Just recieved a nice letter in the mail today from BMW Assist, asking me if I wished to renew the service that is just about to expire, for $190.00 CDN per year.I have used it a few times to get them to download destinations on my Nav, but I can't see it's real value.Anyone renew it or have any thoughts on the real usefullness of this service?

I've never had to use BMW Assist or intend to use. But, I think it will come in handy if your vehicle is stolen or if you are in a vehicle accident. I believe they can track your vehicle if it's stolen and they can call help for you in an accident.

I was in a car accident in my previous Benz, which had a similar service to BMW Assist, and immediately after my front airbags deployed, a representative called me and called 9-1-1 for me.

For me, it's worth every penny. BTW, for Benz the annual cost was $200+ and this was 4+ years ago so BMW Assist is actually less expensive.

Yes I would. I am calling assist right now my car wont start :(.

How long is BMW assist free for? It works for me but i dont remember paying anything?!

If it has never been activated on your car then your entitled to 6 months free. £125 for 12 months if I remember correctly.

oh okay i was thinking how did it activate with them asking for no payment! lol i only applied for it last week or so, took a few days to activate. Guess i'll hear from them sometime next year then!

Good point-I guess I will renew! Thanks.

in 2004 it was free for me for the first year. It also good to have if you should ever leave your keys in your BMW and lock it by accident, and you can call 1-800 BMW Assist can unlock your door for you by satellite, at least they did it for me when I left my keys in my Bimmer one time!! (LOL)

Eddie aka Presley348

In the U.S., BMW Assist includes two different services:

The safety plan ($199 per year) which provides emergency notification, service scheduling, key unlock.
The convenience plan ($199 per year) which provides navigation downloads, weather and traffic data, and concierge.

You have to have the safety plan in order to get the convenience plan.

Up until last year, the concierge feature was awesome! You could use BMW Assist to check for availability, make reservations, and purchase tickets to events, restaurants, hotels, flights, etc. - provided you gave them your credit card info. Now they only look up information - I know they don't make financial transactions and I'm not sure they even make calls for information anymore. Their NAV service is spotty since you have to sometimes be very specific about the destination you are trying to get to. Last summer I used the NAV service to get directions to the Kennedy Space Center. The BMW Assist operator gave me directions to Orlando FL, but I knew for a fact KSC was near Titusville. If I didn't know this I would have ended up driving 100 miles in the wrong direction. Despite these quirks, overall I'm still satisfied.

If you do any type of travelling to unfamiliar locations then I would recommend BMW Assist.

I used it a few time and its great.