so the car, she is back... and the results, they are not satisfying... since more than the A/C was covered i thot' a new post would be in order.. i'll cover the issues and responses, such as they are...

new s/w installed (v11.1)

auto a/c still NOT and, according to the latest news, never will be auto fan controlled

passenger: side mirror tilt for reverse: new part ordered but still doesn't know if it will work

tmc: short story: do not expect TMC to work on the busNav: they have withdrawn it since the TMC as implemented is on permanently in busNav (it forces re-routing, always on, and cannot be switched off and does not display reasons for the re-routing) - it may later be fixed (but breath-holding is contra-indicated)

mp3 - and i LOVE this one... apparently my config will not play mp3s, since i do not have the two-tuner ProfRadio option, according to the production records for my car... this of course seems unrelated to the fact that busNav was clearly advertised as including (and requiring) the profRadio/twotuner affair -- and he has no idea -yet- as to how to tell whether or not my radio is std or Prof !!!!

sticking/folding at-the-post driver's side seatbelt: new seat belt & mechanism on order

DS never auto shifts into 6th... apparently, i was right and it will not (only the 530d will, related to torque.. ?? >>?)

brake-force display - and this is weird because i thought people had posted that their EU models now had it -- he tells me that BFD is not a software upgrade and will not work on my car!!

rear-seat cigar lighters / passenger side 12v socket: missing... yes, they seem to be and they have no way to retro-fit it

rechargeable flashlight - extra cost option, apparently unadvertised

---------------

everything that i asked about were things that had been promised by bmw: either by the UK guy on the phone, the hardcopy brochures, the website (which conveniently changes so that you have no audit trail to prove what you are saying to them, if your source was the web!) or BMW global press releases: none of my expectations are based on marketing material from other countries - only that which was represented to me here in the UK...

None of the issues are 'deal breakers' but the AC and TMC really pizz me off bigtime as they are significnat misrepresentations - love the car, hate the lies, hate even more the energy required to be expended as a result of the lies.

and, to add insult, the BMW UK guy who had followed up with me and had promised to contact the dealer and discuss the issue (and apparently, provide some special attention due to the problems etc.. .. ) well, he didn't call & they had never heard of him

the only good thing about the trip was they buffed off&out some grey paint that some scag had left after scraping the corner of my front bumper (sh*thead that it was) - so at least it looks nice

 

What can you say!

This terrible BMW!

As for the BFD, I think they are talking B***S***!!!!!

 

BFD cannot be activated through a software update! IIRC all E60's have the BFD feature, but it is deactivated if it was not approved (EU countries) when your car was built. To activate it I am pretty sure that it is just a setting in the car memory, so your dealer should be able to hook your car up to there machines and reprogram the car memory settings and activate it!

btw, this procedure can also be used to activate the fold in side mirrors with remote, by default this is deactivated but my dealer was going to quickly modify this for me.

 

Great info. Thanks!

Folding mirrors by remote - I want that.

 

Hate to sound stupid, but what is TMC?

 

i spoke s/w wrt BFD based on the press release from BMW, 5/2003 i think it was, which stated:

"The Brake Force Display already homologated in the USA reduces the risk
of collisions from behind when the driver applies the brakes hard by enlarging the illuminated surface of the brake lights.
Already prepared for use on the car, this system may be activated after homologation by the road traffic authorities in each country simply by setting the software to the appropriate standard."

that would indicate that it is a software setting!

as for the folding mirrors with remote I will have to look into getting that setting into effect as i want this (obviously only good for those with the folding mirror option in the first place (available in the UK only, I think, with the anti-dazzle in-and-out option)


noticed today also that i have NO autostore setting in FM mode.. it seems to be there in AM (but only wrt MW and SW, i think it was) but NOT in FM - has anyone had this?

does any one have any idea how to tell if radio is standard (single tuner) or prof (dual)?

cheers

 

I don't have autostore on FM either. Instead, I have something better -- it's call "All Stations" and from what I can tell, it's sort of an automatic autostore that is constantly seeking out all stations that can be received.

Again, I think it's a better solution to simply have the car always autostoring anything it can find. This way, you just bring up the all stations screen and you can click through each station with the iDrive knob or the steering wheel buttons.

 

but isn't it supposed to have autostore? and while i may be in doubt as to whether i have the profRadio as expected but for certain your logic7 MUST have it..


strange thing is, the loaner 520i 6speed, no Nav, basic configuration all around, DID have autostore - used it on a roadtrip as i didn't like the memorised stations from the previous driver and it WAS there... as well as memorised and all stations.

 

Skidster - Logic7 only upgrades the amplifiers/speakers in your car but has nothing to do whatsoever with the radio.

Just a wild guess but I think that the all stations function (=dynamic autostore?) is only available when getting the Pro radio because this function requires two tuners, one for listening to the selected station and one for scanning the FM band for available stations, wouldn't this make sense?

 

Skidster, are you saying you don't have the "all stations" function in place of autostore?