X6 Combox retrofit

[Dunzzy]

Has anyone retrofitted the new Combox to the CiC enabled X6 yet.
I am considering doing this as an upgrade project.

I would apreciated any tips, advice or pifalls from anyone who has done this before.

I see www.bmwretrofit.com are selling comboxes and wiring harness to alow the upgrade to be done.

I am particularly worried about coding and potential loss of current services such as BMW Onlin eand BMW Connected Drive.

Has anyone done this upgrade ?

[nyranger74]

I will be doing this. I ordered mine from Patrys. There are two different ones, with and without assist. I tried contacting BMW retrofit but they never got back to me.

[Dunzzy]

nyranger,

I would be keen to know how the retrofit goes. Please keep us posted.
Are you going for the telematics version or no telematics version?

I have the BMW assist / BMW Online package (it's included free for 3 years in the UK with a new BMW) but from the information gathered so far there does not seem to be a way of transferring BMW assist account from the TCU to the COMBOX. I understand that this is due to the IMEI and SIM card (cell phone number) being hard coded into the firmware.

I understand that if I do the update I will loose BMW Connected Drive and Telematics etc. At the moment I am trying to work out exactly which services I will loose and balance this with the new services provided by the combox.

[nyranger74]

You don't have the connected drive as this hasn't been released yet. There is a Combox with Telematics and I believe you need to set up a different account. I all keep you posted when I learn more.

[Dunzzy]

If you require telematics the I think you need to be careful which Telematics combox you get when upgrading.
The US version is apparently not compatible in europe and visa versa due to different cellular networks.(Combox may even be country specific)

I understand that BMW telematics use the IMEI number and the SIM and Mobile number which are hardware features of each Combox.
These details may need to be registered with BMW Connected drive service centre against your VIN Code and account.

I am in the UK and in Europe we have connected drive services that are not yet available in USA
I have a bmw connected drive login and account and is free for the first 3 years but it does not have all of the latest functions available on newest vehicles with the combox:

I am worried if I upgrade to combox (even to a UK Version) I will most probably loose BMW Connected drive and online services as well as emergency services such as auto crash notification and SOS calls.
I wonder if the BMW Connected drive service centre would allow details such as the IMEI code and Telephone number to be changed on my account. I am sure this is possible but may be prohibited as Combox upgrade is officially not supported.

Opening a new Connected Drive Account may be possible but it costs 250 euros a year - Not cheap and probably not good value.

NB At present Connected Drive allows me to use:

Google maps - And send addresses to the idrive from any PC
-BMW online - News and weather places to eat etc from the idrive web browser
-Remote Lock and unlock of the vehicle via the iphone app

I think you may be referring to 6NR BMW apps which is available for new builds in March 11. BMW say it is not available as a retrofit we will need to wait and see whether 6NR is hardware or only a software update.

What is the best way to get in contact with Patrys - did you PM him ?

Please keep us all posted with your upgrade.

I am very keen to do the upgrade but need to fully understand what services I will loose after the upgrade -If any.

[dannym]

you can email Patrys at info@modyfikacjebmw.pl

I think you may have to send your cic to him to get the firmware upgraded to the latest version, this can't be done remotely

[Jon-G]

I'm thinking of doing the same for an X5 - has anyone progressed this further? I'd be very interested! TIA