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      03-18-2020, 12:42 PM   #1
redhot47fla
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M850ix Software Update - A Tragedy in Multiple Acts

The moment I dreaded arrived this morning. I brought the M850ix 'vert in for its first service and the rear-camera software recall and, as I had guessed, a more extensive software update that I couldn't avoid.

This placed me at the mercy of the service department, BMW Assist (which is not assistive) and the BMW Genuises (who are not geniuses).

Here is the sad tale. I am not making up any of it. Be sure to read or at least scan to the end.

The curtain goes up:

- The service call was completed in about two hours. I'm now carrying software package 03/2020.30.

- I see some subtle changes, including the instrument screen's font, which is a bit smaller and bolder. Nothing to write home about. (I'm not sure about this, but the accelerator/engine response seems a bit different - feels like I need a little more pressure on the accelerator than previously.)

- Placed on alert by things I read here, I begged the service manager to preserve my settings. He tried. He almost succeeded. Most settings were maintained or restored. Oddly, only the most important ones to me - the driver's seat settings - were blown out. The passenger seat - settings still there. My carefully calibrated driver's seat settings - poof. How can that be? Thanks, BMW.

- All coding also is blown out. Pretty much expected that.

- Wi-Fi and Connected Drive phone app functionality, still there. At least for now. (Keep reading).

- Alas, all those embedded apps - Weather, Traffic, News, whatever. Not so much embedded any more. All gone. They were there when I drove in; gone with the software update. Only two dominoes are there now: BMW Assist and another generic app.

- Along with many of us, I have some hard-earned experience with this problem, which took me weeks to sort out last May when the car was new. I tried the Option hard-button reset. No joy. I tried the volume-button-30-second reset. No joy. I tried both of those repeatedly. No joy. No joy. No joy.

- Called BMW Assist. Nice young lady in Fort Lauderdale. Made me try the two resets all over again. Got off the line. Came back on the line. Ordered me to delete the ConnectedDrive app from my phone and restore it. I was scared to death, because that app actually works for me. Did it anyway. Oops. Wouldn't accept my VIN. Dead app. I got a little...upset. She put me on hold. Connected me to a BMW Genius.

- Genius picks up the call. Breaks the connection. Phone call is dead.

- I call BMW Assist again. As I do - voila! - somehow the car pops back up in my Connected Drive phone app. We do it all again. Reset. Reset. No joy. No joy. She ends up switching me to a Genius, who actually stays on the line this time.

- Genius makes me do the two resets again. No joy. No joy. Says a ticket will have to be written up. But he can't do that. That's the job of BMW Assist. But...BMW Assist had hung up on him, even though he asked her to stay on the line.

- Genius connects me to a different BMW Assist agent. I ask him to explain to her what we've been through. He doesn't. I have to do it all over again. She asks me to do the resets. I refuse.

- She puts me on hold. Says she'll have to write up a ticket. Puts me on hold again.

- Says that my ConnectedDrive account is not linked to my car. I tell her it most definitely is - I'm looking at it right now on my phone. She says, no, it's not. (In retrospect, this is a big clue that I have missed). Asks for my email address, types it into...something. Puts me on hold.

- She comes back on the line. Says she has written up the ticket. Give it seven to 10 days. I make believe that I believe that someone will actually act on the ticket. I ask her for the ticket number (again, I've been through this before). I get the ticket number.

- We bid each other farewell.

- At that moment, a BMW email arrives confirming that a ticket has been sent to someone somewhere and everything will be just peachy.

- I look carefully at the email. The ticket was written for the VIN of a car I haven't owned since last May.

I have no real hope that the apps ever will re-appear. So long as Assisters and Geniuses don't mess up my Connected Drive phone app functionality and in-car Wi-Fi, I don't think I care anymore.

And...curtain.
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Last edited by redhot47fla; 03-18-2020 at 01:53 PM..
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      03-18-2020, 02:09 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redhot47fla View Post
The moment I dreaded arrived this morning. I brought the M850ix 'vert in for its first service and the rear-camera software recall and, as I had guessed, a more extensive software update that I couldn't avoid.

This placed me at the mercy of the service department, BMW Assist (which is not assistive) and the BMW Genuises (who are not geniuses).

Here is the sad tale. I am not making up any of it. Be sure to read or at least scan to the end.

The curtain goes up:

- The service call was completed in about two hours. I'm now carrying software package 03/2020.30.

- I see some subtle changes, including the instrument screen's font, which is a bit smaller and bolder. Nothing to write home about. (I'm not sure about this, but the accelerator/engine response seems a bit different - feels like I need a little more pressure on the accelerator than previously.)

- Placed on alert by things I read here, I begged the service manager to preserve my settings. He tried. He almost succeeded. Most settings were maintained or restored. Oddly, only the most important ones to me - the driver's seat settings - were blown out. The passenger seat - settings still there. My carefully calibrated driver's seat settings - poof. How can that be? Thanks, BMW.

- All coding also is blown out. Pretty much expected that.

- Wi-Fi and Connected Drive phone app functionality, still there. At least for now. (Keep reading).

- Alas, all those embedded apps - Weather, Traffic, News, whatever. Not so much embedded any more. All gone. They were there when I drove in; gone with the software update. Only two dominoes are there now: BMW Assist and another generic app.

- Along with many of us, I have some hard-earned experience with this problem, which took me weeks to sort out last May when the car was new. I tried the Option hard-button reset. No joy. I tried the volume-button-30-second reset. No joy. I tried both of those repeatedly. No joy. No joy. No joy.

- Called BMW Assist. Nice young lady in Fort Lauderdale. Made me try the two resets all over again. Got off the line. Came back on the line. Ordered me to delete the ConnectedDrive app from my phone and restore it. I was scared to death, because that app actually works for me. Did it anyway. Oops. Wouldn't accept my VIN. Dead app. I got a little...upset. She put me on hold. Connected me to a BMW Genius.

- Genius picks up the call. Breaks the connection. Phone call is dead.

- I call BMW Assist again. As I do - voila! - somehow the car pops back up in my Connected Drive phone app. We do it all again. Reset. Reset. No joy. No joy. She ends up switching me to a Genius, who actually stays on the line this time.

- Genius makes me do the two resets again. No joy. No joy. Says a ticket will have to be written up. But he can't do that. That's the job of BMW Assist. But...BMW Assist had hung up on him, even though he asked her to stay on the line.

- Genius connects me to a different BMW Assist agent. I ask him to explain to her what we've been through. He doesn't. I have to do it all over again. She asks me to do the resets. I refuse.

- She puts me on hold. Says she'll have to write up a ticket. Puts me on hold again.

- Says that my ConnectedDrive account is not linked to my car. I tell her it most definitely is - I'm looking at it right now on my phone. She says, no, it's not. (In retrospect, this is a big clue that I have missed). Asks for my email address, types it into...something. Puts me on hold.

- She comes back on the line. Says she has written up the ticket. Give it seven to 10 days. I make believe that I believe that someone will actually act on the ticket. I ask her for the ticket number (again, I've been through this before). I get the ticket number.

- We bid each other farewell.

- At that moment, a BMW email arrives confirming that a ticket has been sent to someone somewhere and everything will be just peachy.

- I look carefully at the email. The ticket was written for the VIN of a car I haven't owned since last May.

I have no real hope that the apps ever will re-appear. So long as Assisters and Geniuses don't mess up my Connected Drive phone app functionality and in-car Wi-Fi, I don't think I care anymore.

And...curtain.
Could have been a lot worst. I lost all my settings and codings. And it took 8 hours without a loaner.

At least you're able to use most everything except the in car apps.
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      03-18-2020, 02:16 PM   #3
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Yep. I'm actually OK with the condition of the car. It's the Assist/Genius runaround and dropped balls that are so discouraging after all of these years. They just can't get it right.
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      03-18-2020, 05:15 PM   #4
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Wow what an ordeal but at least the core settings were preserved. As per my update to the 11/2019.55 release, everything was lost and I was welcomed to a stock home screen, etc. Thankfully though it didn't blow away my ConnectedDrive apps or relationship with my account and phone app. Sounds like BMW may have a new "feature" (what we jokingly refer as in reality a bug in the IT software world) within the 03/2020.30 release that hopefully the fix before others have it forced on them by their dealers. Bottom line is BMW makes great cars but can't fight their way out of a paper bag when it comes to competency in the software world.

Last edited by bloozemanAZ; 03-18-2020 at 09:43 PM..
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      03-18-2020, 07:18 PM   #5
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That's worse than my experience. I did not lose the embedded apps and did not have issues with the Connected Drive app. But, I think I got the Nov '19 software, not the one you got.
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      03-18-2020, 07:27 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NOMRW8NG View Post
That's worse than my experience. I did not lose the embedded apps and did not have issues with the Connected Drive app. But, I think I got the Nov '19 software, not the one you got.
My buddy at the dealership asked me if I wanted the update put on my car a few days back when I had the break-in service. We looked at each other and at virtually the same moment concluded "no" was a great idea and moved swiftly on with our lives.

Thank heaven.
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      03-18-2020, 07:46 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by limeypride View Post
My buddy at the dealership asked me if I wanted the update put on my car a few days back when I had the break-in service. We looked at each other and at virtually the same moment concluded "no" was a great idea and moved swiftly on with our lives.

Thank heaven.
I didn’t have a choice. The mandatory rear-camera recall update is now embedded in the wider software update. To be clear, the update did not mess up my ConnectedDrive phone app. Not yet, anyway. Only the apps embedded in my car, my driver’s set settings and the coding were blown away.
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      03-18-2020, 09:46 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by limeypride View Post
My buddy at the dealership asked me if I wanted the update put on my car a few days back when I had the break-in service. We looked at each other and at virtually the same moment concluded "no" was a great idea and moved swiftly on with our lives.

Thank heaven.
Wise move as redhot47fla's enjoyment of the latest "feature" to wipe out your ConnectedDrive configuration is a no go for me if my dealer suggests an upgrade from my 11/2019.55 release.

Last edited by bloozemanAZ; 03-18-2020 at 10:06 PM..
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      03-18-2020, 10:02 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redhot47fla View Post
Yep. I'm actually OK with the condition of the car. It's the Assist/Genius runaround and dropped balls that are so discouraging after all of these years. They just can't get it right.
Unfortunately, both Assist and Genius just work off the scripts provided by BMW. So if you hit an issue outside of that knowledge base it turns into a frustrating experience. Lived that with my ConnectedDrive app no longer communicating with the car which all turned out to be the "@" special character in my password which was obviously not in their knowledge base of scripts to help me through a problem that should not exist whatsoever. Especially considering the "@" worked for months until something changed in the "middle", i.e., some sort of upgrade for the ConnectedDrive cloud server.

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      03-19-2020, 02:00 AM   #10
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So would this be considered an error from BMW for not having an update that preserves current settings? Because it sounds like it is
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      03-19-2020, 09:33 AM   #11
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So would this be considered an error from BMW for not having an update that preserves current settings? Because it sounds like it is
Absolutely, imo. Apple updates preserve settings. Android updates preserve settings. Even Microsoft, for god's sake, preserves settings.

That BMW cannot is...disgraceful, imo. (I discovered another one today that I had to restore - the remote-engine start for pre-ventilation.)
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      03-19-2020, 09:43 AM   #12
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Even Microsoft, for god's sake, preserves settings.
Easy there, Captain!
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      03-19-2020, 09:57 AM   #13
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Easy there, Captain!
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      03-19-2020, 11:40 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bloozemanAZ View Post
Unfortunately, both Assist and Genius just work off the scripts provided by BMW. So if you hit an issue outside of that knowledge base it turns into a frustrating experience. Lived that with my ConnectedDrive app no longer communicating with the car which all turned out to be the "@" special character in my password which was obviously not in their knowledge base of scripts to help me through a problem that should not exist whatsoever. Especially considering the "@" worked for months until something changed in the "middle", i.e., some sort of upgrade for the ConnectedDrive cloud server.
Their scripts lack any common sense as well for alternative options. I opened a ticket since I couldn't add my wife as a secondary driver.

I forgot about just to realize that 56 days later I never received a follow-up. They acknowledged that delay, apologized and told me that this will be an escalated IT ticket. Expect 5-7 business days.

Which of course passed without action.

Called again, they said they couldn't fix it and would have to wait for IT to get back. Instead I asked to simply delete the record so I could start over.

Needless to say, my wife was setup in 10 minutes...
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      03-19-2020, 09:11 PM   #15
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redhot47fla as I read your post, a small amount of sick began to materialize in the back of my throat. Extraordinary stuff. Which leads me to ask what therefore is the point of the driver profile if it does not save your seat settings? The reason Apple are able restore your precise settings perfectly, is that every phone is unique. Every time you do updates or restore your settings to a new phone, it leverages your own, personal unique settings stored in their cloud. It is also explains why an Apple restore takes a long time but we are all prepared to live with that because we know we will get our personalized world back!

What your experience shows is the VIN, while a unique car identifier, is not actually linked to your profile in anything other than the most superficial way.
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      03-19-2020, 09:20 PM   #16
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Yep. I think that wraps it up rather perfectly.
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      03-19-2020, 10:17 PM   #17
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This is one of those real “first world problem” posts, guys....
Now that I said that, flame suit on.
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      03-19-2020, 11:42 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfman64 View Post
Their scripts lack any common sense as well for alternative options. I opened a ticket since I couldn't add my wife as a secondary driver.

I forgot about just to realize that 56 days later I never received a follow-up. They acknowledged that delay, apologized and told me that this will be an escalated IT ticket. Expect 5-7 business days.

Which of course passed without action.

Called again, they said they couldn't fix it and would have to wait for IT to get back. Instead I asked to simply delete the record so I could start over.

Needless to say, my wife was setup in 10 minutes...
Agreed as any child of technology can get a second driver profile set up in 10 minutes or less. However, I'm going to use your Assist/Genius experience in my argument with the wife as to why it is just not possible.

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This is one of those real “first world problem” posts, guys....
Now that I said that, flame suit on.
Perhaps first world problems but when you are dealing with a $120K plus automobile you would hope that the manufacturer is not completely clueless in the software world. As stated BMW makes great cars but cannot fight their way out of a paper bag when it comes to software competency.
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      03-20-2020, 12:37 AM   #19
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Van_bimmer respect your views. But in my part of the world the car is $300,000 and I don't quite see it as a first world problem. More as a basic missing feature. Do I still love the car, love driving the car and love that I bought the car - yes!


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Originally Posted by Van_bimmer View Post
This is one of those real “first world problem” posts, guys....
Now that I said that, flame suit on.
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      03-20-2020, 03:27 AM   #20
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Van_bimmer respect your views. But in my part of the world the car is $300,000 and I don't quite see it as a first world problem. More as a basic missing feature. Do I still love the car, love driving the car and love that I bought the car - yes!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Van_bimmer View Post
This is one of those real “first world problem” posts, guys....
Now that I said that, flame suit on.
300k, that's nuts. how does a Rolls Royce or Ferrari cost?

is it because you don't have any taxes, so they tax the imported cars? or just a bmw tax? income or sales taxes?
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      03-20-2020, 05:46 PM   #21
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Cars in Australia have always been expensive as we no longer manufacture locally. Exchange rate is soft AUD to EUR/USD. High shipping costs. High local labour costs. Government has implemented a luxury car tax on vehicles which cost over $65K. We have much lower volume as a market and therefore each vehicle has to be sold at a higher margin to sustain BMW's infrastructure here. Add it all up. Smile as we take your money.

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300k, that's nuts. how does a Rolls Royce or Ferrari cost?

is it because you don't have any taxes, so they tax the imported cars? or just a bmw tax? income or sales taxes?
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      03-20-2020, 05:49 PM   #22
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Ferrari you say, from the web today, new car:

2019 Ferrari GTC4Lusso Auto 4RM
$643,648
Drive Away
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