[achk]

I took my 330i (Mar 19 build) into the dealership this week for a software update, citing issues with connected drive functionalities. I was on 7/2019.40 and that's now updated to 11/2019.41. Happy to report that for the first time since delivery, I can get remote 3D view to work consistently.

Also after the update, I was able to purchase the subscription for the drive recorder through the connected drive store. (I'm in Australia)

It's not a full function dash cam but for the price, it's all I need. It's suppose to record up to 40sec of footages from the four cameras when an accident is sensed (20sec prior and 20sec after). It can also record manually by long pressing the camera button on the console.

The recordings can be played back in the car and can also be exported onto a USB drive. Up to 10 recordings (40 seconds, 4 cameras) can be saved.

The resolution is adequate. You can just make out the registration plates if the other car is really close (like in an accident!)

The exported files are in .ts format for the video and .json for the metadata. I'm able to view the video using QuickTime on my Mac. Can anyone recommend a program that can merge the videos with the metadata?

Overall it's not a bad investment for AUD$189 for 3 years.

[2020g20]

Is this only an available option if you're equipped with the 3D camera view feature?

[achk]

Originally Posted by 2020g20

Is this only an available option if you're equipped with the 3D camera view feature?

Yes you will need the 360 view cameras.

[CinnamonRage]

What is the resolution in each of the modes, I.e. just front or rear, front and rear together and all 4 cameras, if you know?

Love to see a demo of the quality (though fully respect that would give info about your location you may not want to give - which I totally understand).

Also, I’m just over two weeks out on mine - so I’ll find out soon enough

[Tam the Bam]

Originally Posted by CinnamonRage

What is the resolution in each of the modes, I.e. just front or rear, front and rear together and all 4 cameras, if you know?

Love to see a demo of the quality (though fully respect that would give info about your location you may not want to give - which I totally understand).

Also, I’m just over two weeks out on mine - so I’ll find out soon enough

There are some videos of ‘Drive recorder’ on YouTube.

[Pauleebe]

Still not sure why I have the 11/2019 software with 3D cameras but can't activate or use Drive Recorder.

[achk]

Originally Posted by Pauleebe

Still not sure why I have the 11/2019 software with 3D cameras but can't activate or use Drive Recorder.

It could be region specific. From what I've read, it's not yet available in the US. I'm in Australia and it is available for purchase through the connected drive store.

[Andy3661]

Originally Posted by achk

It could be region specific. From what I've read, it's not yet available in the US. I'm in Australia and it is available for purchase through the connected drive store.

What's the cost?

[902]

Originally Posted by Andy3661

What's the cost?

It's $99 for 3 years or $35 for 1 year in Canada. I'm guessing the it would be the same for the US if it ever becomes available?

[CinnamonRage]

Originally Posted by Tam the Bam

There are some videos of ‘Drive recorder’ on YouTube.

For anyone else who saw this, I did look up videos. Seems the quality isn’t great (though I’m sure good enough for an insurance claim). The videos seem to be 720p. That means in a 2x2 grid, the videos for each camera are 360p. I’m sure it’s 720p if you use just one camera.

[CinnamonRage]

Also, when copying files off of the screen recorder - can you use the USB-A port or do you need to use USB-C?

[902]

Originally Posted by CinnamonRage

Also, when copying files off of the screen recorder - can you use the USB-A port or do you need to use USB-C?

I think you need to use the USB-A port, the USB-C ports are only for charging as far as I know.

I was wrong, you can use either one for data transfer.

[achk]

Any software recommendation to view the files? The video and metadata (GPS coordinates, vehicle speed etc) are in separate files. I'm using a Mac.

[CinnamonRage]

Originally Posted by achk

Any software recommendation to view the files? The video and metadata (GPS coordinates, vehicle speed etc) are in separate files. I'm using a Mac.

Have you tried VLC player? It’s got an orange cone for an icon. It used to play pretty much anything.

[achk]

Originally Posted by CinnamonRage

Have you tried VLC player? It’s got an orange cone for an icon. It used to play pretty much anything.

VLC and many video players will play the video files but what I want to know is how to integrate the metadata (vehicle speed, GPS coordinates) with the video file. When the files are downloaded onto the USB stick, the metadata are stored into a separate folder.

[Radarman]

This is only a partial answer to the question of how to display the GPS and speed data. The metadata file is a text file which can be examined and displayed as a list of speed and position against time. That does not give you the integration with the video but for 40 secs of recording would be enough to correlate in the event of an accident or similar.
The following are a couple of entries from my 2019 330e:
[
{
"VIN":"WBA5X72010xxxxxx",
"entries":
[
{
"id": 1,
"date": " 7.03.2020",
"time": "16:31:36",
"velocity": 89.11,
"latitude": 0.0000,
"longitude": 149.0880
},
{
"id": 2,
"date": " 7.03.2020",
"time": "16:31:36",
"velocity": 88.95,
"latitude": 0.0000,
"longitude": 149.0880
}

[Radarman]

I just noticed, that data is missing the latitude. It has the latest software update so I think a question to BMW is in order.

[Radarman]

Ok, I've asked the question and got a response. Not a good one as it turns out. Despite the promotional material touting the Drive Recorder as:
- "you can see exactly what happened around your vehicle, together with the date, the precise time, the speed you were travelling and the GPS position"

The response is "With the ACE 2.0, unfortunately..it only shows the videos recorded and no information’s such as date or speed. It will show the metadata containing VIN, gps coordinate longitude,time and date but on a script format."

It's being sold under false pretences.

[ThatGTI]

Originally Posted by CinnamonRage

For anyone else who saw this, I did look up videos. Seems the quality isn’t great (though I’m sure good enough for an insurance claim). The videos seem to be 720p. That means in a 2x2 grid, the videos for each camera are 360p. I’m sure it’s 720p if you use just one camera.

When I pull the footage from my Drive Recorder it is 1290 by 960. Unfortunately that does stay the same even when I switched from 4 cameras to 2 cameras. Would be nice to have them in higher quality. I debated selecting all 4 cameras or just front and rear. I think I'm going to leave it on all 4. You probably aren't going to read a plate if you select front and rear. If you select front only you might be able to.

[TTG]

I have activated mine and played around with it for a while.

Overall impression is that it is not replacement for Blackvue but BMW is heading the right direction and we will not need to purchase dashcams in the very near future.

[Radarman]

An update on the missing latitude data in the Drive Recorder metadata. It is probable that the development team have failed to allow for southern latitudes. i.e. they didn't anticipate the latitude being a negative number. Expect a fix in a software update sometime (hopefully) soon.

[Tam the Bam]

Originally Posted by Radarman

An update on the missing latitude data in the Drive Recorder metadata. It is probable that the development team have failed to allow for southern latitudes. i.e. they didn't anticipate the latitude being a negative number. Expect a fix in a software update sometime (hopefully) soon.

What! Where do they find these people!