BMW ConnectedDrive outage & connected car app disasters

BMWappreviewsAfter our article, yesterday, explaining that BMW’s web/mobile interface has vulnerabilities that could be hacked, a few hours later BMW’s web portal was reported down. A BMW i3 owner in the UK reported that he has been unable to register for BMW’s ConnectedDrive service since July 19, continually receiving error messages. The outage is due to a system update in the UK and Europe. In the meantime BMW’s apps on Google Play have some of the worst user reviews, we’ve seen.

BMW apps are important for BMW i3 owners because they are electric and apps help owners know how much juice is left in their batteries, how much longer they can drive on a charge and  find charging stations.

The owner received an email from tech support

” I am sorry that you have been experiencing difficulties with the ConnectedDrive application process. BMW (UK) Ltd are aware that there is currently a major outage issue and they are doing everything they can to resolve this matter.’

A BMW executive told the BMW driver that  BMW UK was updating its systems that have been in place for seven years. BMW in Germany is also migrating all the data from the old system to the new one, which affected the website. BMW does not know when the situation will be resolved.

BMW’s ConnectedDrive app allows an owner to pair a smartphone with in-car systems. The My BMW app allows for some remote functions from a smartphone.

In America, there are complaints on the Google Play Store for My BMW Remote that say:

“Downloaded the latest version and it’s not even letting me log in. Have called BMW Assist and they will report to their technical dept….Blablabla. I find it very frustrating to not take advantage of this app even though it is advertised to work on both iPhone and Android. 1 Star rating until this issue is fixed.”

There were also reviews in July that state that BMW app does not work with Android 4.4 or Nexus 5. The Android app also does not unlock the doors.

The BMW Connected app is rated 1.8 with 154 reviews with one star, comments note that it doesn’t work with  the Samsung Galaxy S4 or Note 3. One reviewer noted that he paid $44k for for a 2014 x1 and the app doesn’t work. There are many notations that the app does not work with a Nexus  5,

The MY BMW app for iPhone is rated 1.5 out of 5 stars on iTunes with phrases such as horrible, waste, not working and it lets doors unlock but not lock.  The BMW Connected app is called nonsense and has an average rating of 2.5 on iTunes.  As recently as June 5, it was not working with iOS 7. Many comments center on paying $50-60K for a car and not having the app work.

The BMW Wireless app has only one review with a four star rating on iTunes.

The BMW ConnectedDrive infotainment system received medium ratings from SBD with Tesla and Nissan as the highest rated. A study in by Machina Research rated BMW as one of the most sophiscated system.