What is BMW Online and what should be expected from it?
03-29-2006, 05:22 AM
#1
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My Ride:
I had BMW-Online installed recently and after 3 months am delighted with the service.
I have a minor technical issue with the way the software behaves, which my dealer is looking into, but otherwise I thinks it's good - when we get services in UK like they have in Germany (online allocation and guidance to your car parking space in town as you leave home, for example) then I would upgrade my good to great!
This post isn't going to be full of words, instead it is full of pictures.
I apologise for the poor quality of some of the images - it seems it took me a while to get the camera set up correctly... Read on some of them do get better.
Picture one shows the system establishing a session after which time the lawyer screen appears.
Yes they even added this disclaimer for us in the UK.
With the session established, you receive the main menu page, which is your anchor point for all services and you receive the Hot News of the minute without having to ask for it. It is usually accompanied by a sexy graphic which has been getting much larger of late.
The news service will offer a number of topics for you to select.
and you can drill-down on a particular article to get the full text rather than just the headline.
There are plenty of news options to keep most people occupied on their commute into the office.
The real strength of this system is the ability to send and receive emails in real time from the iDrive.
Your mail account exists on the BMW Server (you will be issued with our own email address something like john.doe@bmw-online.co.uk and you can also configure exchanges with any external POP3 mailbox.
You (or you and another chosen individual) then have administrative control of the email account from both the car and from an internet connected PC.
once you're configured then the system works just as you would expect it to.
The online server handles such requirements as your email mailbox, your personal account profile and route planning, so you can configure your route while sitting at your desk and then send it to your car to save fiddling around when you step in (Or better still get your secretary to do it for you...!)
The other great benefit of Online are the business directories. You can choose to find a business while you are out on the road by name, location or category. The database is provided in UK by Dunn & Bradstreet and so it's already likely to be as good as it will get.
Once you've located the establishment that you're looking for you have the optons to:
Send the information across to the guidance system for routing to the address
Initiate a telephone call
Or simply add to your online address book (which is available in the car or on your PC).
Finally there are a set of options which allow you to configure how your screen looks
and finally you will need to terminate the session otherwise it will stay active until you do so.
So, that's my 2-penneth. I can't claim to know what I'm talking about, but as there didn't seem to be much information rolling aroind the forum about ONLINE then I thought something might be better than nothing.
I have a minor technical issue with the way the software behaves, which my dealer is looking into, but otherwise I thinks it's good - when we get services in UK like they have in Germany (online allocation and guidance to your car parking space in town as you leave home, for example) then I would upgrade my good to great!
This post isn't going to be full of words, instead it is full of pictures.
I apologise for the poor quality of some of the images - it seems it took me a while to get the camera set up correctly... Read on some of them do get better.
Picture one shows the system establishing a session after which time the lawyer screen appears.
Yes they even added this disclaimer for us in the UK.
With the session established, you receive the main menu page, which is your anchor point for all services and you receive the Hot News of the minute without having to ask for it. It is usually accompanied by a sexy graphic which has been getting much larger of late.
The news service will offer a number of topics for you to select.
and you can drill-down on a particular article to get the full text rather than just the headline.
There are plenty of news options to keep most people occupied on their commute into the office.
The real strength of this system is the ability to send and receive emails in real time from the iDrive.
Your mail account exists on the BMW Server (you will be issued with our own email address something like john.doe@bmw-online.co.uk and you can also configure exchanges with any external POP3 mailbox.
You (or you and another chosen individual) then have administrative control of the email account from both the car and from an internet connected PC.
once you're configured then the system works just as you would expect it to.
The online server handles such requirements as your email mailbox, your personal account profile and route planning, so you can configure your route while sitting at your desk and then send it to your car to save fiddling around when you step in (Or better still get your secretary to do it for you...!)
The other great benefit of Online are the business directories. You can choose to find a business while you are out on the road by name, location or category. The database is provided in UK by Dunn & Bradstreet and so it's already likely to be as good as it will get.
Once you've located the establishment that you're looking for you have the optons to:
Send the information across to the guidance system for routing to the address
Initiate a telephone call
Or simply add to your online address book (which is available in the car or on your PC).
Finally there are a set of options which allow you to configure how your screen looks
and finally you will need to terminate the session otherwise it will stay active until you do so.
So, that's my 2-penneth. I can't claim to know what I'm talking about, but as there didn't seem to be much information rolling aroind the forum about ONLINE then I thought something might be better than nothing.
03-29-2006, 09:37 AM
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My Ride: 2006 530i Sport
Silver Gray - Black Leather - Anthracite Maple
Manual Transmission
Premium Audio
Cold Weather Package
Rear sunshade
Sirius Radio
Autobahnd Roadblock (3M) film kit
Interesting. Here in the US, we already have Verizon phones in all the E60s that ship for Assist. It would be trivial for BMW to upgrade future cars (with retrofit available for old ones) to EVDO to support this kind of a service here.
Here's hoping someone is listening.
Here's hoping someone is listening.
03-29-2006, 12:41 PM
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My Ride: 530i, Sport Package, Premium Package, Navigation.
Originally Posted by UUronL' post='262002' date='Mar 29 2006, 10:37 AM
Interesting. Here in the US, we already have Verizon phones in all the E60s that ship for Assist. It would be trivial for BMW to upgrade future cars (with retrofit available for old ones) to EVDO to support this kind of a service here.
Here's hoping someone is listening.
Here's hoping someone is listening.
03-29-2006, 12:52 PM
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How much does this cost? Is it per Mb downloaded?
It looks great what set up do you need in the car, I have bluetooth prep, prof nav and media kit would I be able to get it, and how do I go about setting it up?
It looks great what set up do you need in the car, I have bluetooth prep, prof nav and media kit would I be able to get it, and how do I go about setting it up?
03-29-2006, 01:27 PM
#6
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Scotland, UK
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My Ride: (UK) Bulit: Feb 2004, 520i (M54), 6-Speed Manual, Black leather, Titanium Silver, Bi-Xenon, Headlamp washers, Side rear airbags, Park Distance Control, Aluminium trim, Standard Climate Control, 17" wheels, Pirelli P-Zero Rosso's, Spacesaver Spare wheel, Jack, Dynamic drive, Service Inclusive, Chrome grills, Software version 20.01.00, E60.net Clings, Painted wheel hubs silver
very cool! kinda 007 style in real!!
03-29-2006, 01:28 PM
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My Ride: 2006 550i, olivine green, beige interior, SMG, cold weather package, Sport package, Comfort access, Comfort seating, adaptive steering, Navigation
I don't mean to be ignernt, but what exactly do you mean Verizon phones shipped with all the E60's with assist? Am I missing something? I think it would be alright if we had the screens available here that they have over there.
03-29-2006, 03:10 PM
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My Ride: 2006 530i Sport
Silver Gray - Black Leather - Anthracite Maple
Manual Transmission
Premium Audio
Cold Weather Package
Rear sunshade
Sirius Radio
Autobahnd Roadblock (3M) film kit
Originally Posted by robcol' post='262173' date='Mar 29 2006, 05:28 PM
I don't mean to be ignernt, but what exactly do you mean Verizon phones shipped with all the E60's with assist? Am I missing something? I think it would be alright if we had the screens available here that they have over there.
03-29-2006, 04:09 PM
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Location: Bedford, MA
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My Ride: 2004 530i 6-speed Titanium Silver/Black Interior
Premium Package
Sport Package
Aux input
30 GB video iPod
Cold Weather Package
Xenon
Red rear reflectors
Tint
Clear Bra
That, my friend, is very cool. 
