[Enigma735]

Anyone else have this problem? I can get OTA software updates just fine in my above ground, open sided parking garage, but every attempt to Remote Start / lock / unlock / update vehicle status in the App fails. Is it using a different cellular band or satellite to relay from BMW? I feel like I wasted money on the add-on.

Hell even in wide open parking lots with full cell service on my phone where the vehicle should have full service it fails more often than succeeds.

[k4sh_90]

Originally Posted by Enigma735

Anyone else have this problem? I can get OTA software updates just fine in my above ground, open sided parking garage, but every attempt to Remote Start / lock / unlock / update vehicle status in the App fails. Is it using a different cellular band or satellite to relay from BMW? I feel like I wasted money on the add-on.

Hell even in wide open parking lots with full cell service on my phone where the vehicle should have full service it fails more often than succeeds.

Try opening up the app when you're sitting in the car, phone connected to iDrive. That works for me sometimes when syncing messes up, perhaps it'll work with remote services as well.


Can also try removing your car from the app (you'll get a few emails that the car has been removed from your ConnectedDrive account - no worries about those). Wait and hour or so, and then re-add.

[Frank The Bunny]

I had a similar issue after getting the last firmware update. My app wouldn't update my car status, so it thought the car was unlocked or in drive-ready mode (or something like that). Which meant I couldn't remote start.

I found this post, and it fixed my issues. Not sure if this will help, but worth a try.

https://g20.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=27311504

[Enigma735]

Tried all that. I’m guessing maybe the Remote Services use AT&T and maybe AT&T signal is weak here? I have full Verizon LTE service fwiw. Either that or my antenna is not working right.

[Redditor9000]

If you click your key fob lock button 3 times, what happens?

[jpowers36]

Mine works like 70% of the time. Sometimes I have to close the app and just try it again. I have Xfinity cell service (uses Verizon network). Haven't been able to figure out the thing that causes it not to work. Luckily my key fob works from inside the house and my from my desk at work lol. That's where I use the remote start feature the most.

[Enigma735]

Originally Posted by Redditor9000

If you click your key fob lock button 3 times, what happens?

If I’m within 30 feet of it, it starts. Which doesn’t help much on cold days when I have to walk across our big ass apartment complex to the garage on the other side. Which is definitely out of range of the fob.

Also, I was picking up food yesterday in a highly populated, well covered service region in metropolitan DC, and my car was within view, and I had full service on my phone and tried to initiate remote start 3 times and unlock 2 times from the MyBMW App, and all failed.

[Aero7000]

Originally Posted by Enigma735

Anyone else have this problem? I can get OTA software updates just fine in my above ground, open sided parking garage, but every attempt to Remote Start / lock / unlock / update vehicle status in the App fails. Is it using a different cellular band or satellite to relay from BMW? I feel like I wasted money on the add-on.

Hell even in wide open parking lots with full cell service on my phone where the vehicle should have full service it fails more often than succeeds.

Remote start with key FOB and via MyBMW are two different things, and both work perfectly on my 2020 car.

The only thing caused an issue, that last soft update (by dealer) turned off remote start via MyBMW app, so I had to find the menu to turn it back on.

[Enigma735]

Originally Posted by Aero7000

Remote start with key FOB and via MyBMW are two different things, and both work perfectly on my 2020 car.

The only thing caused an issue, that last soft update (by dealer) turned off remote start via MyBMW app, so I had to find the menu to turn it back on.

Remote Start is remote start. Same mechanical mechanism is triggered by two different communications mediums. The MyBMW app simply sends a command to BMW’s servers which are then relayed via the cellular connection to your car. The delivery mechanism of the command is all that is different. Fob is long range radio, not cellular. I am not talking about “preconditioning and ventilation” which is what you have if you don’t purchase Remote Start connecteddrive services.

[Enigma735]

Bumping because I moved recently to a home with no garage, full Verizon and ATT 4g service, and still can’t get remote start, lock, unlock, etc to work from the app.

Ran through all the Genius steps. They resubscribed all my services.

Local Service Tech couldn’t find codes or “reproduce” even when I showed him multiple failures right next to him with full cell service in the middle of our major metropolitan region. He suspects a hardware issue but doesn’t know what since he has no codes and no logs to verify. Short of trial and error nothing he can do, and says I would have to pay out of pocket for parts and labor to do that since Foreman won’t approve a repair order without an understood root cause.

Now I’m battling BMW to get reimbursed for connected store add on of Remote Start that never works because they claim it must be an “end user” issue and because the Fob start works.

Moral of the story. Fuck connected services.

[zazzau]

Originally Posted by Enigma735

Bumping because I moved recently to a home with no garage, full Verizon and ATT 4g service, and still can't get remote start, lock, unlock, etc to work from the app.

Ran through all the Genius steps. They resubscribed all my services.

Local Service Tech couldn't find codes or "reproduce" even when I showed him multiple failures right next to him with full cell service in the middle of our major metropolitan region. He suspects a hardware issue but doesn't know what since he has no codes and no logs to verify. Short of trial and error nothing he can do, and says I would have to pay out of pocket for parts and labor to do that since Foreman won't approve a repair order without an understood root cause.

Now I'm battling BMW to get reimbursed for connected store add on of Remote Start that never works because they claim it must be an "end user" issue and because the Fob start works.

Moral of the story. Fuck connected services.

Not sure why service provider is mentioned in this thread. Does it work when your phone is connected to wifi? If it works from key fob I'm not sure how much traction you'd gain from claiming a refund.

[elambo]

Originally Posted by Frank The Bunny

I had a similar issue after getting the last firmware update. My app wouldn't update my car status, so it thought the car was unlocked or in drive-ready mode (or something like that). Which meant I couldn't remote start.

I found this post, and it fixed my issues. Not sure if this will help, but worth a try.

https://g20.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=27311504

Does a hard reset of iDrive reset any preferences? I've made a lot of customizations and would rather not need to redo all of it.

[GrannyShiftG80]

i used to have so many problems with connecteddrive

went to the dealer 5 times, logged in and out, cancelled and reregistered the car, all that bs etc nothing worked

the thing that finally fixed it in the end with a software update to the newest version. everything's been perfect since

[Enigma735]

Update. A poster on reddit recommended I try getting BMW Connected Services to try to issue a remote unlock after letting the car sit in an area where I know it should have service. Easy enough I used my wife’s X3 to make sure her remote start worked so I assumed mine should have service. Connected Services tech was unable to reach the car to unlock after 4 painstakingly long attempts including auth token generation.

I decided to do a little test thinking maybe the remote commands are not able to wake the car, so I started it and let iDrive boot. Then turned it off so it was still awake. Locked the car. Walked into my house an initiated a remote start from the app and it worked.

To test this I called BMW Connected Services back and had another tech initiate an unlock, but this time, I had him wait until I turned the car on and off and locked it and walked back inside. Sure enough, he was able to unlock it remotely.

After a few minutes (definitely less that the time it’s supposed to wait to go to sleep), it stopped responding again to me via app or the BMW CS tech.

It appears my car either goes to sleep super quickly and can’t be woken remotely, or the cellular receiver shuts down after a couple minutes within car turn off and cannot receive commands.

[Enigma735]

Originally Posted by zazzau

Not sure why service provider is mentioned in this thread. Does it work when your phone is connected to wifi? If it works from key fob I'm not sure how much traction you'd gain from claiming a refund.

Because as far as I know BMW pushes their remote commands for Assist / Connected Services over a 4G LTE connection provided by AT&T’s network in the US. So if you are in an area of no AT&T 4G coverage, Assist and Connected Services won’t work regardless of whether you have cell service / wifi access on your phone.

[zazzau]

Originally Posted by Enigma735

Because as far as I know BMW pushes their remote commands for Assist / Connected Services over a 4G LTE connection provided by AT&T's network in the US. So if you are in an area of no AT&T 4G coverage, Assist and Connected Services won't work regardless of whether you have cell service / wifi access on your phone.

Thanks for clarifying. I have terrible cell service at home - I'm on AT&T. I have barely 1 bar on my phone. In fact I use WiFi calling at home because of poor reception. That been said I've never had issues getting my car to start remotely at home.

Could be service provider issue but seems highly unlilely based on update from OP. From OP's update it could be suggestive of a bigger problem. If OP is having this issue at just one particular location then I can understand the argument against service provider/AT&T.

OP ought to take the car to the delearship and have the foreman take a look since the problem is reproducible.