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      12-01-2022, 09:18 AM   #1
Lovin7er
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This can't be true...

I am being told by both BMW Assist and T-Mobile that in order to activate the eSim in the 760 and get a hotspot, if you are not a pre-existing T-Mobile customer you have to:

1. Open a T-Mobile account and get a new phone number. Anywhere from $65.00 per month and up depending upon your age for unlimited plan.
2. Pull a credit report and ding your credit score
3. Buy a device to register that number with an IMEI.
4. After the above, you have the privilege of activating the eSim for an additional $20.00 per month.

Short of this fiasco, you don't get a hotspot in your $100,000 plus car.

This can't be true...
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      12-01-2022, 09:40 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovin7er View Post
I am being told by both BMW Assist and T-Mobile that in order to activate the eSim in the 760 and get a hotspot, if you are not a pre-existing T-Mobile customer you have to:

1. Open a T-Mobile account and get a new phone number. Anywhere from $65.00 per month and up depending upon your age for unlimited plan.
2. Pull a credit report and ding your credit score
3. Buy a device to register that number with an IMEI.
4. After the above, you have the privilege of activating the eSim for an additional $20.00 per month.

Short of this fiasco, you don't get a hotspot in your $100,000 plus car.

This can't be true...
Bmw better address this right away. This is insane.
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      12-01-2022, 09:42 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovin7er View Post
I am being told by both BMW Assist and T-Mobile that in order to activate the eSim in the 760 and get a hotspot, if you are not a pre-existing T-Mobile customer you have to:

1. Open a T-Mobile account and get a new phone number. Anywhere from $65.00 per month and up depending upon your age for unlimited plan.
2. Pull a credit report and ding your credit score
3. Buy a device to register that number with an IMEI.
4. After the above, you have the privilege of activating the eSim for an additional $20.00 per month.

Short of this fiasco, you don't get a hotspot in your $100,000 plus car.

This can't be true...
Can the theater screen play dvds?
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      12-01-2022, 09:44 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by jwestfield View Post
Can the theater screen play dvds?
Haven't gotten that far, but will look and get back to you.
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      12-01-2022, 10:04 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovin7er View Post
I am being told by both BMW Assist and T-Mobile that in order to activate the eSim in the 760 and get a hotspot, if you are not a pre-existing T-Mobile customer you have to:

1. Open a T-Mobile account and get a new phone number. Anywhere from $65.00 per month and up depending upon your age for unlimited plan.
2. Pull a credit report and ding your credit score
3. Buy a device to register that number with an IMEI.
4. After the above, you have the privilege of activating the eSim for an additional $20.00 per month.

Short of this fiasco, you don't get a hotspot in your $100,000 plus car.

This can't be true...
Oh, by the way, I went to use my 31 inch screen in the back for which I paid thousands upon thousands of dollars and I got a warning that said I can't use it because the eSim is not activated.

This all must be a bad dream because it would be impossible to believe that BMW actually planned all this.
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      12-01-2022, 10:40 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovin7er View Post
I am being told by both BMW Assist and T-Mobile that in order to activate the eSim in the 760 and get a hotspot, if you are not a pre-existing T-Mobile customer you have to:

1. Open a T-Mobile account and get a new phone number. Anywhere from $65.00 per month and up depending upon your age for unlimited plan.
2. Pull a credit report and ding your credit score
3. Buy a device to register that number with an IMEI.
4. After the above, you have the privilege of activating the eSim for an additional $20.00 per month.

Short of this fiasco, you don't get a hotspot in your $100,000 plus car.

This can't be true...
Can the theater screen play dvds?


Unfortunatly the theater screen has no dvd or bluray player. It has a hdmi and usb-c connection. Those connection are behind the screen… so if you want to use it you have a cable hanging down from the screen… not very nice… it would have been better to have those connections elsewhere. I've ordered the screen too, but there is a very limited use for it, if you're unable to meet the full running condition like eSim and Amazon fire TV… Up to date no one could tell me how the screen works really…
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      12-01-2022, 12:27 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ewoody View Post
Can the theater screen play dvds?


Unfortunatly the theater screen has no dvd or bluray player. It has a hdmi and usb-c connection. Those connection are behind the screen… so if you want to use it you have a cable hanging down from the screen… not very nice… it would have been better to have those connections elsewhere. I've ordered the screen too, but there is a very limited use for it, if you're unable to meet the full running condition like eSim and Amazon fire TV… Up to date no one could tell me how the screen works really…
Actually shocking how BMW could put so much money into the media about this yet not tell and teach their staff at Corporate and Dealers anything about how any of this works.

Impressed by the car, not impressed with their implementation of something they spent so much money advertising in the media.
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      12-01-2022, 01:09 PM   #8
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Actually shocking how BMW could put so much money into the media about this yet not tell and teach their staff at Corporate and Dealers anything about how any of this works.

Impressed by the car, not impressed with their implementation of something they spent so much money advertising in the media.
And...unless I am doing something wrong...no one is watching that screen in the back while you are driving, unless the driver is 3 feet tall.

The seats are forced to go all the way forward for the screen to come out.

It's a joke.
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      12-01-2022, 01:33 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by Lovin7er View Post
And...unless I am doing something wrong...no one is watching that screen in the back while you are driving, unless the driver is 3 feet tall.

The seats are forced to go all the way forward for the screen to come out.

It's a joke.
The theater screen was a good idea in theory, and definitely a show piece to stand out, but in my opinion, besides the connectivity issues and seat placement, I find there to be a few other issues such as most content not fitting the aspect ratio, rendering most of the display useless, the sheer size being way too big in regards to how close the screen is to the passengers, it robs the car of having a proper opening sunroof, and forces lack of visibility due to the opaque rear sunshade and mirror being blocked. I also feel like most people whether they be adults or children just end up using their iPad or Laptop in the back anyways.
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      12-02-2022, 12:53 PM   #10
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I don't know how to link my screenshot but I just got done chatting with someone on the T-mobile website that says "Alright, so what I can see is that you don't have to be an existing customer to get it. But what I want to offer you as well is our SyncUP DRIVE service. You'll be able to still get wifi in your car, but also have access to diagnostic features in your car. Plus, you'll receive alerts on possible break ins and towing. This for 50GB of data will only be $50 a month, taxes included. How does that sound?" So it sounds like they have different levels of plans that you can get and they are not requiring an active cell phone line to get it. Hope that helps.
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      12-02-2022, 01:00 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Schindlers List View Post
I don't know how to link my screenshot but I just got done chatting with someone on the T-mobile website that says "Alright, so what I can see is that you don't have to be an existing customer to get it. But what I want to offer you as well is our SyncUP DRIVE service. You'll be able to still get wifi in your car, but also have access to diagnostic features in your car. Plus, you'll receive alerts on possible break ins and towing. This for 50GB of data will only be $50 a month, taxes included. How does that sound?" So it sounds like they have different levels of plans that you can get and they are not requiring an active cell phone line to get it. Hope that helps.
Thanks for this information. I called T-Mobile to better understand, and with this SyncUP Drive, they give you a little drive to put in your car with their SIM card so I don't really know why this would not the same as using your phone as a Hot Stop. This won't work to activate the eSim in the car, that needs a T-Mobile voice line.

Last edited by Lovin7er; 12-02-2022 at 01:13 PM..
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      12-02-2022, 01:19 PM   #12
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Thanks for this information. I called T-Mobile to better understand, and with this SyncUP Drive, they give you a little drive to put in your car with their SIM card so I don't really know why this would not the same as using your phone as a Hot Stop. This won't work to activate the eSim in the car, that needs a T-Mobile voice line.
Interesting, so that wont work with the BMW ESIM features then? What is the downside of using a normal drive hotspot instead of the "magenta by BMW Tmobile plan" If you used a normal hotspot drive then that opens it back up to all the carriers again since i know AT&T does something like that by Harman.
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      12-02-2022, 02:01 PM   #13
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Someone should call bmw na and tell them to address this and create a communication to all about how it works, etc.
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      12-02-2022, 02:38 PM   #14
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Someone should call bmw na and tell them to address this and create a communication to all about how it works, etc.
I have put in a complaint and asked for Senior Management involvement in this. Waiting to hear.
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      12-02-2022, 02:51 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovin7er View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovin7er View Post
I am being told by both BMW Assist and T-Mobile that in order to activate the eSim in the 760 and get a hotspot, if you are not a pre-existing T-Mobile customer you have to:

1. Open a T-Mobile account and get a new phone number. Anywhere from $65.00 per month and up depending upon your age for unlimited plan.
2. Pull a credit report and ding your credit score
3. Buy a device to register that number with an IMEI.
4. After the above, you have the privilege of activating the eSim for an additional $20.00 per month.

Short of this fiasco, you don't get a hotspot in your $100,000 plus car.

This can't be true...
Oh, by the way, I went to use my 31 inch screen in the back for which I paid thousands upon thousands of dollars and I got a warning that said I can't use it because the eSim is not activated.

This all must be a bad dream because it would be impossible to believe that BMW actually planned all this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovin7er View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovin7er View Post
I am being told by both BMW Assist and T-Mobile that in order to activate the eSim in the 760 and get a hotspot, if you are not a pre-existing T-Mobile customer you have to:

1. Open a T-Mobile account and get a new phone number. Anywhere from $65.00 per month and up depending upon your age for unlimited plan.
2. Pull a credit report and ding your credit score
3. Buy a device to register that number with an IMEI.
4. After the above, you have the privilege of activating the eSim for an additional $20.00 per month.

Short of this fiasco, you don't get a hotspot in your $100,000 plus car.

This can't be true...
Oh, by the way, I went to use my 31 inch screen in the back for which I paid thousands upon thousands of dollars and I got a warning that said I can't use it because the eSim is not activated.

This all must be a bad dream because it would be impossible to believe that BMW actually planned all this.

I feel your pain. I just paid $1300 for a new iPhone and now they're telling me I have to pay every month to send texts, make phone calls, and browse the internet. The nerve!!
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      12-02-2022, 03:41 PM   #16
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I feel your pain. I just paid $1300 for a new iPhone and now they're telling me I have to pay every month to send texts, make phone calls, and browse the internet. The nerve!!
Well, I do get your point, but I don't think your point is valid.

First, every telephone carrier in the universe requires you to pay for service such as texts, and service to make calls. This is a poor parallel.

Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty certain, at least every car that I have owned, that with other cars, (I know Mercedes for certain) that regardless of what service you had on your personal telephone, you could call a company like AT&T and get connected to their Mobile Car Connect department and for $20.00 connect your car to their service and get a mobile hotspot in your car with the car's equipment.

Your comparison is ridiculous given what BMW is requiring you to do for a hotspot. To further my point, I just got a call from BMW and they said they are setting up the other major carriers because they understand the problem, but there is no date in sight.

Last edited by Lovin7er; 12-02-2022 at 03:47 PM..
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      12-02-2022, 03:59 PM   #17
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Shame on bmw for not getting this sorted before deliveries.

This is the type of stuff they rarely focus on until several customers complain.

I hope it's addressed soon for all of you / and before my i7 arrives in February!
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      12-02-2022, 04:02 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by Lovin7er View Post
Well, I do get your point, but I don't think your point is valid.

First, every telephone carrier in the universe requires you to pay for service such as texts, and service to make calls. This is a poor parallel.

Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty certain, at least every car that I have owned, that with other cars, (I know Mercedes for certain) that regardless of what service you had on your personal telephone, you could call a company like AT&T and get connected to their Mobile Car Connect department and for $20.00 connect your car to their service and get a mobile hotspot in your car with the car's equipment.

Your comparison is ridiculous given what BMW is requiring you to do for a hotspot. To further my point, I just got a call from BMW and they said they are setting up the other major carriers because they understand the problem, but there is no date in sight.
Agree that BMW missed the mark here. Hopefully they will fix it - as soon as possible. That said, I have never felt the hotspot (even when $20 with my ATT plan) was worth it if all you have are phones that already connect to the Internet. The rear screen may mean more need unless there is a way to allow an exisiting phone to mirror to the screen.
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      12-02-2022, 04:35 PM   #19
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Agree that BMW missed the mark here. Hopefully they will fix it - as soon as possible. That said, I have never felt the hotspot (even when $20 with my ATT plan) was worth it if all you have are phones that already connect to the Internet. The rear screen may mean more need unless there is a way to allow an exisiting phone to mirror to the screen.
The even bigger problem with the rear screen, is that it can't be used while someone is driving the car because of how far forward both the seats need to be. I can tell you that they missed the mark here, because the minimum amount of distance from the screen to the the back of the seat when you put it all the way back, is huge, probably 4-6 inches. This is way too conservative. They should have figured out a way keep the seat back and the back of the screen with much closer tolerances.

At this point, unless the dealer can tell me something different, the screen is useless to me if I can't use it while I am driving.

Other than that, I don't have to tell you how great the car is. I don't know about anyone else, but all my friends and bystanders I have met, are flawed or speechless about this car and how stately it looks. I have gotten several comments that this car looks like a Rolls Royce.

Last edited by Lovin7er; 12-02-2022 at 05:36 PM..
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      12-02-2022, 05:40 PM   #20
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So quick question then, Im supposed to get mine in 1st quarter of 2023... Is the screen unable to connect to any kind of phone/ mobile hotspot then?
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      12-02-2022, 05:45 PM   #21
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So quick question then, Im supposed to get mine in 1st quarter of 2023... Is the screen unable to connect to any kind of phone/ mobile hotspot then?
I don't know yet. I did sign up today for T-Mobile and got my phone number to hook up the eSim in the car. You have a wait 24 to 48 hours for that to provision before you can try to hook up to BMW Magenta Drive.

I was also told you can buy the Amazon Fire Stick, and hook that up to your phone as a hotspot. There is a specific icon in the menu for that, but I haven't played with it yet. I am a little confused about this because I read an article that said the screen in the back is a "Fire TV" which would indicate the stick is built it.

I am going to figure this all out once I get the eSim working.

In any event, from what the dealer is telling me, there is an HDMI port, and you can hook something up there that can connect to your phone as a hotspot. I wonder if some sort of player might even work with the HDMI port?

I will report back.

Last edited by Lovin7er; 12-02-2022 at 05:54 PM..
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      12-03-2022, 06:55 AM   #22
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I played with the location of the seats yesterday and the TV screen for a while.

There is an adjustment in the settings for how close the screen is to the passengers sitting in the rear, and what the tilt of the screen can be set at.

When I put all of these settings to their absolute minimum, the position of the seat does not change. It is set so that even if you use the maximum setting for distance, and the largest tilt angel, the TV screen won't hit the back of the seat, and there is no way to get past those settings.

I think this car is amazing...so gorgeous in so many ways, the front is not the big deal everyone is making it in my opinion, but I just can't believe they did this with the screen.

I just don't understand what they think the utility of the screen is if you can't drive the car when the screen is down. It blows my mind. Such an amazing feature, yet rendered useless.

Look at this video showing the screen by BMW pay attention to the seat position in the very beginning (6-8 sec) of the video. The front edge of seat is significantly under the steering wheel and that is the best you can do.



I am going to try to get some answers from corporate.

Last edited by Lovin7er; 12-03-2022 at 08:39 AM..
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