[jihong]

Getting pretty cold here on the east coast, have used remote start and timed pre-conditioning but when i get in the car to head to work, its still pretty chilly and seats/steering wheel arent warm. In my xc40, i would hop in, the cabin would be warm, and so would the seats and steering wheel. Anyone have a better experience with this or does the x1 just suck at it?

[hpux1560]

same here. my defrost will not go on for remote start. defeats the purpose. Dealer says "normal"

[gqbriel]

Originally Posted by jihong

Getting pretty cold here on the east coast, have used remote start and timed pre-conditioning but when i get in the car to head to work, its still pretty chilly and seats/steering wheel arent warm. In my xc40, i would hop in, the cabin would be warm, and so would the seats and steering wheel. Anyone have a better experience with this or does the x1 just suck at it?

Well it works in 40 C and -2 C perfectly.
I set the car only when i will leave and its wither cold or hot.its perfect
Ps: i have phev

[rocketman99]

Seems to be mediocre at best the two times I've used it here coming back from trips. Wheel isn't warm, windows aren't defrosted.

[Bam-Bam]

I have my car (Ix1) now for 11 months and pre conditioning works great. I use it or by set departure time or by direct conditioning (30 min). Always steering wheel is warm and the seat is warm and car windows are defrosted. one thing which are not defrosted are the mirrors.

[MontyB1]

Ours is great but the theme here is that PHEV/iX1 loves it and it works. But the US models with ICE are struggling and it’s not kicking in I presume alongside the engine running.

[jihong]

Yeah…looks like it works well for the ix1, but it’s basically useless for US gas x1s. Had it running for at least 10-15min and it wasn’t any warmer than outside. I thought it might be that climate control needed to be set to automatic, but that doesn’t seem to fix it.

[rocketman99]

I wouldn't say it doesn't work at all, it's just not that great. To be fair, it does seem to be marginally better than the aftermarket autostart I had installed on my old X3. It's been single digits (Fahrenheit temp) the last few days in Anchorage and the car wasn't ice cold when I got in after one cycle of autostart. That counts for something.

[MontyB1]

Originally Posted by jihong

Yeah…looks like it works well for the ix1, but it’s basically useless for US gas x1s. Had it running for at least 10-15min and it wasn’t any warmer than outside. I thought it might be that climate control needed to be set to automatic, but that doesn’t seem to fix it.

So strangely I've just had the opposite. The PHEV my wife has I put on to warm up it was about 4deg C outside. Only when she got in not even 15 mins later she said it was way too warm and stop turning it on. Now I presumed it would warm to her default profile 21degC internal but maybe it was higher don't know need to check as that is the only profile in the car.

Either way for her as it wasn't freezing outside she said it got TOO warm so for the iX1 and PHEV electric models it's working really really well, too well for her.

[DestinationMoon!]

Idling your ICE car is bad for the environment and bad for the engine. Just hop in, start it and drive at a relaxed pace. It'll heat up on a couple minutes.
Especially since it has louvers that I'm guessing remain closed when it's cold and open when up to temp

[rocketman99]

Yeah no. That doesn't work when it's single digits or below and your car is cold soaked for day(s).

[X1_x23d]

Is there any way to get the remote start feature to work in the UK on a x23d?

[SpaceSilver.X1]

Originally Posted by DestinationMoon!

Idling your ICE car is bad for the environment and bad for the engine. Just hop in, start it and drive at a relaxed pace. It'll heat up on a couple minutes.
Especially since it has louvers that I'm guessing remain closed when it's cold and open when up to temp

I used it in a medical emergency recently. it was freezing cold outside and my X1 was, well, freezing cold(about 22 degrees F) my cat suffered a seizure and had to be taken to the local emergency animal hospital in the middle of the night. after calling the hospital to make sure that they were indeed open in the middle of the night, I started my X1 via the BMW app. I got dressed, found the pet carrier from my basement, wrapped up my cat and put in the carrier. Probably took me about 10 minutes. When I opened the door, it was reasonably warm inside. I placed the carrier on the floor in front of the front seat and drove slowly to the hospital. The cat was fine afterwards. But I really appreciated being able to keep the car warm on that occasion. The cold could have worsened his condition....

[SeaSkiAndMe]

I need the auto defrost to help with ice in the morning. Whether via autostart or me turning it on myself, if there is ice on the windows, I need to warm up the car first to soften the ice/snow before I start chipping away at it. When we get a polar vortex, it's a must. That's not specific to BMW, just to my experience w outdoor-kept cars in the upper Midwest. Sometime I need to warm up the car so I can open the doors when they are iced over! It's wild the crazy storms we get sometimes.

[SeaSkiAndMe]

SpaceSilver.X1 I hope kitty is ok now?

[SpaceSilver.X1]

Originally Posted by SeaSkiAndMe

SpaceSilver.X1 I hope kitty is ok now?

define "ok"....

if you mean that he's now acting all bossy, demanding, clingy, etc... plus a healthy appetite like before.. then yes, he's OK! for a 17-year-old cat, he is also surprisingly strong and feisty

(but still have to monitor his blood sugar level, according to the vet)

[SeaSkiAndMe]

SpaceSilver.X1 my oldest cat is also 17, as is the dog! The elderly cat is VERY demanding, but mostly of my husband.

[SpaceSilver.X1]

Originally Posted by SeaSkiAndMe

SpaceSilver.X1 my oldest cat is also 17, as is the dog! The elderly cat is VERY demanding, but mostly of my husband.

17 is not quite "elderly" yet. my previous cat lived for 20+ years.

[MontyB1]

Originally Posted by X1_x23d

Is there any way to get the remote start feature to work in the UK on a x23d?

No BMW doesn't allow remote start on ICE cars on the whole as the legislation around it isn't clear. In the UK you need a PHEV or EV for remote heating.

[SpaceSilver.X1]

Originally Posted by SeaSkiAndMe

SpaceSilver.X1 my oldest cat is also 17, as is the dog! The elderly cat is VERY demanding, but mostly of my husband.

so pre-conditioning of the X1 became invaluable again at 6AM this morning. woke up and heard the kitty in distress and having another medical emergency. It was brutally cold(ok, so it was only 23, but cold enough). I put on my clothes as quickly as I could, pressed remote start at the same time. ran downstairs, convinced the kitty to go inside the carrier... by the time we were inside the car, it was already warm enough. drove straight to the vet's office 10 miles away.(took about 15 minutes on country roads) Got to the door just a few minutes before they opened. They took him in and checked his vitals and did a quick blood test. He turned out to be fine for now, but will be going back tomorrow for an ultrasound.

I'm just so glad that at least my X1 can be remotely turned on and kept warm...

Update: repeated the same again this morning. opened the BMW app, turned on the car... got the cat ready. it was even colder this morning, only 19 degrees, but inside the X1 I was 74 degrees when we got in. dropped him off at the vet. he's staying all day. getting shaved and anesthetized for the ultrasound.

[SeaSkiAndMe]

SpaceSilver.X1 Good luck to your cat, hope he's better soon.

Sadly, we said goodbye to our old dog yesterday (17 yrs old.) It's so hard, because they love us unconditionally and trust us to do the best for them.

[SpaceSilver.X1]

Originally Posted by SeaSkiAndMe

SpaceSilver.X1 Good luck to your cat, hope he's better soon.

Sadly, we said goodbye to our old dog yesterday (17 yrs old.) It's so hard, because they love us unconditionally and trust us to do the best for them.

I'm so sad to hear that.


I probably sound like a bad person for saying this, but saying good-bye to a loved pet(cat or dog) seems so much harder than saying good-by to a loved one(human) I can't explain it.

My senior cat was rescued from a car engine. I spent more money for his surgeries than the cost of a brand-new Mercedes V6 engine at the time. But he has been a faithful companion for 16 years. Hopefully, many more years.