I just picked up my new car. It's a fairly basic BMW 3 series Business Edition. But I am absolutely amazed at just how 'connected' these new cars are. So I thought I would ask the question to see just how 'connected' your cars are.
To put this into context, the Bus Edition of the car comes with Sat Nav but also with something called Connected Drive and BMW Online (I'm guessing at these names at the moment from memory so apologies if they are wrong). After registration you get features such as:
Dynamic Routing of Sat Nav based on TMC Traffic info but also additional info fed in through a BMW data Service (This in itself I appreciated is fairly standard these days with the higher end Tom Tom et al).
Remote Door Unlocking - Locked your keys in your car? Call BMW Help Line and they can remotely unlock the doors for you
Trip Assist - Call line which takes your GPS Position and is kind of a concierge makeing bookings etc - They also look for destinations for you and download a new route to your vehicle
Basic Widgets - Similar to those available on newer TVs, seems fairly limited to Weather (based on location), News (Based upoin RSS feeds you configure) and a basic Google Search which returns a Map, Address and Telephone Number
SOS - When involved in an accident a call centre call you to ensure you are OK, deploying medical or roadside assistance if required (This sounds similar to the US GM service, On Star is it?) - There is also an SOS button for driver to press in the event of an emergency
Service Assist - This seems to tell you when your car needs servicing, then book you in automatically at your local dealer - There are also some other features such as graphically showing you tyre pressure status, oil dip stick level (The Dip stick has been removed from the engine bay).
Advanced Route Planning - Plan your route online then download your trips to the car.
I am sure there are more.
So as I am a total gadgetphile this really interests me. What other features do your cars have in them?
Paul
To put this into context, the Bus Edition of the car comes with Sat Nav but also with something called Connected Drive and BMW Online (I'm guessing at these names at the moment from memory so apologies if they are wrong). After registration you get features such as:
Dynamic Routing of Sat Nav based on TMC Traffic info but also additional info fed in through a BMW data Service (This in itself I appreciated is fairly standard these days with the higher end Tom Tom et al).
Remote Door Unlocking - Locked your keys in your car? Call BMW Help Line and they can remotely unlock the doors for you
Trip Assist - Call line which takes your GPS Position and is kind of a concierge makeing bookings etc - They also look for destinations for you and download a new route to your vehicle
Basic Widgets - Similar to those available on newer TVs, seems fairly limited to Weather (based on location), News (Based upoin RSS feeds you configure) and a basic Google Search which returns a Map, Address and Telephone Number
SOS - When involved in an accident a call centre call you to ensure you are OK, deploying medical or roadside assistance if required (This sounds similar to the US GM service, On Star is it?) - There is also an SOS button for driver to press in the event of an emergency
Service Assist - This seems to tell you when your car needs servicing, then book you in automatically at your local dealer - There are also some other features such as graphically showing you tyre pressure status, oil dip stick level (The Dip stick has been removed from the engine bay).
Advanced Route Planning - Plan your route online then download your trips to the car.
I am sure there are more.
So as I am a total gadgetphile this really interests me. What other features do your cars have in them?
Paul
