm not sure what you mean by "4G never made it". My car shows 4G plenty of times.

All that being said, my car is still running on the base 2015-2 map with 2015-4 regional updates. I've seen the regionals update several times, but I never noticed a base map update and don't know if it came with 2015-2 at delivery last May.

[OpenAir]

Originally Posted by Zooks527

I'm not sure what you mean by "4G never made it". My car shows 4G plenty of times.

All that being said, my car is still running on the base 2015-2 map with 2015-4 regional updates. I've seen the regionals update several times, but I never noticed a base map update and don't know if it came with 2015-2 at delivery last May.

Let me rephrase, 4G LTE never made it to my car. I have checked in several states up and down the Eastern Shore and I have never seen anything other than 3G.