[Erik-AA]

I was hoping that the BMW app would let me use my phone to tell the car to warm up both cabin and battery before I head to the parking lot.
Question: Will it do this if the car is not plugged in to a charger? If not I don't see why I would pay for a subscription. I can charge (for free) at work but I live in a complex where there are no chargers available.

Right now I can't get the car (2018 i3s) to warm up much at all unless I am in it. If I turn it on and then get out to brush off the snow, it shuts down the HVAC as soon as I close the door. WTF? On every gas car I have owned this was routine -- start the car and let the heater start to warm the windshield while scraping the snow. Is there some setting I need to change to enable this?

The freeway on-ramp is about a mile from my home. When it's like 5 degrees F, the acceleration is .... leisurely. And the top speed is .... low. Not a good thing when trying to merge onto I-94. Sure wish I could tell the car to warm up in advance! I can charge when I get to work so I don't care much that this takes some energy out of the battery.

Any suggestions? Thanks!