Software update / Mileage improvement

Nothing scientific but it seems like I have close to a ten percent improvement on mileage per charge. I had my rex in for a CEL. They updated the software and when i picked the car up it was fully charged and indicated an electric range of 72 miles in comfort mode while before the update it was regularly showing low to mid sixties. I understand that what it learned of my driving style may have been wiped out but the actual range is proving to be better. Yesterday I drove 67 miles and about half of that was freeway travel with the AC on and going between the mid seventies to low eighties. When I parked for the evening it showed I had 13 miles remaining I used eco pro on the freeway and plus around the slower areas but this is by some margin better than previous experience. Just wondering if others are noting an improvement.

If you didn't already have the March 2015 or newer software, then yes, you can expect a few extra miles of range with the November update. From the March software forward, BMW have made more of the battery's capacity available for use.

i3atl said:

If you didn't already have the March 2015 or newer software, then yes, you can expect a few extra miles of range with the November update. From the March software forward, BMW have made more of the battery's capacity available for use.

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I noticed the same thing. I also got a tiny boost in miles/KWh but my batteries were also replaced.

In the UK, the Kappa Max has reduced in the November update suggesting less of the battery capacity is available. The GOM range is not as good as before the update but better than with the January 2015 software.

After the November software update, the capacity of my battery pack seems no different at 18.9 kWh. But this capacity number is slightly different every time I look at it, so it's difficult to know whether this update affected the available capacity.

Hi All,

I am on the November 2014 software.

I went into the local BMW i3 dealership on Tuesday and asked about upgrading to a newer version. They said that the software cannot be upgraded. I queried this advise and mentioned the March 2015 update but was informed it can only be done on the production line and not retro. They suggested I called BMW.

I called BMW I3 support and they was not aware of *ANY* updates and said they could not find any service bulletins.

Can anyone help? Does anyone know if there is a Service Bulletin for the Nov 2015 (or March for that matter) that would enable me to go back and have another conversation?

Thanks in advance,
David

DavidaLewis said:

Hi All,

I am on the November 2014 software.

I went into the local BMW i3 dealership on Tuesday and asked about upgrading to a newer version. They said that the software cannot be upgraded. I queried this advise and mentioned the March 2015 update but was informed it can only be done on the production line and not retro. They suggested I called BMW.

Click to expand...

Not saying you're lying, but if this is true then I would seriously consider naming and shaming your "dealership" (cough) on here. I would make sure you speak to a BMW i dealership, not any BMW dealer.

Mine is booked in for an upgrade next week (2 day slot, just in case, I guess).

When I called the dealer, I was asked whether there is a problem with my vehicle! Welcome to the year 2015 ! I didn't want to blind them with science by mentioning that Teslas do their upgrades OTA. In a way, it's not the dealership's fault.

DavidaLewis said:

I went into the local BMW i3 dealership on Tuesday and asked about upgrading to a newer version. They said that the software cannot be upgraded. I queried this advise and mentioned the March 2015 update but was informed it can only be done on the production line and not retro. They suggested I called BMW.

I called BMW I3 support and they was not aware of *ANY* updates and said they could not find any service bulletins.

Click to expand...

This is just ridiculous! Print this November 2015 BMW Technical Service bulletin and show it to your dealer's service department. Dealers are obliged to install this update at no cost to you. If they refuse, call BMW i3 support again and demand to talk to someone who actually knows about i3's. Other i3 owners have reported that BMW i3 support has called their dealers to inform them that they must install this update at no cost as a warranty service.

psquare said:

DavidaLewis said:

Hi All,

I am on the November 2014 software.

I went into the local BMW i3 dealership on Tuesday and asked about upgrading to a newer version. They said that the software cannot be upgraded. I queried this advise and mentioned the March 2015 update but was informed it can only be done on the production line and not retro. They suggested I called BMW.

Click to expand...

Not saying you're lying, but if this is true then I would seriously consider naming and shaming your "dealership" (cough) on here. I would make sure you speak to a BMW i dealership, not any BMW dealer.

Mine is booked in for an upgrade next week (2 day slot, just in case, I guess).

When I called the dealer, I was asked whether there is a problem with my vehicle! Welcome to the year 2015 ! I didn't want to blind them with science by mentioning that Teslas do their upgrades OTA. In a way, it's not the dealership's fault.

Click to expand...

Thanks - The dealership is BMW Maidstone (Arden). Still trying to get it sorted...

8-(

The policy can vary country to country...in the USA, small updates may not happen unless the car is in for some other service, but one of the more major ones (seem to happen about 2x per year) can be done, no questions asked.

To make it easier on the dealers, tell them that the EVSE is turning on and off frequently during preconditioning...no dealer verification required or easily possible, and the latest software is supposed to address that (along with various other updates).

I’m in Brighton UK and get my car updated regularly without a problem. In fact its being colllected on Tues to get the Nov 15 update.

jadnashuanh said:

The policy can vary country to country...in the USA, small updates may not happen unless the car is in for some other service, but one of the more major ones (seem to happen about 2x per year) can be done, no questions asked.

To make it easier on the dealers, tell them that the EVSE is turning on and off frequently during preconditioning...no dealer verification required or easily possible, and the latest software is supposed to address that (along with various other updates).

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. The car is now booked in for investigation. One quick question: How do I find out the current version so I can check that the firmware has been updated?

Have a good weekend all....

David

The easiest way to see the version numbers (there's more than one!) is to export a profile to a usb stick, then look at the file with a text editor.

You can view them from the service menu, but it's easier to read them off of a computer screen, and you could print it out if you wished.

Just to add to add to the OP re increased mileage. I picked up mine after the upgrade from the dealer today and it's true, there is a noticeable increase in displayed range.

My car was standing on the forecourt, ready for pickup, and had been there for about 2h already, with an outside temp of approx 10 degrees C. SOC was 91% and displayed range was 71 miles, which is about 5% higher than usual, I'd say. Whether this translates into real world increase ... Time will tell!

My car with a little over 16K miles was just upgraded to the November software, and it went from 17kWh to 19.2kWh usable capacity.

That's 8 miles of actual additional range, assuming 4mi/kWh. Not bad for a software update.

i3atl said:

My car with a little over 16K miles was just upgraded to the November software, and it went from 17kWh to 19.2kWh usable capacity.

That's 8 miles of actual additional range, assuming 4mi/kWh. Not bad for a software update.

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Battery capacity can't be directly measured, so it must be calculated. I suspect that you might be seeing the normal range of variability since the actual capacity can change with temperature, the natural differences in charge levels among the battery cells, and probably other factors.

Even without any software update, the capacity reported for my battery pack has ranged from 17.x - 19.x over the past year of ownership with no up or down trend. In early November, the original I001-14-07-503 software was updated to the current I001-15-11-502 with no significant change in the reported capacity of my battery pack.

It's possible that the software might reduce the size of the low- and/or high-charge buffers over time to hide any battery degradation. Apparently, the Volt's software does this. If this adjustment would be a function of miles driven, then my 3K miles might not trigger any adjustment whereas your 16K miles might. We just have no idea what this software is doing or what might affect the reported battery capacity.

One i3 owner has kept meticulous energy consumption records of his very early i3 over almost 40K miles of driving. He believes that his battery capacity is decreasing 3-5% annually, if I recall correctly. That seems reasonable considering how far he drives each year.

I did my upgrade from home. Just downloaded the update on a USB stick and stuck it in the console and activated the upgrade. I am on the November 2015 version now.

i3marc said:

I did my upgrade from home. Just downloaded the update on a USB stick and stuck it in the console and activated the upgrade. I am on the November 2015 version now.

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If only it were this easy. Sounds as if you updated the communications/entertainment system. The November 2015 i-step programming can be done only at your dealership.

Perhaps someday BMW will adopt Tesla's more effortless, over-the-air update model.

FWIW, BMW will let you update the phone/entertainment software by yourself since it is not critical to the operation of the car...but, the operating software, if there's a glitch during the (quite large!) update, the car could become inoperable. They want to ensure that goes right, and it can only be done by the dealership. That may change sometime in the future, but for now, that is the way it is. On some models, essentially those that come with LTE SIM cards (the i3 does not, yet), they can push new mapping data to the car OTA, but for us, it's pay for the data and key either at the dealership, or at home after downloading the whole 24G or so (hopefully, with a fast internet connection!). They do not support incremental updates at this time except maybe for those done OTA. BMW, Damlier, and Audi (I think) just signed a deal with Nokia for use of their Here maps and software which might bring some interesting enhancements, but may not apply to the current vehicles. They essentially bought part of the company. That should make the licensing costs essentially go away, and make it easier for people to update their maps.

When the software is updated at the dealership to a new version, it erases all user history, so mileage goes to default until it learns your driving style. The mileage indicator is likely to be inaccurate until it rebuilds history as it goes back to default.

GeorgeJ said:

Nothing scientific but it seems like I have close to a ten percent improvement on mileage per charge. I had my rex in for a CEL. They updated the software and when i picked the car up it was fully charged and indicated an electric range of 72 miles in comfort mode while before the update it was regularly showing low to mid sixties. I understand that what it learned of my driving style may have been wiped out but the actual range is proving to be better. Yesterday I drove 67 miles and about half of that was freeway travel with the AC on and going between the mid seventies to low eighties. When I parked for the evening it showed I had 13 miles remaining I used eco pro on the freeway and plus around the slower areas but this is by some margin better than previous experience. Just wondering if others are noting an improvement.

Click to expand...

For the first couple of days after I got the November update, my BEV was showing that it was going to get much more range than it normally does. However, this has now gone away and I am back to showing (and experiencing) the same range as I have all along.

What happens here is that the update wipes our your history and your car needs to relearn your driving patterns. Since almost none of us drive the car as religiously efficiently as would be required to achieve the maximum range, that means that the car will gradually realize that you are not perfect and it will reduce its estimate of your range accordingly.