New F80! How to enable GPS tracking with MyBMW app?

[BimmerNugget]

Just bought a “NEW TO ME” 2018 F80 M3 in Yas Marina Blue over extended black merino leather. Comp package with carbon roof. Has every option except full leather and CCBs. Only 9700 miles, a minty boi for sure! My supercharged E90 M3 is going up for sale soon.

How do I enable the GPS tracking so I can see the vehicle location on the MyBMW app?

The owner manual says to go to vehicle settings and vehicle tracking but I don’t see that option. A YouTube video says to go to data privacy and GPS tracking but I don’t see that option either.

[Tommix]

Is BMW Connect Drive activated? It might be activated or you have to pay an annual fee for it at the BMW Store.

https://www.unitedbmw.com/manufactur...onnecteddrive/

Works like this in EU area.

[alex2364]

You need to have an active BMW ConnectedDrive subscription. You probably also need to get a BMW dealer to add your info to the ConnectedDrive account.

https://www.2addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1694099

[BimmerNugget]

Originally Posted by alex2364

You need to have an active BMW ConnectedDrive subscription. You probably also need to get a BMW dealer to add your info to the ConnectedDrive account.

https://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1694099

I signed up for the app and got the code through the iDrive messages to confirm. No idea that I needed to pay for this service. Thanks, I will look into it.

This is way more tech than my E90 M3, not used to it lol

[WhiteFox]

You need to do both pay for the bmw service and then in idrive share location

[zillymc]

Originally Posted by BimmerNugget

Just bought a “NEW TO ME” 2018 F80 M3 in Yas Marina Blue over extended black merino leather. Comp package with carbon roof. Has every option except full leather and CCBs. Only 9700 miles, a minty boi for sure! My supercharged E90 M3 is going up for sale soon.

How do I enable the GPS tracking so I can see the vehicle location on the MyBMW app?

The owner manual says to go to vehicle settings and vehicle tracking but I don’t see that option. A YouTube video says to go to data privacy and GPS tracking but I don’t see that option either.

GPS tracking may be unavailable in the MY2018 F80s. TLDR - This is a result of BMW sunsetting 3G communication radios and that they communicated in 2021 and potential need for hardware/software updates. Now it gets kind of complex depending on year and build date and dependent on that there may be a software update OR a hardware retrofit and software update. I never went down the path of either because i haven't really used the GPS function in awhile as my car is a garage queen. I suggest checking out this post here which has a lot of information on this topic.

[gunsmoker]

My wife is of the worrying kind and she wanted me to install some tracking app on my phone which she also uses to track our teenage daughter. I didn't want to do that because it eats 30% of your battery charge plus I keep the gps on my phone off for not wanting junk software to make money off my location and shopping habits. I enabled the gps tracking of the car and my wife did not like it for 2 reasons: it showed location only when the car was parked and it took 30s to refresh unlike the phone app that showed location instantaneously whether parked or in motion. So I ended up disabling it again - why draw charge from the car battery if wifey won't use it?

[F82///M]

As others have mentioned it depends on country and 3g vs 4g connection.
Menu for tracking is in vehicle options, last tab on the bottom.

Picture shows F82 MY 2018 Canadian example. Essential connected service starts from the date of first registration and it's valid for 10 years. It includes vehicle tracking and everything else in the app , as well as sending address to vehicle, service status, doors lock, unlock, windows etc. That one is free and I'm assuming after 10 years it will be discontinued or possibly extended via purchase.

Then we have yearly subscription for online speech recognition, live traffic, map updates, on street parking for selected cities and weather info.
It seems Canadians got "lucky" this time because even if this one expires everything else mentioned above, and useful to me, works through the essential services.

I'd suggest to register account for connected services and see what options are available for your vehicle.