[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by Tfmala

My car does show 4g. The email indicated that the SOS and Customer Care contact would be shut off if I didn’t have the upgrade. Everything else (Such as it is) would still work.

Good to know...wife's 2016 228i convertible also indicates it has 4G in iDrive display, but dealership says it needs an upgrade - although they did mention it was software rather than hardware. What is more important to me is losing the Real Time Traffic Info if I don't get the upgrade. I'm also concerned about losing all my custom coding and iDrive pre-sets as a result of the software update process.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by RoundelM3

I'm also concerned about losing all my custom coding and iDrive pre-sets as a result of the software update process.

The dealer performed a software update on my car last fall, and I lost coding for a delete of EDC and eLSD. Now the car is a Comfort Mode only car, and I get a warning of some sort every time I start the car.

The purpose of the software update, as best I understand it, was to make a very minor change to the car's operation of its emission system or to its emissions output. If I'd known I'd lose the coding I'd paid a fair amount for, I wouldn't have had the update performed. Lesson learned.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by dradernh

The dealer performed a software update on my car last fall, and I lost coding for a delete of EDC and eLSD. Now the car is a Comfort Mode only car, and I get a warning of some sort every time I start the car.

The purpose of the software update, as best I understand it, was to make a very minor change to the car's operation of its emission system or to its emissions output. If I'd known I'd lose the coding I'd paid a fair amount for, I wouldn't have had the update performed. Lesson learned.

I hear ya...I do all my own feature coding so I'm able to restore those things. My 228i is an N26 SULEV car, and I've checked for outstanding software updates and other recalls (currently none available). My concern is that whatever software update is required for the 4G communications "fix" may cause me to have to restore all my feature codings, including a dozen or so for LED taillight bulb replacements. I wouldn't think the two items would somehow be related, but you never know.

[shark715]

The best solution I've seen for Nav is Waze paired with wireless Carplay.

Unfortunately none of our current vehicles has Carplay, but I did have it in a loaner car for several weeks and it was fantastic.

My next choice would be Waze without Carplay as Waze seems to be so accurate with traffic. I've tested it side by side versus the BMW RTTI and my old Garmin and Waze picked up on a couple of serious traffic issues RTTI and the Garmin apparently were not aware of.

The Garmin was a miracle in it's time, but it's time has passed. My GF has the worst sense of direction. When I first met her many years ago she was constantly getting lost and late for meetings and engagements, so I bought her a Garmin for her birthday. It was literally life changing. She had no idea such a product existed. To this day she will tell you it's the best gift anyone has ever given her

The other issue with the Garmin is that it has traffic data only for a limited number of roads. Seems like they must procure their traffic data from the same source Sirius XM does.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by shark715

The best solution I've seen for Nav is Waze paired with wireless Carplay.

Unfortunately none of our current vehicles has Carplay, but I did have it in a loaner car for several weeks and it was fantastic.

My next choice would be Waze without Carplay as Waze seems to be so accurate with traffic. I've tested it side by side versus the BMW RTTI and my old Garmin and Waze picked up on a couple of serious traffic issues RTTI and the Garmin apparently were not aware of.

The Garmin was a miracle in it's time, but it's time has passed. My GF has the worst sense of direction. When I first met her many years ago she was constantly getting lost and late for meetings and engagements, so I bought her a Garmin for her birthday. It was literally life changing. She had no idea such a product existed. To this day she will tell you it's the best gift anyone has ever given her

The other issue with the Garmin is that it has traffic data only for a limited number of roads. Seems like they must procure their traffic data from the same source Sirius XM does.

I seem to recall that when I bought my Garmin a few years ago they had a number of models available. Mine doesn't do traffic, but I don't either – no commuting, avoiding known bottlenecks during the times they're jammed, etc. I think if I was commuting or regularly driving in one of the major metro areas I'd want to be hooked-up with all the latest gadgets, software, and services to deal with the traffic.

[shark715]

Originally Posted by Tfmala

Just recently purchased a used 2016 m235. Also just recently got the email advising of end of service for 3g. I was advised by email that my car was eligible for a technology upgrade and to contact the dealer. In the FAQ section it stated it was free. I printed that out and would recommend since not all dealers may be up to speed on it. I set up an appointment this past Saturday. The advisor initially indicated that he thought it was just a software upgrade, howeve, the tech came back and indicated that the trunk module needed to be upgraded (there are two, one in the engine compartment and the second in the trunk). Unfortunately, the part was on back order(from Germany) and they have ordered it and will contact me when it’s in. Confirmed it is a warranty issue at no cost to me. Hope this helps everyone who has gotten the email.

My car does show 4g. The email indicated that the SOS and Customer Care contact would be shut off if I didn’t have the upgrade. Everything else (Such as it is) would still work.

We took our '16 convertible in this week with similar results. Dealer says we need both a software and hardware upgrade (confirmed it will be free), and they have ordered the needed part(s).

[TAZ007]

Originally Posted by shark715

We took our '16 convertible in this week with similar results. Dealer says we need both a software and hardware upgrade (confirmed it will be free), and they have ordered the needed part(s).

Congrats, now that is service.

[shark715]

Originally Posted by TAZ007

Congrats, now that is service.

Except I would have thought they could have determined what parts were needed by the VIN beforehand rather than us having to bring the car all the way back there a second time.

On the other hand, the free loaner car was nice, a 2021 M340i. Nice ride and VERY fast, although a bit large for my taste.

[TAZ007]

Originally Posted by shark715

Except I would have thought they could have determined what parts were needed by the VIN beforehand rather than us having to bring the car all the way back there a second time.

On the other hand, the free loaner car was nice, a 2021 M340i. Nice ride and VERY fast, although a bit large for my taste.

Agree, but at least it is covered for free. As far as the loaner goes, the only thing it was missing is a drop top.

That's something I haven't seen in a long minute, a 4-door drop top.

[MarcoZandrini]

Originally Posted by TAZ007

Excellent points. I too have a Garmin with the lifetime updates, because new car dealers wanted alot of money for what a $250 Garmin would do. Plus, putting the Garmin where you want is nice too.

Now that we live in the future, it seems Navigation is being thrown in. My new G29 is coming with a HUD and it will show the nav, but is it really a leap forward or a distraction in your immediate field of view.

Google Maps FTW!

[Tfmala]

Was at the dealership this morning for two hours. Rear Tcm was replaced. No obvious change. Some of my personal settings needed to be redone , nothing worth mentioning. No change to display. Appears to really just be a hardware update for functionality.

[shark715]

Originally Posted by shark715

We took our '16 convertible in this week with similar results. Dealer says we need both a software and hardware upgrade (confirmed it will be free), and they have ordered the needed part(s).

2 1/2 weeks have passed since the dealer told us they were ordering the needed parts, and we've heard nothing further.

Left a message for the Service Advisor today in case they simply forgot to call us (would not be the first time).

Wondering if the sudden demand for these parts perhaps has caused a shortage. IIRC correctly Tfmala had to wait only several days for the part(s). What are others here experiencing?

[TAZ007]

Originally Posted by shark715

2 1/2 weeks have passed since the dealer told us they were ordering the needed parts, and we've heard nothing further.

Left a message for the Service Advisor today in case they simply forgot to call us (would not be the first time).

Wondering if the sudden demand for these parts perhaps has caused a shortage. IIRC correctly Tfmala had to wait only several days for the part(s). What are others here experiencing?

With this chip shortage going on, it seems everything electronic is on the shortage list.

[shark715]

Originally Posted by TAZ007

With this chip shortage going on, it seems everything electronic is on the shortage list.

Ha! That's right. Never thought of that!

[MLJR235]

Originally Posted by shark715

2 1/2 weeks have passed since the dealer told us they were ordering the needed parts, and we've heard nothing further.

Left a message for the Service Advisor today in case they simply forgot to call us (would not be the first time).

Wondering if the sudden demand for these parts perhaps has caused a shortage. IIRC correctly Tfmala had to wait only several days for the part(s). What are others here experiencing?

I'm on the same boat. Went in on May 21st and told once parts arrived they would contact me.

I talked to them Monday and was told still waiting on parts..Good thing it wont get cut off until Jan 2022. I am sure they'll have the parts before then..... I hope anyway

[MLJR235]

Just to provide an update.

6-22-2021: Dropped off vehicle 8am for service to be completed same day. Dealer provided Uber to work. Got a call around 3pm from S.A. stating they were backlogged and could not finish the job and would provide rental. Got an Uber from work to dealer and got set up in a 2021 330i for the time being.

6-23-2021: Got a call around 11AM from SA asking if I had a tune on the vehicle. I obviously do and said yes. He says he was only asking because the Tech Upgrade will require a complete ECU rewrite and any said tunes or coding will be wiped out. This is no big deal as I can retune and code everything back again, just time-consuming.

Plan is to go back to dealer later today, return the rental, and pick up the finished car. I have not received a call from SA yet as it is 2PM but I am hopeful they'll finish today.

While the 330i is nice, it's not a 235

[MLJR235]

Final update (hopefully) pickup vehicle yesterday and all seems okay except now my car is not connected to the Connected Drive services..I imagine it had something to do with them reprogramming.

Anyway, I have the phone number for BMW Assist ConnectedDrive which I had to call some time ago to set my car up. I hope they can get me connected if not, I will have to contact dealer again.

[Tfmala]

Sorry you are experiencing that problem. I had that issue when I first purchased my car. I would rather chew off my arm than call BMW connect. Ended up taking it to the dealer to fix the connectivity issues.

[MLJR235]

Originally Posted by Tfmala

Sorry you are experiencing that problem. I had that issue when I first purchased my car. I would rather chew off my arm than call BMW connect. Ended up taking it to the dealer to fix the connectivity issues.

No worries, BMW assist customer service was actually really nice and helpful. They did confirm all my connected drive services were valid and would not expire until 2024 and the fact that I did not have any SOS connectivity, it pointed to the recent work done at dealer.

I have an appt for Monday once again. Let us pray they finally get this done lol.

*All was taken care of on the final dealer visit. Car's connected services are all working and glad I was able to get the upgrade done. I have a tendency to put these types of things off and glad I didn't this time.

[Tfmala]

The only thing I’ve noticed so far is that the map updates (if you pay for them) are significantly faster now. I guess the rear tcm was responsible for that function. As an example, prior to the replacement, I drove an hour on the highway during a map update and it took about that long to complete. After, the replacement the latest update was less than 30 minutes. Could just be a smaller update though.

[destin28]

Originally Posted by shark715

I'm no attorney, but a crafty attorney might suggest us buyers were not shown the fine print (as you said, no doubt there's a disclaimer or disclaimers somewhere in the paperwork) until after we were locked into buying the car (in our case we did European Delivery and IIRC were not shown the Connected Drive paperwork until the we had owned the car for a couple of months and we took final delivery at the dealer here in U.S), therefore the terms were forced upon us, and that provision of the contract is unenforceable + it's inherently unfair to have a paid significant $ for something the other party can unilaterally stop providing at any time.

I suspect my attorney friends might say the situation has "settlement value" after reviewing all the details :-)

I have to say that while I do understand things happen and there are disclaimers involved in purchases what I DO have an issue with is the fact that the Cellular companies did not just decide a few months ago that they were turning off their 3G towers this is something that has been in the works for a few years, and the major carriers like AT&T and Verizon notified the car companies letting them know that they would only keep a limited amount of 3g towers available only for the smaller pay as you go companies like cricket, and whatnot, so for BMW to not want to have to get dispose of all those modems with the 3G limitations they continued to put them in cars that were on production lines. I have never been notified of anything regarding this and only found out when half the stuff I happen to use ended up all one day getting shut off a few weeks ago. Ironically there was a full memo about the discontinuation of 3G released last April 22. I bought my car on May 15th. If they would have disclosed that information to me in that a list of features that are associated with connected drive would no longer be of service or available for that matter in a year that would have been a huge factor in my decision to purchase my car because at the end of the day BMW will say that the circumstances for the 3G towers being shut off is not on them, they will, however, be more than happy to slash the value of your vehicle as a trade-in because your car no longer has the technology features. Last week I went to the dealership I bought the car from which is about an hour and a half away and stopped by the service dept to ask about this upgrade that I was reading about and was wanting to know how I was able to be able to see if my car was eligible for it. Long story short one lady started talking but stopped because I think she was about to spill that they screwed a lot of people and she quickly stopped mid-sentence. The Service manager comes out and acts like he has no idea what it is I am talking about and stated ALL BMW's are 4G compatible. I asked if that was the case then why is my navigation no longer showing real-time traffic, he said I could pay to have that upgraded. I stated that my car used to have a phone # assigned to it and it has since then been replaced with letters, and asked what they were doing for people who lost features in their technology package and all he said was, that was not a BMW issue I needed to speak to my wireless carrier. I asked why I would do that when my wireless carrier had nothing to do with it before it was shut off. The resolution was me leave or I was likely going to flip my sh** and end up on the evening new (J/K). Today I go to my local BMW dealer to try to find out the same information hoping I get better results. Turns out the dealership I bought it from never actually assigned the vehicle to me (it was done just today) and apparently that is how BMW is able to notify people of stuff like this. So from what I understood my car may have been eligible for the upgrade however it is no longer because there was a window of time that it needed to be done in and that time expired Feb 28th. One of the service techs happened to be in the building and the girl was really doing all she could to try to help me, and see if they could do the upgrade and have an exception made which I guess must come from the powers that be because the Service guy said he would have to call the corporate warranty and explain the situation and see if they will allow him to do the upgrade for it. I find it ironic that I can't seem to get a straight answer of yes or no if I was absolutely eligible or not, and I can not seem to understand their method or system as to why some cars that are 2015 models are eligible but my 2018 may or may not be. Also, let me add the fact that I was sent a notification that my connected drive renewal was due and I paid at the end of February so why would they send me a notice for me to renew my subscription and pay the money if they were shutting it off. Its certainly not a good look for BMW, and I will say that I am a man of principle and will never buy another BMW so long as I am breathing if they won't do the upgrade. And I would be interested in seeing what one of my attorney friends would say about me buying a car after a discontinuation memo was released and on all my car paperwork it lists all the connected drive features and the additional costs to have them and knowingly selling me the car without disclosing that information. That's my two cents about this nonsense.