[markronnie]

With the 7/2024.40, that became available earlier in October, I’m considering trying out the DIGITAL PREMIUM for a month because several functions are only offered if you pay the $9.99 monthly or $99.99 a year. I let mine run out after the free trial period because it had nothing at that time I thought was worth the price.

Anyone know how soon after it’s activated do the feature come on? Does it become live quicker if you call Connect Drive directly or if it’s done through the Connect DriveStore App in the ID 9 system?

[Joaste]

Which functions are you referring to?

[markronnie]

Originally Posted by Joaste

Which functions are you referring to?

The newer functions which were added in the 07/2024 update available in the USA.

[Joaste]

I didn't see any features that require digital premium.

In addition, the features available with the update are also dependent on when your vehicle was produced.

[rocketman99]

I dunno about you, but for me there is literally nothing in digital premium that is remotely worth paying for. 3D buildings? More modes that only change colors and screens? "Enhanced parking info?" Apps I can already use via my phone? All falls under who care or even notices.

The only thing that could be remotely useful is speed cameras, but you can already get that from other sources (we also don't have those in Alaska so not useful at all in either scenario) and chances are you're generally not using BMW nav most of the time anyway to even notice.

So that's 10 bucks a month for...nothing. I'll keep my money, no thanks.

[Gaffer_H]

Originally Posted by rocketman99

I dunno about you, but for me there is literally nothing in digital premium that is remotely worth paying for. 3D buildings? More modes that only change colors and screens? "Enhanced parking info?" Apps I can already use via my phone? All falls under who care or even notices.

The only thing that could be remotely useful is speed cameras, but you can already get that from other sources (we also don't have those in Alaska so not useful at all in either scenario) and chances are you're generally not using BMW nav most of the time anyway to even notice.

So that's 10 bucks a month for...nothing. I'll keep my money, no thanks.

Live traffic updates is the only reason I begrudgingly pay for digital premium.

Everything else is crap really.

I travel a lot for business and don’t always use the sat nav.

When using sat nav you get live traffic updates, red and orange lines etc to give you an idea about congestion.

With DP you get this without having the destination programme into the sat nav.

This should be free, it offers very little.

I think the driving modes a crap also.

[Cam330i]

Originally Posted by markronnie

With the 7/2024.40, that became available earlier in October, I’m considering trying out the DIGITAL PREMIUM for a month because several functions are only offered if you pay the $9.99 monthly or $99.99 a year. I let mine run out after the free trial period because it had nothing at that time I thought was worth the price.

Anyone know how soon after it’s activated do the feature come on? Does it become live quicker if you call Connect Drive directly or if it’s done through the Connect DriveStore App in the ID 9 system?

Hello!

I re-activated the Digital Premium Subscription on my friend's cousin's 2024 X1 - M35i a few months ago - she loves driving in the "Relax" Mode in her car, and the additional modes for MY MODES (Expressive, Relax, Digital Art, and now Silent Mode) are only available with Digital Premium (excl. iDrive 8/8.5 systems)

The fastest and most easiest way to re-activate your Digital Premium subscription is through the myBMW app - you can access the connected drive store by clicking on the icon at the bottom that shows a picture of a car and a shopping bag.

You can also activate your Digital Premium subscription online via MYBMWgarage or from the in-car Connected Drive App in the iDrive Menu

My friend's cousin chose the Annual Plan because she has her car default to the Relax Mode, which was the only thing she wanted to be honest. As mentioned above, you can either choose a monthly subscription plan ($9.99 per month) or an annual subscription plan ($99.99 once a year).
NOTE: The Annual Plan gives you a discount and is cheaper than the monthly plan - do this if you plan to keep the Digital Premium stuff for awhile!

Anyways, after she put in her credit card information, she was able to access the Digital Premium content almost instantly - in her case, the Relax Driving mode re-appeared and she changed that to be her default driving mode for her car.
NOTE: Once activated, the subscription service will be billed/renewed automatically, but you can cancel it at any time. Once canceled, you can continue to enjoy the Digital Premium contents until the expiration date, at which point the Digital Premium content will disappear or become unusable.

You should be able to access the Digital Premium content as soon as you received the confirmation message/email, in other words, instantly. However, if you are unlucky, you may have to wait 24 hours for it to kick in, but this is worst-case scenario!

BEFORE YOUR PURCHASE or RE-ACTIVATE your DIGITAL PREMIUM Subscription:
* I would first call the Connected Drive Store (I'll leave their contact info down below) and tell them that your Digital Premium Trial had expired long ago and that you are thinking of re-activating your Digital Premium once again and would they consider giving you another 1 or 2 month complementary trial period?? I've heard that a few members on here were able to extend their complementary trial period, and so it is worth asking if this can be done, and the worst thing they could say to you would be "NO" lol

A few things to note about Digital Premium and the Connected Drive Store:
1. If your X1 does NOT have Remote Engine Start (1CR) or Active Cruise Control (ACC) Stop & Go + Active Driving Assistant (5AT), they can both be added to your car via the Connected Drive Store and I believe they give you a 1 month trial?
NOTE: "ACC Stop & Go + Active Driving Assistant" (5AT) is an option that is included in either the Driving Assistance Plus or Driving Assistance Professional Package
2. A lot of the 3rd party apps (e.g., Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon music, etc.) can be used without Digital Premium if you have them on your phone and you are using Apple CarPlay/Android Auto
3. As mentioned, a good chunk of Digital Premium is useless because apps like Spotify can be used with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto
4. You can also download games (you ain't playing games on that thing) and other entertainment apps
5. Being that I do NOT like how the driving modes change the Ambient Lighting color, I would only drive in Personal and/or Efficient Mode (my favorite color is Turquoise)
NOTE: You can save any of the modes to your shortcuts, which will make both the "MY Modes" Button and App useless
6. If you have Google Maps on your phone and you use Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, you can get/see Live Traffic, which can be enabled through the in-car app settings. (I'm sure there are other navigation apps out there, that are compatible with the system and give Traffic information.)
7. Augmented Reality (AR) requires you to use BMW's Navigation system, but you do NOT need to have Digital Premium to use AR.
8. As of now (and to my knowledge), Siri/Alexa/Google are all functional and usable without Digital Premium.
9. If I had Digital Premium, the only setting I would be interested in is changing the appearance/look of BMW's A.I. - (AKA: "Hello BMW"). With Digital Premium, she can appear with a face instead of just bubbles!
NOTE: I am not sure if you need Digital Premium to be able to activate BMW's A.I. via voice by saying "Hello BMW", but being that you cannot change or use your own activation word (e.g., "Hello Shia", "Hello Fiona", or "Hello (Insert Whatever name here)), I would only activate/use the Personal Assistant via the Microphone button on the steering wheel
NOTE: Pressing and holding the microphone button for 3 seconds will activate Siri/Alexa/Google

Lastly, I am not a fan of all of these "Subscription add on services" - the X1/X2 is NOT cheap and you pay a lot of money each and every month for the vehicle, and so to twist my arm and charge me even more money to use what should already be standard on my car is just absurd, annoying, and is just doing too much. Most, if not all of the features of iDrive 9's Digital Premium is STANDARD on vehicles with iDrive 8/8.5 (e.g., 2023 X1's have Digital Art Mode by default)..??

However, all of that being said, I want to be clear that there is (are) no judgement/shade/issue with anyone that likes Digital Premium and is (are) actively enrolled in the subscription service - we are all family (BMW Fam - Bam!)

That said, please keep me (us) posted with what you decide to do and please let me (us) know if you have any additional questions!

BMWUSA Connected Drive Contact Information (incl. Hours of Operation)
* Phone Number: 1.888.333.6118
* Email: customercare@bmwassist.com
* Hours of Operation: 8AM - 9PM (Eastern Time - ET)
* Days of Operation: Monday - Saturday

Best,
Cameron (2025 BMW 330i - named: "Hayko")

[Cam330i]

Down Below are some additional resources (incl. a PDF guide by BMW) for Digital Premium!

BMWUSA PDF Guide: GSG_DigitalPremium.pdf.asset.1706559202447.pdf

Some other threads where I talk about Digital Premium (incl. Screenshots and other useful resources):
https://u11.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=31263244

https://u11.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=2134589

[quirksandfeats]

While I understand other people saying that digital premium is kind of a rip off (I agree, it WOULD be a ripoff if you look at it from the perspective of it only unlocking a few software features at the tap of a button), I think the data aspect makes it worth it alone. 10 dollars a month for essentially unlimited data? For me that justifies the cost alone. In most cases, data plans with unlimited usage tends to cost around 10-15 dollars a month more anyways (than when compared to around 10-20gb a month), and in my personal use case, the biggest culprit of data usage is Spotify (even more added bonus if you are in an instance where you NEED to charge the battery of the PHEV variant and you NEED to be in the car, you can watch some streaming apps, even Paramount+ soon so I’ve heard. This would otherwise be a huge data expense to me if I had to use data to watch it on my phone). Since I’ve used Spotify on digital premium, that alone has saved me multiple gigabytes a month of data usage 😄

[Gaffer_H]

Originally Posted by quirksandfeats

While I understand other people saying that digital premium is kind of a rip off (I agree, it WOULD be a ripoff if you look at it from the perspective of it only unlocking a few software features at the tap of a button), I think the data aspect makes it worth it alone. 10 dollars a month for essentially unlimited data? For me that justifies the cost alone. In most cases, data plans with unlimited usage tends to cost around 10-15 dollars a month more anyways (than when compared to around 10-20gb a month), and in my personal use case, the biggest culprit of data usage is Spotify (even more added bonus if you are in an instance where you NEED to charge the battery of the PHEV variant and you NEED to be in the car, you can watch some streaming apps, even Paramount+ soon so I’ve heard. This would otherwise be a huge data expense to me if I had to use data to watch it on my phone). Since I’ve used Spotify on digital premium, that alone has saved me multiple gigabytes a month of data usage 😄

That is a good point. 👍🏻

[rocketman99]

Originally Posted by quirksandfeats

While I understand other people saying that digital premium is kind of a rip off (I agree, it WOULD be a ripoff if you look at it from the perspective of it only unlocking a few software features at the tap of a button), I think the data aspect makes it worth it alone. 10 dollars a month for essentially unlimited data? For me that justifies the cost alone. In most cases, data plans with unlimited usage tends to cost around 10-15 dollars a month more anyways (than when compared to around 10-20gb a month), and in my personal use case, the biggest culprit of data usage is Spotify (even more added bonus if you are in an instance where you NEED to charge the battery of the PHEV variant and you NEED to be in the car, you can watch some streaming apps, even Paramount+ soon so I’ve heard. This would otherwise be a huge data expense to me if I had to use data to watch it on my phone). Since I’ve used Spotify on digital premium, that alone has saved me multiple gigabytes a month of data usage 😄

Odd. I don't know anyone that doesn't have unlimited data on their phone here in the US, so not sure that is a consideration for most Americans.

[FlashMonkey929]

Originally Posted by rocketman99

Odd. I don't know anyone that doesn't have unlimited data on their phone here in the US, so not sure that is a consideration for most Americans.

This forum contains more than just American citizens, plans vary widely outside of the US. Plus, most unlimited plans in the USA have fine print in which you get throttled after a certain amount of data is used. Power users of their phones who are exchanging high amounts of data daily would possibly benefit from this by having their streaming bandwidth offloaded to the data plan of their car.