[mpbmw3]

I am going to take my 335 to Europe. The engineers there told me i have to get iDrive programmed for Europe (this is not the DVD).

Does anyone know where i can get that done? Are there any limitations? Does BMW have separate European and North American software releases?

BMW of NYC says they do not do European programming.

Thanks

[judec]

Maybe U could leave it to some stealership in your EU destination. Who else could do EU reprogramming?

[mpbmw3]

I called two dealers in europe and they said they cannot work on the nav system as long as it is US programmed. Apparently some type of rebuild is needed before it will work. Not sure if that means replacing the entire system

on the other hand, i also found that with the european delivery program you can use your car in Europe before it is shipped and just use a europe DVD. This Europe DVD, however, seems to be a US NavTeq DVD and not a BMW Europe DVD

So i think it may partially work but i am unsure if the engineers at local BMW there can service the nav system and upgrade with new releases, etc

[JSH]

Interesting...

Let us know if you find out more. I was planning to do the same with my car later in the year. I also have I-drive.

If it can work with a European Map DVD from NavTeq thats probably ok, the only issue arises if you want to sell the car.

[cipher5]

all you need is the euro DVD

[AndreyATC]

Originally Posted by cipher5

all you need is the euro DVD

+1
I did ED with my car
Drove around for a week with just Euro DVD
Car came to US, i plugged in US DVD, no problem

I also tested EU DVD on one of the cars here loacally (US), worked like a charm

[mpbmw3]

Right - thanks cipher5 and AndreyATC

Now the question is if the actual system is the same as in Europe so that local BMW service can actually work on it if needed. They seem to think not but that seems weird if everything works in Europe.

Does anyone have experience in this?

Same the other way around by the way, the US guys tell me they don't know how to do "european programmng". this indicates there is indeed a different system in there?

[Gig103]

I don't believe that BMW Assist will work over there, since Europe uses GSM. Maybe that's what they mean needs to be changed?

[SoYank]

My local (UK) BMW dealer has not had a problem with fixing the problems on my US spec E90. The iDrive works fine here but when you buy the European Navigation disc make sure it is the Professional version and not the Business version which won't work on the US spec.

[cipher5]

Like Gig103 said, BMW Assist won't work. And of course the nav traffic, but the rest you should be good to go.

[Kamando]

US Spec here: Navigation works fine with the Euro DVD and traffic info works fine also. The only thing that will not work is BMW Assist, everything else works fine!

[jhanlon]

One thing to ask about: Is it possible to get the FM tuning of your radio reprogrammed to tune all the FM stations? In the US we only use the odd decimals of the FM band (91.1, 93.1, 95.3, etc.) but in Europe they also use the even decimals. Without that capability you will miss a vast number of stations.

Jim Hanlon

[cipher5]

I can't remember the station numbers, but when my US spec E92 was in Munich, I picked up radio stations fine.

[Lassaxi]

Originally Posted by cipher5

Like Gig103 said, BMW Assist won't work. And of course the nav traffic, but the rest you should be good to go.

Nav traffic and automatic re-routing worked fine for me when I did ED.

[SoYank]

Originally Posted by cipher5

I can't remember the station numbers, but when my US spec E92 was in Munich, I picked up radio stations fine.

My US spec can't pick up the local station at XXX.2 MHz. I've been told the only way to fix this is to replace the receiver which I'm not about to do.

[doobie]

i think the only thing you will have to change is the compus on the mirror (if you have that option) for the correct region.

[quicksmile4u]

I have my US spec 328i with NAV in Germany. All I did was put in a Euro disc and it worked fine including the trafic assist. Make sure you get the professional version. BTW I'm going back to the States in Jul. Send me a message if you are intrested in my disc.

[mpbmw3]

I have moved to Holland and have imported my 335xi. I popped in the European Nav disc and it worked straight away. However, the traffic information does not work. This is due to the radio frequencies like was mentioned before (need to use even and odd decimals FM frequencies). The adjustment can be done by any dealer but i have not been there yet. I wonder if i can do it myself....

[SoYank]

Originally Posted by mpbmw3

I have moved to Holland and have imported my 335xi. I popped in the European Nav disc and it worked straight away. However, the traffic information does not work. This is due to the radio frequencies like was mentioned before (need to use even and odd decimals FM frequencies). The adjustment can be done by any dealer but i have not been there yet. I wonder if i can do it myself....

My local dealer says it can't be done without replacement but if you know otherwise, please enlighten us all.