I was driving in LA area yesterda and I got a call from someone at BMW of San Diego (home, my dealer, my service provider). They said they got an email saying that someone requested a service call on my car. I told them I did not initiate any call for a service.

After about 10 mins or so, i looked at my dash and there appear a messge saying i'm due for a service. My odometer read just over 11,000 miles. I checked the service area of the Idrive and it said I 'm due to make an oil change.

Question: Does my car submit my car info to BMW serice via satellite? This is a great feature. I'm sure some of you would say this is an invasion of privacy. I think its cool (if this was true).

Teriyaki

 

Well, it has to be activated, so you should know about it.
But, YES. The car sends a message to the dealer if service is needed... if activated...

 

My BMW Assist is still unactivated, should i bother to hook it up?

I tried it the other night and a BMW Assist Rep answered, asking me to complete my registration but i declined for the time being.

 

Hah. I guess you now have BMW Assist (without activation) . See how long you can get away with THIS.

 

Why not register. Atleast make use of the free year they offer you. I don't know why everyone bitches about ASSIST. I myself have never used it but the concierge makes hotel and restaurant reservations for you, a tow truck is dispatched and 911 called with your location if your airbags deploy. Those that use AAA can justify the cost easily. What is you get a flat or a dead battery.

 

My car sent the service request (via cellular, not satellite, BTW) but my dealer never called me back. Maybe they would have eventually but I ended up calling them myself to schedule my appointment...

 

Not really. You can still make a call, thats all hardware. They just will have a hard time helping you with anything if you are not registered. ASSIST is free for one year, why not register, you do not have to renew if you don't want to.

 

I know the 1st year's free. They need to run a credit card to give you your first year and send you a bill for the 2nd year near the end of the 1st year.

I think it's the same with Onstar.

 

Per Hormazd's note about getting a flat, keep in mind that BMW Assist is seperate and different from BMW Road Side Assistance. BMW Assist will NOT get you a tow truck to change a flat for you. The BMW Road Side Assistance is "free", or at least built into the price of your car and I guess is good as long as your warranty (I think?). I guess if you don't have a personal cell phone you can use the BMW Assist to call BMW Road Side.

 

They do NOT need to run a credit card for the first free year. They request you give them the information, but you do not have to give it to them. It says this right on the forms, etc... Just tell them that you are not going to provide them with the number. We never gave our CC#, and they were very nice about it. (Of course, our TCU was &#*#@(&, so Assist never worked, but that's a different story...)