the dealership has quoted me $188.00 for an idrive update. I havent had an update since 07, so will this be worth it? Its running slow now and I noticed allot of my settings are not being remembered, such as side view mirrors, AC vent settings and the feature to start on the last screen before engine turn off isnt working. Also, if anyone has done this, will it change the look of it (interface) thanks

 

My car is a german LCI prod date 26 Nov 2007. After I got it in April '10, I did two mods that required coding and before doing so, BMW told me it needed the full software update. It took 2 days and I was told it needed a lot of updates as it hadn't been done since it was new. Not sure if that is so and whether the 2 days was due to problems they encountered as I had already changed the hardware that required the coding (sports automatic gearbox lever and ipod controller). When extracted from the overall bill of other things I had BMW do to the car, I recall that I paid the equivalent of about 600 bucks for the update alone, so your update is "cheap" by comparison. I was certain it would be well worth it and I looked forward to many exciting possible changes to the interface and possibly improved fuel economy and many other goodies I had imagined. Well, I didn't see one iota of change to the interface, nor did I discover any other benefits of any kind whatsoever. So doing it for the sake of doing it, I would say don't! I can't imagine that your car needs a software update either, to function probably with the functions it came installed with from the factory. I have occasional issues with the side view mirrors as well but that usually takes adjusting and pushing the seat memory button and then it works fine for a while again. I haven't had the other issues you mention though I would say that the idrive in my car is definetely slower than that in my previous e60 520d from Jul 2008, as regards to scrolling through songs on the ipod controller. That car also numbered the songs which this one doesn't, and it's the same ipod interface as I moved it over. Conversely the current one is much faster in changing between playlists and "cd's".

Sorry my post doesn't solve your issue but I'd be wary about throwing money after an update, as I doubt it will give you what you seek. I have NO IDEA whether this will work, but I notice my Ipad and Iphone occassionally build up issues over time that require that I turn the power off and reboot; this can be issues such as properly receiving email or a video that is hanging. Perhaps it would help if you went to the trunk and disconnected the battery for 5 minutes? It won't cost you a cent to try it out!

 

Yes - really worth it. I had it done this year, idrive software looks better, has more options, car drives better too. Think of it as electronic protection also

 

Is it only the Dealer that can do the updates? My car is a late 03 (December). I've had it since November 06 & have never had an update. So do any of you think i should take it to have this done or is there any other place that can do this?

 

When's your car from? pre LCI? that might make a difference as a lot was changed in 07

Just what exactly do you mean by electronic protection?

 

Found an old tips and tricks thread, where a part of it may help you out:

If your iDrive ever gets locked up or freezes, you can push the cd eject, dvd eject, and volume knob all at the same time and it will reset the iDrive manually. It will eject both discs and reset the system. Only works if you have NAV

I'd be interested to know whether this, or disconnecting the battery, does any good for you. Even if you do decide to go to the dealer for an update "just if", I suggest you try the above risk-free first, to see and let the rest of us know, whether it has any effect, since you have the issue here and now.

 

06 530d m sport - Full TV Sat Nav Package.

My car is silver and has carbon fiber trim and the software update on the idrive menu matched the colour of my car for starters - fricken loved that.

The gear changes seemed more "sensible" after the update, at various positions of the trottle. But maybe the dealer updated gearbox software too.

What I mean by Electronic protection: My car after a long drive received a large surge of power from the battery when it was next started - damaging certain parts in the fuse box and cables. The new update provides protection from this. The idrive has told me when a surge has happened, it has dealt with and stated should it happen again bring it to a bmw dealer. It only states this after very long drives.

 

Very interesting!!!!!!!