BMW’s new key

[eddieb3]

I’m going to beg to differ that the BMW Connected Drive app “works well”. I’ve had a 2014 and now 2017 i3 and the app is one of the worst things about the car. It is slow as molasses to send commands and it fails probably 30% of the time.

Check out the App Store reviews sometime on Connected Drive for a good laugh at how far behind BMW is in this area. The Chevy app is far more reliable and the Tesla app is lightyears better than both in reliability and responsiveness from the car. I’ve leased a 2017 and a 2015 Chevy at one point so I’m very familiar with all 3 brands.

My Connected Drive app has been failing to activate climate control for 2 months straight. After trying to figure it out through forums and troubleshooting I finally called BMW support and they said they had known server issues for months and they have no ETA on a resolution! They also will not inform any customers A) there’s a problem or B) when it’s fixed. They suggested I could call back some random time in the future and maybe they’d have more info. How’s that for luxury?

BMW is so stuck in the ICE world that app doesn’t even display a remaining time when the car is charging. After it takes it’s sweet time to refresh for 30-60 seconds, it shows a plug and that’s it. They are completely lost in the woods when it comes to software, at least for EVs.

Not that I’m bitter about it.

I agree. I had 5 BMWs before getting my current M3. The last being a 2014 435i. The BMW Connected Drive app is absolutely horrible. I’m the type that goes out of their way to use technology. I gave up on it.

 

[Scott7]

I've owned 3 i3s, and don't believe I've ever had the app ultimately fail to do precondition or whatever else. I've had it fail once or twice, for instance, and then work the next time, though.

Perhaps you are a more patient person than I. If remotely starting takes 3 minutes, ends in failure, and then takes 3 more minutes to actually succeed, I probably could have gone out to the car by then and manually activated it.

Many times I have to move the pocket with my phone in it closer to the car, or pull the handle multiple times, or similar before it works.

I think I've had this happen once since I've had my car in March. And it delayed my action by about 5 seconds total. TBH I've had the similar experiences with Comfort Access, but as long as it's single-digit seconds I don't find it to be a problem.

It's certainly not a concern from a range anxiety standpoint, but I'm interested because I'm trying to eek out 100% solar offset, so I've noticed that the Model 3 loses 4-6 miles per day of range to vampire drain, so that's ~1+ kWh per day wasted... or ~400 kWh/year.

Makes sense. I agree the vampire drain is less on the i3.

Since you asked, I tried it just now. In ~15 seconds, the car was cooling itself, so I had to go out to the garage and shut it off. I blame you! haha

Damn, consider yourself lucky that you aren't one of the many of us that it doesn't work AT ALL!!! What year is your i3?

That being said, I think in the process of bashing BMW's slow EV growth (understandably), the i3 gets thrown under the bus a lot, somewhat undeservedly.

It's the face of BMW EVs, so it gets lumped in with the whole program in general, but for its niche, it's a good car. If you compare it to a Model 3 LR, of course it's not as capable as a road trip car. It's also not a good pickup truck.

BMW has forced these bad comparisons because they've dragged their feet for so long on the i4, etc. Once the i4 and/or iNext are here, then maybe the i3 can stop being the defacto BMW comparison EV no matter the class.

Absolutely. Baring the extremely polarizing looks and the indefendisble decision on tires (considering many EVs including the Model 3 are more efficient desipite having normal size tires), the hardware is actually very good. Maybe not so much the REx--Mine keeps throwing a Check Engine light every time the maintenance cycle runs. Sigh... I've already taken it in once for this same issue. I think overall it's a great urban commuter car, thus why I am on my second. If I somehow ended up with a third I'd get the BEV version.

However I maintain that BMW's software is a relic from another era. They are IMO thoroughly outclassed by Tesla and in some ways behind even other traditional manufacturers. And it's not just OTA ability, it's everything.

 

[3laine]

Perhaps you are a more patient person than I. If remotely starting takes 3 minutes, ends in failure, and then takes 3 more minutes to actually succeed, I probably could have gone out to the car by then and manually activated it.

Understandable. Personally, I use preconditioning just occasionally, and normally when I'm at Disney or something like that and parked outside in the sun. At home, I don't use it because it's parked in the garage. So, just going out and turning it on isn't an option.

I think I've had this happen once since I've had my car in March. And it delayed my action by about 5 seconds total. TBH I've had the similar experiences with Comfort Access, but as long as it's single-digit seconds I don't find it to be a problem.

Yeah, I don't know what the deal is. It's a near-constant few second delay. I mean, it's a "first world problem" like any of these issues, but I wish I could get the consistency of my i3 key, but without the key like Tesla.

Damn, consider yourself lucky that you aren't one of the many of us that it doesn't work AT ALL!!! What year is your i3?

I've definitely seen people saying it didn't work, and I think I've had it not update when I was trying to check the range before. But I've never needed it and had it ultimately fail. Knock on wood!

It's a 2015.

Absolutely. Baring the extremely polarizing looks and the indefendisble decision on tires (considering many EVs including the Model 3 are more efficient desipite having normal size tires), the hardware is actually very good. Maybe not so much the REx--Mine keeps throwing a Check Engine light every time the maintenance cycle runs. Sigh... I've already taken it in once for this same issue. I think overall it's a great urban commuter car, thus why I am on my second.

Yeah, it's got some quirks, but it's a great car for second car / commuter duties, like you said. And also, because the vampire drain is near-zero, it's more efficient than my Model 3 in actual practice.

If I somehow ended up with a third I'd get the BEV version.

Same. I leased a 2015 REx, then 2017 REx... and then bought a CPO 2015 BEV.

However I maintain that BMW's software is a relic from another era. They are IMO thoroughly outclassed by Tesla and in some ways behind even other traditional manufacturers. And it's not just OTA ability, it's everything.

I don't disagree. The BMW app, iDrive, etc., all feel like they're multiple generations behind Tesla. My point was just that it's worked OK for me and that there are things I wish worked better/differently with the Tesla implementation even though overall it's better.

 

[spacemnspiff]

They have many things way better.

Yes they do, like being in bed with the oil industry and selling the same repackaged product as new, I tell you - it's a racket that they have been running for last 50 years and we have been taken for a ride.