[PurpleTT]

I have searched this forum but to no avail...

I'm aware that with Pro Nav (provided you have enhanced BT) you get "office".

So when my new car arrives in the New Year will I get, for example, e-mails that are received on my I-phone 5 popping up on the screen? Texts? Calendar reminders etc

Can anyone point me in the direction of a thread or web-page dedicated to explaining just what functionality you do get with "office" ?

Thanks

[d4springer]

Here's some discussion on an apple forum;

https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0

I have iPhone 5 and I can see text messages but no email (I haven't tried the workaround they described above yet), basically text messages display under the Messages option and under Office, if you plug the phone into the car you can view the calendar.

I'm going to try the workaround out at some point as I could really do with email showing (you can get to you email via ConnectedDrive though) but could do with it all showing up under office.

There is a compatibility checker on the BMW website, it's not working at the moment though! It did show that Blackberrys have more Office functionality than iPhones

[PurpleTT]

Thank you for that. Seems they are hoping ios7 will help. I have that (but no car to try it with yet!)

I'm really not sure what to expect. I would like to think that as time passes either BMW or Apple will devote some programming time to address what seems to currently be an opportunity missed.

I'm only ordering with EBT because I believed I'll be happily driving along and then when an e-mail comes in on the phone, it is displayed for maybe 5-10 seconds as a splash screen on top of the nav screen saying who it's from and the subject.

Sounds like for SMS you can go into office messages and read them, but you have to actively go and look for them.

I don't want/like voice control for various things and won't need to pair two BT phones and in my 123d I don't use the car's aerial as the sound and reception works fine on BT.

Not sure £350 on EBT is actually buying me anything

[dopper99]

You can code 90% of what you get with EBT anyway, from what I understand. The only thing included in EBT is the cradle socket under the armrest for the phone, but I think you still need to shell out on the phone specific holder. You will get better reception with the phone in the cradle too.

[MarkG_M5Comp]

Originally Posted by PurpleTT

Thank you for that. Seems they are hoping ios7 will help. I have that (but no car to try it with yet!)

I'm really not sure what to expect. I would like to think that as time passes either BMW or Apple will devote some programming time to address what seems to currently be an opportunity missed.

I thought they had - iPhone integration and all that. This sounds disappointing.

Originally Posted by PurpleTT

Sounds like for SMS you can go into office messages and read them, but you have to actively go and look for them.

Set up one of the shortcut buttons for SMS inbox? I'll try this next week. That way, when you feel/hear the phone vibrate with a new message you can just hit the shortcut. Not perfect I know.

I've had the cradle for the past 3 years and ordered for my F30, my biggest concern is that leaving the phone plugged in seems to have impacted on my battery condition - I don't get the life out of the iPhone anymore and struggle with a full day. That said, I also leave it on a dock overnight so maybe I'm just a fool.

[d4springer]

Originally Posted by PurpleTT

Thank you for that. Seems they are hoping ios7 will help. I have that (but no car to try it with yet!)

I'm really not sure what to expect. I would like to think that as time passes either BMW or Apple will devote some programming time to address what seems to currently be an opportunity missed.

I'm only ordering with EBT because I believed I'll be happily driving along and then when an e-mail comes in on the phone, it is displayed for maybe 5-10 seconds as a splash screen on top of the nav screen saying who it's from and the subject.

Sounds like for SMS you can go into office messages and read them, but you have to actively go and look for them.

I don't want/like voice control for various things and won't need to pair two BT phones and in my 123d I don't use the car's aerial as the sound and reception works fine on BT.

Not sure £350 on EBT is actually buying me anything

Finally I have achieved email via iPhone/Bluetooth in iDrive! I'm writing down notes on how I did it so will start a new thread shortly explaining as much as possible.

You don't get a preview over Nav (I'm assuming you meant like on the iPhone with banner alerts) but you do get a new mail icon in the top right of the iDrive display (this shows up for new text or emails). The email (or text messages) appear under the Messages option wich is available through the menu under Office and Telephone, but as MarkG335 pointed out just create a shortcut button so it's simply one click away.

However I even got email working whilst connecting the phone to the car via ConnectedDrive, so if you go to Office you can see your Messages and Calendar.

[bwrlane]

To be honest, I am in despair of BMW apps, office, connected drive and all that.

Besides a bluetooth connection for music and loading my contacts, I can get nothing to connect and nothing to work. I have tried so many times and have pretty much given up.

I have pronav, EBT, apps, a snap-in cradle, an iPhone 4S and iOS 7.

It all seems a complete waste of time to me. The instructions are incredibly bad and to this day I find myself utterly at a loss to understand what it is all supposed to do.

[PurpleTT]

Ah now this sounds promising. Looking forward to seeing those notes.

I can't believe this topic hasn't been discussed more. I'd be interested to see a screenshot of what the office looks like. Actually I ought to widen my search as this isn't a 3 series-only question. Maybe shuffle across into other forums.

And yes the banner notification was exactly what I was hoping for, but if there's a little icon top right and I programme a shortcut that should be pretty efficient day to day.

bwrlane - you sound like I don't want to sound if you see what I mean. I don't want to order EBT and never actually use it. Not a fan of wasting money.

[bwrlane]

Originally Posted by PurpleTT

bwrlane - you sound like I don't want to sound if you see what I mean. I don't want to order EBT and never actually use it. Not a fan of wasting money.

Yes I see exactly what you mean! Actually, I'd still get EBT because it's useful for connecting and browsing music on several phones. My kids all want to have their music playing over the HK.

As for the other stuff, eg BMW apps and Connected Drive I still struggle to see what it is for. I have downloaded the Connected Drive app but it refuses to connect or do anything at all, both with and without the snap in adaptor.

And as for office, none of SMS, email or calendar work. The only thing that does is contacts. This might be an iphone problem. The BMW website indicates that these functions do not work with the iphone.

[PurpleTT]

I've specced "Online Entertainment" too on the basis I'll just search that if I don't feel in the mood for my usual choice of early 70s glam & late 70s punk! My kids rarely go in the car so I'm not fussed about them getting their phones streaming.

Just tried searching other BMW forums and not found anything yet but will keep looking. Although d4springer seems to have had some joy in getting some good functionality.

I'm just assuming my salesman doesn't know, although it would make sense for me to ask him! I'll do that next week when I sit down with him to adjust my order.

[venkata]

Email and SMS should appear.

I have EBT, Pro Nav, iPhone 5 and IOS 7 (works with former IOS 6 too)

The settings were all on the phone, not much on the car itself to be honest....

Highlight points are:-

In Bluetooth Settings on the iPhone (Settings - Bluetooth - BMWxxxxx) Ensure Show Notifications is enabled

Email - In the Notification Centre on iPhone (Settings - Notification Centre - Mail - Show in Notification Centre is enabled

SMS - - In the Notification Centre on iPhone (Settings - Notification Centre - Messages - Show in Notification Centre is enabled

Note, I get so much Junk, i do not have notifications enabled for all e-mail. I have only enabled it for "VIP" in the e-mail group. So only important emails i deem important are shown...

The above was were the key to showing messages for me. Hope that helps...

[MarkG_M5Comp]

So, will it be asking to much to connect my personal iPhone to read SMS whilst streaming Spotify and my company iPad to read email and review calendar?

If I can do all this I'll never need to leave the car again! Maybe I should change the mileage on my PCP.

[d4springer]

Originally Posted by PurpleTT

Ah now this sounds promising. Looking forward to seeing those notes.

I can't believe this topic hasn't been discussed more. I'd be interested to see a screenshot of what the office looks like. Actually I ought to widen my search as this isn't a 3 series-only question. Maybe shuffle across into other forums.

And yes the banner notification was exactly what I was hoping for, but if there's a little icon top right and I programme a shortcut that should be pretty efficient day to day.

bwrlane - you sound like I don't want to sound if you see what I mean. I don't want to order EBT and never actually use it. Not a fan of wasting money.

It's on! http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=895090

[PurpleTT]

Just read your essay! Good work my friend, can't wait to try it out.

Seems venkata is happy with the functionality too - no mention of closing e-mail on the phone first then reopening as you had to do.

To be honest this would be a lot blimmin easier to understand if I had my car, but the object of the thread was to establish if I needed EBT or if I should spend the money on something else. (half an Individual paint job maybe)

I think I'll keep EBT as part of my order.

[venkata]

Originally Posted by MarkG335

So, will it be asking to much to connect my personal iPhone to read SMS whilst streaming Spotify and my company iPad to read email and review calendar?

If I can do all this I'll never need to leave the car again! Maybe I should change the mileage on my PCP.

Guess you no longer need to leave the car!

[venkata]

Originally Posted by PurpleTT

Just read your essay! Good work my friend, can't wait to try it out.

Seems venkata is happy with the functionality too - no mention of closing e-mail on the phone first then reopening as you had to do.

To be honest this would be a lot blimmin easier to understand if I had my car, but the object of the thread was to establish if I needed EBT or if I should spend the money on something else. (half an Individual paint job maybe)

I think I'll keep EBT as part of my order.

Just seen the other post by d4springer. Have to say, i normally have the mail app running 9 times out 10, but have never needed to close the app before switching on the car... Maybe it's a quirk in the newer builds????

You can't reply to texts, never got that to work, but you can with e-mail. However you need to pay for a subscription to Nuance Dictation through BMW Online for this "Feature". So you can reply using Voice Recognition. I don't need this costed "Feature". Personally after spending so much with all the addons it should be included!

[PurpleTT]

We have to subscribe to "Nuance Dictation" to be able to reply to e-mails do we. Didn't know about that until you mentioned it.

Just googled it http://www.nuance.co.uk/for-individu.../bmw/index.htm

Not sure I'm that desperate to reply immediately, although if my employer will pay for it I might give it a go - but I can't see it being cost effective and I'd be amazed if it works well.