Today at the Paris Auto Show, BMW unveiled their all-new 3 Series sedan. What makes this model interesting, aside from its new design, is it is the first BMW to take advantage of a remote software upgrade feature via smartphone, to keep the vehicle up-to-date.
This new remote software upgrade for the BMW 3 Series will be available on smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone, as demonstrated by BMW earlier today on YouTube.
iPhone owners will receive a notification from the BMW app which will say, “New Software Upgrade for your BMW available. Download and transfer via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, to get the latest version.”
Once the update downloads to your iPhone, the next time you’re in your BMW, it’ll alert you to remotely upgrade the software, which takes about 20 minutes (your car has to be standing still during the upgrade). Once complete, you’ll get a push notification that says “Your BMW was successfully upgraded.”
Check out the remote software upgrade process with an iPhone X, as shown just past the one-minute mark of the video below:
The new 3 Series also includes the new BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, which can be activated by saying “Hey BMW” (or some other customized command). This assistant learns your habits and behaviours, and will suggest actions in the car, such as turning on your heated seats to a certain temperature. You can also ask it to “vitalize me” when you’re feeling tired, which it will then open the sunroof, change ambient lighting to a lighter colour and play upbeat music.
The new 3 Series will also support BMW Digital Key, which allows smartphone users to use their device as a key. The feature requires NFC access so it may be limited for iPhone users, as Apple has yet to let third-party developers have free reign with NFC capabilities.
