[cezar22]

I've been going back and forth with BMW for weeks now trying to set up a ConnectedDrive subscription. It was cheap and I figured what the hell. It's been constant technical problems (on BMW's end) and I have yet to get it to work and I've gotten constant errors out of their app and website (like web server errors).

Anyway, last night my Android phone notified me that BMW requested my location in the background. Not my car's location, MY location. This may not bother you but it bothers me. I don't feel they are entitled to that information under any circumstance. I'm at a family cabin out in the woods and it's a huge invasion of privacy to me that a car manufacturer is checking in on my location. The BMW is a hundred miles away in another city.

So I'm canceling the non-working subscription and since BMW has proven that I cannot trust them, I'm disabling the telematics module in the car.

Is there a fuse I can pull, do I need to code it out with E-SYS, or what?

[chowser51]

You sure it wasn’t just the app requesting your location?

[cezar22]

Originally Posted by chowser51

You sure it wasn’t just the app requesting your location?

I'm sure that IS what happened. What is your point?

The app is gone from my phone. I'm here to ask about disabling the module in my car.

[dmaxdmax]

The telematics control unit is 'probably' under your shark fin, above your headliner. You 'could' remove the battery or unplug the device, but it is there to call bmw if you're in a major accident. I don't have a subscription, but my telematics control unit works. If you disconnect it, I suspect you'll then have a warning visible in the cluster--really annoying, but maybe you can code that off.

So, perhaps if you cancel your connected drive subscription, that'd be all you need to do?

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by cezar22

I'm sure that IS what happened. What is your point?

The app is gone from my phone. I'm here to ask about disabling the module in my car.

You don't have to be combative...jeez

Just unsubscribed/ cancel your connected drive.

[chowser51]

Jeez. Just asking. It’s like any other app on your phone.
Paranoid much?

It’s in the trunk and looks like this. Just rip it out. Lol


Might as well throw your phone away too. Apple and Google know more about you than BMW.

Check the audio subforum. It’s probably discussed there.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=426

[Billfitz]

If BMW wants to know where your car is they will. How do you think the Stolen Vehicle Recovery Service works? If they want to know where you are it just takes a little longer, but why would they? Unless you're in WITSEC I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

And don't forget than just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean no one's out to get you.

[Poochie]

If you have a model year 2016 and above, it uses a different telematics unit, located in the trunk, under the lining.

Also, keep it mind, you can't just disconnect the main line connected to the vehicle. You have to remove the back-up battery or the entire unit, with the battery, to keep it off the grid.

[cezar22]

Originally Posted by Poochie

If you have a model year 2016 and above, it uses a different telematics unit, located in the trunk, under the lining.

Also, keep it mind, you can't just disconnect the main line connected to vehicle. You have to remove the back-up battery or remove the entire unit, with the battery, to keep it off the grid.

Exactly the info I was looking for, thanks a ton!

[njdangelo]

I wonder what code is going to get thrown. I bet it puts you in limp mode as there must be a tremendous amount of other devices in your car that depend on the telematics.

Seems like a gigantic over reaction to an app requesting your location IMO. Why would you have signed up for the service in the first place if you were this concerned about the secrecy of your location?

Did you steal a car and now you're trying to hide it? Lol

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by njdangelo

I wonder what code is going to get thrown. I bet it puts you in limp mode as there must be a tremendous amount of other devices in your car that depend on the telematics.

Seems like a gigantic over reaction to an app requesting your location IMO. Why would you have signed up for the service in the first place if you were this concerned about the secrecy of your location?

Did you steal a car and now you're trying to hide it? Lol

He works for a black ops agency.

[Elvisfan]

Originally Posted by cezar22

I've been going back and forth with BMW for weeks now trying to set up a ConnectedDrive subscription. It was cheap and I figured what the hell. It's been constant technical problems (on BMW's end) and I have yet to get it to work and I've gotten constant errors out of their app and website (like web server errors).

Anyway, last night my Android phone notified me that BMW requested my location in the background. Not my car's location, MY location. This may not bother you but it bothers me. I don't feel they are entitled to that information under any circumstance. I'm at a family cabin out in the woods and it's a huge invasion of privacy to me that a car manufacturer is checking in on my location. The BMW is a hundred miles away in another city.

So I'm canceling the non-working subscription and since BMW has proven that I cannot trust them, I'm disabling the telematics module in the car.

Is there a fuse I can pull, do I need to code it out with E-SYS, or what?

One of the options the app has is to guide you to your car. Obviously it needs your location for this. There are dozens of apps that request your location. Including your phone itself.

[Fudz]

Removes telematics, still uses Facebook

[Poochie]

Originally Posted by njdangelo

I wonder what code is going to get thrown. I bet it puts you in limp mode as there must be a tremendous amount of other devices in your car that depend on the telematics.

The vehicle doesn't go into any 'limp mode,' if you disconnect the telematics unit.

You just get this persistent "Emergency Call Malfunction" message, on the cluster.

I had mines off, for like for a week, while I myself was dumping bodies in woods but when they dropped the investigation, I reconnected it, the error disappeared and everything worked fine.

Edit: I forgot to mention, none of the in-vehicle "BMW APPs" interface works with the unit disconnected, such as "Spotify" but you can still stream music, it's just you might not get any album art or be able to control it, via the iDrive APPS search menu.

[pshovest]

Originally Posted by Elvisfan

One of the options the app has is to guide you to your car. Obviously it needs your location for this. There are dozens of apps that request your location. Including your phone itself.

BMWNA will also unlock your car if you lose the key or it fails. I'd like to think they won't do this if I'm more than a few feet from the car.

[Wires]

Originally Posted by cezar22

I'm sure that IS what happened. What is your point?

The app is gone from my phone. I'm here to ask about disabling the module in my car.

The point is in the latest Android version, you GET THAT PROMPT FOR EVERY APP that needs your location. It's part of Android letting you know there are apps that run in the background are requesting your location.

Maybe you should just put on your tin foil hat.

[hollovoid7]

Mine (2016 f36) is near the shark fin, and needs pillars and headliner dropped to get to it. It will bug you with a persistent message if you remove the battery (and you can't reset your oil life, reset trip mileage, or cycle through some basic things). I found this out when the battery died in mine.

[cezar22]

Originally Posted by Elvisfan

One of the options the app has is to guide you to your car. Obviously it needs your location for this. There are dozens of apps that request your location. Including your phone itself.

That's totally fine.

What isn't fine is BMW pinging my location without me having the app open and interacting with it. There is no justification for this behavior.

This just sounds like a lot of you being a fkn retard. Who cares if your car manufacturer wants to know where you are...even if you're out in the woods. If you're out there burying bodies, buy am older car without electronics and leave your phone home. Then smarten the fk up and stop being paranoid.

What a toxic personality. Show some decorum.

Removes telematics, still uses Facebook

What does this have to do with BMW telematics hardware? I've never had a Facebook account, regardless.

You just get this persistent "Emergency Call Malfunction" message, on the cluster.

Okay that's problematic. What do I need to do to code this crap out?

[rak299]

Any time you have your phone turned on, "They" know where you are and can triangulate to watch your movements. I have given up on the privacy issue; Big Brother is watching me, even if I put on my aluminum foil helmet.

[Gen13 F36]

Nervous breakdown... I suggest seeing a shrink.

[dmaxdmax]

Originally Posted by cezar22

Exactly the info I was looking for, thanks a ton!

My 2016 340i xDrive has it in the roof, as I said, beneath the shark fin.

I got to it in about an hour to replace the battery..have a post here about it somewhere.

[hollovoid7]

It asks you for your location for the parking location save feature and for sending navigation. The car pretty much is connected all the time, I don't know if you can code that out or not, but likely not without some consequences.

Nobody needs to be a dink about it, he's worried about his privacy, which admittedly, none of us really have if we own anything newer than 10 years ago, and cell phone, yeah, you don't have privacy at all.

I would not recommend yanking modules over it. I'd sell it and get an older bimmer before I'd ever start diving into trying to bypass the incredibly complicated and interconnected systems of these cars. And this isn't bmw specific, if it's a concern, all newer cars will be off the table for that matter.

My 2c