[MalithS]

My 2010 F10 520D started to act up just after the warranty ran out in last Nov. The connected drive online features (weather, google etc) all stopped working in Dec. It would just try to connect and after a while say that it couldnt connect. Normally when it worked I would see the little globe icon on the left hand edge of the screen start to spin when it was downloading date but now it just would sit there and do nothing. At first I thought the it was a problem with the subscription but when I called BMW they confirmed that the subscription was active till end of 2014. So I took the car to the dealer and after looking into this they diagnosed the problem as a faulty Combox which they said they would have to order in and would take a couple of weeks. BMW offered to pay all the parts cost and part of the labour as a goodwill gesture leaving me with only a 150 bill which I was happy with. Over the christmas period while we were visiting friends and family in the north west and scotland I noticed that the connected drive features all started to work fine no issues at all. When we got back home to the midlands I noticed that everything had stopped working as before. I called and explained this to the dealer and they made a note of it but were still convinced that the combox was the issue as they had diagnosed this (I guess through vehicle diagnostics).

I took the car in last Tue to the dealer and was informed that the car would probably be ready by Wed to collect once the new combox was installed and software had been updated. Wed dealer phones and says that combox was fitted but they still couldnt get the connected drive working and they were investigating with BMW. Thu dealer phones back again stating that they still havent been able to fix the issue and BMW were advising them to swap the GPS antenna and try that and send them to info. Today I get a call from dealer stating problem has still not been fixed and they are still trying to figure this out with BMW. He also stated that the diagnostics were showing that the combox was faulty despite the new combox being fitted. They have got their master technician on this and still havent been able to diagnose or fix the issue. I was just wondering if anyone out there had encountered a similar issue or had any ideas about what it might be. The puzzling thing for me is that is was working fine in some parts of the country and just doesnt seem to work around here. Does anyone know if the sim card in the combox is a removable sim or is it built into the unit? Can anyone help??

MalithS

[Piers]

It is for this reason, that I would not run a 5 series out of warranty again, when they go wrong, you do not want to be footing the bill. Hope this sorts itself out cheaply

[Beancounter_74]

That seems very stange that it works in one area and not another.
I wonder how many people actually use this functionality. Have they tried other cars at the garage and can they get them to work, thus proving it's not a regional problem?

Agree with you there Piers, it the major downside of all modern cars, it's fine when someone else is footing the repair bill, but not when it's you. Seems like BMW have done the decent thing though by covering the part and a contribution towards labour this time around.

[MalithS]

Dealer has now had the car for a full week and they are still no closer to diagnosing the problem. The service advisor did also mention that they have got 2 other cars now with the same problem and they are working with BMW to diagnose the problem. This cant be a regional issue and there would be loads of cars reporting the problem. I do however have a suspicion that this could be related to the tele service (sim card) due to the fact that it worked in a different part of the country. The dealer said the sim card was built into the combox unit so cant even take out the sim and try it. Very frustrated with BMW now.

[Beancounter_74]

.....but as I said, how many people use this on a day to day basis to notice there is a problem, I bet it's not many

[MalithS]

Hi All,

Just an update on progress. The dealer has had the car now for over 3 weeks trying to figure out the problem. BMW have been instructing them to try all sorts including swapping GPS arial, Head unit etc etc. Last week when I spoke to the service adviser he mentioned that they were getting more cars reporting the same issue and upto now about 10-15 cars reported the exact same problem. Only seems to be affecting the Warwick are and some of the cars reporting the issue had reported that it worked outside of the Warwick area. Last Thu BMW has asked if my car could be driven to a different location so dealer asked if this was ok and said they would send the car with one of their master technicians as he lived a bit out of the area (just south of Banbury). Sat when I spoke to dealer they explained that on the drive down the technician had not been able to get connected features working but when he started the car in the morning to come to work everything was working fine and as soon as he entered the Warwick area all stopped working. So they now suspect its something to do with the service but its to be confirmed by BMW so hopefully get an update early next week.

Has anyone else in the Warwick area with connected drive experienced issues with this? I'm surprised that BMW are still clueless about whats going on and it seems to be affecting more and more cars. Dealer also mentioned a guy with a brand new Z4 having the same issue.

[Beancounter_74]

Well it sounds like you're making some progress.
Though I guess a regional service problem could be a real headache for them.
Hopefully it will be a flicking of a switch or something at a central location.
Keep us updated.

[don1980]

Hi Malith, Did BMW manage to sort out your Connected drive issue? I'm experiencing having the same issue now. Since I'm in Sri Lanka, the local agent won't support it and I had to escalate to BMW UK. They have escalated to German and awaiting for a response.

Cheers
Don