BMW Assist termination

Kev!n · 10-21-2016, 05:24 PM

I just noticed I typed '98 instead of '08 in my previous post. HA! I thought it was cool to have a CD changer in '98, internet connectivity would have been a miracle back then.

Kev!n · 10-21-2016, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx10guy

That's pretty nice. I haven't checked into what my wife's 2013 RDX with the tech package is capable of. I get the impression any of these bells and whistles we're talking about were an additional cost even with the car being bought new. I laugh at all the GM ads bragging about having an LTE wireless hotspot in their cars. Big deal. Just get a MiFi and not have to worry about equipment obsolescence due to technological evolution.

No kidding, I work in IT and I always cringe at too much technology being built into a car. I love gadgets but when I think about how antiquated the NAV in my TL was after 4 years it makes it a hard sell on a new car when we have Waze and Google Maps on our smart phones with Bluetooth connectivity.

zx10guy · 10-21-2016, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kev!n

No kidding, I work in IT and I always cringe at too much technology being built into a car. I love gadgets but when I think about how antiquated the NAV in my TL was after 4 years it makes it a hard sell on a new car when we have Waze and Google Maps on our smart phones with Bluetooth connectivity.

Same here with my career in IT. I was trying to talk my wife out of getting the tech package for her RDX but she wanted all the bells and whistles. I told her it's just more stuff to break and some of it being useless due to being obsolete.

I wasn't happy with my car having the tech/nav package either. But I had no choice at the time. Couldn't order my 1 the way I wanted due to me being in the market when BMW stopped production of the 1. But I'm sort of glad that I have it now. I rarely use the nav in my car but use Waze like you've said. But the reason I'm glad I have the tech/nav package is because of the iDrive screen. I installed the Bimmertech rear camera retrofit with Smartview. I'm able to wirelessly project my smart phone screen to my nav screen. So I have Waze up on a large screen. The only thing that would be even better is if I can figure out how to extend touch capability.

c1pher · 10-21-2016, 05:45 PM

I'm in IT too and they almost force you to get Nav and other features when you really just want one or two of the items in a package. For example, my Avalon Hybrid came with navigation as part of the tech package. I would have rather just had the dynamic cruise, automatic high beams and JBL stereo without the nav. Of course, manufacturers could go the Porsche route and gouge the hell out of you for every single ala cart item you desire.

zx10guy · 10-21-2016, 06:00 PM

BTW. Pertaining to the topic of this thread, I decided to opt for the retrofit for my car today. So we'll see how long I'll get a notice to bring my car in for service.

c1pher · 10-21-2016, 06:24 PM

Waiting for my appointment too.

smrtypants44 · 10-21-2016, 10:37 PM

So my SA called me to schedule the appointment next week. They told me to expect it to take take 4-5 days based on previous experience. Apparently they have to get the sn off the module and get ATT to move the network account over before installing the new module. They are giving me a loaner so I'm not worried about it.

zx10guy · 10-25-2016, 06:47 PM

Following up on this, I got my confirmation email yesterday evening. I had already scheduled my car to be dropped off for service to fix a trim issue around the nav screen. Apparently, BMW doesn't have just the outer trim housing around the screen so the dealer ended up having to order in the entire nav screen with the whole outer housing.

Anyways, I printed off the email as instructed by the text in the email to present to the dealer. When I dropped off the car this morning, I also showed the email to my SA. He said he doesn't think they have the parts to do the retrofit but will let me know. I get an email later in the day saying they actually do have the parts and will add the retrofit job to the work order. So we'll see how long it takes for them to get my car done.

zx10guy · 10-26-2016, 06:49 PM

Well, I got my car back today. Everything got done from the nav screen which prompted the service appointment in the first place and the com box upgrade. I ran into my buddy who is a tech at the dealership. We chatted a bit and he let me know some interesting things about all these com box upgrades. He said they've been dealing with a bunch of fiascos with doing the upgrade work. He said the com box had to be activated by the parts department and early on the parts department didn't know about this needed step. The com box would get installed in some cars unactivated and would screw up the entire car. I forgot what he said had to be done to get the car working again. He also said doing the upgrade on the F series cars was a total mess. The software sent by BMW wouldn't function properly and now what the techs do is to hook up the car and then have someone at the BMW mothership do a remote upgrade with specific custom software.

He said with the E series cars, it is a straight forward upgrade.

Getting the car back, I had to re-pair both of my cell phones to the car. Also my door lock settings had to be set back to my preferences. One question I'll have to ask which didn't occur to me to ask my buddy or the SA at the dealership is if I can use any new firmware updates downloaded from the BMW site to upgrade the USB/Bluetooth/multimedia software. So far I tried testing the remote door locking feature and it didn't work. Not sure if cell service reception is spotty in my garage but it could also be cell coverage in general at my house. If AT&T is indeed the service provider, they're crap around my neighborhood even with full bars and 4G service indicated on my work cell.

Mach1er · 10-26-2016, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Same here with my career in IT. I was trying to talk my wife out of getting the tech package for her RDX but she wanted all the bells and whistles. I told her it's just more stuff to break and some of it being useless due to being obsolete.

I wasn't happy with my car having the tech/nav package either. But I had no choice at the time. Couldn't order my 1 the way I wanted due to me being in the market when BMW stopped production of the 1. But I'm sort of glad that I have it now. I rarely use the nav in my car but use Waze like you've said. But the reason I'm glad I have the tech/nav package is because of the iDrive screen. I installed the Bimmertech rear camera retrofit with Smartview. I'm able to wirelessly project my smart phone screen to my nav screen. So I have Waze up on a large screen. The only thing that would be even better is if I can figure out how to extend touch capability.

Off topic, but how do you get Waze on the iDrive?

zx10guy · 10-27-2016, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mach1er

Off topic, but how do you get Waze on the iDrive?

Take a look at my Bimmertech rearview camera retrofit install thread. In that thread, I also talk about the Smartview module which enables me to mirror the screen of my smart phone into the iDrive nav screen. That's how I can have Waze up on the screen.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1207855

DuckCoverRoll · 10-27-2016, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Well, I got my car back today. Everything got done from the nav screen which prompted the service appointment in the first place and the com box upgrade. I ran into my buddy who is a tech at the dealership. We chatted a bit and he let me know some interesting things about all these com box upgrades. He said they've been dealing with a bunch of fiascos with doing the upgrade work. He said the com box had to be activated by the parts department and early on the parts department didn't know about this needed step. The com box would get installed in some cars unactivated and would screw up the entire car. I forgot what he said had to be done to get the car working again. He also said doing the upgrade on the F series cars was a total mess. The software sent by BMW wouldn't function properly and now what the techs do is to hook up the car and then have someone at the BMW mothership do a remote upgrade with specific custom software.

He said with the E series cars, it is a straight forward upgrade.

Getting the car back, I had to re-pair both of my cell phones to the car. Also my door lock settings had to be set back to my preferences. One question I'll have to ask which didn't occur to me to ask my buddy or the SA at the dealership is if I can use any new firmware updates downloaded from the BMW site to upgrade the USB/Bluetooth/multimedia software. So far I tried testing the remote door locking feature and it didn't work. Not sure if cell service reception is spotty in my garage but it could also be cell coverage in general at my house. If AT&T is indeed the service provider, they're crap around my neighborhood even with full bars and 4G service indicated on my work cell.

Interesting -- thanks for the update! I just got a letter from my dealership that the parts are in, and I'm scheduled for installation next week. As a bonus, they are also replacing the airbag (finally!) per the recall. I will provide an update once install is complete.

zx10guy · 10-28-2016, 10:11 PM

Well, it looks like my car is going back in to the shop. The com box upgrade doesn't seem to work fully. I haven't tried the SOS feature. And it looks like the geolocator seems to work despite an error messaging in the Connected App saying it couldn't determine the exact location of the car. But the remote door lock feature definitely doesn't work now. It did before the upgrade. Sucks....

Tenspeed · 10-31-2016, 11:09 AM

My new com box came in last week and I took it in for replacement on Friday at 7:30. They evidently are doing a lot of these because my SA told me I was in line at the programming station. Programming takes 1.75 hours or so and they have to program the whole car, not just the module.

Well, he came out at 11:45 and said that one part of the com box didn't program and they had to do it again. The second one didn't work either and they discovered my new com box was bad!

So, I get to go back again for them to install the second box. At least there will be a loaner on this visit.

My SA told me usually E series are easy to do. He said he has had some unpleasant calls from F series owners because the programming will screw up things like tire pressure monitoring and other things, some of which don't show up until 36 miles have been driven, which causes major problems for owner and apologies from dealer.

Mach1er · 10-31-2016, 02:00 PM

Does anyone know if you can get parts using the $300 Lifestyle Voucher?

zx10guy · 10-31-2016, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mach1er

Does anyone know if you can get parts using the $300 Lifestyle Voucher?

I doubt it. I had a slight run in with this a while back with a BMW dealer offering special pricing for forum members. The rep worked in their Lifestyle merchandise department. But I was able to get a discounted quote for the PPK Stage 2 kit. I checked back a few months ago to ask pricing on other parts, and she said she's no longer able to do that as the dealer drew the line on Lifestyle and parts.

Mach1er · 10-31-2016, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I doubt it. I had a slight run in with this a while back with a BMW dealer offering special pricing for forum members. The rep worked in their Lifestyle merchandise department. But I was able to get a discounted quote for the PPK Stage 2 kit. I checked back a few months ago to ask pricing on other parts, and she said she's no longer able to do that as the dealer drew the line on Lifestyle and parts.

Damn...thanks for the heads up.

bagekko · 11-01-2016, 08:58 AM

Hope my dealer doesnt give me a hard time, was gonna get a couple cases of oil, not sure what else.... if its true I might end up with the $500 windscreen vs the $250 ebay one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I doubt it. I had a slight run in with this a while back with a BMW dealer offering special pricing for forum members. The rep worked in their Lifestyle merchandise department. But I was able to get a discounted quote for the PPK Stage 2 kit. I checked back a few months ago to ask pricing on other parts, and she said she's no longer able to do that as the dealer drew the line on Lifestyle and parts.

DuckCoverRoll · 11-02-2016, 11:48 AM

Quick update: just dropped off my car for the combox upgrade. SA indicated that the process will take several days, and got me a loaner. On the upside, I've never driven an X3 before -- not bad at all for a CUV!

zx10guy · 11-02-2016, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckCoverRoll

Quick update: just dropped off my car for the combox upgrade. SA indicated that the process will take several days, and got me a loaner. On the upside, I've never driven an X3 before -- not bad at all for a CUV!

Several days? Are those guys writing the actual software or using your car as a training vehicle? My car was done in a day...day and a half.

As an update on my last post, it looks like my problem is solved. I haven't had a chance to test the SOS function, but the remote locking is now working. My SA went out to my car and did an update from the iDrive console. He was surprised the tech working on my car forgot to do this step. Took all of a few minutes and I was back on the road.

gjm120 · 11-02-2016, 01:04 PM

Really simple question.

Is this only about losing the ability to push a buttons in the car vs. using your cell to call for assist?

Sorry if this is answered in this thread

zx10guy · 11-02-2016, 01:20 PM

It's about losing all the features BMW assist provides you.

10-21-2016, 05:24 PM	#45
Kev!n master of my domain 27 Rep 57 Posts Drives: 2013 135is Join Date: May 2014 Location: Cleveland, OH iTrader: (0)	I just noticed I typed '98 instead of '08 in my previous post. HA! I thought it was cool to have a CD changer in '98, internet connectivity would have been a miracle back then.
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10-21-2016, 05:45 PM	#48
c1pher Primo Generalissimo 4672 Rep 4,022 Posts Drives: All of them Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: DC area iTrader: (0) Garage List 2017 Porsche 911 Ca ... [10.00] 2023 BMW M2 [9.00] 2023 Porsche Macan GTS [10.00] 2022 Ford F-250 Tremor [8.50]	I'm in IT too and they almost force you to get Nav and other features when you really just want one or two of the items in a package. For example, my Avalon Hybrid came with navigation as part of the tech package. I would have rather just had the dynamic cruise, automatic high beams and JBL stereo without the nav. Of course, manufacturers could go the Porsche route and gouge the hell out of you for every single ala cart item you desire.
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10-21-2016, 06:00 PM	#49
zx10guy Brigadier General 5150 Rep 3,241 Posts Drives: 2013 135i Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: DC iTrader: (0)	BTW. Pertaining to the topic of this thread, I decided to opt for the retrofit for my car today. So we'll see how long I'll get a notice to bring my car in for service.
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10-21-2016, 06:24 PM	#50
c1pher Primo Generalissimo 4672 Rep 4,022 Posts Drives: All of them Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: DC area iTrader: (0) Garage List 2017 Porsche 911 Ca ... [10.00] 2023 BMW M2 [9.00] 2023 Porsche Macan GTS [10.00] 2022 Ford F-250 Tremor [8.50]	Waiting for my appointment too.
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10-21-2016, 10:37 PM	#51
smrtypants44 Captain 518 Rep 894 Posts Drives: 2017 440i Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Tulsa, OK iTrader: (2)	So my SA called me to schedule the appointment next week. They told me to expect it to take take 4-5 days based on previous experience. Apparently they have to get the sn off the module and get ATT to move the network account over before installing the new module. They are giving me a loaner so I'm not worried about it. __________________
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10-25-2016, 06:47 PM	#52
zx10guy Brigadier General 5150 Rep 3,241 Posts Drives: 2013 135i Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: DC iTrader: (0)	Following up on this, I got my confirmation email yesterday evening. I had already scheduled my car to be dropped off for service to fix a trim issue around the nav screen. Apparently, BMW doesn't have just the outer trim housing around the screen so the dealer ended up having to order in the entire nav screen with the whole outer housing. Anyways, I printed off the email as instructed by the text in the email to present to the dealer. When I dropped off the car this morning, I also showed the email to my SA. He said he doesn't think they have the parts to do the retrofit but will let me know. I get an email later in the day saying they actually do have the parts and will add the retrofit job to the work order. So we'll see how long it takes for them to get my car done.
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10-26-2016, 06:49 PM	#53
zx10guy Brigadier General 5150 Rep 3,241 Posts Drives: 2013 135i Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: DC iTrader: (0)	Well, I got my car back today. Everything got done from the nav screen which prompted the service appointment in the first place and the com box upgrade. I ran into my buddy who is a tech at the dealership. We chatted a bit and he let me know some interesting things about all these com box upgrades. He said they've been dealing with a bunch of fiascos with doing the upgrade work. He said the com box had to be activated by the parts department and early on the parts department didn't know about this needed step. The com box would get installed in some cars unactivated and would screw up the entire car. I forgot what he said had to be done to get the car working again. He also said doing the upgrade on the F series cars was a total mess. The software sent by BMW wouldn't function properly and now what the techs do is to hook up the car and then have someone at the BMW mothership do a remote upgrade with specific custom software. He said with the E series cars, it is a straight forward upgrade. Getting the car back, I had to re-pair both of my cell phones to the car. Also my door lock settings had to be set back to my preferences. One question I'll have to ask which didn't occur to me to ask my buddy or the SA at the dealership is if I can use any new firmware updates downloaded from the BMW site to upgrade the USB/Bluetooth/multimedia software. So far I tried testing the remote door locking feature and it didn't work. Not sure if cell service reception is spotty in my garage but it could also be cell coverage in general at my house. If AT&T is indeed the service provider, they're crap around my neighborhood even with full bars and 4G service indicated on my work cell.
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10-28-2016, 10:11 PM	#57
zx10guy Brigadier General 5150 Rep 3,241 Posts Drives: 2013 135i Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: DC iTrader: (0)	Well, it looks like my car is going back in to the shop. The com box upgrade doesn't seem to work fully. I haven't tried the SOS feature. And it looks like the geolocator seems to work despite an error messaging in the Connected App saying it couldn't determine the exact location of the car. But the remote door lock feature definitely doesn't work now. It did before the upgrade. Sucks....
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10-31-2016, 11:09 AM	#58
Tenspeed Private 34 Rep 95 Posts Drives: 2011 135i E88 DCT Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Upstate, SC iTrader: (0)	My new com box came in last week and I took it in for replacement on Friday at 7:30. They evidently are doing a lot of these because my SA told me I was in line at the programming station. Programming takes 1.75 hours or so and they have to program the whole car, not just the module. Well, he came out at 11:45 and said that one part of the com box didn't program and they had to do it again. The second one didn't work either and they discovered my new com box was bad! So, I get to go back again for them to install the second box. At least there will be a loaner on this visit. My SA told me usually E series are easy to do. He said he has had some unpleasant calls from F series owners because the programming will screw up things like tire pressure monitoring and other things, some of which don't show up until 36 miles have been driven, which causes major problems for owner and apologies from dealer.
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10-31-2016, 02:00 PM	#59
Mach1er Lieutenant 86 Rep 524 Posts Drives: '13 128i Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Austin, TX iTrader: (0)	Does anyone know if you can get parts using the $300 Lifestyle Voucher? __________________ '13 128i \| 6MT \| SGM \| Black Boston \| Black Gloss \| Lighting \| Premium \| Tech \| HK \| Anti-Theft \| [CDV-Delete \| Clutch Stop \| 30% Pinnacle] Ordered 2.23 \| Production Begin 3.7 \| Ends 3.15 \| Released to carrier 3.18 \| At port 3.19 \| Departed 3.23 (K-line to Brunswick) \| Arrived 4.7 \| Truck 4.12 \| Dealer 4.19
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11-02-2016, 11:48 AM	#63
DuckCoverRoll Private First Class 26 Rep 142 Posts Drives: 2018 M3 (comp) Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: PACIFIC NW iTrader: (0)	Quick update: just dropped off my car for the combox upgrade. SA indicated that the process will take several days, and got me a loaner. On the upside, I've never driven an X3 before -- not bad at all for a CUV!
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11-02-2016, 01:04 PM	#65
gjm120 Colonel 2182 Rep 2,806 Posts Drives: 2013 128i, 2021 230i Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: East Texas iTrader: (1)	Really simple question. Is this only about losing the ability to push a buttons in the car vs. using your cell to call for assist? Sorry if this is answered in this thread
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11-02-2016, 01:20 PM	#66
zx10guy Brigadier General 5150 Rep 3,241 Posts Drives: 2013 135i Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: DC iTrader: (0)	It's about losing all the features BMW assist provides you.
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