[tex2670]

Has anyone activated this?

I subscribed to the 30-day trial, updated my services in the car. The car shows I am subscribed thru 1/27/23, as does my account in app and on my computer.

But I can't for the life of me see in the app where to start the car. Under "Remote Services" all I see is "Plan Ventilation", and there's also the standard icons to lock/unlock/flash lights/horn/vent.

What am I missing here?

[tex2670]

Never mind - I found it.

First you have to authorize it in the car under the Climate Control / Preconditioning app menu. Then you start the car with the fan icon in app.

Super intuitive!

[bcdx93]

We paid for the remote start hardware and now we have to pay for the service?
This is not the case on my 18' GLE.

Originally Posted by tex2670

Has anyone activated this?

I subscribed to the 30-day trial, updated my services in the car. The car shows I am subscribed thru 1/27/23, as does my account in app and on my computer.

But I can't for the life of me see in the app where to start the car. Under "Remote Services" all I see is "Plan Ventilation", and there's also the standard icons to lock/unlock/flash lights/horn/vent.

What am I missing here?

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by bcdx93

We paid for the remote start hardware and now we have to pay for the service?
This is not the case on my 18' GLE.

You didn’t pay for hardware. You paid $300 for a lifetime subscription, which is a $60 discount by buying it up front instead of from the Connected Drive store after the fact.

[FlashMonkey929]

Originally Posted by bcdx93

We paid for the remote start hardware and now we have to pay for the service?
This is not the case on my 18' GLE.

The idea behind this is the manufacturer has to order less specialized parts since every seat has the hardware built in, which streamlines manufacturing as well as keeping the cost down by getting a larger bulk discount on ordering seats for example. Also means they can consolidate different markets easier onto the same assembly line. Car manufacturers have been doing this for a while, they just haven't been offering the purchase of the feature after manufacture. Wiring harnesses with prep for other features, rear fog lamps, etc., have been included in most US BMWs for quite some time, just with the features disabled for our market.

I do agree it's somewhat a tough pill to swallow to have to pay for something that's already there, but this seems to be the trend a lot of manufacturers are following.

[bcdx93]

That means I can use the remote start function for as long as I own the vehicle?

Originally Posted by tex2670

You didn’t pay for hardware. You paid $300 for a lifetime subscription, which is a $60 discount by buying it up front instead of from the Connected Drive store after the fact.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by bcdx93

That means I can use the remote start function for as long as I own the vehicle?

If you paid $300 for the option, you have it for the life of the vehicle. If you didn't, you can activate it from the Connected Drive store for $360 for a lifetime subscription, or shorter subscriptions for less $$, including a 30 day "free" trial.

[BMWZ4]

Odd...life time free in Canada along with the Drive Recorder features, including in-cabin cam. Canada being such a small automotive market, this has to be a first!

[bcdx93]

Thanks.

Originally Posted by tex2670

If you paid $300 for the option, you have it for the life of the vehicle. If you didn't, you can activate it from the Connected Drive store for $360 for a lifetime subscription, or shorter subscriptions for less $$, including a 30 day "free" trial.

[tex2670]

This is still frustrating. I activated remote start ability in the car under the climate settings, but it keeps resetting to deactivated so I can't start the car remotely - only the ventilation. May try a call to the Genius at the dealership.

[BMWZ4]

Originally Posted by tex2670

This is still frustrating. I activated remote start ability in the car under the climate settings, but it keeps resetting to deactivated so I can't start the car remotely - only the ventilation. May try a call to the Genius at the dealership.

Dumb question here...why not just use the fob to remote start vs. the app?

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4

Dumb question here...why not just use the fob to remote start vs. the app?

Well I don't have a remote start button on the fob--I'm not sure that is available in the USA. But if the car itself keeps resetting to deactivate remote start functionality in the iDrive settings, then wouldn't that lock out fob capability too?

[BMWZ4]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Well I don't have a remote start button on the fob--I'm not sure that is available in the USA. But if the car itself keeps resetting to deactivate remote start functionality in the iDrive settings, then wouldn't that lock out fob capability too?

Mine works via the fob...press the lock button 3 times, slight delay, but car starts after roughly 3 or so seconds (just went out to test - my wife doesn't use the feature)

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4

Mine works via the fob...press the lock button 3 times, slight delay, but car starts after roughly 3 or so seconds (just went out to test - my wife doesn't use the feature)

I'm going to have to check this out. Thanks.

[bluecrabby]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4

Mine works via the fob...press the lock button 3 times, slight delay, but car starts after roughly 3 or so seconds (just went out to test - my wife doesn't use the feature)

I've never had a car with remote engine start... but I did order the X1 with it.

I just realized something... what if I'm in the house and press the remote start.... is there a way to somehow link it to my garage door opener so it will open at the same time? My garage door opener is linked to the garage app on my phone. I can open/close it from the phone... as well as use my voice to tell Alexa to open it. It will be very convenient if the X1's engine remote start can be linked to the garage door.

Of course, I probably won't be using it that often... it wasn't until the recent cold spell that the inside of my garage reached 39 degrees.(compared to the usual 50 to 60 in the winter)

[BMWZ4]

Originally Posted by bluecrabby

I've never had a car with remote engine start... but I did order the X1 with it.

I just realized something... what if I'm in the house and press the remote start.... is there a way to somehow link it to my garage door opener so it will open at the same time? My garage door opener is linked to the garage app on my phone. I can open/close it from the phone... as well as use my voice to tell Alexa to open it. It will be very convenient if the X1's engine remote start can be linked to the garage door.

Of course, I probably won't be using it that often... it wasn't until the recent cold spell that the inside of my garage reached 39 degrees.(compared to the usual 50 to 60 in the winter)

No way that I'm aware of and frankly doubtful since there's no app linking the two devices

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by bluecrabby

I've never had a car with remote engine start... but I did order the X1 with it.

I just realized something... what if I'm in the house and press the remote start.... is there a way to somehow link it to my garage door opener so it will open at the same time? My garage door opener is linked to the garage app on my phone. I can open/close it from the phone... as well as use my voice to tell Alexa to open it. It will be very convenient if the X1's engine remote start can be linked to the garage door.

Of course, I probably won't be using it that often... it wasn't until the recent cold spell that the inside of my garage reached 39 degrees.(compared to the usual 50 to 60 in the winter)

Remote start while in your garage?

[bluecrabby]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Remote start while in your garage?

well... it was really cold the other day... I guess I should probably look into getting a garage heater(with a timer) instead.

speaking of which, my next door neighbor has a Ford small pickup truck with a remote start. I think she must have it set on a timer using the Ford app or something. Every morning at 6:00AM, the pickup starts rumbling and shuts off after about 15 minutes. My windows and nightstand shakes because she somehow thinks that having super loud exhaust is fun.(not to mention having cat delete) Young people today... <sigh> It must be karma... because when I was young, I also had extremely loud and obnoxious exhaust systems that would wake up the dead. Now that I'm old and cranky, it's time for karma.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4

Mine works via the fob...press the lock button 3 times, slight delay, but car starts after roughly 3 or so seconds (just went out to test - my wife doesn't use the feature)

Unsuccessful. The app showed the ventilation was running after 3 fob presses, but no remote start--but when I got outside to the car to check, the vent wasn't running either. But after that, the remote start was AGAIN disabled in iDrive. I re-enabled a 4th time now—see pic below. I will see if it works when I leave the office tonite.

[BMWZ4]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Remote start while in your garage?

I left that out...seemed obvious to me, but heck my neighbour does it

[BMWZ4]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Unsuccessful. The app showed the ventilation was running after 3 fob presses, but no remote start--but when I got outside to the car to check, the vent wasn't running either. But after that, the remote start was AGAIN disabled in iDrive. I re-enabled a 4th time now—see pic below. I will see if it works when I leave the office tonite.

Wow, that's bizarre. I wonder why the fob would work for Canada but not U.S. models...got this from the bmw.ca site:

"...point your BMW key fob at your vehicle and press the lock button (BMW Roundel) 3 times consecutively in order to activate Remote Engine Start..."

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by BMWZ4

Wow, that's bizarre. I wonder why the fob would work for Canada but not U.S. models...got this from the bmw.ca site:

"...point your BMW key fob at your vehicle and press the lock button (BMW Roundel) 3 times consecutively in order to activate Remote Engine Start..."

There's lots of differences in what's offered in USA vs. CAN vs. EU. Some is clearly regulatory, but others, who knows?