[mffarrell]

Do we know if our cars will support 4G? Otherwise, we may be sol for connected drive support beginning in 2022.

[LogicalApex]

MY2020 cars are LTE.

[mffarrell]

Originally Posted by LogicalApex

MY2020 cars are LTE.

OK, thanks! Do you know if our cars will support 5G with the current hardware?

[claykin]

Originally Posted by mffarrell

Do we know if our cars will support 4G? Otherwise, we may be sol for connected drive support beginning in 2022.

All G30 equipped with iDrive6 or 7 support LTE. ID7 has a faster flavor of LTE.

[AP]

This is what will age our cars prematurely unfortunately.
I don't think it fair that owners of older cars which have a certain function on them ( lets say rtti) stops working after x years.

I think the f10 uses 3G so presumably RTTI will stop working for them? These cars not old the oldest with this will be 10 years old now and those cars should have another 10 years in them easily

[claykin]

Originally Posted by AP

This is what will age our cars prematurely unfortunately.
I don't think it fair that owners of older cars which have a certain function on them ( lets say rtti) stops working after x years.

I think the f10 uses 3G so presumably RTTI will stop working for them? These cars not old the oldest with this will be 10 years old now and those cars should have another 10 years in them easily

Yes, later F10 models use 3G.

Worse is the first 2 years of F10 production had CIC and 2G cellular. Those got the axe end 2016 if I recall correctly. I also recall BMW offered for some cars a 3G combox/telematics upgrade. So anyone with an early F10 went through it once already and now is hearing the same data shutdown story again.

But, how many drivers of 10+ year old F10's really care?

[H_T]

Originally Posted by claykin

Yes, later F10 models use 3G.

Worse is the first 2 years of F10 production had CIC and 2G cellular. Those got the axe end 2016 if I recall correctly. I also recall BMW offered for some cars a 3G combox/telematics upgrade. So anyone with an early F10 went through it once already and now is hearing the same data shutdown story again.

But, how many drivers of 10+ year old F10's really care?

I wonder if the module with the sim can be replaced.

[AP]

I'm sure bmw could if they wanted offer an upgrade, no doubt not cheap .
I fear this is built in obscelence which will prompt the owner to go and hopefully buy another bmw

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by mffarrell

OK, thanks! Do you know if our cars will support 5G with the current hardware?

They won't. BMW announced that 5G will start shipping in MY2022 cars starting with the iX and iDrive 8.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/b...luxury-suv-ev/

The good news is LTE shouldn't be getting retired sooner than a decade or potentially even longer.

[AP]

Yeh I think I'm general 4g will be around for a long time yet, I don't think 3G ( at least in the U.K.) was much of a success that the operators thought it would be

Even 2g is still around and I would expect that to outlast 3G in my opinion ( can't beat a low frequency signal for coverage)

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by claykin

Yes, later F10 models use 3G.

But, how many drivers of 10+ year old F10's really care?

I remember the time my keys were in my F10 and I got out to get something out of the trunk and when I closed the driver door, the car locked down completely with the keys in it. Something it is not supposed to do. I was at work at an underground garage in my building at work. A call to BMW Assistance they remotely unlocked my car. I definitely did not think they would be able to communicate with the car underground.

Yeah, pretty rare people need remote functionality, but we signed up for it when we bought it. I assume this won't work when they kill 3G nor any app functionality like send to car. I also assume that folks with OTA update functionality would also be in the same boat when they kill LTE? No?

On my Infiniti, they wanted $150 to upgrade the module and were advertising as a discount for the inconvenience. Infiniti Connect blows so I did not even consider it. BMW should offer something IMO.

[SteveinArizona]

Given that this has been happening for some time there is absolutely no excuse for BMW not packaging the hardware in such a way that it could be swapped out when the provider moves on to a newer methodology.

BMW does not owe its customers that its technology will last forever. But it should last at least ten years before timing out.

I plan to keep my 2018 530e for at least eight years. I am a retired litigator and if BMW shuts me down before that, it will be my pleasure to use that experience again.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

I remember the time my keys were in my F10 and I got out to get something out of the trunk and when I closed the driver door, the car locked down completely with the keys in it. Something it is not supposed to do. I was at work at an underground garage in my building at work. A call to BMW Assistance they remotely unlocked my car. I definitely did not think they would be able to communicate with the car underground.

Yeah, pretty rare people need remote functionality, but we signed up for it when we bought it. I assume this won't work when they kill 3G nor any app functionality like send to car. I also assume that folks with OTA update functionality would also be in the same boat when they kill LTE? No?

On my Infiniti, they wanted $150 to upgrade the module and were advertising as a discount for the inconvenience. Infiniti Connect blows so I did not even consider it. BMW should offer something IMO.

Carriers will eventually kill off original circa 2007 LTE standards that rely solely on circuit switching for calls. Carriers want all calls to be packet switched (much like Voip) since circuit switching is soooo bandwidth inefficient.

The standard that took LTE to the next level where it has many similarities to "5G" is called LTE-A (Advanced). I quoted "5G" because for the most part the 5G we use today is LTE-A with radios that support several new frequencies and add additional bandwidth over LTE-A.

IDrive 7 cars have LTE-A compatible radios in the telematics unit. At least the models with remote software upgrade do... I'm not sure what LTE generation iDrive 6 has since LTE-A became a reality beginning 2013 or so. NBT_evo, the hardware powering IDrive 6, was first released in Spring 2013 in the 6 series. So, I'm going to guess NBTevo telematics units started off using original LTE. The question is did BMW bother to upgrade it over the years....

Don't worry, even if you're on iDrive6. It's going to be several years before anything in the LTE space gets sunset. Typically the FCC needs good reason to hear carrier requests to sunset existing technology. Given the FCC has recently unlocked a lot more bandwidth (frequency bands) for 5G, it's unlikely LTE (original release 8 and 9) will be on the chopping block before late this decade. Hope this helps.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

Given that this has been happening for some time there is absolutely no excuse for BMW not packaging the hardware in such a way that it could be swapped out when the provider moves on to a newer methodology.

BMW does not owe its customers that its technology will last forever. But it should last at least ten years before timing out.

I plan to keep my 2018 530e for at least eight years. I am a retired litigator and if BMW shuts me down before that, it will be my pleasure to use that experience again.

You ll be fine till 2026. That said, it's not BMW who shuts you down. It's the FCC who issues the approvals for carriers to sunset wireless technologies. Your beef would be with the FCC. I suppose you know that and are only venting on this issue. I do agree with you that BMW should do a better job of offering telematics upgrades for cars with sunset technologies. I bet they have their "reasons".

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by claykin

You ll be fine till 2026. That said, it's not BMW who shuts you down. It's the FCC who issues the approvals for carriers to sunset wireless technologies. Your beef would be with the FCC. I suppose you know that and are only venting on this issue. I do agree with you that BMW should do a better job of offering telematics upgrades for cars with sunset technologies. I bet they have their "reasons".

I am sure they do...make us buy new cars.

The first time it happened, I can understand it. Not after that.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

I am sure they do...make us buy new cars.

The first time it happened, I can understand it. Not after that.

Are you aware BMW is offering a "free technology upgrade" (I took that language from their 3G sunset FAQ) for some BMW models. Not sure which models, but my guess would be models that have the combox integrated with iDrive. For the F30 3 series (for example) this would be 2014+. For the F10 5 series I believe this is 2013+. I have no official data on this, just guessing based on limited knowledge.