[sarpal123]

I see that new X5 orders now have a Personal eSIM as a standard option (it wasn't an option in May 2023). Does anyone know why this is now included?

[six]

It’s so you can use your own SIM in order to create a WiFi hotspot or to provide data for apps like the YouTube app now included in 8.5.

You can either link an eSIM to your carrier, if supported, or put a physical SIM in the wireless card reader and link it to the car.

My carrier isn’t supported so I’ve put a physical SIM in the card reader and gone that way. You can choose if it’s voice and data or data only use. I’ve got it mainly so I can watch YouTube on the iDrive screen when killing time in the car, it’s actually a pretty cool feature.

In my old X5 I never used the WiFi as the T-Mobile data plan prices were steep and very limited, this way is much better.

[sarpal123]

Originally Posted by six

...You can either link an eSIM to your carrier, if supported, or put a physical SIM in the wireless card reader and link it to the car.

My carrier isn’t supported so I’ve put a physical SIM in the card reader and gone that way. You can choose if it’s voice and data or data only use...

Thanks, just the info I was looking for. I suspect that my carrier doesn't support 2 eSIMs on the same account and I can't justify buying a data plan just for the car...

[six]

Originally Posted by sarpal123

Thanks, just the info I was looking for. I suspect that my carrier doesn't support 2 eSIMs on the same account and I can't justify buying a data plan just for the car...

Yes, this is the problem. I think support for carriers who allow a second eSIM to tap into your phone bundle are thin on the ground.

But at least this way you can pick up your own data SIM and use that, a lot better than the old way where you had to subscribe to BMW’s carriers and plans

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by six

Yes, this is the problem. I think support for carriers who allow a second eSIM to tap into your phone bundle are thin on the ground.

But at least this way you can pick up your own data SIM and use that, a lot better than the old way where you had to subscribe to BMW’s carriers and plans

And you need BMW to support it aka the carrier. I haven't pursued it yet for the wife's 2024 40i as according to the documentation it requires for us on T-Mobile their Magenta plan and some Connected Drive add-on from T-Mobile. The problem is my wife is a 20-year plus T-Mobile customer and our cellphones are tied to a grandfathered plan that is better than Magenta at a lower cost. Same no limit data and not throttled whatsoever plus lower cost for additional lines.

I may pursue an additional SIM just for the car and see if T-Mobile will consider that another line and charge us $10 a month for it. If so not worth it as anytime we're in the 40i together we have both of our Pixels (I've set the profiles so depending on the driver Profile only one connects to the car) and if solo always a Pixel with that individual.

The upside to eSIM or a physical SIM is you can get calls or data without a cellphone in the car. Or as stated set it to data only.