Connected Drive Services & Apps

[55JWB]

Just intrigued, for those that have this feature, what do you use it for if anything and what apps do you use??

I have registered and can get facebook and twitter updates, not really that useful to me... bizarrely I cant get my work emails to arrive in the car, apparently BMW are aware of this, you can get googlemail or hotmail but not your own "@mydomain.co.uk" 

I think the auxiliary heating has been deactivated in the UK, you can only activate a ventilation setting not aircon though...

I am keen to hear how people use this in case I am missing something as at the moment it seems ok but not massively useful??

Jason

[X5Sport]

The aux heating is an add-on cost option.  The Webasto unit is not fitted as standard after the E53.

The email issue is as you say 'known' but wasn't resolved until the latest models and even then seems to be sniffy about what it will and work with.  It may be to do with the type of email service in use as in IMAP or POP.

Richard

[Rubberduck182]

Not sure whether it's a Connected Drive feature as such as still getting the hang of things after a month (and almost 4k miles!) with my X5, but I am finding the ability to send google map directions straight from my iPhone to the car very useful. Just back from a trip to Italy and sat in the kitchen before we left sending stopover hotel  / holiday house detailis etc to the car. Better still the contact number for the hotel or whatever is automatically shown on the screen.

On the email issue, my iPhone doesn't appear to display emails in the car but my work Blackberry does without my having set anything up. Mine is a 2013 E70 40D so I guess the features are limited compared to new models.

[X5Sport]

The ability to send to the car is great 

Blackberry email is the only supported one in the BMWs.  No idea why, but it's the only one that works on that series.

Richard

[sramsay]

You can get iphone emails / SMS on an E70. It is a bit fiddly!  I posted some instructions on here a while back on hoe to do it. Mine is a 2011 E70.

[kenniff]

Richard
What method do you use to send google map directions to the car? I have used the "send to car" option on google maps, but cant find this option when using Google maps on either an iphone or ipad.

Other useful apps: I use Napster, but you need a Napster mobile account on your phone. It has meant far less reliance on my downloaded music collection.
I also use Audible, as i like listening to books on long drives and having it integrated into the car system is just much easier than fiddling with one's phone (after having pulled over to the side of the road of course).

I did play about with getting textx to come up on the display, but failed to achieve it. I also played about with some feature that allowed you to dictate emails i think - Snapdragon? Got it working then found i never used it again during the 60 day trial period. Very limited success with getting my emails to appear in the car - not a google or hotmail account. Gave up as life's too short.

Although all these things are better in the f15 than in my E70, its still not particularly easy nor seamless. What we need is a solution where you just buy your cradle for your phone, slot it in and it all works..... is that too much to ask?

[X5Sport]

Google have had a 'tizzy' with BMW and removed it on the iPad.  There is an app called 'BMW Remote'.  As long as you have a current subscription with BMW Assist then you can send from that.

You'll need to set up a username and password via this page (if not already done):

https://www.bmw-assist-login.com/cdp/re ... cale=en_UK


Richard

[sramsay]

Here is the link to the howto guide I put together a while back: http://www.xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=5932

[Rubberduck182]

Yup, I do it from my iPhone using BMW Remote too.  Very straightforward and then appears in Messages in the car.  This App is limited on the E70 as far as I can tell - I can send directions, lock / unlock and locate the car as long as you're within a mile or so.  As other folks have commented elsewhere I don't think the previous owner registered / started the subscription as it was a year old when I bought the car in July and BMW said I have 3 years no charge.

I think I've pretty much got the hang of the Sat Nav / Office / Media etc now using iDrive, having switched from many years with an Allroad - now that I'm used to it I think I prefer it actually.  The sat nav is better at getting you out of trouble when the M25 is clogged up.  Very amused that the car will seemingly only display how many yards above sea level you are rather than feet  ) 

[X5Sport]

The new version of the App is a balls up by BMW!  Most of it no longer works - including the send to function!

The functions available depends upon the production year, regional spec and car build spec.  The later the model, the more it does.

Yeah I noticed the altitude bit.  It can't be hard to convert metres to feet surely!

Richard

[kenniff]

Thanks Richard, I had the app (but deleted it in year 4 of my E70 as the account only lasted 3 years free).

They reactivated my account when i bought the new car but I never got round to re-installing the app. Will give it a go as I used to use the google maps thing a lot til i stopped bothering to use a pc.

And thanks Sramsay too, I'll give the SMS thinng a go next time I'm sitting in the car twiddling my thumbs.

[kenniff]

So I downloaded the app and signed in. I searched for my home address but it cant find a match. Must check hose is still there.

It only seemed to find certain businesses - presumably tose that are registered on google somewhere? anyway, I found somewhere nearby and sent that to the car - will check whether it got there tonight.

Cant see it being much use though as half the time I'm navigating to people's houses not businesses. am i missing something with the app?

[X5Sport]

Nope.  As per my post, BMW completely messed it up with the latest version.  It can't find itself, never mind addresses!  A lot of folks screaming about it on the Apple App Store.

I sent a feedback response to BMW and got an automatic reply in German!  Global domination anyone?

Richard