My BMW

I took delivery of my 2024 BMW X3 M40i in Germany in Feb 2024. Upon delivery, I noticed that none of the myBMW apps were loaded… and wouldn’t load. So, at the suggestion of my salesperson, I drove down to Schaffhausen, Switzerland to see if my X3’s apps would automatically update, since there seems to be an issue with Germany’s/the EU’s data protection policies. Well, it worked. My apps and the Data Privacy option in the menu finally appeared, like out of nowhere. I was able to set everything up and actually use it. However, as soon as I re-entered Germany, my ability to use those features stopped. Features like being able to view what’s going on around my X3 via the cameras, the ability to send destinations to vehicle’s navigation system, the ability to plan climate control and remote start, the ability to lock/unlock, remote start on demand, honk the horn, turn in the headlights, etc. are all disabled now. Additionally, the built-in nav doesn’t provide any traffic updates. I’m sure that in the U.S. the features would work as advertised. However, I’m writing this review based on my experience here, not on what I believe would be my experience elsewhere. UPDATE: All of the aforementioned features appear to be functioning now. It’s weird… and I can’t explain it. I’ve updated the star rating to five because it now works as intended. We’ll see if it continues to do so.

The apps functionality is pretty great overall, I’ve actually never had problems with checking the status of my car or giving it commands except for when service is spotty, but that is to be expected. I like that I can see how soon it will be done charging and the status of the battery. Being able to preheat the cabin is also an amazing feature! My only complaint is that when route planing, the BMW app recognizes lots of random, uncharted chargers, as well as EVgo. That’s not necessarily a problem, but it’s missing the largest and easiest charge network which is Electrify America. Depending on where you are, EVgo is ridiculously expensive and charges a fee just to start a charge. I find that stupid as you also have to pay to charge by the minute, which was outlawed in California for a reason. Almost half of all fast chargers I have seen are EA, and I’m a monthly member of their network. Because the app doesn’t recognize them, I never use the route planning. Mostly because after trying it once, it had me sit at a slow level 3 awkwardly at a dealership only for me to find out on the EA app, there was a much faster charger two blocks away. You could imagine the frustration. I think it’s time EA be added to the app, especially before the launch of the iX and i4. If you want to prove there’s places everywhere to charge, why not put them all on the map?

Whenever you travel, the addresses you send to the car for navigation never makes it to the car. I live in NYC, and just traveled to New Hampshire. The "send to vehicle" feature worked once or twice, then the rest of the trip wouldn't reach the vehicle and wouldn't load under "Received Destinations" from the app. I tried the next 4 days. No luck. I logged off and into the driver profile in the car, and logged off and on in the app. No use. I hoped when I went to Boston it would work, but no such luck. So even in big cities, with plenty of signal, it still doesn't work. Lo and behold, when I pull into my garage in Brooklyn, in comes all the destinations that refused to load the whole trip. So when I'm home and I know the neighborhood and don't need directions, that's the only time it works, so what good is it?? This also happened before, both with this app, and the previous Connected Drive app. The other features continue to work (vehicle status, ventilate, etc). But not the "send destination to vehicle" feature, which in my opinion is the most useful feature of the app if it would work.