yes and no... only because the other side coin is yes you pay for enhanced features, and the standard features stay with the car as long as technically capable, no more 4 year trial then paying early for it all... and every other manufacturer has been doing this for years, we just upped the ante by offering more standard.

I got Idrive 9 on my car (built in Nov 2023) and I wish I had Idrive 8 since the new Idrive 9 is very laggy. Takes a long time to load, it forget regularly the precious settings (for instance I set to display the consumption on the cluster and randomly after restarting the car it is not showed). The Apple Car Play is continuously loosing connection after 3-4 minutes (cable or wireless). The dealer didn't manage to fix while the car was in service for about 1 Month changing 2 times the "MGU" stuff. Finally the response is that they wait for an update from factory. Today I'm 3 months and nothing probably until beginning of May. I've research deeper about the new platform Idrive 9 (Android Based). Since they switched from Linux (Idrive 8) to Android Based (Idrive 9) they had to train or replace entire teams of software developers and as a result the quality of the new Idrive 9 is very poor. Since their focus is to release the new models on this platform (New Mini and New Coutryman), everything is delayed like issues on existing cars.

@@hallcero wish i had an answer for that one…. But I’ve got nothing :( i guess one could argue preconditioning is camping mode

???? Automatic heating/cooling is part of auto climate… nothing paid….

@@BMWofFW AUTOMATICALLY activating the heated and cooled SEATS based on outside temperature

It will not, only because the base system is completely different, 8.5 being Linux and 9 being android automotive, it’s like telling a Mac to become a PC.

Very bad example. Yea a Mac can run windows. BMW has never updated their idrive. They don’t really care about already sold cars.

SO you can turn it off, it’s in drive settings and under the drivetrain and chassis… but instead of a button saying outright auto start stop it’s a line about 4 down that says Deactivate auto start stop, and you tap that do turn off (when off it will instead say Activate auto start stop_) I’ll run out to our idrive 9 car now to get the exact verbiage for you.

Not yet… still running 8.5

I can do one tonight if you want…

@@BMWofFW look forward to it, I work nights here in the UK, and enjoy learning about the new idrive 8.5 and 9 systems. Kevin

Have been pulled out of work tonight so won't be able to join in..but my question was going to be about native music apps, and if they will give us something else other than Spotify. Kevin

Competition doesn’t include anything… why do you think I’m making such a big deal out of the standard stuff now…

English is my 3rd language so yes