[MGRMLN]

Hey all, Not sure if this has been discussed but do we have any options to swap out the vehicle antenna to move toward 4G or is this a moot point? I hate that we are losing the connected vehicle portion of our ownership experience with no migration.

Thanks in Advance,

Minsoo

[dragonsdreams]

It's been discussed in the Facebook i8 forums a few times.
Depends a lot on the country you are in when you are losing 3G. In the UK Vodafone is the carrier and they are phasing out 3G next year. Some people with pre 2019 cars have already lost connectivity.
I haven't seen anyone mention if the car can be upgraded and what cost would be involved.
But yes, I am also rather annoyed that an expensive 'flagship' car such as the i8 cannot be as least upgraded to 4G and keep the connectivity.

[ChiTownM]

Very interested in a solution but so far I have not heard any workaround. I am just as bummed as everyone else.

[Nachbar]

Here in Switzerland, 3G will be available at least until the end of 2024. But in Germany it will be cut until the end of 2022. So I hope, the germans will soon release a upgrade option. I will ask a friend, who works at BMW.

[Nachbar]

Google translated from: https://www.teltarif.de/bmw-umts-abs...ews/84984.html

What a joke. 2G will be cut as well, or is already.

No upgrade to LTE planned So we turned to BMW with the reader's question. From there, a spokesman told us in no uncertain terms that it was not possible to convert to LTE or 5G capability, but that eCall would continue to work: Even after the 3G network has been switched off, the vehicles are not offline, but communicate via the 2G standard if this is offered in the respective region. With 2G networks, services such as eCall, BMW Intelligent Emergency Call, Teleservices, Remote Services and BMW Online can still be used. Services that are severely restricted by a data transmission rate that is too low, such as over-the-air map updates or online entertainment, are deactivated for the customer in order to prevent customer dissatisfaction due to very long reaction times of potentially several hours. Map updates can still be loaded into the vehicle quickly and at any time via USB. When we asked why BMW did not start the development and production of retrofit solutions directly after the announcement of the UMTS switch-off by the network operators a few years ago, the spokesman replied: The development of the affected 3G control units was already up to 10 years ago. At that time, 4G technology was not yet available across the board. A date when the providers would switch off 3G was not known and foreseeable at the time.

[Nachbar]

I just read, if the car has the Options Navi Professional and Enhanced Telephony, its a 4G Module installed.

[Vanbmw2010]

The display key doesn't work with 3G, does it? It will still continue to function?

[dragonsdreams]

I am guessing the normal physical buttons will work but the remote services won't update or function. (?)

If the BMW display key uses 2G which may be still operating in some countries (for emergency signals and utility smart remote meters).