[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by etinifni

Except this is on a current model vehicle still, oh and how can you compare a $200 cell phone to $50k car?

Originally Posted by msmiles

There's a ton of testing that has to go in embedded systems like this, that's why they move so slowly as compared to consumer tech. It's also why you're starting to see modularization of these components - facilitates faster changes without having to wait for a minor/major vehicle refresh.

Having said that, all OEMs with first-gen connected systems have this problem. Nissan Leaf, MB, early Lexus and other high end models with these things are all having to turn off customers or force them to upgrade.

Because of this. All of this communications tech in cars is still quite a new thing and it's not the thing auto manufacturers specialize in, so keeping up with the speed of tech change is challenging. Automobiles have a multitude of systems just to make them roadworthy and are just slightly more technically complicated than having a singular focus on developing phone technology.

Originally Posted by etinifni

That is the date BMW Assist gave me when I spoke to them a couple days ago.

Yeah, but customer service rep information isn't always the most trustworthy. The official information put out by BMW earlier in the year was that service would be supported through the end of this year. I trust ynguldyn more than I trust a customer service rep, even a BMW Assist customer service rep.

[bad karma]

Originally Posted by etinifni

I'm calling BS on this. 4G was out in 2012.

Yeah, and this is affecting model years 2008-2013. You can't build a fucking wireless radio into your car for a wireless standard that doesn't yet exist, which for 3-4 of the impacted model years was the case.

Also, it's not like BMW went down to Carphone Warehouse and grabbed the latest 4G Samsung to slap into a little black box in the trunk. The computer systems in vehicles have to go through substantial testing, validation, and hardening before they can be used in production. This often means manufacturers start with the most bleeding edge tech at the time, and by the time it makes it to consumers its already a few years out of date. See: any nav system or infotainment system ever.

[RoundelM3]

This is why I'm glad I bought both my BMWs for their automotive characteristics and not for their "tech" content. Don't need or want it - I have a cell phone if I encounter a problem, and after owning BMWs since 2001, I've never had an occasion to need "BMW Assist".

[otay]

Originally Posted by roundel335

This is why I'm glad I bought both my BMWs for their automotive characteristics and not for their "tech" content. Don't need or want it - I have a cell phone if I encounter a problem, and after owning BMWs since 2001, I've never had an occasion to need "BMW Assist".

Somewhat of a thread hijack, but...what do y'all use the BMW connectivity for? Was just pondering this, and realized the only thing I use it for is to pre-condition the car from my office when it's been sitting in the sun all day.

That's it. I've never tried BMW Assist either...

[MikeATL]

Originally Posted by etinifni

Except this is on a current model vehicle still, oh and how can you compare a $200 cell phone to $50k car?

Because it's just a component of the car. Would you also complain if you bought a $700,000 house and after you moved in that dish network upgraded their satellite and the one mounted on your house stopped working?

Sucks, but hopefully they have a retro that's relatively cheap if it's something you care about. For me it's a "nice to have" in the event my cell phone is dead, and I curse it every time I accidentally flip the cover open and almost hit it trying to open the sunroof. To each their own I guess.

[tturedraider]

Just a little fyi regarding BMW's crash notification. The system is VERY sophisticated in the crash information it analyzes and predictions it makes regarding the likelihood and degree of injuries. It's sophisticated enough that it could save your life. The system determines the kinds of medical treatment that is likely to be needed and dispatches the appropriate medical response before any human even arrives on the scene.

[Versipellis]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Just a little fyi regarding BMW's crash notification. The system is VERY sophisticated in the crash information it analyzes and predictions it makes regarding the likelihood and degree of injuries. It's sophisticated enough that it could save your life. The system determines the kinds of medical treatment that is likely to be needed and dispatches the appropriate medical response before any human even arrives on the scene.

Pretty sure that here in the US it just alerts 911/EMS, who have their own procedure for responding to an automotive crash...

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by Versipellis

Pretty sure that here in the US it just alerts 911/EMS, who have their own procedure for responding to an automotive crash...

Actually it notifies the BMW Assist dispatch center and tells them what emergency response its algorithm has determined is appropriate. Then they attempt to speak with the vehicle occupants via the SOS system. I don't know the exact details, but my impression is if the vehicle occupants can't communicate they're going to contact the emergency response services the system has determined are appropriate.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/8...where-it-hurts

http://www.goodsamclub.com/RVCentral...icleid=1969993

btw- BMW has made this technology available at no cost to any other manufacturer that wants to use it in their vehicles.

[Versipellis]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Actually it notifies the BMW Assist dispatch center and tells them what emergency response its algorithm has determined is appropriate. Then they attempt to speak with the vehicle occupants via the SOS system. I don't know the exact details, but my impression is if the vehicle occupants can't communicate they're going to contact the emergency response services the system has determined are appropriate.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/8...where-it-hurts

http://www.goodsamclub.com/RVCentral...icleid=1969993

btw- BMW has made this technology available at no cost to any other manufacturer that wants to use it in their vehicles.

I didn't say that it doesn't communicate anything useful - I'm just saying that I've had this discussion my friends who are first responders who've told me that the 911 dispatchers don't get any kind of special information from BMW's assist center, or at least, it doesn't get relayed down to them.

[Kabrich]

My MY 2013 BMW threw a diagnostic code for "chassis malfunction" last Thursday. 7/7. I told it to prepare a teleservice report and send it to BMW. As this was post 7/1 was not sure if it would work or not. It did.

As the car drive like crap I immediately took it in. Late Thursday so Dealer could not get to it until Friday. Spent most of Friday Morning trying to figure out what was wrong. Finally determined an Engine Fan, but it had to be ordered from Regional Warehouse in Jacksonville.

Installed Monday Morning.

Monday afternoon the Dealer called and said they got info from BMW that I had a warning and needed to bring car in for service,,,,,,

This not the first time this has happened. I would have been dead after 4 days waiting for BMW to call 911

[MikeATL]

I didn't realize it relayed important details like that in case of an accident to first responders. Even if details are lost in communication, just having first responders notified as another said could be a life saver. I retract my previous statement about it being a nice to have and can see why folks are upset at losing the feature.

As to the post above, I would guess the protocol for warning lights would be handled a bit different than an emergency situation.

[claykin]

3G UMTS has been available since 2003 and worldwide since 2006 (with the US being late to the game). BMW didn't move to 3G until they released NBT in late 2012.

All this talk about 4G and it seems many of you have forgotten 3G UMTS - HSPA variants. These networks are here to stay and are not part of any sunset plans. The networks being sunset are 2G GPRS - EDGE and earlier.

The cellular industry began discussing 2G sunset back in 2010 (to reclaim bandwidth for 3G+). Several carriers announced plans to sunset 2G in 2012.

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by claykin

3G UMTS has been available since 2003 and worldwide since 2006 (with the US being late to the game). BMW didn't move to 3G until they released NBT in late 2012.

All this talk about 4G and it seems many of you have forgotten 3G UMTS - HSPA variants. These networks are here to stay and are not part of any sunset plans. The networks being sunset are 2G GPRS - EDGE and earlier.

The cellular industry began discussing 2G sunset back in 2010 (to reclaim bandwidth for 3G+). Several carriers announced plans to sunset 2G in 2012.

Are you stating for certain that MY 2013 NBT have 3G and will work past January 1, 2017?

I was thinking about this today and got madder and madder when I found out that AT&T publicly announced on 8/2/2012 that the 2G network was going away 1/1/2017.

Vendors such as BMW were most likely notified PRIOR to 8/2/2012.

With that in mind I truly believe there could be a Class Action Suit by anyone who purchased a new vehicle after that date where this was not fully disclosed.

If my MY2013 NBT has 3G and will continue to work, I won't lose any sleep.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

Are you stating for certain that MY 2013 NBT have 3G and will work past January 1, 2017?

I was thinking about this today and got madder and madder when I found out that AT&T publicly announced on 8/2/2012 that the 2G network was going away 1/1/2017.

Vendors such as BMW were most likely notified PRIOR to 8/2/2012.

With that in mind I truly believe there could be a Class Action Suit by anyone who purchased a new vehicle after that date where this was not fully disclosed.

If my MY2013 NBT has 3G and will continue to work, I won't lose any sleep.

See NBT update doc issued by BMW.

http://www.f30post.com/forums/attach...6&d=1346949840

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

Are you stating for certain that MY 2013 NBT have 3G and will work past January 1, 2017?

I was thinking about this today and got madder and madder when I found out that AT&T publicly announced on 8/2/2012 that the 2G network was going away 1/1/2017.

Vendors such as BMW were most likely notified PRIOR to 8/2/2012.

With that in mind I truly believe there could be a Class Action Suit by anyone who purchased a new vehicle after that date where this was not fully disclosed.

If my MY2013 NBT has 3G and will continue to work, I won't lose any sleep.

A Class Action against whom?? The entire automobile industry? As has been stated numerous times this isn't a BMW issue. It's an issue affecting the entire industry.

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

A Class Action against whom?? The entire automobile industry? As has been stated numerous times this isn't a BMW issue. It's an issue affecting the entire industry.

against BMW. They sold the cars without disclosing the known fact that the service would not work past 1/1/2017.

Verizon's will work another 4 years as will T-Mobil, so even if the customer knew the service was 2G, they would not know which carrier it was on.

It is a BMW issue as I received a rand new car with this tech that was not disclosed was ending 1/1/2017 even though it was known by BMW. It is not an entire Industry problem as I did not get my car at a Ford or GM Dealer.

[msmiles]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

against BMW. They sold the cars without disclosing the known fact that the service would not work past 1/1/2017.

Verizon's will work another 4 years as will T-Mobil, so even if the customer knew the service was 2G, they would not know which carrier it was on.

It is a BMW issue as I received a rand new car with this tech that was not disclosed was ending 1/1/2017 even though it was known by BMW. It is not an entire Industry problem as I did not get my car at a Ford or GM Dealer.

You were supposed to be notified at delivery. It's probably in the Terms of Use you signed when you bought the car and signed up for telematics .

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by msmiles

You were supposed to be notified at delivery. It's probably in the Terms of Use you signed when you bought the car and signed up for telematics .

Nope.

Then again as I have a NBT and not CIC in my MY2013 F30 as noted above, it appears I might have 3G and thus service past 1/1/2017 if Claykin is correct above.

[S4NoMore]

Originally Posted by otay

Somewhat of a thread hijack, but...what do y'all use the BMW connectivity for? Was just pondering this, and realized the only thing I use it for is to pre-condition the car from my office when it's been sitting in the sun all day.

That's it. I've never tried BMW Assist either...

The things I'll miss are the ability to locate my car, and remotely lock and unlock via the BMW Remote app.

It's interesting, I called up BMW just out of curiosity to see what my options were given that the 4-year period expired last month, i.e. could I pay to renew and at what cost - the BMW assist person informed me that my car is simply too old and there is no option at all to extend coverage. Makes sense now.

I do wonder though, there has got to be some low-cost (compared to HU retrofit) hardware solution out there that could bring the older cars back online. Surely there's a market for this, tens of thousands of cars used to have these neat features.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by etinifni

I just think it was shortsighted of them to put out a new model car with old tech when they knew it was already on its way out the door.

The lead time for car components and associated testing is years. Things are getting better, but some burden still falls onto the customer to be aware what they're getting. For example, even for MY2016, you can choose "Enhanced Bluetooth and USB" option which adds 4G LTE support, otherwise you get 3G. Personally, I made a concerted effort to get the LTE connectivity.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

Nope.

Then again as I have a NBT and not CIC in my MY2013 F30 as noted above, it appears I might have 3G and thus service past 1/1/2017 if Claykin is correct above.

Right, MY2013 F30h ActiveHybrid3 had NBT and 3G connectivity, so you should be good.

Just try your BMW Connected app now? Your car might be "gone", but you should be able to re-add it to your account.

[Wires]

Originally Posted by etinifni

I just think it was shortsighted of them to put out a new model car with old tech when they knew it was already on its way out the door.

That wasn't the deal. A lot of auto makers (GM is another) use the CDMA 2G cellular units since they get greater range and coverage over the newer 4G GSM units.

If you piggyback onto a pre-existing cellular backplane, you have no control when that provider decides to turn off legacy service.

They probably got the same notice as every other cellular customer: You have 12 months to switch to a new phone as the service is being discontinued. I highly doubt that their crystal ball knew of an EOL on tech 4 years before it happened.