German Language in US :-(
08-12-2004, 08:01 AM
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When I got my '04 545i in May, the phone kit wasn't there yet, and so I had to take the car in about a month later to get that installed.
Up until then I was pretty happy with the car, enjoyed the radio station labels, etc. (only had a major disappointment when the windshield cracked after one week, and replacement by the dealer was poor service: took 4 days because of repeated false part ordering, and returned the car with black finger prints all over the grey interior around the window and even on seats...).
I had noticed that the languanges that could be set did not include German, which struck me as odd given where it coming from. I *am* German and would like to have the car set to be in German just to make it a bit more unique ... PLUS, when turning on the car initially it displays "Gurt anlegen" instead of "Fasten seat belts" on HUD, so it is obviously "in there somewhere".
So, when I had the car in for the phone installation, I asked if it could be set to German, and when I picked it up they had done so. They must also have upgraded the software from some 11.x version to 12.x because now RDS labels were no longer available, and overall lots of things seemed "unstable". AND, voice commands were no longer functioning.
I had to take the car in twice for additional testing before they decided to replace the CCC, which apparently did not fix anything. With the car at the service for over a week, and a couple more software upgrades, they finally determined that the German language override disabled the voice commands for some reason (so I am back to US English), and they finally learned that RDS labels were taken out with the new software version. But after these upgrades the "all stations" often only shows 1-4 stations, sometimes adding a couple, which then disappear again. The radio antenna has already been replaced, but radio reception is still not all that great (but I think it was much better when I first got the car).My phone is still not working well (BMW's V60s with Verizon service) in that whenever I call someone from the car, they can barely understand me, the connection is chopped up and very poor quality -- it works fine without the hands-free kit. Another Verizon phone (an older V60i) with me in the car shows much better signal strength than the BMW phone when installed in its cradle... So, that still needs to be resolved.
Overall, these experiences have been very disappointing, and I do not understand why all the dingy loaner cars I have had throughout this ordeal were perfectly able to display RDS correctly, and BMW cannot handle it. Geeeez!
But I guess this is no longer a surprise once I learned that the underlying OS is a version of Windows CE -- no wonder this thing is so unstable...
I finally found this forum and am very relieved! At least there is INFORMATION here on these issues, and I see that it's not just my car (I was beginning to look at the lemon laws here). This is an excellent resource!!!
Up until then I was pretty happy with the car, enjoyed the radio station labels, etc. (only had a major disappointment when the windshield cracked after one week, and replacement by the dealer was poor service: took 4 days because of repeated false part ordering, and returned the car with black finger prints all over the grey interior around the window and even on seats...).
I had noticed that the languanges that could be set did not include German, which struck me as odd given where it coming from. I *am* German and would like to have the car set to be in German just to make it a bit more unique ... PLUS, when turning on the car initially it displays "Gurt anlegen" instead of "Fasten seat belts" on HUD, so it is obviously "in there somewhere".
So, when I had the car in for the phone installation, I asked if it could be set to German, and when I picked it up they had done so. They must also have upgraded the software from some 11.x version to 12.x because now RDS labels were no longer available, and overall lots of things seemed "unstable". AND, voice commands were no longer functioning.
I had to take the car in twice for additional testing before they decided to replace the CCC, which apparently did not fix anything. With the car at the service for over a week, and a couple more software upgrades, they finally determined that the German language override disabled the voice commands for some reason (so I am back to US English), and they finally learned that RDS labels were taken out with the new software version. But after these upgrades the "all stations" often only shows 1-4 stations, sometimes adding a couple, which then disappear again. The radio antenna has already been replaced, but radio reception is still not all that great (but I think it was much better when I first got the car).My phone is still not working well (BMW's V60s with Verizon service) in that whenever I call someone from the car, they can barely understand me, the connection is chopped up and very poor quality -- it works fine without the hands-free kit. Another Verizon phone (an older V60i) with me in the car shows much better signal strength than the BMW phone when installed in its cradle... So, that still needs to be resolved.
Overall, these experiences have been very disappointing, and I do not understand why all the dingy loaner cars I have had throughout this ordeal were perfectly able to display RDS correctly, and BMW cannot handle it. Geeeez!
But I guess this is no longer a surprise once I learned that the underlying OS is a version of Windows CE -- no wonder this thing is so unstable...
I finally found this forum and am very relieved! At least there is INFORMATION here on these issues, and I see that it's not just my car (I was beginning to look at the lemon laws here). This is an excellent resource!!!
08-12-2004, 08:08 AM
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I have to add one more thing, about the BMW/Verizon phone: I went to Verizon to get the software on the phone updated (two weeks before they had told me it needed an update, but that day I did not have time to wait for that), and Verizon told me that they are no longer authorized to upgrade BMW phones!!! They said I would have to get this done at the dealer -- but the dealer said they do not have the equipment to do so. Stuck!!!
08-12-2004, 08:15 AM
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My Ride: [i][b][u]Since 19 august 2004[/u][/b][/i]: [color=red][b]530i[/b] High Executive[/color], Silvergray with beige interior, Popular wood, Servotronic, Sportssuspension, electric foldable and dimmed mirrors, dimmed interior mirror, pappelmaser braun wood, cupholders, styling 123 18" wheels, Logic 7, Steptronic, alarm class 3, electric sunscreen in the rear and suncreens for sidewindows, Comfort seats, heated seats, Xenon with headlightwashers, Adaptive corner lights ALC, Advanced airconditioning, lightpackage, Nav Pro, 6 cd changer, side airbags rearseats, bluetooth siemens S55, chrome kidneys, gearlever with wood, voice recognition retrofit, front windshield with green band.
Waiting for trunkopener button from Hobi :)
Welcome aboard Peter. The RDS thing has been discussed here before and is anoying. Sorry to hear about your problems but you are not the only one. It seems that some of us also have software problems with it. The advantage of this board is the people trying to help out eachother and finding solutions for problems where you can help your dealer (Because they don't know too much).
08-12-2004, 08:16 AM
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My Ride: [i][b][u]Since 19 august 2004[/u][/b][/i]: [color=red][b]530i[/b] High Executive[/color], Silvergray with beige interior, Popular wood, Servotronic, Sportssuspension, electric foldable and dimmed mirrors, dimmed interior mirror, pappelmaser braun wood, cupholders, styling 123 18" wheels, Logic 7, Steptronic, alarm class 3, electric sunscreen in the rear and suncreens for sidewindows, Comfort seats, heated seats, Xenon with headlightwashers, Adaptive corner lights ALC, Advanced airconditioning, lightpackage, Nav Pro, 6 cd changer, side airbags rearseats, bluetooth siemens S55, chrome kidneys, gearlever with wood, voice recognition retrofit, front windshield with green band.
Waiting for trunkopener button from Hobi :)
Btw I believe Iceman has German voice recognition in his car so this should be possible. In the Netherlands (Holland) it is not possible to get it unfortunately, but we also don't have the button next to the menu button on I-Drive.
08-12-2004, 08:30 AM
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Re: phone s/w update:
Dial *228 <send>, then use Option #2 to update. This will update all the new tower locations and should improve your reception. All users should do this every couple of months.
Sam
Dial *228 <send>, then use Option #2 to update. This will update all the new tower locations and should improve your reception. All users should do this every couple of months.
Sam
08-12-2004, 09:43 AM
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My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
Some random thoughts and questions:
First of all, welcome Peter! We all know the frustrations with software glitches and technicians who don't know how to deal with upgrades, etc. Hopefully these initial problems will end up being little bumps in a longer road of enjoyment with your new car. (For me, the car is so fantastic to drive that my tolerance for these little things is quite high.)
Here's a long shot on the problem with phone reception -- on the BMW V60, is the little black rubber cap removed from the back of the phone where the auxillary antenna connects?
I think the problem with the language and voice activation might be more complicated than what others have said. I doubt any US dealer will be able to load a German software version (like what Iceman would have) to get everything working. What's happening now is that you are using the US software version but telling it to speak German. There must be some conflict with how the voice recognition works in this case.
sj3, your "phone update" instructions are only for Verizon, right?
First of all, welcome Peter! We all know the frustrations with software glitches and technicians who don't know how to deal with upgrades, etc. Hopefully these initial problems will end up being little bumps in a longer road of enjoyment with your new car. (For me, the car is so fantastic to drive that my tolerance for these little things is quite high.)
Here's a long shot on the problem with phone reception -- on the BMW V60, is the little black rubber cap removed from the back of the phone where the auxillary antenna connects?
I think the problem with the language and voice activation might be more complicated than what others have said. I doubt any US dealer will be able to load a German software version (like what Iceman would have) to get everything working. What's happening now is that you are using the US software version but telling it to speak German. There must be some conflict with how the voice recognition works in this case.
sj3, your "phone update" instructions are only for Verizon, right?
08-12-2004, 11:02 AM
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My Ride: F02 LCI Individual
Model Year: 2013
I have the German spec E60. All messages and the voice commands work in German.
There should be a way to set the language, maybe in the dealer settings ?
There should be a way to set the language, maybe in the dealer settings ?