2021 BMW Fall Technology Updates (US Market), Including iDrive7 OTA 21-07

[Jason]

BIMMERPOST NEWS

2021 BMW Fall Technology Updates (US Market)

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• Remote Software Upgrade 21-07
• Revamped BMW News app
• Digital Key now available for select Android devices
• SiriusXM Pandora Artists’ stations


Woodcliff Lake, NJ – December 16, 2021…The next levels of technology enhancements are being rolled out now to BMW customers with iDrive 7. These updates include the latest Remote Software Upgrade (version 21-07), an updated BMW News app with podcast-based news, and the addition of SiriusXM Pandora Artists’ stations.

BMW Remote Software Upgrades deliver comprehensive improvements to key vehicle functions, bring the latest digital products into the vehicle over the air, and ensure the vehicle’s software is always up to date.

Functions and Functional Improvements

Included in the latest Remote Software Upgrade are refinements to the Lane Departure

Warning feature. Sophisticated detection logic informs the vehicle when it is on a narrow road without a center marking and suppresses steering intervention. This prevents undesired steering towards the middle of the road, e.g., when there is oncoming traffic.

Real Time Traffic Information (RTTI) from BMW Maps now also processes data from congestion on turning lanes and thus provides optimized routing as well as a more accurate prediction of the arrival time.

Advanced volume control for Android smartphones connected to the vehicle via Bluetooth provides an enhanced sound experience for streaming music or podcasts.

Finally, improvements in key detection mean the driver’s profile can now be recognized even when they don’t have their key on their person; for example, if it’s in a purse or briefcase on the passenger's side or the second row of seats. This saves the trouble of having to manually select a profile before driving.

Improved Sound Experience for M3 and M4

BMW M3 and M4 drivers will be inspired by a refinement of the sound when starting the engine and clearer audio confirmation of gear changes and changes in shifting loads in vehicles equipped with the 8-speed M Steptronic gearbox. The sound characteristics can be individually configured using the engine settings Efficient / Sport / Sport Plus. A quieter drive mode can be selected with the Sound Control Button. This means that the M driving experience will be even more emotional.

New Features from Spotify and Pandora

Podcast playlists on Spotify are now available in the vehicle through BMW Connected Music. Logging in via the Spotify app in the vehicle and BMW Connected Music automatically activates this feature.

BMWs equipped with SiriusXM with 360L now offer Pandora stations, a new feature from SiriusXM that employs Pandora’s listener personalization technology and gives BMW owners the ability to customize their own ad-free music channels, so they can hear more of what they want whenever they want it.

Pandora stations can be created while a favorite artist is playing via the “Related” button on the “Now Playing” screen, or users may select “Search” to find a specific artist’s Pandora station within SiriusXM. Listeners can then give songs a thumbs up, thumbs down, or skip songs to customize the channel to play more of what they like. The newly-created Pandora station can then be saved to their SiriusXM presets or favorites for easy access whenever they want to tune in.

Pandora stations will be available in all MY2022 and later BMW models equipped with SiriusXM with 360L. BMW owners and lessees receive a 12-month subscription to the SiriusXM Platinum Plan with the purchase or lease of any new SiriusXM-equipped BMW vehicle.

Revamped BMW News App

The BMW News app has been upgraded to meet the growing desire for news-on-demand and infotainment podcasts. The key new functions are personalized, intelligent filtering of news, significantly higher audio quality and the introduction of news feeds. Accessing news will now be as easy and entertaining as listening to the radio.

With personalized news, the customer can receive news on topics of interest to them by selecting categories. Through the additional “liking” of individual posts, the intelligent app continuously learns the user’s preferences, enabling it to customize the news feed more precisely. Similar articles will start to populate the news feed based on past “likes”.

Personalized news and top news stories are now provided at higher audio quality for a convenient and pleasant listening experience. Instead of a text-to-speech program, the content is read aloud by speakers.

Through a mixture of short top news stories and longer reports, news feeds offer a more enjoyable infotainment experience. The feeds can be launched with a simple click. By integrating additional and major news providers, the updated News app provides a significantly greater variety of news reports.

BMW Digital Key now Available on select Android Devices

The second generation of the BMW Digital Key will be available for select Android operating

system-based smartphones, starting with Samsung Galaxy S21 Series and Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro.

With the BMW Digital Key, customers can easily unlock and lock their BMW simply by holding their smartphone next to the driver’s doorhandle and start the engine when the mobile device is placed in the BMW wireless charging tray. To ensure maximum ease of use and security, the BMW Digital Key is stored on the secure element of the smartphone. It can be easily configured via the My BMW app and is then available as an option for almost all new BMW models.

[b58.fazil]

Regarding the sound improvement, do you guys think it’s gonna be a fake engine noise or is gonna give us lost burbles??

[Nettles]

Mind boggling tech

[Erebor]

Originally Posted by G20B58Lover

Regarding the sound improvement, do you guys think it’s gonna be a fake engine noise or is gonna give us lost burbles??

It's fake.

[emulajavi]

21-07….. arriving on 21-12 (December)

[GOLFFRR]

curious to see how well the new real time traffic is.

[jmciver]

Originally Posted by emulajavi

21-07….. arriving on 21-12 (December)

This has been the standard practice for OTA updates for some time now. Current quarter updates are only provided by dealers for cars that come in for repairs/service that require a software update. Regular OTA updates are always a quarter behind…

[sittingmongoose]

Will this update be available for 2021 x3m? Considering it's the half idrive 7.

This isn't an ista update right?

[Roch M4]

I had already the update here in Canada in early November, I didn't notice any new features except in the app where you can now check the tire pressure. But the Alexa feature is still not working

[TEGRITY]

BMW could just give better speakers in the new M3 and M4 like a B&W rather than doing these GarageBand enhancements. Then the pumped in audio by default will be very emotional indeed.

[playswcars]

M Sound Control is purely fake and artificial. I disabled ASD as soon as I could. It's horrible.

[Merami fan]

Originally Posted by Roch M4

I had already the update here in Canada in early November, I didn't notice any new features except in the app where you can now check the tire pressure. But the Alexa feature is still not working

The tire pressure feature is actually just an app update. Works for my car which is still on 2020-07.

[cblounder]

Agree with Merami fan, I'm also still on 2020-07 and I have have the tire pressure feature of course I've been trying for several weeks to receive the next 21 update so I can eventually receive the 21-07.

[rico25]

Originally Posted by Roch M4

I had already the update here in Canada in early November, I didn't notice any new features except in the app where you can now check the tire pressure. But the Alexa feature is still not working

I'm on 21/03 here in Canada and my Alexa works perfectly, still waiting for the new update.

[warcity]

Originally Posted by Roch M4

I had already the update here in Canada in early November, I didn't notice any new features except in the app where you can now check the tire pressure. But the Alexa feature is still not working

Alexa is working for me here in Canada but it's very spotty.

[warcity]

Better back up your BimmerCode updates. This will likely override it.

[ArchJR]

If anything needs updating with lane departure, it is finding a way to prevent the car from veering off the road at exit ramps from straight highways.

[ihbase]

"This means that the M driving experience will be even more emotional."

Because people who understand and appreciate mechanical beauty will be crying at the memory of what it was like to drive without a factory-recorded soundtrack.

-Michael

[Rob_G77]

Originally Posted by ArchJR

If anything needs updating with lane departure, it is finding a way to prevent the car from veering off the road at exit ramps from straight highways.

That might happen if there's no dotted lines across the exit lane.

The X3 I had was bad for veering right 1/4 way into exits and then then veering left to stay going straight. My current X6 doesn't have that issue.

Rob