[cinoh2000]

My new iX (scheduled to roll out of Dingolfing May 2nd!) will be my first BMW with ConnectedDrive. Obviously, it means the car has a built-in "phone" (5G, I hope...). bmwusa.com talks about a lot of features, but is light on the details. Does it come with a data plan? Limited or unlimited data per month? Can I use its data plan instead of my own phone's data for streaming entertainment such as Spotify, or for a Wi-Fi hotspot for passengers? Is it "free" for some period of time?

And related... What are the implications of connecting it to my phone with eSIM. How would that make my life better? Worth changing carriers? (Spectrum Mobile has no plans to support it.)

Update: T&C doc says that hotspot feature requires purchasing a data plan from the "underlying provider" after a possible trial period.

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by cinoh2000

My new iX (scheduled to roll out of Dingolfing May 2nd!) will be my first BMW with ConnectedDrive. Obviously, it means the car has a built-in "phone" (5G, I hope...). bmwusa.com talks about a lot of features, but is light on the details. Does it come with a data plan? Limited or unlimited data per month? Can I use its data plan instead of my own phone's data for streaming entertainment such as Spotify, or for a Wi-Fi hotspot for passengers? Is it "free" for some period of time?

And related... What are the implications of connecting it to my phone with eSIM. How would that make my life better? Worth changing carriers? (Spectrum Mobile has no plans to support it.)

Update: T&C doc says that hotspot feature requires purchasing a data plan from the "underlying provider" after a possible trial period.

Current X5 uses AT&T data plan, which is I believe $15/month per car.

[TheIX]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

Current X5 uses AT&T data plan, which is I believe $15/month per car.

I only see T-Mobile as an option in my iX

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by TheIX

I only see T-Mobile as an option in my iX

Could well be - I'm not sure how BMW selects or selected carriers, or if they differ by region, state or country, or how a separate SIM works in the iX. My phone plan (Samsung Android) is on Sprint/T-Mobile. The carrier plan on the cars is considerably cheaper than my phone plan, but AFAIK just includes the Wifi hotspot and limited Internet data access, and obvious is accessible only when in the car. To the OP's question, if you only use your phone to make calls and access the Internet while in the car, and only play streaming music from Spotify and Sirius XM (and possibly Amazon - not sure about iOS options), I suppose you could just use the data plan in the car (if your phone supports that - I believe you need some sort of a plan to activate your phone, and a corresponding phone SIM).

[cruzer666]

Originally Posted by cinoh2000

My new iX (scheduled to roll out of Dingolfing May 2nd!) will be my first BMW with ConnectedDrive. Obviously, it means the car has a built-in "phone" (5G, I hope...). bmwusa.com talks about a lot of features, but is light on the details. Does it come with a data plan? Limited or unlimited data per month? Can I use its data plan instead of my own phone's data for streaming entertainment such as Spotify, or for a Wi-Fi hotspot for passengers? Is it "free" for some period of time?

- Period of time: Connected drive services are "free" for 48 months. I am attaching a full list of services for my car that was purchased around 12/31/2020, you'll see several expire in 4 years, others will be free "As long as the car is technically capable". Let me know if you want more details into an individual service.
- Built-in cellular: you are correct, it is 5G on the ix/i4
- Data plan limits: the data plan the car comes with has no limits in terms of how much data is allowed on it, what is limited is the features you can use with the data plan. No hotspot with the built-in plan.
- Spotify Streaming: this can use the built-in cellular connection for the car, you do not need a cellphone to stream Spotify. You also do not need the "Personal eSim" option attached to your cellphone plan to stream Spotify (as of today).
- Wi-Fi hotspot requires you to have the "Personal eSim" option on the car and attached to your cellphone plan.

Regarding your eSim questions:
- Someone made a very good comparison of eSim with Apple Watch if you have that by chance. It acts as an extension of your phone, it holds the same number as your phone meaning you can take phone calls to your cellphone number directly on your car, without your cellphone being present, similar to Apple Watch cellular.
- I personally do not find this feature useful as it is today, but you never know what functionality personal eSim may bring in the future, I got this option just in case.
- Trial period. I've seen advertised free 2GB hotspot, I don't recall time time period, not much to make a difference to me.

[NomoTesla]

eSim is not very useful if it only works with a single carrier.

[cruzer666]

Originally Posted by NomoTesla

eSim is not very useful if it only works with a single carrier.

All tier 1 carriers in the US support eSim (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile). Other carriers are slowly rolling out the feature. You can use any carrier that supports eSim.

[busymom13]

"All tier 1 carriers in the US support eSim (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile). Other carriers are slowly rolling out the feature. You can use any carrier that supports eSim."

This is incorrect at this time. Currently only T-mobile is supported. Believe me, I spent 4 months and countless hours trying to figure this out. No one could give me a straight answer until last week. (I had the first iX that was delivered to my local dealership and they have been great and just as clueless as me).

[Paladin1]

Still confused as well about the utility of eSim. If you use Apple CarPlay or AA, you still need your phone in the car, and I'm sure many will use their mobile as a digital key. I suppose if you didn't have a mobile phone, there might be some use for having your car act like a phone, but otherwise, I'm stumped (other than the hotspot feature, and my phone actually works as a hotspot on my own plan)....

[sor]

I prefer to let the kids use the car as a hotspot over them connecting to my phone on trips. That's about it.

[cruzer666]

Originally Posted by busymom13

"All tier 1 carriers in the US support eSim (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile). Other carriers are slowly rolling out the feature. You can use any carrier that supports eSim."

This is incorrect at this time. Currently only T-mobile is supported. Believe me, I spent 4 months and countless hours trying to figure this out. No one could give me a straight answer until last week. (I had the first iX that was delivered to my local dealership and they have been great and just as clueless as me).

Dealers are usually clueless about features in your car

If you don't want T-Mobile, here's the AT&T alternative: https://myvehicle.att.com. They make it easy to register your car. Your brand new iX might not work. Personal eSim isn't a hot ticket item for most people so they don't get too concerned with it.

[ricerboi]

Yeah I already called T-Mobile to see if I could use one of my "extra" lines on my T-Mobile account for the iX, but apparently for their "unlimited hotspot" Personal e-SIM option for the iX, it's $20/month. I'm fine with it. It's probably only useful for tablets for kids or if you're on your laptop waiting at a charging station and don't want to hotspot. Either way, $20/month extra on a >$2k/month car...whatever it's fine.

[ppagiga]

Originally Posted by sor

I prefer to let the kids use the car as a hotspot over them connecting to my phone on trips. That's about it.

Same here sor. Can this be set up with other carriers? Appears not.

[Sheva_BMW]

Originally Posted by ppagiga

Same here sor. Can this be set up with other carriers? Appears not.

Till now only T-mobile was supported, but I saw messages that AT&T allegedly is now supported as well.

[ppagiga]

Thank you all for your help. For me AT&T would be best option if they allow standalone coverage (ie will allow me to purchase a data plan without being a cellular customer), because I’m not a T-Mobile customer right now (I’m verizon).