New BMW M In-Car Apps and Specific Enhancements

[F32Fleet]

Oh man. The owners suffering from OCD will have a field day.

[wankelman24]

once again...... that interior looks like SH..............!!!!!!! I just can't wrap my head around what BMW is doing to their LUXURY BRAND!!! Yes, I like tech that works, but you (BMW) Are not a tech company!! You are a CAR company that is supposed to build performance focused cars with luxury styled interiors!! THIS IS NOT IT!!! PERIOD!! ok.... I'm done venting for today....

[t$]

Originally Posted by wankelman24

once again...... that interior looks like SH..............!!!!!!! I just can't wrap my head around what BMW is doing to their LUXURY BRAND!!! Yes, I like tech that works, but you (BMW) Are not a tech company!! You are a CAR company that is supposed to build performance focused cars with luxury styled interiors!! THIS IS NOT IT!!! PERIOD!! ok.... I'm done venting for today....

what they are doing is trying to be viewed as a tech/mobility company by wall street. everyone wants a taste of teslas market cap.

i also dont know if i completely agree with this sentiment that "we are the minority purists that dont move the needle for sales and the gen z masses just want tech". people who like driving/cars have the best sense of what makes a car good and shades of that do trickle down to the masses. i dont think our opinions are completely moot. look at the c63 for example -- the purists cried mutiny the moment the 4 banger was announced, and guess what it was a total sales flop.

[MoeTE87]

Looks like my connected services has expired. Anyone have a coupon code? lol

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by kudos

More stuff likes this goes into a car the more it costs to fix when it ends up breaking.

I mean, not really? These are just applications running on iDrive, on already existing hardware. There's nothing to break that wasn't already there.

[kudos]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

I mean, not really? These are just applications running on iDrive, on already existing hardware. There's nothing to break that wasn't already there.

You don't think they add more sensors in order to tell you all this extra crap?

[KevinC]

Good lord I'm grateful that I have to "suffer" with the "tiny" 8.8" screen and iDrive 6 in my M2 Comp. I despise all this gratuitous tech in iDrive 8+ with a passion.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by Rafichicago

They are literally turning vehicles into PlayStations on wheels. Pathetic while all the good stuff is left on the table. Seems like my F90 will not get replacement for longer then expected or the replacement will come from different manufacturer.

The automotive industry, specifically EV vehicles, has embarked on a race to the bottom.

The target design offers very little differentiation: electric motors, battery, and a tablet.

The only options (literally options) are apps and plastic add-ons.

The consumer base will vote with their currency and then there will be a return to what cars should be. Ford observers already witnessed a substantial EV write-down.

This will be repeated.

[Rafichicago]

Originally Posted by cfm56d7b

The automotive industry, specifically EV vehicles, has embarked on a race to the bottom.

The target design offers very little differentiation: electric motors, battery, and a tablet.

The only options (literally options) are apps and plastic add-ons.

The consumer base will vote with their currency and then there will be a return to what cars should be. Ford observers already witnessed a substantial EV write-down.

This will be repeated.

I really hope so. It is terrible. To me it looks like euro carmaker’s bet on Chinese market will not pay off. They have to compete against Chinese manufacturers that have better and better design and features on highly competitive market. I doubt Chinese will pay inflated prices for car tha has been built in a way that requires subscription service to be paid for features that are not only pre-installed but should be standard as well. They will have to drop their prices eventually. And this will not go well with their other large markets like USA and Europe.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by kudos

You don't think they add more sensors in order to tell you all this extra crap?

No.

[Hydrogen]

Yes, I like tech that works, but you (BMW) Are not a tech company!! You are a CAR company that is supposed to build performance focused cars with luxury styled interiors!!

Depends the model & trim (luxury vs *sport interiors), however I fully agree with you.

If I wanted car that focused on technology I would purchase a Tesla. But from what I’ve seen after considering ordering one for my wife, they can’t get the CAR part right and are fraught full of issues automotive companies figured out and solved decades ago.

To me, BMW is the opposite. A CAR company that is still figuring out technology, albeit they are among, if not the leader in this space behind Tesla.

It would be good for BMW to improve their tech without compromising the Ultimate Driving Machine, and for Tesla to figure out the driving part without compromising their tech.

[NickyC]

Awful.

[Scrapula]

Originally Posted by JABCAT

They can't even make the current software work so that my CarPlay connects and/or works every time I start the car. I have to reset iDrive at least 3-4x/week. Add to that the awful "auto" climate control that doesn't turn on my heated seat when the temps are in the 30s. I want less software nonsense, not more I'm never going to use.

Weird. Mine has been perfect in my 2 years of ownership. My car know the temperature that I have set and it heats or cools the seats accordingly and turns on the heated steering wheel. Car Play also works perfectly.

[hoyasaxa]

Originally Posted by Macabuca

I agree with you, but we are the minority. Think of this: the entry level BMW customer (say X1, X2 or 2 or 3 series) was born in the late 90s or early ‘00 and doesn’t realize there was a world before anything digital, Wi-Fi virtually everywhere and Amazon Prime 2Day or less delivery of basically whatever you want. Further, even the “car” guys and girls no longer desire manual transmissions or legendary N/A BMW straight six’s(maybe even V8s). They are all about the outcomes: fastest time from A to B or some other attribute that’s deemed desirable. BMW probably realized that it’s no longer about process of “getting there” in their car which built their reputation. Today it’s about getting there w/ utmost convenience, and thus we have these ridiculous apps.

No their average customer for those models is absolutely not 25 years old.

[Macabuca]

Originally Posted by hoyasaxa

No their average customer for those models is absolutely not 25 years old.

Alright, well maybe not 25 exactly and on average, likely good bit older. My perspective is somewhat skewed because in my neck of the woods “affluenza” is real and I see a whole lot of young looking people driving those cars. However, the overarching theme of my comment directionally correct.

[8MW]

Originally Posted by badwithmoney

Wow, let me get my checkbook.

You really are bad with your money bro, my condolences.

[Janjohn]

Originally Posted by KevinC

Good lord I'm grateful that I have to "suffer" with the "tiny" 8.8" screen and iDrive 6 in my M2 Comp. I despise all this gratuitous tech in iDrive 8+ with a passion.

Good thing you don’t have to deal with iDrive9. For us, it makes driving a true adventure.

Having never owned a true M car, I understand the angst. I think BMW wants its drivers to have a huge selection of options that are easy to offer, but unfortunately not instinctive or easy to learn.

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by Scrapula

Weird. Mine has been perfect in my 2 years of ownership. My car know the temperature that I have set and it heats or cools the seats accordingly and turns on the heated steering wheel. Car Play also works perfectly.

What iDrive version do you have? IDrive 7 in my wife's X3MC works almost flawlessly. IDrive 8 in my M2 is horrible.

[Scrapula]

Originally Posted by JABCAT

What iDrive version do you have? IDrive 7 in my wife's X3MC works almost flawlessly. IDrive 8 in my M2 is horrible.

I have 8.5 which works really well. I had iDrive 9 in a loaner this month and it wasn’t very good.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by Scrapula

I have 8.5 which works really well. I had iDrive 9 in a loaner this month and it wasn’t very good.

Same, though I haven't tried iDrive 9. The only thing that really matters to me about iDrive 7 over 8, and it's not really an iDrive thing per se, is that 7's setup still includes all the physical buttons that cars with 8/8.5/9 got rid of.

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by Scrapula

I have 8.5 which works really well. I had iDrive 9 in a loaner this month and it wasn’t very good.

Just this week, I've had to reset iDrive in my '23 M2 4x. Yesterday I had to do it twice on a 10 min drive. It'll connect to CarPlay & start playing music, but the steering wheel controls won't work. I hit volume and a message pops up "no source available" or hit the forward track button and a message pops up "unknown track/unknown artist" and won't forward.

Sometimes if I put my phone in airplane mode for a second, it'll reset the connection. Sometimes that doesn't work & I have to hold down the power button for 30 seconds and have the entire thing reset.

The physical buttons in my wife's X3MC are a huge plus, also the ability to set the desired temp for the heated seats/steering wheel to activate. Can't do that in my M2. If the climate control is set to auto & the heated seats actually activate (miracle), you can't adjust the level down, only up.

The last time the activated they were set at medium (level 2). I attempted to lower them to level 1 & they just turned off. It would allow me to increase to level 3 but would not allow level 1 unless I turned off the auto climate function.

Maybe they fixed that in iDrive 8.5, but 8 sucks.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by JABCAT

Just this week, I've had to reset iDrive in my '23 M2 4x. Yesterday I had to do it twice on a 10 min drive. It'll connect to CarPlay & start playing music, but the steering wheel controls won't work. I hit volume and a message pops up "no source available" or hit the forward track button and a message pops up "unknown track/unknown artist" and won't forward.

Sometimes if I put my phone in airplane mode for a second, it'll reset the connection. Sometimes that doesn't work & I have to hold down the power button for 30 seconds and have the entire thing reset.

This is a fairly long-standing bug in iDrive 8/8.5 that doesn't look like it's ever going to be fixed. Drives me nuts.

One fix is to turn off WiFI on the phone and then let it reconnect CarPlay. The fix I use, since it shows up immediately upon startup is to turn off the car, open the car door, then close it and turn the car back on. This is a 100% fix for me and IMO is quicker than futzing with the phone. I've trained myself to look for it whenever I start the car.

Complete and total PITA but it's better at staring at "Unknown Artist", which unreasonably infuriates me. I'd like to think they'll eventually get this fixed, but it's been so long now that I've lost hope of that ever happening.