[jawal]

My M235i EB, oyster interior arrived last month. I love it. Best car I’ve had in more than 10 years. Car drives amazingly. Still trying to get all of the Tech working thw way I want. I have the Tech Package and BMW Apps.

[As aside, I got the $350 back for the HK issue. I got another $500 back for the BMW Comfort Access hands-free access not actually opening the trunk even though it was once on the website that it would.]

Anyway I’m trying to find a way to get the full richness of Pandora (including the ability to see the whole list of songs – not just “next” and “previous”). But I do NOT want to use my phone plugged into the USB. I’m too lazy to plug my phone into the center console every time I get in and get out of my car, though the Pandora experience is nice when I do. Here’s what I’ve tried or thought about as other options:

- I can Bluetooth my cell phone to the car, but doing it that way only gets me “next” and “previous”
- I can plug an ipod touch into the center console, but it lacks internet connection. I tried tethering the ipod to my iphone but it won’t stay connected after repeated turning car on and off and walking away and coming back. [In general I find tethering from my iphone sporadic.] I see in the internet an adapter and service called BMW Car Hotspot LTE, but it does not appear to be available in the US. I looked into Delphi Connect and plugging into the OBCDII port -- this might still be an option as long as it lets me connect and keep connected the ipod touch in the center console.

I tried my dealer, but they though BMW Online was all that was available and it wouldn’t so what I wanted. I have BMW Online and it doesn’t do what I wanted. I called BMW Genius at Corp NA who told me I could subscribe to “BMW Internet,” and to do that I should call BMW Assist. BMW Assist told me that BMW Internet would allow me to browse the internet, but would not let me connect my ipod touch to the internet. BMW Assist did tell me that there was an option that involved the dealer adding more hardware to my car and that then I would have a hotspot I could use to connect my ipod touch. I was back to the dealer again, so I tried a different dealer. They told me that I could use BMW Internet to do what I wanted, but that I had to activate it through BMW Assist.

Any ideas? All I want is to use Pandora through my car’s interface, be able to choose songs from a list I can see/browse, and do it without plugging and unplugging my iphone every time I get into the car.

[Jerich0]

I was thinking about that today... Conclusion:

You need a second iphone or similar connected all the time to you car with data plan...

Thats what I came up with sorry.

[pikcachu]

btw how did you get those $500 from the trunk lid opener ?

[mjposner]

Using an old iphone and an ipad sim with a little hack i now have have access to web radio and pandora. It is plugged into the usb port. I still only get next” and “previous and I frequently have to start bmw connected to get the apps to work.

[jawal]

Thanks. I have a Verizon hotspot I use when I travel. I'm going to try (semi-)permanently putting the hotspot in the trunk, plugging it into the power socket there and leaving it running all the time. Assuming that that power outlet is only active when the car is running or the ignition is on, I don't think it will run out of battery while I have the car off, given how frequently I drive the car. Effectively I'll have a car hotspot, which I can hang the ipod touch off of.

The issue I'm likely to run into is that when I turn the car off, and then back on, I need a lot of things to work correctly for this solution to work. The power on the hotspot has to become active, the hotspot needs to turn on, the ipod has to connect to it, the Connected Drive app and the Pandora app both need to be active, and the car needs to sync with the ipod effectively. I'm hoping for the best, but I'm anticipating that one of those things is going to make this an unreliable solution. I'll let you know.

If it does work, I'll try the same solution as the above, just removing the hotspot battery entirely. Since I will have the hotspot plugged in all the time, I won't actually need the battery in it.

On the rebate question, before I bought the car, I had called BMWUSA Genius, and spoken with my CA at the dealer, and looked at the bmwusa.com website. All three of these indicated that the hands-free trunk option came with Comfort Assist on the BMW 235i, which of course it doesn't. I called BMWUSA Customer Relations. They looked into it. And then they called me and offered the $500. The check gets sent to the dealer, and when it arrives, a check will come to me. I should say that I have not actually received the check, but I have no reason to believe that they will not honor their commitment.

[darkerosxx]

Jawal, which rep did you communicate with on the $500?

[pikcachu]

I sent an message through the bmwusa site, they called me once but couldn't pick up and when I tried replying back or calling back never was able to get in touch with anybody

[jawal]

I called the toll-free BMW Genius number, 1.844.4GENIUS, as well as an email to: CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com.

[threepac3]

So here's how I do this normally. I have an iPod touch plugged into the USB in the armrest. I have an iPad Air with data access and I connected them together over Bluetooth. Most people don't realize you can do this if you the hotspot feature. You now have internet functions on the touch device.

You can also just install the BMW app on the iPad connect it to the USB.