[Jeff661]

I use CarPlay. Don’t use eSIM. Never had any issues. It doesn’t seem slow. I’ve never had to reboot or had it reboot.

[VirtualGuitars]

The head unit is not based on the model year, but the production date. If yours was manufactured after March of this year then you have the newer one regardless of model year.

[Paladin1]

Regarding the eSIM (which I assume is the same with the new model iXs), mine is connected with T-Mobile and is (now) working perfectly. It was a journey (search previous threads), but in my case completely unrelated to the HU, and involved considerable effort with both BMW and T-Mobile engineers to get it to work as intended. It connects every time, is as fast as any 5G configuration, and makes communication and data connectivity faster and more reliable in spotty tower regions. There are 3 cellular provider contracts with BMW right now (Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T), and your setup experience is likely to vary widely depending on your success with the BMW app and your service reps (both BMW and your carrier), but in both my cars the eSIM is connected and working with HU4, just as well as the old AT&T chip in earlier X5s.

[ickyfehmleh]

Originally Posted by bmwix1

UI wise, iDrive 8.5 looks a bit more sleek, but really not much improvement.

lolwut

OS8.5's navigation destination searching is finally tolerable and doesn't make me immediately revert to Google Maps. The route planning is also quite a bit quicker than OS8.

Not sure I'm digging "quick select" as I can't seem to have my music and current vehicle status in the same area but otherwise OS8.5 is a noticeable improvement over OS8.

I still hate the smugness of the default navigation voice.

[NomoTesla]

I have a 2023 and I have zero issues with my computer and software. Never crashed. Never had a "blank screen" issue. It works perfectly fine for me. My Spotify sometimes disconnects for no reason and stays disconnected until the next stop/start, but other than that I have no issues.

Compared to my Tesla Model S, the BMW iX ownership experience is 100x better.

[johninaustin]

I'd spend up to $1500 if there was an upgrade from HU4 to HU5 - but not more. On my '23, I haven't really had any issues with stability, but I'm in CarPlay 99% of the time.

So if the '23 is > $1500 discount vs the '24, I'd take it (understanding I don't know what I'm missing since I haven't driven a '24).

I'd love to have the bells and whistles in HU5, but I don't think the current system is pokey.

I just really wish 8.0 would get the UI improvements - it's hard to understand why those tweaks aren't coming to 8.

Car's nice as is - I even bought this one to keep a while (> 5 years minimum).

[VirtualGuitars]

Originally Posted by johninaustin

I'd spend up to $1500 if there was an upgrade from HU4 to HU5 - but not more. On my '23, I haven't really had any issues with stability, but I'm in CarPlay 99% of the time.

So if the '23 is > $1500 discount vs the '24, I'd take it (understanding I don't know what I'm missing since I haven't driven a '24).

I'd love to have the bells and whistles in HU5, but I don't think the current system is pokey.

I just really wish 8.0 would get the UI improvements - it's hard to understand why those tweaks aren't coming to 8.

Car's nice as is - I even bought this one to keep a while (> 5 years minimum).

Try it with eSIM. By the way, there’s no way to swap out the head unit with the newer one because the wiring harnesses are completely different.

[bmwix1]

Originally Posted by VirtualGuitars

Try it with eSIM. By the way, there’s no way to swap out the head unit with the newer one because the wiring harnesses are completely different.

What did you get this info about the wiring difference?

[VirtualGuitars]

Originally Posted by bmwix1

What did you get this info about the wiring difference?

Since you don’t want to take my word for it, you can read the first paragraph from BMW’s own internal documentation to the dealers: