Charging not showing up in myBMW app

[Pam Haugan]

I recently purchased a 2017 i3 with range extender. It is my first BMW and my first EV. I have charged at home and at a pay charger. No charging information is shown on the app. (I'm kind of technologically challenged.) Can someone get me of on the right track to fixing this?

 

[eNate]

Hi Pam and welcome.

The first and most obvious question is are you subscribed to the BMW Connected Drive service? Do you have access to other remote functions such as door unlock, cabin climatization, and setting departure schedules?

 

[Pam Haugan]

Hi Pam and welcome.

The first and most obvious question is are you subscribed to the BMW Connected Drive service? Do you have access to other remote functions such as door unlock, cabin climatization, and setting departure schedules?

I can lock and unlock my car from the app. I can locate it. I just got my level 2 charger installed yesterday. (I had been using the trickle charger). I haven't had a reason to try the climatización or departure times.

 

[Pam Haugan]

Hi Pam and welcome.

The first and most obvious question is are you subscribed to the BMW Connected Drive service? Do you have access to other remote functions such as door unlock, cabin climatization, and setting departure schedules?

I have not subscribed. (Unless it was included when I purchased the vehicle)

 

[EvanstonI3]

The car could still have an existing subscription from the previous owner. A Connected Drive/Remote Services subscription is for 1 year and follows the car, not the owner.
But if that were the case, you should be able to see the Charging Info.

I suspect the actual reason is because BMW has been doing some sort of updates on their servers recently and a number of people have reported that they still have limited functions available via the App despite not having a current, paid subscription. Others with no active subscription have reported similar results to what you describe with no charging info available.

This has created a lot of confusion on how the app works/doesn't work because prior to this, if your subscription expired, you had zero access to the vehicle via the App.

 

[eNate]

If you can lock / unlock and see its location on the app, it would appear you have an active subscription.

With the US i3s, Connected Drive is paid for for the first four years after purchase. After that, it's a subscription. Details are behind a little shopping bag icon on the bottom row of the myBMW app.

But the way BMW packages these remote service is a little perplexing. For instance, my Connected Drive runs through Aug 2025, as do my map updates, but it says "BMW Remote Services: Included with your vehicle" (no expiration date) -- I don't know how that would work without an active Connected Drive subscription.

So, given yours is a 2017, log on and look into whether your Connected Drive is active.

 

[Pam Haugan]

I recently purchased a 2017 i3 with range extender. It is my first BMW and my first EV. I have charged at home and at a pay charger. No charging information is shown on the app. (I'm kind of technologically challenged.) Can someone get me of on the right track to fixing this?

 

[Pam Haugan]

View attachment 815

I guess I shouldn't expect more that I have at this point.

 

[eNate]

This isn't correct. The 2017 i3s have 4G modems and are fully supported. My 2017 was an early production (July 2016 build date) that had a 4G modem, and this aligns with the changeover date when searching through the BMW parts catalogs. And you can be sure of this, because if yours had a 3G modem, you wouldn't be able to unlock it or see its location on the map. All of that happens via a cellular link, no wifi or other direct phone-to-car communications.

 

[EvanstonI3]

I guess I shouldn't expect more that I have at this point.

that is false and misleading information. People have used random quotes "from the internet" for years to claim that the 2017 models only have 3G when actual owners such as eNate and myself can show otherwise. A lot of this nonsense seems to come from a software change from 2017 to 2018 where the 2017s have an older version that displays a "3G" icon on the screen. It is just a graphic and has no connection to what the car has installed.

 

[robthebold]

I haven't had a reason to try the climatización or departure times.

Definitely try these features so you can brag to your ICE driving friends and family about how cool they are. Or how warm they are if you're bragging in wintertime . . .

 

[alohart]

But the way BMW packages these remote service is a little perplexing. For instance, my Connected Drive runs through Aug 2025, as do my map updates, but it says "BMW Remote Services: Included with your vehicle" (no expiration date) -- I don't know how that would work without an active Connected Drive subscription.

The 4-year Connected Drive subscription expired for our 2019 U.S. i3 on 19 September 2023. Yet several of the 6 services including in the Connected Drive subscription continued to function until 19 March 2024. After that date, Recurrent, to whom I gave permission to collect battery pack, range, and other data, was no longer able to connect to our i3 to gather these data. That despite our Remote Services subscription still being valid because, as you wrote, it's included for as long as is technically feasible (i.e., as long as AT&T continues its 4G data service). Remote Services is described as allowing the My BMW app to monitor and control our i3. However, it's only allowing My BMW to control our i3, not monitor it. Making my case with Connected Drive support went nowhere.

 

[tob1as]

I guess I shouldn't expect more that I have at this point.

I own a 2017 i3 BEV and I learned that after my annual subscription lapsed I could not see state of charge (no notification by BMW about lapsing subscription, so it took some back and forth here and with BMW support to figure out the reason). Once I renewed the subscription, charging/charge info is back. ($120 per year currently, I believe).

 

[robthebold]

I own a 2017 i3 BEV and I learned that after my annual subscription lapsed I could not see state of charge (no notification by BMW about lapsing subscription, so it took some back and forth here and with BMW support to figure out the reason). Once I renewed the subscription, charging/charge info is back. ($120 per year currently, I believe).

Unexpected auto-renewals can be a pain, but BMW's non-notification of lapsing subscription is still kinda odd in the other direction. I know I need to update my sub when my kid notices the RTTI highlights disappear from the streets on the map . . .

 

[frictioncircle]

Hello Pam –

Congratulations on getting your 2017 i3 REx and welcome to the forum!

It looks like your query to Google above went to one of their generative AI tools which can't be trusted to give accurate answers – thank you eNate & EvanstonI3 for pointing that out.

There are a lot of knowledgeable people here that have been driving these cars for more than a decade.

If you just want a reliable way to find charging stations, try PlugShare. You can access it through a web browser or through an app on your mobile device. It has helpful features like near-real-time reporting on whether the charger is available or is being used by another driver.

As a bonus, there's no need to create an account with PlugShare to make use of most of their services.