[E90M3CDFR]

Wanted to see if anyone who is driving a U.S.-spec 2008 or 2009 E90/E92/E93 in Europe is able to receive RTTI (traffic info) on their navigation system.

I had read in searching the forums that some 2008 cars (335i) picked up the TI/RTTI info. Am trying to figure out if this is only an issue for the 2009 model, or just a subset (like my US-spec M3). Any input greatly appreciated.

[SpectreMech]

Picked up a 2009 E92 about three weeks ago. Guess I just assumed none of it worked here. Selected traffic info on the way home yesterday and got a message that said, "Currently there are no traffic messages" or something to that affect. I'm hoping that means it works, but I'm driving out in the farmland on the Dutch/German border, so it's difficult to tell. Probably headed to Cologne or Aachen this weekend, I'll try it again and get back to you.

Incidentally, my BMW Assist is most definitely dead. All the options were grayed out, and I got another message telling me my subscription had expired. Odd for a 21 day old car...

Good luck with this, I'd like the functionality I paid for to work also, but our community is fairly small. Not sure BMW will see the ROI, though I'm willing to bet mil/dip sales are about the only sure market they have right now.

[Enemigo]

I pick it up just fine, but then again, i have an 07. Its awesome especially when your on navigation and there's an accident or delay, it will ask you if you want to detour. It should show a +TI on your bottom of the navi screen.

[E90M3CDFR]

Anyone with a US-spec 2008 or even better a 2009 LCI 3-series have RTTI working?

I've now heard from someone that RTTI apparently gets info from BMW Assist (which I would take to mean via the GSM link) rather than RDS/TMC. That doesn't sound right to me, but I haven't seen any BMW tech info on the functioning of the new system. Also, it appears that RTTI works in the US even before you enable BMW Assist, which suggests its independent (although BMW Assist could still be RX/TX info for auxiliary svcs without needing to be activated).

[Enemigo]

i have a us spec, but its an 07... I believe it works through the navi only, my bmw assist doesnt work out here

[nickgoa]

Sorry to hijack this thread but I will be taking a 2007 or 2008 E9x to Europe in about 6 months...

Are there other considerations except bmw assist and RTTI that I should worry about?

How about radio stations?

Also I'm assuming my US spec and purchased bmw will not be covered under warranty in Europe.... Has anyone confirmed this?

Is there a way to purchase bmw warranty on these cars if they have low miles??
or a way to get them to be CPO?

thanks

[E90M3CDFR]

Nickgoa, I think it depends on how you will be bringing the car to Europe. If you're military/diplomat/international organization, you shouldn't have a problem with getting the car serviced (esp if you're being posted to a country where there are lots of other US-spec BMWs). But, your BMW NA warranty won't be valid in Europe (it works the other way around though: if you purchase a US-spec car in Europe from BMW, you get 2-years warranty, unlimited miles--and if you return the car to the US within the four years of the US warranty, and less than 50K miles, you get the balance of that warranty). Your US maintenance program likewise won't transfer here.

If you are importing the car privately into a European country, you may run into more issues: first you should check to see whether you will be able to register it in-country (and what if any modifications you will need to make to it). Also, you should check with the BMW dealer network in the country to find out whether they will service it--and be prepared for conflicting answers (here in France, BMW France has a policy that they will not allow their dealiers to service a BMW sold for the non-Europe market, unless they are registered as a diplomatic/military vehicle, or European delivery). So you would have to go to an independent shop for any work. Best bet with this scenario is to try to find someone else in the same country with a US-spec car and find out what they had to do.

In either case, as you noted from the discussion, RTTI, Assist, Telematic etc won't work, although if you have a 2007, RTTI may be okay. Similarly depending on model year, radio may or may not be adjustable to European frequencies.

As an aside, I would fit new tires on the car (or ship a set with your household goods) if you cannot buy duty-free here. Similarly I'd ship service parts you may need during your time here as well, as parts are much more expensive in Europe. And I would try to take advantage of all possible BMW services covered under the BMW NA package and have the car checked for warranty work.

Hope this helps, feel free to PM if you need more info. There are quite a few owners of US-spec cars in Europe on this board.

[bit335mil]

My traffic info works flawless on my 08' 335 coupe. I have heard that if you bring your car in for computer diag that they will strip away the ability to recieve this in Europe since it is suposed to be US Spec only.

[nickgoa]

Can you please elaborate on what you mean? If you do a computer diag in europe? or if you do one in the US before going to europe? thanks.

[hanmaas]

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[hanmaas]

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[mpbmw3]

hi all

i drive a 2008 335xi. RTTI does not work in Holland but when i drive across the border to germany then it does work.

i am told RTTI (also called TMC here) depends on radio frequencies. US spec cars only received odd decimals (eg. 101.1 but not 101.2). in holland, TMC is transmitted mostly at odd decimal frequencies, hence it does not work correctly. Moreover, i miss a bunch of radio stations.

I've looked all over the country and the internet for a way to convert the radio to euro spec but it seems impossible to do. even with a new CCC unit i am not convinced yet that it will work

Does anyone have further technical insights or suggestions how to solve for this?

[E90M3CDFR]

Originally Posted by mpbmw3

hi all

i drive a 2008 335xi. RTTI does not work in Holland but when i drive across the border to germany then it does work.

This is an ongoing issue with BMW. They claim it doesn't work period with US cars...regardless of what country in Europe we are talking about. Some people have told me that TMC stopped working after they took their car in for service and the software was updgated.

Do you have navigation on your car? If so, the next time you are in Germany, take a photo of the screens showing the TMC working. I have been in touch with BMW AG several times and it would be helpful to have some proof to show them that they are wrong about TMC not working on US spec cars.

[JSH]

Hi there,

I have a 2008 335i with Nav. Everything works fine except BMW assist(I expected) and the RTTI(I didn't expect).

I had recently some battery issues, took it in and they found an issue with the ECU which required a new ECU. All covered under warranty, and included a reprogram that I thought would also reprogram the radio to pick up ALL stations including the RTTI ones.

Apparently I'm wrong. The car has definitely been reprogrammed because it lost all memory settings in the nav address book, etc.. But I still recieve no RTTI or AM radio.

Can someone with a EURO spec car tell me exactly what the FM and AM frequency band range I should be able to recieve?

Also, I can't find any concrete info to tell me exactly how the RTTI is transmitted, via radio or via the mobile phone network.

The real confusing thing is my friend brought over a 328 without navi, had the radio reprogrammed and says he recieves ALL radio stations.

[hanmaas]

.

[Moxie]

Mine works fine in my 2008 335i. A friend had theirs updated by BMW & it no longer works.

I would say yours doesn't work because the German BMW techs don't know what they are doing on US spec cars.

I'm afraid to let them touch it -

[BMW Jet]

Originally Posted by mpbmw3

hi all

i drive a 2008 335xi. RTTI does not work in Holland but when i drive across the border to germany then it does work.

i am told RTTI (also called TMC here) depends on radio frequencies. US spec cars only received odd decimals (eg. 101.1 but not 101.2). in holland, TMC is transmitted mostly at odd decimal frequencies, hence it does not work correctly. Moreover, i miss a bunch of radio stations.

I've looked all over the country and the internet for a way to convert the radio to euro spec but it seems impossible to do. even with a new CCC unit i am not convinced yet that it will work

Does anyone have further technical insights or suggestions how to solve for this?

Me too.
I have a US spec BMW and I have difficulties programming the radio to receive pair decimals. I did it by mistake once and cannot find how to do it again for the other stations!
so there is definitely a way to go around the system and I dont think it is the automatic radio scanning.

[smellthebeans]

reviving an old thread.

The answers to the question you or other SOFA members may ask WRT radio traffic information can be found here

http://www.car-coding.de/

[jdsowa]

You can code your US spec car to have the German (TMC) traffic. It is also possible to enable the even number radio stations. I have done this to many US spec cars in the Stuttgart area.

[smellthebeans]

Would you be willing to code me back to US system prior to me shipping the car back to the United States?

Of course I'll pay you for your time & efforts.

[jdsowa]

Originally Posted by smellthebeans

Would you be willing to code me back to US system prior to me shipping the car back to the United States?

Of course I'll pay you for your time & efforts.

Sorry for the late reply, I wasn't checking this thread. Yes I can code it back prior to you shipping your car back to the states.

[MSport_Jon]

I know a good German coder in the Regensburg area that is very good at coding and was able to help me with my CCC I drive and got it converted to European specs... Pm me if interested