My BMW Reviews

by AudioReelgeek

BMW replaced their old app that had the ability to send directions right to the car’s GPS with a less featured and more buggy web app. I was hoping they’d get this new app up to par before disabling the old one, but no such luck! MyBMW looks nicer, but works less good. Very disappointed in this.

My main gripes are:
- searching for directions based on business or landmark name doesn’t come up with as accurate results. The other app would almost always find the location I was seeking, but more often with the new app, there’s the wrong results and I have to google the address and copy and paste.
- sending directions to car is both slower and MyBMW only sends it to the messages section, which requires multiple extra steps to start the gps. The old app would send to the car faster and start the directions on the gps right away.

by Janjvt

I, sadly, have not had the positive experience with my 2020 M550 some users have enjoyed with MyBMW. I have been working with MyBMW , always updated, to the latest version, for slightly more than one year. My vehicle rarely receives directions sent to it through MyBMW . The 3D view and even the vehicle data such as the odometer rarely work. I can not lock or unlock the vehicle, and I can not remotely vent the vehicle. I have tried using it about once a month for this time only to have had it work for 8 to 10 days in total. In my attempts to make MyBMW function, I have deleted MyBMW , disconnected my car from the connected drive link and then reconnected the car and downloaded MyBMW again. I have done this in several sequences, and I have worked with the BMW Genius line at BMW North America which yielded the same results. An engineering ticket was even created on my behalf by a “Genius”. This was never answered despite my own follow up calls roughly every 4 weeks for about 3 months until I finally gave up the effort.

I am in south Florida, have strong 5G cell service with my iPhone 12, and have fast strong WiFi too. I was very much looking forward to the directions feature and the remote ventilation capability. Having MyBMW fail to work is, for me, worse than BMW never claiming the ability.

by JimmyBells

Whenever you travel, the addresses you send to the car for navigation never makes it to the car. I live in NYC, and just traveled to New Hampshire. The "send to vehicle" feature worked once or twice, then the rest of the trip wouldn't reach the vehicle and wouldn't load under "Received Destinations" from MyBMW . I tried the next 4 days. No luck. I logged off and into the driver profile in the car, and logged off and on in MyBMW . No use. I hoped when I went to Boston it would work, but no such luck. So even in big cities, with plenty of signal, it still doesn't work. Lo and behold, when I pull into my garage in Brooklyn, in comes all the destinations that refused to load the whole trip. So when I'm home and I know the neighborhood and don't need directions, that's the only time it works, so what good is it?? This also happened before, both with MyBMW, and the previous Connected Drive app.
The other features continue to work (vehicle status, ventilate, etc). But not the "send destination to vehicle" feature, which in my opinion is the most useful feature of MyBMW if it would work.

by SPO'D

Integration between sending addresses from my phone to the navigation never works with the new app (yes checked all the settings per their instructions, etc)… MyBMW says the address is sent, it never shows up (hard wired connection or wireless, neither work). You also used to be able to see the stats of your vehicle in the Home Screen —mileage of the vehicle, mileage remaining/gallons left in the tank. Now, nothing. Also, under the old app if it was left running and you had it plugged into your connected drive port and connected to your iPhone MyBMW would stay on and open so you could see the information while you drive. Now it turns off once you start to drive meaning you have to type in a PIN or position yourself to use FaceID while driving. At best I’d say MyBMW went from great to half-baked. Buy hey, it has great new ways to now “buy more digital options” while you drive! 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

by UrbanExtant

Please stop tinkering with MyBMW and making it worse. This most recent app update messed the charging on my 2021 i3s all up by changing the “charge now” to some other default. Just add back the efficiency meter and feature the old app had. You remember, the really cool one, way way way back when it was a garden, and the more flowers your garden grew the more efficiently you we’re driving?! Or, the most recent one where it would rate different aspects of your driving and give it a 1-5 star rating for efficiency? I didn’t, and don’t need access to BMWFS in a car app, what I needed was efficiency for my EV, charge status, estimated range on current charge, unlock doors, etc.. You’re not even in the correct ballpark for what an EV owner wants or needs from MyBMW. I say it again, BRING BACK THE EFFICIENCY METER!!!!

by VTHoki

Given that MyBMW has been available for some time in the EU, I was excited to finally see it released for USA. But much to my disappointment it’s a stripped down pale version of the old BMW Connected App. I had my fair share of issues with the old App, but seriously how could BMW not build proper Calendar Integration into the first release! It’s clearly an option you can enable, but it doesn’t sync your calendar to the car!! BMW added extra steps to search or share destinations to send to vehicle in this release. In the old App, I just sat in my car and based on time/location I received a prompt on iDrive screen to navigate to my Upcoming Destinations. I seriously hope BMW is working to add this back in or fix it. Several other missing features compared to the BMW Connected App… but proper Calendar Integration, and ability to create multi-stop destinations like the old App allowed are frustratingly missing.

Expensive car… Average app.

by @thebrianhewitt

Note, I never review apps, so this is a big deal for me. Other than looking prettier, this replacement for the Connected app is a real disappointment. It’s feature anemic and the functionality is far less intuitive. There are less remote features. Remote horn is gone. There is no way to see if your sunroof is closed, hatch, or hood. There are features in swipe menus that aren’t as obvious as the old drop down menus. You can no longer see if tire pressure is ok. You can’t see what features within MyBMW are enabled and disabled. I can’t understand why BMW would release an app that provides less than it’s predecessor and is more complicated. Was there any usability studies and testing done with external customers? This needs significant simplification and added features to even be on par with Connected.

by Btg1

Status updates in general are very slow. For instance, choose “Lock” the car (2019 X3) and the command is executed fairly quickly but the fact that the car went from unlocked to locked is not reflected on MyBMW for many minutes. The lag is so long as to cause doubt about if the command was executed successfully or not unless you are standing by the car to witness it. Pulling down on the main screen (iOS) seems to indicate a refresh/reload is happening but the status doesn’t update.

The only thing which seems to update fairly quickly on MyBMW display is thing that probably requires the most bandwidth ie updating the Remote 3D View. That works as it should.

Two specific issues on my vehicle are:

1) MyBMW shows the sunroof as open even after it has been closed for hours

2) When locking the doors remotely the side mirrors do not fold inward despite being set to do so when locking with the key fob or door handle. There is obviously some capability for MyBMW to control the mirrors since they will fold out (after the user provides permission) to capture an image when updating the 3D view.

by Ar Dal

MyBMW is only good for viewing the VIN number. None of the remote functions work. Vehicle location is stuck on a freeway from three days ago and doesn’t refresh even manually. Deleted reinstalled multiple times with a hard restart of iPhone/iPad didn’t help. Many attempts of phone help with BMW Asist didn’t get anywhere. Except one time, everything worked for couple of hours. They opened a case and told me to “WAIT 10 DAYS BEFORE CONTACTING THEM BACK IF THE ISSUES STILL EXIST”. REALLY? Don’t even try to contact them after their business hours because your call will be routed to a different country with barely English speaking people to “help” you. They hung up on me a couple times too.

Update:
After 45 days of acquiring the new vehicle and not being able to use first the BMW Connect and then the My BMW apps, finally a fresh reprogramming of the vehicle’s software at the dealership, resolves the problems. Why it took them so long to get to this simple solution for an important security issues?
Beats me. Hence the three stars.

by Wings West

Update:

The developer responded to my review today, which I thank them for and appreciate. However, they did not answer my question. I simply asked when is the tire pressure display function in MyBMW , which they removed about two years ago after an update, going to be brought back? Their answer was that if I want to see my tire pressure, I should go to the car and use the screen there to see it. This is not helpful at all.

MyBMW used to display the tire pressure for my 2018 X5. After an update to MyBMW maybe two years ago, it no longer does. When is this functionality going to be brought back? MyBMW works well otherwise. I docked it one star back when the remote tire pressure monitoring was removed and I’m docking it another star for not having brought that feature back.

by Hop6195

Despite having the capability, which worked flawlessly for about 8 months after purchasing the car, I suddenly lost this function in the old application. It simply stopped connecting. Now this new application doesn’t even recognize that I have the feature enabled, which I do. I’ve done a lot of research, tried every suggestion and reset, waited for updates and restarted iDrive to no avail. Given the amount of problems I see reported online with the remote 3D functionality, it would be helpful if BMW addressed the issue inside of the application. It would be helpful to have a proactive list of problems with troubleshooting suggestions. The only I options I see is scheduling a unique dealer visit or waiting until a normal maintenance schedule. The new application isn’t otherwise bad at all, but it lacks a clear way to communicate something that may have happened to my remote 3D feature that seems relatively common, again based on frequency of online reporting. If MyBMW had a solution, communicated better, perhaps with a more robust troubleshooting/help section, it would certain seem to me worth 5 stars. It’s the the only thing I can think of holding it back at the moment. After all of the features this car has, the best when parked, is hands down having the car send a photo of its surroundings.

by TomDurkee1992

The new this app app is much better than the old ConnectedDrive app. The remote functions (lock, unlock, etc.) could be quicker, but they work reliably. I recently took delivery of my new 2021 X3 xDrive 30e and I love the ability to monitor charging status and range, however, I think a widget could be so helpful to check charging status and range at a glance. With the iX and i4 coming soon, I think this will be even more useful. Perhaps, MyBMW could be redeveloped to prompt an update from the vehicle at preset intervals that the user would preselect. Additionally, I think a notification when the vehicle is fully charged would be great too! Otherwise, quite pleased with the development and looking forward to new features as they’re released.

by TechGuyonthestreet

The apps functionality is pretty great overall, I’ve actually never had problems with checking the status of my car or giving it commands except for when service is spotty, but that is to be expected. I like that I can see how soon it will be done charging and the status of the battery.
Being able to preheat the cabin is also an amazing feature!
My only complaint is that when route planing, the BMW app recognizes lots of random, uncharted chargers, as well as EVgo. That’s not necessarily a problem, but it’s missing the largest and easiest charge network which is Electrify America. Depending on where you are, EVgo is ridiculously expensive and charges a fee just to start a charge. I find that stupid as you also have to pay to charge by the minute, which was outlawed in California for a reason. Almost half of all fast chargers I have seen are EA, and I’m a monthly member of their network. Because MyBMW doesn’t recognize them, I never use the route planning. Mostly because after trying it once, it had me sit at a slow level 3 awkwardly at a dealership only for me to find out on the EA app, there was a much faster charger two blocks away. You could imagine the frustration. I think it’s time EA be added to MyBMW , especially before the launch of the iX and i4. If you want to prove there’s places everywhere to charge, why not put them all on the map?

by Ayyrabmoney93

App is all together solid but with a few more features it could be perfect! Devs if you’re reading this is what I’d love to see in an update: 1) would love to be able to open or close windows remotely 2) more control over the climatization (allow me to set the temperature from my app instead of whatever the car was set to the last time I got out of it) 3) would love to see some sort of crowd sourcing info in the map (like speed trap notifications and where the cheapest gas is) 4) the payment section- please let me nickname my banks…twice now I’ve paid with the wrong account and accidentally overdraft we 5) nfc…sometimes I’m standing right next to the car and it still takes almost a full minute to send the unlock signal

by Bridger Adams

Everything mentioned in the title has a reason, the lack of features (mainly remote start) is a Car-by-car feature, some will have it some won’t. Second the reason why it can be slow at times, is because the signals sent to the car travel through cellular waves instead of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, it’s perfect if you need to grab something out of your car, but if you’re in a hurry or need to drive, good luck. I imagine its faster on some cars than others, the M240i Convertible I’ve been using for the past 3 years has been reliable, but MyBMW can be slow, and I wish you could remote put the top up/down. I was also expecting MyBMW to be faster when I got the X3M, but to my surprise it wasn’t faster at all, I bet the speed will be fixed/upgraded in the future. No complaints, but still not perfect.

by OnebadTKE

Have uninstalled and reinstalled MyBMW 2 times and the remote 3D is missing. Not sure what bug is causing this but really annoying.

***edit*** thank you Development team for the ridiculous response below…stating the obvious as though I’m ignorant and do not know how to use technology. MyBMW DOES NOT HAVE THE REMOTE 3D feature accessible for my car. Just for your added information, I have gone through the BMW Genius, and Assist groups .. and now a problem ticket is out for the BMW engineers to figure out what is going wrong. My car hasn’t changed but something in MyBMW update to either the old BMW connected and this “new” this app app has and it is not allowing my car all of the features that I am supposed to have access to use. But thank you for letting me down in your response by not seriously considering that there may actually be a technological glitch somewhere else besides user error.

by DakaBlue

BMW is by far the best business lease in the USA, I’ve been driving a leased BMW since 2009 in the USA, before I had a BMW in Australia a 320d and prior, in the 1990’s I also had two, a 740iL and a 325i, these cars weee the most reliable and least expensive to maintain of all the vehicles I’ve ever had, I’m completely sold in the BMW brand and their product, currently I have three in my garage ranging from a top model to a racing model and an economy model, I love BMW and will drive one for the rest of my life, it’s so sad that diesel vehicles cannot be imported to the USA any more, the BMW diesel is truly an amazing technology! The this app app is very integrated into the driving experience and works seamlessly, I highly recommend!

by Gasnon

Design of MyBMW is very intuitive. The arrangement of the various functions is fantastic! I don’t get it that people are complaining about who knows what? These are the same people that complained about ConnectedDrive app. All I can say to the developers is to keep up the good work and add more features that will continue to make the BMW experience more fun! I tried MyBMW and ConnectedDrive app to see the difference and verdict was to delete the ConnectedDrive app because this is faster!

by Sievrdt

Despite all the quirkiness of the BMW remote interface (it sometimes takes forever to send command to the vehicle), MyBMW is very decent. As usual, BMW showed great attention to details – I love how the car on the picture looks *exactly* like my car, including the wheel set, shadowline trim, and even the color of the break calipers. All the necessary information is there – total mileage, fuel level, map integration.
3D view is weird, all other cars look at least twice as high as mine lol. Luckily you can see separate pictures from all the cameras – they make much more sense than 3D.
What MyBMW really needs is Shortcuts integration – I always send command to enable ventilation few minutes before leaving for work, it would be nice if I could automate it.

by MostUniqU3

I never thought I’d depend on an app for my car so much, but then I got MyBMW and here I am checking it everyday lol. I love that I can check how much gas I have without being in the vehicle so that I can plan out a gas station stop before I even leave the house. Since I live in Deep South Texas it’s really hot pretty much all year round (try 90° in October) so the start A/C function on MyBMW has been amazing! I can start the A/C right before leaving the house and walk into a completely cooled car. I also love that I can lock my car with MyBMW , because my keys can really get buried deep in my purse so being able to lock my car with my phone is very convenient when I can’t find my keys in my purse right away. There are so many other features of MyBMW that I haven’t tried yet, but if they’re anything like the basic features I’ve mentioned then I’m sure they’re great! Overall I really love MyBMW and if you have a bmw but don’t have MyBMW, we’ll idk what you’ve been doing but you’re missing out.

by PotomacGpa

I downloaded the new My BMW app on both my iPhone and iPad. MyBMW installed successfully on both devices, however, the My BMW icon is nowhere to be found on the iPhone. I can find it via Search and in the list of installed apps in Settings, but it’s a pain to not have the icon to click on. I’ve tried downloading it several more times, but no luck. I can’t uninstall it because there is no icon to step through the uninstall sequence. Consequently, I will continue to use the Connected app instead.

by Mdino7

The new layout is confusing and not as user friendly as the current app. The current app has everything/info needed right in front, easy to see and use. While using the new app putting in a destination i was unable to find where I could schedule the trip..
why change what’s not broken.I understand wanting to add new features but why change the overall layout???

by Bfeygis

I don’t get it what was the point of releasing MyBMW. It’s pretty much duplicates what Connected Drive is doing minus some features. 3D view, for example, is not there. I hoped to see improvements in performance but when tried to unlock doors, it took, as it always did, forever and then gave me a message that something went wrong. Full impression that unlocking failed. Then a minute later I see that all doors are unlocked. If only BMW could build software as they can cars😢.

by Kt_trixie

New app keeps showing my car is unlocked when my car is locked. Not showing as much info in one place as the Connected app that MyBMW is going to replace. For example, does not show info for individual doors, windows, hood, trunk to confirm closed or open. Connected app more user friendly and intuitive in that more info all on one screen... This new app have to look for the info rather than glancing in one place.... Although I do like that the drivers guide and shopping for accessories are incorporated into MyBMW. But disappointed overall with the bugs and less features than previous app.

by Cougardent

As others have stated, nothing very eventful with this update. I honestly miss the old UI a bit. This update may be more form over function. One thing, I’m in the US so forcing to use kilometers seems like quite an oversight. Or perhaps I just haven’t seen where to change it but couldn’t find it. Your profile and the location where you bought the car should auto set this for you one would think.

by Boyonabike

Maybe it would be better if I had a more techie car, but my brand new X3 plug-in has enough features and not much of an upgrade from Connected to My BMW apps. I have to scroll horizontally through unintuitive menus to see total miles, percentage charged, and fuel levels. I didn’t even know I had to scroll and wondering why it didn’t tell me my battery’s percentage anymore. In the Connected app everything was there. Lost remote horn function that helps me find the car in big parking lots.

Only real added value I can see on the new app is that I can now change the avatar photo in iDrive 7.

Will keep using the old app until it stops being supported.

by Javapro

Apparently, the charging details and history are missing in the US version of MyBMW . All I see when charging my 45e is what I saw in the old BMW Connected app - blinking plug icon and charge percentage and estimated range. EU folks can see an additional charging section that show past charging history, charging times, and how many kWh was used. Why these details are not available for US users?

by MasterYous

Obviously MyBMW looks way better and is snappier to get through on my iPhone. However the remote functions are still quite slow to go from phone to server to car and reverse. (The car has a good cellular signal here)

Horn remote function is gone. Why?

Retrieving convertible information is gone - the top being up or down. Why?

When is remote start coming? What about controlling the windows and roof? Come on, all the competitors are doing this now, even with older models. My car is a 2020, so not even old!

by Amutti

Has less content then the Connected app about my 2021 M240i. The basic functions seem to work (unlock, lock, and ventilation), but no better than Connected. Missing tire pressure, convertible top status and other info the older app has. Hopefully there is an update before Connected is discontinued.

On the plus side, manuals are integrated.

by Windtendo

I’m changing my review to 4 stars. The original review was based on not being able to find important features such as Remote View from the previous BMW Connected app. This was clarified and my main beef is the removal of the remote view gallery.

by Jazz4uandme

This seems to be an update to the original App but it is missing a critical feature. While it still shows the charging status for a plug in hybrid it no longer shows the time when charging will be completed. This is an important feature when using a plunking charging station so that you will know when you should return to your car, disconnect and open up the space for others.

by Kevoham

Love the refresh of MyBMW and especially love how it now shows combined/hybrid, gas only, and electric ranges. Love that you can now refresh your car status; however, my car still isn’t updating and is 30 mins behind. That still seems to be an issue. :( My phone has great service. 🤷🏻‍♂️

by Madeyoul00k

So I recently downloaded MyBMW and played around with all the buttons and features. All the basic stuff works but I’m missing things like honking the horn and driving range in the map. Wish we could get similar features like driving alerts for speeding or going into a geofences area. I have those feature on my Hyundai beater.

by Ack785421

From user’s perspective, this is mostly a UX redesign with a few features dropped along the way like seeing some car status info. The new UX is good as far as it goes. I found it to be pretty easy to use an uneventful. One nice thing is the ability to send destinations to MyBMW from Apple Maps or Google Maps.

I’m hoping this is just an early baseline to build new features on top of, but time will tell. For the maps, I’d like to be able to plan trips along a route rather than just give destination and schedule trips based on departure or arrival time. Apple Watch integration would be great as well.

by The Booosss

This is a huge improvement from the connected drive app. I love BMW and MyBMW just adds to the quality, interaction, and technology already equipped in my car. I can also access the online store and financial services through MyBMW . It’s great!!