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      06-09-2019, 11:43 AM   #1
Marty in NY
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What negative impact occurs if G05 SIM card is removed?

Just thinking about all the posts with iDrive and BMW Connect issues and wondered.. .. If an owners car is running ok, I mean all the things work as intended that the owner wants to use, can they remove the SIM card at that point and stop getting automatic and unannounced communication from BMW that fixes one thing, changes another and breaks something that was working.. .. i.e.: freeze the car in a working state and leave it that way. Possible? Insane or?
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      06-09-2019, 11:47 AM   #2
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Interesting question. I was separately going to also ask where that (or those) SIM cards are located and accessible to owners?
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      06-09-2019, 12:01 PM   #3
Marty in NY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LexxM3 View Post
Interesting question. I was separately going to also ask where that (or those) SIM cards are located and accessible to owners?
Yeah, AustinV got me to thinking when he said in another post..." I already compared this fake "CarPlay subscription" concept to taking yearly fee for using massage seats."

I really don't like the idea of my stuff (car, phone, puter, etc) being remotely controlled by someone, something else. I never turn on auto updates on any of my electronic stuff. I am usually deliberately a rev behind on any of my operating systems and enjoy a pretty dang stable environment.

What AustinV said resonated with me and started wondering if there was a way to stop it or somehow put some personal control around it.

I know your phone needs it to communicate with your car so you would lose certain features like the ability to remotely control aspects of your car via your phone, but for those who don't see that capability as required or of value, maybe they could gain stability instead. Sure once you are able to remotely control your car, you may fall in love with that and not want to lose it...I mean who wants to go back to cranking up their windows?? But if its a trade off between a few conveniences, that you did not have before, and reliability, well, what if?
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      06-09-2019, 12:04 PM   #4
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All good points. No need to justify to me and I design these kinds of products for a living. Individual choice and control above all. Now how to do it?
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      06-09-2019, 12:23 PM   #5
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And loose and potentially break all of all of the other Connected IT functionality like telematics - nav updates, traffic updates, SOS? Warranty liability?

Nah, but someone else knock yourselves out and feel free to find out.

SIM is probably located in the head control until.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...ces/1VnYpwIs96
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      06-09-2019, 12:44 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Auricom View Post
And loose and potentially break all of all of the other Connected IT functionality like telematics - nav updates, traffic updates, SOS? Warranty liability?

Nah, but someone else knock yourselves out and feel free to find out.

SIM is probably located in the head control until.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...ces/1VnYpwIs96
Also good points. These are complex systems, need to tread carefully.

For the record, being based in Canada and having my wifi hotspot services apparently provides by US AT&T for some reason (AT&T does not have a presence in Canada at all except in roaming partnerships), at fairly ridiculous prices even by Canadian standards, and in USD$ to top it all off, I already asked my dealer to figure that out and to tell me how to change the SIM card — nothing yet and I am not holding my breath, but the complaint is logged. I do know that the phone number assigned to the SIM card is, in fact, local, which is interesting.

Anyway, that was a good pointer. This probably gets us closer from the top: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/g...one-most-ring/
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      01-17-2021, 09:20 AM   #7
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I have the same problem. Can i change the sim card with a local one to have a reasonal internet package and have the same functionality
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      01-17-2021, 10:30 AM   #8
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welp i can tell you what happens: We had a terrorist blow up the AT&T building in Nashville on Christmas day and all of the telematics in the car was knocked out. No navigation (you had to manually type in the physical address), no BMW assistant, no weather/news apps, no connected drive features. I would not recommend you removing the sim card.
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      01-17-2021, 04:22 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by melfiky1960 View Post
I have the same problem. Can i change the sim card with a local one to have a reasonal internet package and have the same functionality
There is no SIM "Card" that user can change.
I believe it uses a SIM module which is not user accessible.
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      01-17-2021, 07:41 PM   #10
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Many things today use what amounts to an electronic SIM, so there's no physical 'card' to change.

While I think map updates may happen without your permission, the software updates don't appear to...you have to tell it to start an update.
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      01-18-2021, 04:13 PM   #11
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I am also curious to know what I would lose if I do not extend the data connection beyond the complementary stage.

If I continue using it, I would want to switch it from AT&T to a different service provider.
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      01-21-2021, 11:24 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiefOne View Post
I am also curious to know what I would lose if I do not extend the data connection beyond the complementary stage.

If I continue using it, I would want to switch it from AT&T to a different service provider.
I second that. Want to understand what functionality is lost if you don't subscribe to ATT. I think it's $20 per month in the US for ATT customers for unlim and $10 per month for mobile share (which may be all you need). Not too bad, but still a bit annoying that some functionality depends on this additional service
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      01-21-2021, 11:39 AM   #13
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Not sure if different in the US, but the only difference it makes in the UK when you subscribe to the monthly in-car data package is that you get to connect your phone/devices to the car's wifi and use the internet. Thats it.

Any other feature that you have paid for on the Connected Drive store (online music for example) will still work, even without taking the monthly data subscription.
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      01-21-2021, 01:57 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mobilejo View Post
Not sure if different in the US, but the only difference it makes in the UK when you subscribe to the monthly in-car data package is that you get to connect your phone/devices to the car's wifi and use the internet. Thats it.

Any other feature that you have paid for on the Connected Drive store (online music for example) will still work, even without taking the monthly data subscription.
Thank you-so the BMW Assistant and traffic info, for example, are still active?
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      01-21-2021, 02:00 PM   #15
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I don't think it's that big of an issue for the nav part.

BMW navigation maps are really far behind. If you lose connection, that's what Apple CarPlay or Android Auto are for. With those options, you really can get by without the BMW stuff.
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      01-21-2021, 03:40 PM   #16
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I do not believe that there's an actual sim card in the BMW...it's an e-sim, and without the right equipment, you would not be able to recode it. That's not something a cellular company would normally be able to do, and if they did, you'd have to probably remove the box and then have some way to power it in their office.
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      01-21-2021, 05:12 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LexxM3 View Post
For the record, being based in Canada and having my wifi hotspot services apparently provides by US AT&T for some reason (AT&T does not have a presence in Canada at all except in roaming partnerships), at fairly ridiculous prices even by Canadian standards, and in USD$ to top it all off, I already asked my dealer to figure that out and to tell me how to change the SIM card — nothing yet and I am not holding my breath, but the complaint is logged. I do know that the phone number assigned to the SIM card is, in fact, local, which is interesting.
Did your free wifi actually expire and stop working or are you planning ahead?
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      01-22-2021, 12:56 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ggalanis View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by LexxM3 View Post
For the record, being based in Canada and having my wifi hotspot services apparently provides by US AT&T for some reason (AT&T does not have a presence in Canada at all except in roaming partnerships), at fairly ridiculous prices even by Canadian standards, and in USD$ to top it all off, I already asked my dealer to figure that out and to tell me how to change the SIM card — nothing yet and I am not holding my breath, but the complaint is logged. I do know that the phone number assigned to the SIM card is, in fact, local, which is interesting.
Did your free wifi actually expire and stop working or are you planning ahead?
You're quoting my post from June 2019 — many things have happened since :-). Yes, the trial expired (that wasn't a surprise). I have used AT&T subscription service for a month at a time a couple of times — expensive and pain in the ass to manage as you always have to call them and wait on hold for account cleanup. I never found the car's SIM card (but really didn't look very hard) and never got any comments from BMW on it (as expected: it's beneath BMW to answer customer questions at all or ever in Canada). I have a separate 12V socket-powered (configured to turn on/off with the car, minor soldering was involved) LTE hotspot with a SIM card connected to my household shared data plan that I can use when I need wifi in the car, but that is actually currently fairly rare — it would be more if I could get an Alexa device (other than Echo Auto, which is crap) to work in the car, but that can't be made to work because iDrive will no longer (since, it seems, 03/2019.xx software) Bluetooth pair with anything other than a real smartphone. That's all I got.
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      01-22-2021, 05:08 AM   #19
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The 4G SIM, of whatever type, is in the TCU directly under the shark fin on the roof. Stolen cars in containers waiting at the docks are often found with the headlining ripped down and this component removed, to prevent tracking by BMW.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=84_1271

I'm surprised I can't find a picture of the insides of one of these. However, I'm pretty sure there'll be a SIM in a slot, maybe welded in a slot, that could be disabled. The part is far too old to have an eSIM, like you find in recent iPhones etc.
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      01-22-2021, 07:22 AM   #20
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I'm a little surprised that by now, since the G05 has been out for a few years, no one has posted here that they tried pulling the Telematics module and attempted to find and/or replace the SIM. Yeah, I know, its above the headliner and a PITA to do but I'm sure a determined owner could easily do it.
Possibly even if the SIM could be replaced with one from their favorite provider, it wouldn't work, like a provider locked phone for example or for some other reason and I'm only referencing cars within AT&T's reach. BMW had to provide for several different cellular providers around the world, somehow I'm of the opinion that 99% of the Telematics modules are the same and its only the SIM that tells them apart, provider by provider. But, what do I know?
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      01-22-2021, 08:58 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty in NY View Post
I'm a little surprised that by now, since the G05 has been out for a few years, no one has posted here that they tried pulling the Telematics module and attempted to find and/or replace the SIM. Yeah, I know, its above the headliner and a PITA to do but I'm sure a determined owner could easily do it.
Possibly even if the SIM could be replaced with one from their favorite provider, it wouldn't work, like a provider locked phone for example or for some other reason and I'm only referencing cars within AT&T's reach. BMW had to provide for several different cellular providers around the world, somehow I'm of the opinion that 99% of the Telematics modules are the same and its only the SIM that tells them apart, provider by provider. But, what do I know?
Even if it were doable, would the juice be worth the squeeze? It won't give the car extra features that aren't booked in the Connected Drive store will it? I'm under the impression it will only mean the car can be used as a wifi hotspot for other devices to access the internet without paying the monthly data subscription to BMW.

If thats the case, you could surely just use your own device (mobile phone, portable hotspot, etc) as a hotspot for your other devices to connect to?
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      01-22-2021, 09:03 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mobilejo View Post
Even if it were doable, would the juice be worth the squeeze? It won't give the car extra features that aren't booked in the Connected Drive store will it?
My personal interest would only be to put the car on the same provider and plan I'm currently on, which is not AT&T.
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