My bmw app not showing anything but location…help!

[Chris22104]

Recently got my 2019 i3s and downloaded the app. Entered everything correctly. It only shows the location. No soc, lock, unlock, horn, etc. I’ve tried everything I could think of. Is this not a free service? Do I have to pay someone? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks guys…

 

[Chris22104]

My bmw app that is..

 

[EvanstonI3]

It is not a "free" service. In the USA it is included for 4 years from the first date of sale. After that you have to subscribe for $120/year. If you created an account it should show what the current status of the Connected Services are. If you did not pay $120, you are still using the existing 4 years of Service and it will take some time (up to 3 business days) for BMW to confirm that you are the owner in order to make the app fully work.

 

[alohart]

Please pardon my lengthy screed, but I feel that we've been unreasonably denied the full functionality of the My BMW app just as we were denied the use of the BMW i Remote app after AT&T in the U.S. discontinued its 3G data service and BMW didn't offer a telematics module upgrade to 4G.

The BMW Remote Services subscription is active "as long as technically capable". This is a change from when we bought our 2014 i3 new which, I believe, included a 10-year Remote Services subscription. I had assumed that the basic functions of the My BMW app would be supported "as long as technically capable", but I was apparently wrong.

Remote Services "keeps you in touch with your BMW. Control and check functions remotely from your smartphone" (bolding mine). However, since ~18 March, my experience with the My BMW app is like that of Chris22104: it no longer displays the current SOC and mileage, the date and time when the displayed SOC was updated, whether charging is active, the status of the doors and windows, the charging plan ("Status not available", "Data unavailable", "We are currently unable to retrieve your data. Please try again later."), and maybe other features, all of which I consider to be "check" functions that are documented to be included in Remote Services.

My BMW is able to display the current location of our i3, a "check" function, although doing so seems much slower than previously. I suspect that the location that it is reporting was stored on BMW Connected Drive servers prior to 18 March and hasn't been updated since. Maybe the BMW Connected Services server is waiting for our i3 to report its position but eventually times out when nothing is reported which would explain the delay.

The last time I checked, My BMW is still able to send commands and navigation destinations to our i3, "control" functions, so our i3 still has an Internet connection.

These problems began at about the same time that the iOS version of the My BMW app was updated from 3.12.3 to 4.3.0, so I wondered whether a buggy major release was to blame. I have allowed Recurrent Auto to access our i3 remotely via Connected Drive to gather range and battery health data. It hasn't been able to do so since ~18 March, so this suggests that the My BMW app isn't to blame.

BMW support couldn't explain why I had lost My BMW's full functionality because full functionality had been available even after the 4-year Connected Services subscription included with our 2019 i3 expired on 19 September 2023, the 4th anniversary of its in-service date, so my case was escalated. I was eventually told that I would have to pay $120 for a 1-year subscription to Connected Services to enable the "check" functions of Remote Services even though this service is described as including "check" functions.

Connected Services includes 6 services:

• Amazon Alexa Car Integration
• Remote Services
• Advanced Real-Time Traffic Information
• Online Speech Processing
• BMW online
• Automatic Map Update.

I've never used Alexa and don't plan to start.

Remote Services is already active and according to BMW support is included in Connected Services because in some markets, it's not a standalone service. If this is the same as the standalone Remote Services whose subscription is still active, why would it work with an active Connected Services subscription but not work without a Connected Services subscription? BMW support couldn't or wouldn't answer my question.

Advanced Real-Time Traffic Information is usually so outdated in Honolulu that it can't be trusted, so I quit renewing its $50 annual subscription for our former 2014 i3 and don't miss it now.

I don't speak to our i3 and don't plan to start, so I don't need Online Speech Processing.

I occasionally tried to look up navigation destination addresses using BMW online, but searching was so clumsy that I quit. I never used the weather, news, or other widgets, so I don't miss BMW online.

I manually updated the navigation maps twice per year on our 2014 i3 but never noticed any changes. I had hoped that updated maps would fix some glaring navigation stupidity, but this never happened, and the stupidity still exists on our 2019 i3, so Automatic Map Updates aren't important to me.

No Connected Services service is of interest to me other than Remote Services whose subscription should still be active. I'm having trouble justifying paying $120 per year for a Remote Services subscription which should already be active.

The current functionality of the My BMW app is worse than that of a previous app, BMW i Remote, used with our 2014 i3 after subscriptions to some of the individual connected services had expired. These expirations did not affect the function of BMW i Remote unlike with the My BMW app. BMW is regressing rather than progressing with its remote access apps.

Really disappointing, BMW. Your remote access app is essentially useless without a paid subscription, so why bother with Remote Services?

If you live in the U.S., own an i3 with 4G data connectivity, and don't have an active Connected Services subscription, does the My BMW app still report various statuses of your i3?

 

[robthebold]

If you live in the U.S., own an i3 with 4G data connectivity, and don't have an active Connected Services subscription, does the My BMW app still report various statuses of your i3?

Here in the Sunflower State, USA, my statuses all seem to be still available. I've got a '17, which does have a 4g modem -- that doesn't stop it from displaying a globe and the text "3G" when connecting . . someone hardcoded or bitmapped that or something.

I don't, however, use the app. I don't have an android or i-device, so I access the Connected Services with HomeAssistant. To see the info and send commands over the phone I SSH into my home network where all the BMW Connected stuff is on a web page.

What I don't get with BMW is that they really don't sell the Connected Services very hard, or even at all. Compared to some subscriptions that you have to call multiple times to cancel, BMW not only doesn't auto-renew, they don't even send an email for any other kinds of notification when the subscription is almost up. Your first clue is probably when the RTTI colors stop appearing on the nav screen. OTOH, while they say it can take several business days for the subscription to become active, it's never been longer than minutes after I finally re-figure how to get thru the website so I can give them my money!

 

[evanstuff]

It seemed like BMW replaced an iPhone app that was essential for my use of MY car with other apps intended to sell me a different car. I no longer use them. My next car will not be a BMW.

 

[Timjohn]

My subscription ended on April 3rd, 2024 and I will not be renewing it. I only used it to check on my state of charge (SOC) during my home charging events. All the other detailed features as you detailed are of no use to me and I have had the service for 4 years. I rarely preconditioned, locked or rolled down the windows through the app. It was nice to be able to get the cost estimates after a charge event.

Strange I just checked to see if I could lock and unlock the i3. It worked so you can still perform this function but I am wondering if there maybe other functions still available without a subscription.

 

[EvanstonI3]

My subscription ended on April 3rd, 2024 and I will not be renewing it. I only used it to check on my state of charge (SOC) during my home charging events. All the other detailed features as you detailed are of no use to me and I have had the service for 4 years. I rarely preconditioned, locked or rolled down the windows through the app. It was nice to be able to get the cost estimates after a charge event.

Strange I just checked to see if I could lock and unlock the i3. It worked so you can still perform this function but I am wondering if there maybe other functions still available without a subscription.

When you open the app, do you see an image of your car or is it covered with a sheet? Your sub has expired but sounds like BMW is just lax about actually shutting it down. You should not be able to do anything via the app if your subscription to Connected Services has expired. If you still can, then it is an aberration. Also- you can't roll the windows down or up via the app, you can only see their status.

 

[alohart]

When you open the app, do you see an image of your car or is it covered with a sheet? Your sub has expired but sounds like BMW is just lax about actually shutting it down. You should not be able to do anything via the app if your subscription to Connected Services has expired. If you still can, then it is an aberration. Also- you can't roll the windows down or up via the app, you can only see their status.

The uncovered image of our i3 is still displayed, but it doesn't change when charging is active as it previously did.

I can still send commands and navigation destinations to our i3, so it is still connected to the Internet.

If a Connected Services subscription is required for the My BMW app to function normally, what good is the active Remote Services subscription?

 

[Skye2002]

Here in the Sunflower State, USA, my statuses all seem to be still available. I've got a '17, which does have a 4g modem -- that doesn't stop it from displaying a globe and the text "3G" when connecting . . someone hardcoded or bitmapped that or something.

I don't, however, use the app. I don't have an android or i-device, so I access the Connected Services with HomeAssistant. To see the info and send commands over the phone I SSH into my home network where all the BMW Connected stuff is on a web page.

What I don't get with BMW is that they really don't sell the Connected Services very hard, or even at all. Compared to some subscriptions that you have to call multiple times to cancel, BMW not only doesn't auto-renew, they don't even send an email for any other kinds of notification when the subscription is almost up. Your first clue is probably when the RTTI colors stop appearing on the nav screen. OTOH, while they say it can take several business days for the subscription to become active, it's never been longer than minutes after I finally re-figure how to get thru the website so I can give them my money!

Maybe BMW Australia are on top of things more so that in the US... in the past month I received an email from them regarding my i3 Connected Services. I also have an excellent BMW dealership here in Brisbane. %G is now being rolled out in Australia, more so in metro areas. How will that affect Connected Services? Very little I suspect as my 5G Samsung android phone reverts to 4G when 5G is not available. 3G coverage is now just about dead in Australia. The app is so useful when you forget where you parked the car, or, heaven forbid, if my i3 gets stolen and I can look at the app and see where it is...

 

[Timjohn]

When you open the app, do you see an image of your car or is it covered with a sheet? Your sub has expired but sounds like BMW is just lax about actually shutting it down. You should not be able to do anything via the app if your subscription to Connected Services has expired. If you still can, then it is an aberration. Also- you can't roll the windows down or up via the app, you can only see their status.

From the iPhone app I am still able to unlock the car and find its location within the app. But I can't see the status of the doors and windows.

I also noticed that I can still get the weather reports from the iDrive menu. So it must have some connection over the air to a server.

The image of the car is not covered and I don't see the bar across the front that gives the status of the charge (20% 65 kms). This is about 8 days passed after the expiry date so far.

 

[Chris22104]

So I shelled out the $130 (with tax,) and waited 12 hours. Nothing. I contacted bmw thru my car’s menu and after 30 minutes of waiting on hold, got a human “genius.” He claimed nothing was working because of the upcoming eclipse that day, but offered me no solution. I decided to wait one more day and see if the app would start working. By the next day, it did start working fully. Thank you guys for all your advice! I have a couple other questions, but considering it’s a totally different problem/topic, I’ll start a new thread….

 

[robthebold]

He claimed nothing was working because of the upcoming eclipse that day, but offered me no solution.

That guy was waiting 6.5 years to use that again!

 

[Arm]

Please pardon my lengthy screed, but I feel that we've been unreasonably denied the full functionality of the My BMW app just as we were denied the use of the BMW i Remote app after AT&T in the U.S. discontinued its 3G data service and BMW didn't offer a telematics module upgrade to 4G.

The BMW Remote Services subscription is active "as long as technically capable". This is a change from when we bought our 2014 i3 new which, I believe, included a 10-year Remote Services subscription. I had assumed that the basic functions of the My BMW app would be supported "as long as technically capable", but I was apparently wrong.

Remote Services "keeps you in touch with your BMW. Control and check functions remotely from your smartphone" (bolding mine). However, since ~18 March, my experience with the My BMW app is like that of Chris22104: it no longer displays the current SOC and mileage, the date and time when the displayed SOC was updated, whether charging is active, the status of the doors and windows, the charging plan ("Status not available", "Data unavailable", "We are currently unable to retrieve your data. Please try again later."), and maybe other features, all of which I consider to be "check" functions that are documented to be included in Remote Services.

My BMW is able to display the current location of our i3, a "check" function, although doing so seems much slower than previously. I suspect that the location that it is reporting was stored on BMW Connected Drive servers prior to 18 March and hasn't been updated since. Maybe the BMW Connected Services server is waiting for our i3 to report its position but eventually times out when nothing is reported which would explain the delay.

The last time I checked, My BMW is still able to send commands and navigation destinations to our i3, "control" functions, so our i3 still has an Internet connection.

These problems began at about the same time that the iOS version of the My BMW app was updated from 3.12.3 to 4.3.0, so I wondered whether a buggy major release was to blame. I have allowed Recurrent Auto to access our i3 remotely via Connected Drive to gather range and battery health data. It hasn't been able to do so since ~18 March, so this suggests that the My BMW app isn't to blame.

BMW support couldn't explain why I had lost My BMW's full functionality because full functionality had been available even after the 4-year Connected Services subscription included with our 2019 i3 expired on 19 September 2023, the 4th anniversary of its in-service date, so my case was escalated. I was eventually told that I would have to pay $120 for a 1-year subscription to Connected Services to enable the "check" functions of Remote Services even though this service is described as including "check" functions.

Connected Services includes 6 services:

• Amazon Alexa Car Integration
• Remote Services
• Advanced Real-Time Traffic Information
• Online Speech Processing
• BMW online
• Automatic Map Update.

I've never used Alexa and don't plan to start.

Remote Services is already active and according to BMW support is included in Connected Services because in some markets, it's not a standalone service. If this is the same as the standalone Remote Services whose subscription is still active, why would it work with an active Connected Services subscription but not work without a Connected Services subscription? BMW support couldn't or wouldn't answer my question.

Advanced Real-Time Traffic Information is usually so outdated in Honolulu that it can't be trusted, so I quit renewing its $50 annual subscription for our former 2014 i3 and don't miss it now.

I don't speak to our i3 and don't plan to start, so I don't need Online Speech Processing.

I occasionally tried to look up navigation destination addresses using BMW online, but searching was so clumsy that I quit. I never used the weather, news, or other widgets, so I don't miss BMW online.

I manually updated the navigation maps twice per year on our 2014 i3 but never noticed any changes. I had hoped that updated maps would fix some glaring navigation stupidity, but this never happened, and the stupidity still exists on our 2019 i3, so Automatic Map Updates aren't important to me.

No Connected Services service is of interest to me other than Remote Services whose subscription should still be active. I'm having trouble justifying paying $120 per year for a Remote Services subscription which should already be active.

The current functionality of the My BMW app is worse than that of a previous app, BMW i Remote, used with our 2014 i3 after subscriptions to some of the individual connected services had expired. These expirations did not affect the function of BMW i Remote unlike with the My BMW app. BMW is regressing rather than progressing with its remote access apps.

Really disappointing, BMW. Your remote access app is essentially useless without a paid subscription, so why bother with Remote Services?

If you live in the U.S., own an i3 with 4G data connectivity, and don't have an active Connected Services subscription, does the My BMW app still report various statuses of your i3?

This is not a BMW problem...this is an ACROSS THE BOARD subscription model problem. EVERY single company you can imagine is doing this nonsense. You think this is bad? Wait until you have to work with software that requires yearly subscription and maintenance fees.

Tesla also does it. If you want live traffic, streaming music, etc...it's $99 a year to do so if you pay the full amount upfront.

 

[tob1as]

This is not a BMW problem...this is an ACROSS THE BOARD subscription model problem. EVERY single company you can imagine is doing this nonsense. You think this is bad? Wait until you have to work with software that requires yearly subscription and maintenance fees.

Tesla also does it. If you want live traffic, streaming music, etc...it's $99 a year to do so if you pay the full amount upfront.

Difference is that Tesla's app is a lot less clunky, feature rich, and everything works (also much more instantly). The myBMW app is barely acceptable (in my opinion) - and yes, I pay for both/own both (2017 BMW i3, 2023 Tesla Model Y LR). It's the ongoing issue of legacy automakers' struggle with software, vs a more premium materiality/intuitive UI/UX interior feel for the BMW vs the Tesla. Post i3 and i8 BMW really dropped the ball/missed a huge opportunity to become a market leader (my opinion! - YMMV).

 

[Mustrum Ridcully]

Post i3 and i8 BMW really dropped the ball/missed a huge opportunity to become a market leader (my opinion! - YMMV).

I think I read that it was due to an upper management change, replacing someone who was a champion for the i3 and i8 with someone who was perhaps putting his stamp on things by sidelining the pure BEV side of BMW. I'm just repeating what I read somewhere. My best guess is that it was on the "Truth About Cars" website, but it was many years ago now.

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