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      04-14-2017, 08:34 PM   #1
a1weeka
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BMW Connected Drive Apps in Canada?

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a M235i and it has Connected Drive in it. I know there is an app that allows you to control certain things in your car from your phone. However, I'm in Canada and I only seem to find the US version.

Is there any Canadian BMW Connected Drive apps that work?

Thanks.
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      04-14-2017, 08:40 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by a1weeka
Hi everyone,

I recently bought a M235i and it has Connected Drive in it. I know there is an app that allows you to control certain things in your car from your phone. However, I'm in Canada and I only seem to find the US version.

Is there any Canadian BMW Connected Drive apps that work?

Thanks.
I have 3 bmws ('14, '15 & '16) and have never been able to get to the connecteddrive store for apps.

Let me know if you do because I'd like to know.
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      04-14-2017, 09:03 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWZ4 View Post
I have 3 bmws ('14, '15 & '16) and have never been able to get to the connecteddrive store for apps.

Let me know if you do because I'd like to know.
Will let you know if I hear anything!
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      04-14-2017, 11:41 PM   #4
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I have it on my Android.
I had to get my sales guy to set it up for me though. You can't register it yourself in Canada like you can in the US.
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      04-15-2017, 06:43 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by big_fooot
I have it on my Android.
I had to get my sales guy to set it up for me though. You can't register it yourself in Canada like you can in the US.
I've been through all that as well...bmw canada and 2 dealers couldn't figure it out.

Can you provide any details as to exactly what they did for you?
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      04-15-2017, 09:41 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWZ4
Quote:
Originally Posted by big_fooot
I have it on my Android.
I had to get my sales guy to set it up for me though. You can't register it yourself in Canada like you can in the US.
I've been through all that as well...bmw canada and 2 dealers couldn't figure it out.

Can you provide any details as to exactly what they did for you?
I downloaded this app
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...=us.bmw.remote
Then contacted my sales guy and told him I needed an ID and password (as directed to by bmw when I called the number the app gave me to call). My sales guy took like a week and came back with a username and password which took another day to actually work. But then I was able to sign in and change my password and my car automatically showed up and let me control it.
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      04-15-2017, 09:46 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by big_fooot
Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWZ4
Quote:
Originally Posted by big_fooot
I have it on my Android.
I had to get my sales guy to set it up for me though. You can't register it yourself in Canada like you can in the US.
I've been through all that as well...bmw canada and 2 dealers couldn't figure it out.

Can you provide any details as to exactly what they did for you?
I downloaded this app
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...=us.bmw.remote
Then contacted my sales guy and told him I needed an ID and password (as directed to by bmw when I called the number the app gave me to call). My sales guy took like a week and came back with a username and password which took another day to actually work. But then I was able to sign in and change my password and my car automatically showed up and let me control it.
Yep, did all that. In fact the idrive shows I'm logged in. Still can't get to the connecteddrive app store in drive.
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      04-16-2017, 11:30 AM   #8
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Going through this now. It is a combination of dealership and BMW Assist that can help I think. I'll find out more after the long weekend when I talk to my dealership's "Genius" on Monday (just picked my 2er up on Friday).

I talked to BMW's helpline last night, and the problems with streamlined services in Canada is due to us being in at least a couple of separate systems due to the BMW wireless contracts being through non-Canadian carriers. It makes it frustrating and tough for them when we need help, so be patient
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      04-16-2017, 11:36 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evilalien View Post
Going through this now. It is a combination of dealership and BMW Assist that can help I think. I'll find out more after the long weekend when I talk to my dealership's "Genius" on Monday (just picked my 2er up on Friday).

I talked to BMW's helpline last night, and the problems with streamlined services in Canada is due to use being in at least a couple of separate systems due to the BMW wireless contracts being through non-Canadian carriers. It makes it frustrating and tough for them when we need help, so be patient
Keep us updated! Thanks!
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      04-17-2017, 06:42 AM   #10
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When I bought my 235 last year I had lots of problems and was fortunate to get the BMW Genius to sort it out. He indicated the App Store is not available I Canada but it is supposed to be coming. Could not say when. For now you have to be happy with BMW connected and BMW Remote. You also have the 4 widgets, weather, yelp, news and whatever the other is. Limited in our minds but we need to hear from our US owners to see what apps they have to really know if we are missing anything useful. Just frustrating too have a function that doesn't work but maybe were not missing anything.

Some of you US guys let us know the list of apps you access through the app store.
thanks
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      04-17-2017, 01:46 PM   #11
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Ok, buckle in. Bumps ahead.

BMW ConnectedDrive is only partially functional in Canada and shouldn't be considered anything more mature than a beta product at present, IMHO.

Talked to a Genius. Definitely worth the time. When the car is setup, there is a password assigned during activation. You need that from the Genius. Apparently changing it through the web app will lock the account. It gets confused by the concept of "Canada"

With that, you can setup BMW Remote but not sure about the ConnectedDrive site and stuff like BMW Labs (necessary for IFTT integration). Some of that simply might not work, per the last comment about the App Store etc.

I don't know that I can recommend any of this from a security perspective.
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      04-17-2017, 08:38 PM   #12
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^^^I can confirm. Our M240ix cabrio arrived in late Oct and I had to set up connected drive through my sales associate. He originally told me to call BMW Canada to set it up but they couldn't do anything until they had direct contact with the dealer. In addition to the apps you listed we were able to set up twitter, but do not have access to the BMW app store at all.
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      04-17-2017, 08:52 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cdn240cab
^^^I can confirm. Our M240ix cabrio arrived in late Oct and I had to set up connected drive through my sales associate. He originally told me to call BMW Canada to set it up but they couldn't do anything until they had direct contact with the dealer. In addition to the apps you listed we were able to set up twitter, but do not have access to the BMW app store at all.
Exactly....no connectivity to the connecteddrive store. I can't recall the exact error message. I posted it in this forum before, ages ago, but can't find it now! I had posted a screenshot of the error message.

In any case, 2 dealers plus bmw canada were not only not able to help but never resolved it. It's been nearly 2 years....
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      04-17-2017, 09:32 PM   #14
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C'mon BMW, You can DO BETTER!!!
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      04-22-2017, 09:19 PM   #15
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ConnectedDrive activation (incl sat radio)
- this is done by the dealership, they submit the activation and can provide the ConnectedDrive agreements
- the dealership provides you with the credentials you need to activate phone apps, but they cannot be managed like a normally account with password resets online

CarPlay & Phone Integration
- this is done by the owner, perhaps with help from the dealership for those not technically inclined enough

BMW Labs and ConnectedDrive Apps
- we're 2nd class consumers... Canada does not exist in all systems and is treated as part of the USA for basic features (hence the hassles with activation)

That all aside, iDrive works great, and wireless CarPlay is interesting once you've setup your phone in iDrive properly.

I'd really like to play with BMW Labs stuff, such as IFTTT but not sure it'll work in the near future until BMW resolves the issues with ConnectedDrive for Canada.

Anyone who is old enough to afford a BMW should also be old enough to have experienced many cases of Canada being behind in many technologies. Sometimes it is because we lack the population density to attract services. Sometimes it is due to problems with multilingual localization. Sometimes I think it's because we're too nice and don't make enough noise when we get left out.
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      04-23-2017, 07:48 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evilalien View Post
ConnectedDrive activation (incl sat radio)
- this is done by the dealership, they submit the activation and can provide the ConnectedDrive agreements
- the dealership provides you with the credentials you need to activate phone apps, but they cannot be managed like a normally account with password resets online

CarPlay & Phone Integration
- this is done by the owner, perhaps with help from the dealership for those not technically inclined enough

BMW Labs and ConnectedDrive Apps
- we're 2nd class consumers... Canada does not exist in all systems and is treated as part of the USA for basic features (hence the hassles with activation)


That all aside, iDrive works great, and wireless CarPlay is interesting once you've setup your phone in iDrive properly.

I'd really like to play with BMW Labs stuff, such as IFTTT but not sure it'll work in the near future until BMW resolves the issues with ConnectedDrive for Canada.

Anyone who is old enough to afford a BMW should also be old enough to have experienced many cases of Canada being behind in many technologies. Sometimes it is because we lack the population density to attract services. Sometimes it is due to problems with multilingual localization. Sometimes I think it's because we're too nice and don't make enough noise when we get left out.
Exactly...apps not available for Canadian customers...idrive option shouldn't be made available/visible on the screen if there's no service for it. Blows me away that 2 dealers & BMW Canada couldn't (or wouldn't?) say these features are not available for Canadian customers. Probably the latter...twits
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      04-23-2017, 08:53 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWZ4 View Post
Exactly...apps not available for Canadian customers...idrive option shouldn't be made available/visible on the screen if there's no service for it. Blows me away that 2 dealers & BMW Canada couldn't (or wouldn't?) say these features are not available for Canadian customers. Probably the latter...twits
To be fair, the majority of iDrive and ConnectiveDrive does work. Our data plans are through AT&T, from what I have been told by one dealership. AT&T, of course, doesn't operate in Canada. That means we're likely piggy-backing on Rogers, which sucks because Rogers coverage outside major urban areas traditionally leaves much to be desired.

Apparently when we get activated for ConnectedDrive services, we are partly in a Canadian database (so BMW Canada can support us) and partly in a US databse, so we can get the ConnectedDrive services that aren't Canada-aware.

It is possible that the portions of the services we are missing are limited due to gaps in things like:
- Canadian privacy protection (Canadian Privacy Law is stronger than US Privacy Law, and protects us in ways that might prevent non-compliant services from operating without significant risk)
- Bilingual localization with Quebec French (no French support? Can't sell the car in Quebec)

Could be other factors, but I'm pretty confident these two play a role in holding us back.

I haven't spent a lot of time comparison US v CA v DE features, but I find the sites pretty much high-level marketing anyway. The biggest trap we fall into is reading US reviews of things and assuming we get the same.

I do think that BMW Canada needs to make it more clear what the gaps are. I also think that BMW customers need to make it more clear that we expect and require that.

I'm prepared to make that clear.
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      04-24-2017, 11:12 PM   #18
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Any defense of BMW on this issue is pure horseshit. They are treating Canadian customers as second class and there is no excuse for it. The comments about AT&T and no proper Canadian coverage is just CYA BS.

The bottom line is that their apps and ConnectedDrive infrastructure do not work in Canada because they don't care enough to make it work. If they had any interest, they would at least offer the current gen BMW Connected app up here. The fact that they don't says more than enough about their interest in Canadian customers. They clearly think they get enough market share without having to provide the same connectivity to us as they need to in other places to compete.
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      10-25-2017, 02:45 PM   #19
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any updates?

I'm picking up a new BMW on Friday and am curious if the latest version of the BMW Connected app from the US app store will work. Link to the specific app here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bmw-...087277146?mt=8

It was just updated to version 6.1 in September.

I mainly want to be able to operate the climate controls remotely (as pictured in the app store preview screenshots).

Thank you
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      11-27-2017, 11:40 AM   #20
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The US and Germany are up to version 7.0.1 Canada is at 2.5.2

Privacy legislation (PIPEDA) is not the reason - German data protection is even stronger that in Canada. The data usage can be resolved by installing Canadian SIM cards in the imbedded phones. However, Canada's ridiculously high prices for cellular access could be the answer. 7.0.1 transmits a lot more data than 2.5.2

Until we open our cellular market to foreign investors we will continue to pay far more than any other country for service that is far worse.
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      11-27-2017, 12:26 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Slalom View Post
The US and Germany are up to version 7.0.1 Canada is at 2.5.2

Privacy legislation (PIPEDA) is not the reason - German data protection is even stronger that in Canada. The data usage can be resolved by installing Canadian SIM cards in the imbedded phones. However, Canada's ridiculously high prices for cellular access could be the answer. 7.0.1 transmits a lot more data than 2.5.2

Until we open our cellular market to foreign investors we will continue to pay far more than any other country for service that is far worse.
While you're right on the privacy issue, the rest of your post is incorrect. See this post from canadian33. In short, BMW Canada essentially built it's own system for the original back end to ConnectedDrive and it's not compatible with the current app platform. While I think BMW could get off it's ass and get things updated quicker, it's just their normal disregard for customers at play and nothing more.
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      11-27-2017, 09:25 PM   #22
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Johnny, I know that I am correct on the privacy issue. I have been advising clients in that field for 33 years. As for telecommunications costs in Canada, that is also accurate. My comments were not on Connected Drive in the vehicle the reference in the link that you provided, but the App in the Apple App store.

With respect to the Connected Drive services on-line portal, that is now active.
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