What would be different? I mean, I am not defending BMW and would have expected some sort of message like "Alarm triggered" or something similar, but what could you have done differently? Lessons learned: don't ever leave a bag visible in a car. I learned that lesson over 25 years ago when I ran into a shop just for five minutes (literally) and when I came back the rear window was broken and my bag with my laptop was gone.

 

Yea it's OPs own fault for parking such an expensive car in a questionable neighborhood.

OT: my dealer installed a security system with sound (no app). It's indeed a shame that this isnt't an option BMW offers

 

BMW does not have "sentry mode" like Tesla. Maybe next gen.

 

My wife recently set the alarm off accidentally and I was really surprised (and disappointed) that the app doesn't notify you. It didn't even occur to me that it wouldn't.

 

It's funny because I'm driving a new X1 currently and it has notification in the app when alarm is triggered. It even saves a video that I can download in the app, just like Teslas sentry mode.

 

That was what I thought also, but then I realized that I triggered my alarm once in my 330e and my car did not sent any message to my BMW app, so perhaps it isn't sending from the i4, just like the 330e.

 

I decided to take a look in the code after reading this thread and found the following.
Will need a bit of further investigation tho. Cos I enabled the option but has had no effect.

 

I decided to take a look in the code after reading this thread and found the following.
Will need a bit of further investigation tho. Cos I enabled the option but has had no effect. View attachment 25203

I love the SEAT_SOCCER_MUM. What is that?

 

I have no idea, maybe someone from the US can chime in as its an American term

 

It might be a weird interpretation conflating "Soccer Moms" (usually associated with hauling a bunch of kids to games/practice in a minivan) and rear occupant monitoring/warning to prevent parents from forgetting their children in the back seat. It's a sad but real and dangerous problem.

 

A couple use cases I see for proactive notification within the app that don't involve confronting a thief:

1. If a window is broken I'd like to know right away so I can mitigate further damage. For example, if it's raining and I don't return to the car for a couple of hours, I'm likely dealing with more than just a broken window.
2. If the car is being stolen, the sooner I know, the sooner I notify the police and improve odds of recovery.

 

Do you have option 302 “alarm system”?
If you do when you lock the car there should be a red flashing LED below the rear view mirror.
If you do then you should have also interior motion detectors.
I understood that if you lock the car, the alarm will be armed BUT is you lock it again within 10 seconds… it will disable the interior sensor and tilt sensor.

 

Do you have option 302 “alarm system”?
I understood that if you lock the car, the alarm will be armed BUT is you lock it again within 10 seconds… it will disable the interior sensor and tilt sensor.

We transport our dogs in the i4. My wife usually uses our old Mercedes estate and pops into the supermarket for a few things on the way back (when the weather is cool). If our son has the Mercedes, she will take the i4.

Telephone Conversation last week from my wife in the i4...

Wife: "I can't get the car to start"
Me: "What happened?"
Wife: "I came out of the supermarket and all the orange lights were flashing and the car won't start"
Me: "Ummm..."
Wife: "It's OK now"
Me: "What did you do?"
Wife: "Tried locking it and unlocking it and it is OK now"
Me: "Sounds like the alarm went off and you have to turn it off before the car will start"
Wife: "OK"
Me: "You did double lock the car to disable the internal alarm sensor?"
Wife: "What's that?"
Me: "Like you press that button in the Mercedes so the dogs don't set the alarm off?"
Wife: "Oh"

 

The iX was the first BMW to include Drive Theft Recorder. The iX started production a few months before the i4, so it was a business decision to not include it with the i4. We know the iX has a more modern ECU, but I can’t imagine that it will take more than a few lines of code to implement a notification when the alarm is triggered.

 

Indeed. How is it possible that a basic app notification cannot be made functional on a car at such price....

 

Mum might be british, the woman boss in the james bond movies.

 

i4 is a higher volume vehicle than the iX. Easier to test and update something with lower production numbers before releasing it to higher volume models. Since the iX has a higher price tag, they have more margin for things to go wrong. BMW like Apple has to have a price ladder for you to creep from cheap to expensive. The i4 infotainment system, especially the favorites tab is just way too slow. Slowest infotainment system of any car I've owned.

As a tech geek, I have a harder time giving BMW a pass. If Rivian made a car (not an SUV), I'd buy it. My sister paid about the same for her R1S and it has much better tech and feels more premium inside... and it is much larger too. My $70K car feels like $40K to me and her $80K SUV feels like $110K SUV. It is cheap compared to the iX which is a lot more expensive with fewer options.

I love BMW driving dynamics but it has a high cost in price tag, expensive dealership, and poor tech compared to the startups.

 

Not sure what interior you have but, I paid for individual leather. About $2500 more than regular leather.
If gives merino leather on all the surfaces and a stitched leather dash. You won't see a $40k car with interior like my M50.

The basic i4 interior with sensatec is pretty boring and definitely not luxury.

The leather upgrade is better but still leaves the lower dash not leather and other accents in sensatec.

Extended leather is better but does not cover all surfaces.

Full leather covers the door panels, lower dash in color matched leather and the upper dash in black stitched leather

Leather is a $1500 option
Fuller merino leather is about $3900

 

I put a post on another thread but mine does alert in the app when the alarm is triggered. I'm in the UK and my M50 is a Nov 2023 build.

 

Thanks for info. Could you post a screenshot from the app showimg the alert/notification. I have all options on my i4 edrive40 M with alarm, Parking Assistant Professional, Remote 3D camera (Drive recorder)... Do you have more?

 

I have all the options, but I know this doesn't work for me (alarm went off a couple weeks ago and I didn't get any alert).

 

My butt never touches the dashboard, lower or upper, so I I'm honestly OK without $3900 of dead cow?