# BMW Activate Real-Time Traffic Information



## 650SilverBullet (Mar 6, 2021)

Hello BMW family, I wanted to share this post and start a conversation around RTTI . As my RTTI updates have just stopped working as of February 2021 I tried to do some research as to what was going on. My first stop of course was BMW, and they informed me based on my car (2015 650i Xdrive) BMW has just started disconnecting the 3G cell towers that feed the traffic updates to your car and moving to the new 5G cell towers. This will now affect all cars from 2016 and older. This is very upsetting considering my daily commute into the office, now I feel like I'm traveling blind with no advance warning of traffic jams or accidents down the road. My first question to BMW was, is there a fix to allow connectivity to continue...i.e. (can the old cell receiver be changed out or upgraded to the newer cell connection modules.) Well the answer I got was a resounding NO!......This was very disappointing considering the outstanding brand and reputation BMW has. Why is this such a difficult issue for what seems to be a simple engineering upgrade. I would love to here thoughts and suggestions.....


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

I have the upgraded 3G-4G TCU from when 2G was obsoleted by the networks, and it works fine so far.


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## 650SilverBullet (Mar 6, 2021)

Hi Doug, are you saying the 3G-4G TCU will work to fix this problem? When I try to renew my ConnecDrive subscription they tie it to my vehicle VIN, which will show a 2015 vehicle they no longer support. How did you get around this?


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## Elad Vertment (Sep 6, 2021)

650SilverBullet said:


> Hello BMW family, I wanted to share this post and start a conversation around RTTI . As my RTTI updates have just stopped working as of February 2021 I tried to do some research as to what was going on. My first stop of course was BMW, and they informed me based on my car (2015 650i Xdrive) BMW has just started disconnecting the 3G cell towers that feed the traffic updates to your car and moving to the new 5G cell towers. This will now affect all cars from 2016 and older. This is very upsetting considering my daily commute into the office, now I feel like I'm traveling blind with no advance warning of traffic jams or accidents down the road. My first question to BMW was, is there a fix to allow connectivity to continue...i.e. (can the old cell receiver be changed out or upgraded to the newer cell connection modules.) Well the answer I got was a resounding NO!......This was very disappointing considering the outstanding brand and reputation BMW has. Why is this such a difficult issue for what seems to be a simple engineering upgrade. I would love to here thoughts and suggestions.....


I too have recently finally got motivated enough to research why the traffic info on my 2018 BMW 430i Gran Coupe had recently stopped working. I don't know if it was Feburary, 2021 as driving has become increasingly sporadic during the pandemic (even more so when I needed to use navigation). This post caught my attention, but my car doesn't fit into the "2016 and older" bucket. Happy to hear any theories or updated information.


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## ErnestHouse (Dec 3, 2012)

Elad Vertment said:


> ... This post caught my attention, but my car doesn't fit into the "2016 and older" bucket. Happy to hear any theories or updated information.


BMW knew this was going to happen but did not engineer cars to be upgraded when it did. And, they are not lifting a finger to help you even though they could. I take that back, they are lifting their middle finger. I was told in no uncertain terms "BMW is _NOT_ going to provide any hardware or software fix packages for customers to buy. Period. Stop calling." FWIW, Tesla has the identical problem and is preparing $200-$2000 packages for it's customers. Which is the kind of company you want to buy into?

Knowing the 3G shutdown was scheduled for Feb 2022, BMW extended (for free) active Connected Drive subscriptions from whenever they expired in 2020 to Feb 2021. Mine expire in Nov and I was wondering why they kept going until I called after they stopped. 

Anyway, call BMW Customer Relations at ‭(888) 333-6118‬. Be polite of course, and tell them you lost your RealTime Traffic. They will ask for your VIN and tell you if your car is affected by the 3G shutdown Feb 2022. If it is, there is a chance your car qualifies for the free fix they came up with and they will tell you if you are.

If, in the end, you are one of the 60% of those affected that BMW is abandoning, tell them you wish to file a complaint. Then take the money you normally give BMW and see if the folks at Navtuning support your car (their website looks up your VIN). If it does, you can get a 3G shutdown proof RTTI. I did it and it's already saved me getting stuck on the interstate for hours.

The folks at Navtuning have developed firmware that you load using iDrive as you would applying a firmware update from BMW. In addition to reactivating RTTI, it adds a Bluetooth tethering option to your device connection iDrive screen. In Feb 2022 when 3G is turned off, you will still have RTTI via your phone's internet connection. I understand the folks at Navtuning are developing other services in their product line to replace some of the other connected services that will go away. 

I would think your 2018 has one of the schizophrenic Carplay/iDrive implementations. That means you can use a navigation app on your phone. There are limitations including NO SUPPORT for the HUD. If you like the BMW Navi, then Navtuning is the way to go. YMMV


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## BMWinFLA (Apr 21, 2017)

Elad Vertment said:


> I too have recently finally got motivated enough to research why the traffic info on my 2018 BMW 430i Gran Coupe had recently stopped working. I don't know if it was Feburary, 2021 as driving has become increasingly sporadic during the pandemic (even more so when I needed to use navigation). This post caught my attention, but my car doesn't fit into the "2016 and older" bucket. Happy to hear any theories or updated information.


you should be eligible for retrofit.
yours quit working as 36 months free ran out.


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## BMWinFLA (Apr 21, 2017)

Doug Huffman said:


> I have the upgraded 3G-4G TCU from when 2G was obsoleted by the networks, and it works fine so far.


i suspect yours is about to quit as well as it was not based on VoLTE.


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## BMWinFLA (Apr 21, 2017)

ErnestHouse said:


> BMW knew this was going to happen but did not engineer cars to be upgraded when it did. And, they are not lifting a finger to help you even though they could. I take that back, they are lifting their middle finger. I was told in no uncertain terms "BMW is _NOT_ going to provide any hardware or software fix packages for customers to buy. Period. Stop calling." FWIW, Tesla has the identical problem and is preparing $200-$2000 packages for it's customers. Which is the kind of company you want to buy into?
> 
> Knowing the 3G shutdown was scheduled for Feb 2022, BMW extended (for free) active Connected Drive subscriptions from whenever they expired in 2020 to Feb 2021. Mine expire in Nov and I was wondering why they kept going until I called after they stopped.
> 
> ...


While i agree this sounds reasonable, you are not getting the same RTTI info that BMW was using. Only someone that has used the service for a while knows how good the Navtuning software is.

Secondly, not all phone plans have the ability to share data with another device.

Third, when you enter your VIN on the Navtuning website, it now has a popup that infers car’s TCU has to be operational. Is this a change that blows thus option out of the water?


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## ErnestHouse (Dec 3, 2012)

BMWinFLA said:


> you are not getting the same RTTI info that BMW was using. Only someone that has used the service for a while knows how good the Navtuning software is.
> 
> Secondly, not all phone plans have the ability to share data with another device.
> 
> Third, when you enter your VIN on the Navtuning website, it now has a popup that infers car’s TCU has to be operational. Is this a change that blows thus option out of the water?


All good points. Having used the BMW RTTI since late 2013, my observation is that the Navtuning data is accurate but covers only the major roads in SoFla. Compared to nothing from BMW, it's awesome and has already redirected me from Interstate hell twice. If memory serves, the information in that pop-up was on the website before and confused me just as much when I signed up as it does now. My working assumption is that you need to sign up to the NavTuning service while you still have a working Car SIM. Not sure. I've confirmed my iPhone and plan delivers the Navtuning RTTI via Bluetooth sharing. All in all, even if it was just a year, Navtuning paid for itself already in saved time and the $100 BMW Subscription I didn't have to pay.


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