[ukshoey]

Apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere, does anyone know from when the Traffic Light Assistant feature will be integrated into new vehicles from the factory? And also if it will be available eventually as an OTA update for existing vehicles?

I have a build slot for week 40, wondering if I should try delay it.

Thanks in advance

[ifr]

Originally Posted by ukshoey

Apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere, does anyone know from when the Traffic Light Assistant feature will be integrated into new vehicles from the factory? And also if it will be available eventually as an OTA update for existing vehicles?

I have a build slot for week 40, wondering if I should try delay it.

Thanks in advance

Currently scheduled for build 11/2020 and later

Unknown on OTA. Possible, but based on BMW past attitude to retrofit of new non-subscription services, unlikely.

[ukshoey]

Originally Posted by ifr

Currently scheduled for build 11/2020 and later

Unknown on OTA. Possible, but based on BMW past attitude to retrofit of new non-subscription services, unlikely.

Thanks much appreciated.

Based on what you've said I'll ask the dealer if I can have a later build slot. Would you say week 45 onwards is a safe bet?

Are there any other updates you know off that are accompanying the traffic light assistant?

Cheers again

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by ukshoey

Thanks much appreciated.

Based on what you've said I'll ask the dealer if I can have a later build slot. Would you say week 45 onwards is a safe bet?

Are there any other updates you know off that are accompanying the traffic light assistant?

Cheers again

Reviewing other posts on Idrive versions shows that cars being delivered don't have 07/2020 but have 03/2020. And dealers don't upgrade the software automatically on delivery.

So I don't think waiting would make a difference if it is just the software.

You will have to take it in to the dealer anyway for an software upgrade. Unless you find a way to make your dealer agree to an upgrade on delivery. And even then they might say 03/2020 or 07/2020 is the latest available version. So make sure it will be 11/2020.

And second is the traffic light option so important to have ASAP? You will get it eventually anyway but later.

Unless it is a hardware feature off course.

[ifr]

Originally Posted by ukshoey

Thanks much appreciated.

Based on what you've said I'll ask the dealer if I can have a later build slot. Would you say week 45 onwards is a safe bet?

Are there any other updates you know off that are accompanying the traffic light assistant?

Cheers again

I won't comment on the build date - best speak to your dealer. It will need to have a vehicle build date in your Vehicle Order (VO) and therefore FA of 11/2020 or later.

The only updates I can see are Traffic Light Assistant/Recognition and Urban Cruise Control, which I guess goes hand-in-hand with TLA/TLR

There are no guarantees that TLA will be made available with 11/2020, although the UK seems to be one of the first regions it will be introduced in.

I've been using it for over 1k miles now and its really good, however it's not 100%. There are some complex scenarios where if there are multiple sets of lights, it will slow briefly for a set that has since changed to green if a subsequent set is on red. It's like it gets a little confused, but should be easily fixed and hopefully in i-step 11/2020.

[ifr]

Originally Posted by X5 45e

Reviewing other posts on Idrive versions shows that cars being delivered don't have 07/2020 but have 03/2020. And dealers don't upgrade the software automatically on delivery.

So I don't think waiting would make a difference if it is just the software.

You will have to take it in to the dealer anyway for an software upgrade. Unless you find a way to make your dealer agree to an upgrade on delivery. And even then they might say 03/2020 or 07/2020 is the latest available version. So make sure it will be 11/2020.

And second is the traffic light option so important to have ASAP? You will get it eventually anyway but later.

Unless it is a hardware feature off course.

That's not entirely correct. If a car is a 07/2020, or 11/2020 build, then they will be shipped with the equivalent i-step . I would suggest those vehicles delivered with 03/2020 i-step are earlier than 07/2020 builds. Delivery date does not equate to build date, which is why I always advise buyers to check their VIN against mdecoder before delivery.

Think about it. Newer MY have different hardware. New ATM(v2 vs v1), radar (short and long range), etc. The newer i-step contains the coding and software to support the newer hardware. Without it, the hardware won't work, and that's what would happen if a car was shipped without the correct i-step to match its build version.

The features that are enabled on a car are determined by the i-step version, the build version, the model options in the Vehicle Order and order certificates in the car. There is nothing in the current (07/2020) i-step to suggest BMW will be make TLA available to earlier builds. As it stands only cars with VO build of 11/2020 and later plus DAP, will get it.

The following regions are explicitly excluded from TLA and will not get the feature even if they have DAP and a VO build of 11/2020+: All US 'type' models, China, Gulf, Japan, Korea, Australia, India, Brazil, Turkey, HK, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan. Also, if the VO/FA includes either of the blocking Option codes '8LK' & '8LR' then the feature will be disabled.

This could change, but they never made ADV available and that's much simpler and safer to implement than TLA so why would they take the risk? It also encourages new car sales by keeping newer features for new MY.

When they announced TLA in June last year, they did say it could be rolled out to previous MY OTA, I just don't expect them to follow through on that. Hopefully I am wrong, but no sign of it in the coding.

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by ifr

That's not entirely correct. If a car is a 07/2020, or 11/2020 build, then they will be shipped with the equivalent i-step . I would suggest those vehicles delivered with 03/2020 i-step are earlier than 07/2020 builds. Delivery date does not equate to build date, which is why I always advise buyers to check their VIN against mdecoder before delivery.

Think about it. Newer MY have different hardware. New ATM(v2 vs v1), radar (short and long range), etc. The newer i-step contains the coding and software to support the newer hardware. Without it, the hardware won't work, and that's what would happen if a car was shipped without the correct i-step to match its build version.

The features that are enabled on a car are determined by the i-step version, the build version, the model options in the Vehicle Order and order certificates in the car. There is nothing in the current (07/2020) i-step to suggest BMW will be make TLA available to earlier builds. As it stands only cars with VO build of 11/2020 and later plus DAP, will get it.

The following regions are explicitly excluded from TLA and will not get the feature even if they have DAP and a VO build of 11/2020+: All US 'type' models, China, Gulf, Japan, Korea, Australia, India, Brazil, Turkey, HK, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan. Also, if the VO/FA includes either of the blocking Option codes '8LK' & '8LR' then the feature will be disabled.

This could change, but they never made ADV available and that's much simpler and safer to implement than TLA so why would they take the risk? It also encourages new car sales by keeping newer features for new MY.

When they announced TLA in June last year, they did say it could be rolled out to previous MY OTA, I just don't expect them to follow through on that. Hopefully I am wrong, but no sign of it in the coding.

Ok thanks for the info. Then my comment is not correct at all. If there is difference in hardware and not only software it would be reasonable to wait a few weeks for MY 2021.

Aren't the currently build already MY 2021?

Mine was build 11/2019 and still delivered with 07/2019. And current deliveries are delivered with 03/2020 if I see the reactions here.

[ifr]

Originally Posted by X5 45e

Ok thanks for the info. So if there is difference in hardware and not only software it would be reasonable to wait a few weeks for MY 2021.

Aren't the currently build already MY 2021?

All builds that have a VO date of 07/2020 and later are MY21. That doesn't mean there won't be changes in hardware/software configuration within that MY, TLA being a good example of a software change.

I don't know specifically what the hardware changes are, if any, for MY21 but there are some odd coding changes. For example, the music HDD as used on MY20 and earlier, is switched off on MY21, suggesting they've moved to a different platform or removed entirely.

In theory, even if OP got a 07-10/2020 build car they could upgrade to i-step 11/2020 and code the changes to enable TLA. Much easier to get a build made for it though, and there is a small risk that an earlier build won't have hardware to support the feature.

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by ifr

That's not entirely correct. If a car is a 07/2020, or 11/2020 build, then they will be shipped with the equivalent i-step . I would suggest those vehicles delivered with 03/2020 i-step are earlier than 07/2020 builds. Delivery date does not equate to build date, which is why I always advise buyers to check their VIN against mdecoder before delivery.

Think about it. Newer MY have different hardware. New ATM(v2 vs v1), radar (short and long range), etc. The newer i-step contains the coding and software to support the newer hardware. Without it, the hardware won't work, and that's what would happen if a car was shipped without the correct i-step to match its build version.

The features that are enabled on a car are determined by the i-step version, the build version, the model options in the Vehicle Order and order certificates in the car. There is nothing in the current (07/2020) i-step to suggest BMW will be make TLA available to earlier builds. As it stands only cars with VO build of 11/2020 and later plus DAP, will get it.

The following regions are explicitly excluded from TLA and will not get the feature even if they have DAP and a VO build of 11/2020+: All US 'type' models, China, Gulf, Japan, Korea, Australia, India, Brazil, Turkey, HK, Mexico, Singapore and Taiwan. Also, if the VO/FA includes either of the blocking Option codes '8LK' & '8LR' then the feature will be disabled.

This could change, but they never made ADV available and that's much simpler and safer to implement than TLA so why would they take the risk? It also encourages new car sales by keeping newer features for new MY.

When they announced TLA in June last year, they did say it could be rolled out to previous MY OTA, I just don't expect them to follow through on that. Hopefully I am wrong, but no sign of it in the coding.

Are you sure about that? My car was build 13/11/2019 according to VIN decoder but it had idrive 07/2019. And many others having there cars in jan/feb were still on 07/2019 if I see the reactions over here.

Or is 03/2020 build not the same as the production month but a software version name?

[ifr]

Originally Posted by X5 45e

Are you sure about that? My car was build 13/11/2019 according to VIN decoder but it had idrive 07/2019. And many others having there cars in jan/feb were still on 07/2019 if I see the reactions over here.

Or is 03/2020 build not the same as the production month but a software version name?

It should align via vin decoder but can't guarantee it. The only way to be sure will be to check the FA on your car which will need access to esys.

That's what the car reads when doing an i-step upgrade and thats what determines what is coded on the car by 'default'.

For example, if you had an i-step of say 03/2020 but your build date in FA was 11/2020 then that would be messed up e.g. it would setup idrive 'menu' coding options to enable TLA if applicable, but the i-step wouldn't support it so it wouldn't work when selected in the menu. Just an example, but the principles the same. The i-step version (not idrive, that is a specific ECU - HU_MGU), must be at least as recent as the build version but can be newer of course.

In theory you could have a situation where the i-step is older than the build version but it shouldnt happen from factory. Another example is the active PDC brake on flank. It seems to use newer hardware at the rear/side and is coded as such. If the build version and i-step didnt match there would be problems.

This is an example of the under the hood coding the car uses to configure the TLA feature:

XPath=boolean(//cat[@val<"128"][crit[@val=3248]]) and boolean(//cat[@val="255"][crit[@val>=2011]]) and not(boolean(//cat[@val<"128"][crit[@val=186]])

That basically means if the car has DAP (3248) AND build version is >= 11/2020.x and the car is not one of a long list of exceptions (i abbreviated it, 186 = US type) then enable TLA.

This boolean logic changes between i-step and also the underlying code in the software changes to be able to support an active feature, including bug fixes.

Caveat: this is how it should and normally works. We know there have been issues that are resolved with later i-step updates, which has been presumed to be because of bug fixes. Perhaps some are because BMW messed up at the factory?

[ifr]

Originally Posted by X5 45e

Mine was build 11/2019 and still delivered with 07/2019. And current deliveries are delivered with 03/2020 if I see the reactions here.

To address the edited part of your post.

Looking at the screenshots of some of the recent deliveries, they look to me to be earlier than 07/2020 builds as the smart access version is 1.0. The coding for 1.5 has been around for sometime but is only enabled if the cars build date is 07/2020 and later, so no I don't think their build dates are 07/2020 and the i-step they received at delivery is correct, if not the latest.

Sometime BMW will ensure that the earlier i-step has different coding boolean to deal with specific scenarios, but in the case of TLA and Smart Access, it's been pretty static for sometime.

[Oniongc]

Not sure if this helps or not but I now have the option in connected drive to add TLA for 25$ for 15 months.
It's a MY 2019 330i

[ifr]

Originally Posted by Oniongc

Not sure if this helps or not but I now have the option in connected drive to add TLA for 25$ for 15 months.
It's a MY 2019 330i

Good info.

Can you screenshot the option/description please?

Would be interesting if BMW plan on making it available on the G05 too at some point.

$25 is cheap! Are you sure it's not the Traffic Camera Info option?

[Oniongc]

@ifr

You are correct it is the traffic camera info option. Sorry for the confusion.

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by ifr

To address the edited part of your post.

Looking at the screenshots of some of the recent deliveries, they look to me to be earlier than 07/2020 builds as the smart access version is 1.0. The coding for 1.5 has been around for sometime but is only enabled if the cars build date is 07/2020 and later, so no I don't think their build dates are 07/2020 and the i-step they received at delivery is correct, if not the latest.

Sometime BMW will ensure that the earlier i-step has different coding boolean to deal with specific scenarios, but in the case of TLA and Smart Access, it's been pretty static for sometime.

Yes the current deliveries are probably delayed so produced much earlier than delivered. Especially for Europe. Getting the car here takes weeks and some were stuck in the US because of corona.

But my specific case: production 13/11/2019. 11/2019 was available but still delivered in Belgium 23/12/2019 with 07/2019.

No big deal for me. I was update to 03/2020 in March. But it looks like they don't always put the most recent available software on the produced cars.

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by ifr

It should align via vin decoder but can't guarantee it. The only way to be sure will be to check the FA on your car which will need access to esys.

That's what the car reads when doing an i-step upgrade and thats what determines what is coded on the car by 'default'.

For example, if you had an i-step of say 03/2020 but your build date in FA was 11/2020 then that would be messed up e.g. it would setup idrive 'menu' coding options to enable TLA if applicable, but the i-step wouldn't support it so it wouldn't work when selected in the menu. Just an example, but the principles the same. The i-step version (not idrive, that is a specific ECU - HU_MGU), must be at least as recent as the build version but can be newer of course.

In theory you could have a situation where the i-step is older than the build version but it shouldnt happen from factory. Another example is the active PDC brake on flank. It seems to use newer hardware at the rear/side and is coded as such. If the build version and i-step didnt match there would be problems.

This is an example of the under the hood coding the car uses to configure the TLA feature:

XPath=boolean(//cat[@val<"128"][crit[@val=3248]]) and boolean(//cat[@val="255"][crit[@val>=2011]]) and not(boolean(//cat[@val<"128"][crit[@val=186]])

That basically means if the car has DAP (3248) AND build version is >= 11/2020.x and the car is not one of a long list of exceptions (i abbreviated it, 186 = US type) then enable TLA.

This boolean logic changes between i-step and also the underlying code in the software changes to be able to support an active feature, including bug fixes.

Caveat: this is how it should and normally works. We know there have been issues that are resolved with later i-step updates, which has been presumed to be because of bug fixes. Perhaps some are because BMW messed up at the factory?

Thanks for taking the time trying to explain but I am not into coding and it is not in my field of work (by far).

Just out of curiosity what is the difference between Istep and Idrive? I have come across this term several times.

What does FA mean?

Idrive I understand off course.

[ifr]

Originally Posted by X5 45e

Thanks for taking the time trying to explain but I am not into coding and it is not in my field of work (by far).

Just out of curiosity what is the difference between Istep and Idrive? I have come across this term several times.

What does FA mean?

Idrive I understand off course.

I'm not 100% they get it right every-time now you mention it. It's BMW after all

i-step is the software version for the whole car, so covering all ECU's of which one is the Head Unit (i-drive). When the i-step is updated all applicable ECU have first, the software upgraded, and then each ECU is coded against the FA.

The FA is the german language translation of Vehicle Order. It's the cars factory configuration and can be exported to an XML file and includes the type, region, build version, model, options, battery type etc. When the ECU coding takes place, either during i-step upgrade or during a VO Coding by us dodgy coders, it updates the ECU codes based on the FA. If the FA has been modified the different coding comes into effect.

[ifr]

Originally Posted by Oniongc

@ifr

You are correct it is the traffic camera info option. Sorry for the confusion.

No worries thanks for confirming.

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by ifr

I'm not 100% they get it right every-time now you mention it. It's BMW after all

i-step is the software version for the whole car, so covering all ECU's of which one is the Head Unit (i-drive). When the i-step is updated all applicable ECU have first, the software upgraded, and then each ECU is coded against the FA.

The FA is the german language translation of Vehicle Order. It's the cars factory configuration and can be exported to an XML file and includes the type, region, build version, model, options, battery type etc. When the ECU coding takes place, either during i-step upgrade or during a VO Coding by us dodgy coders, it updates the ECU codes based on the FA. If the FA has been modified the different coding comes into effect.

Thanks for explaining. that's clear.

[ukshoey]

Thanks guys, very informative.

I think I'll stick to the original week 40 build slot. With there being no guarantee that a week 45/46 build slot will have the TLA I'd rather just have the vehicle sooner. Slightly frustrating though that the vehicle will probably have the necessary hardware but not the software; it is what it is I guess.

The 'problem' I find with these modern cars is that they are updated so frequently that you could wait for a particular feature to be released only to realise at the time of the release that another new great feature is just around the corner!

There was a time when you only had to worry about a mid-life facelift!

[ifr]

Originally Posted by ukshoey

Thanks guys, very informative.

I think I'll stick to the original week 40 build slot. With there being no guarantee that a week 45/46 build slot will have the TLA I'd rather just have the vehicle sooner. Slightly frustrating though that the vehicle will probably have the necessary hardware but not the software; it is what it is I guess.

The 'problem' I find with these modern cars is that they are updated so frequently that you could wait for a particular feature to be released only to realise at the time of the release that another new great feature is just around the corner!

There was a time when you only had to worry about a mid-life facelift!

Personally, knowing what I know, I'd be asking my dealer if there are any changes coming with the November 2020 construction date vehicles.

I delayed buying an F15 in the past as Traffic Jam Assist was being released for later builds. If the dealer confirms TLA is coming I'd wait.

Which dealer are you ordering with? I know Pendragon (Stratstone BMW) e making 1800 redundant so your sales rep might not be around if using them.

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by ukshoey

Thanks guys, very informative.

I think I'll stick to the original week 40 build slot. With there being no guarantee that a week 45/46 build slot will have the TLA I'd rather just have the vehicle sooner. Slightly frustrating though that the vehicle will probably have the necessary hardware but not the software; it is what it is I guess.

The 'problem' I find with these modern cars is that they are updated so frequently that you could wait for a particular feature to be released only to realise at the time of the release that another new great feature is just around the corner!

There was a time when you only had to worry about a mid-life facelift!

That is a bit like buying the latest iPhone. Once it is available it Europe the rumours about a newer one start to emerge.

Except you can buy a new iPhone every year.

Well you can also buy a new X5 every year depending on your wallet.