[Poudrely]

Interesting. I wonder if the hardware is built into cars that don't configure it (i.e., and it being a software upgrade later on)

Personal eSIM | BMW.com.mt

The Personal eSIM provides you with a Wi-Fi hotspot for high-speed internet on the road and makes your BMW 5G-ready. Find out more about the Personal eSIM now.

www.bmw.com.mt

• Can I use the Personal eSIM in a BMW not owned by me?
  Yes. Once you have activated your Personal eSIM with your mobile phone provider, you can also use it in other BMW vehicles with Operating System 8 and the optional equipment "Personal eSIM" (SA 6PA) to make phone calls or transfer data.

 

[gsbaker]

The personal eSIM option creates a hotspot in the car. This means (for example) that an iPad which is WiFi only could have Internet access in the car by using the car's hotspot. For a phone, it may have slightly better coverage or signal strength since it uses the car's antenna system, which is more robust than can fit inside a phone. Also, a strategic approach would be to put the eSIM on a second carrier if you are often in places where cellular coverage is limited. Of course, in the US the eSIM is limited to T-Mobile today, so one must purchase a complete cellular account to use it if one is not a T-Mobile customer.

Because of the t mobile monopoly I can't use my personal esim yet. I already have phones with Verizon and ATT, and I'll be damned if I pay $70 a month for a phone I don't need.

I am waiting for BMW to do the right thing and stop shilling for t mobile.

 

[lazLA]

Personal eSIM | BMW.com.mt

The Personal eSIM provides you with a Wi-Fi hotspot for high-speed internet on the road and makes your BMW 5G-ready. Find out more about the Personal eSIM now.

www.bmw.com.mt

• Can I use the Personal eSIM in a BMW not owned by me?
  Yes. Once you have activated your Personal eSIM with your mobile phone provider, you can also use it in other BMW vehicles with Operating System 8 and the optional equipment "Personal eSIM" (SA 6PA) to make phone calls or transfer data.

Thanks. So it sounds like it’s a hardware requirement that’s not necessarily built into all cars

 

[Marvellous]

Because of the t mobile monopoly I can't use my personal esim yet. I already have phones with Verizon and ATT, and I'll be damned if I pay $70 a month for a phone I don't need.

I am waiting for BMW to do the right thing and stop shilling for t mobile.

 

[Poudrely]

So there is an additional SIM reader for an actual SIM card too... interesting. I'm guessing this allows you to activate another carrier if you want to got off of T Mobile... but of course you will have to carry that SIM reader around if you want to use it in another vehicle.

 

[ssh]

Because of the t mobile monopoly I can't use my personal esim yet. I already have phones with Verizon and ATT, and I'll be damned if I pay $70 a month for a phone I don't need.

I am waiting for BMW to do the right thing and stop shilling for t mobile.

Saw a post on here today that AT&T is an additional carrier for the BMW eSIM.

 

[niam]

Follow up question. Is it something I need to set-up with my mobile phone provider, O2?

You have to see which operator is offering the eSim option for your car. In Germany Deutsch Telecom is offering it, in Italy Vodafone with One number Car and Telecom Italy will offer it in January. Cost will be 5€/month

 

[gsbaker]

Thank you, Marvellous. I will look into this

 

[niam]

Thank you, Marvellous. I will look into this

Is this a portable eSim ?, or do you still need an active device for eSim (6PA) in the car?

 

[Marvellous]

It should be an alternative to smartphone and eSIM (but your car need personal SIM 6PA (for hardware reasons like antenna, wifi...)).

BMW Germany (German)

 

[leaf2i4]

Hi all,

Haven't seen a ton of posts on setting up eSIM so I thought I'd share my experience. I first tried to set it up through Verizon, which was an absolute nightmare I would never recommend. I was able to add the plan to my account through the BMW app, however my car stuck on "setting up eSIM" for several days, and Verizon and BMW both pointed at the other as the culprit.

Not wanting to pay for something I wasn't using (or going through Verizon's painfully undertrained support), I spent a couple of hours at T-Mobile today switching my cell phone number to them. It was night and day. My number ported over within a minute, and I attempted to set up the eSIM through the BMW app again. Both plans are $20, and within 5 minutes my eSIM was activated and working perfectly!

I can't speak to AT&T as they lost me as a customer years ago, but for anyone carrier-agnostic looking for a provider for their eSIM/cell plan, I would highly recommend T-Mobile over Verizon.

 

[trivalent]

I can't speak to AT&T as they lost me as a customer years ago, but for anyone carrier-agnostic looking for a provider for their eSIM/cell plan, I would highly recommend T-Mobile over Verizon.

Congratulations on your success; and thank you for sharing your experience here.

But as someone who is preparing to file a complaint with FCC against T-Mobile, after being targeted by them with two instances of wire fraud, and who was affected by T-Mobile's last two data breaches, I recommend that anyone with the option to use a different wireless vendor should avoid giving their personal data (including payment method) to T-Mobile.

 

[dspevack]

If you have the esim in the united states, be sure to add your Esim to the do-not-call registry, or you may get telemarketers calling your car.

National Do Not Call Registry

Register your phone number to report stop or block unwanted, annoying,telemarketing, spam calls, robocalls to the FTC

www.donotcall.gov

Dan

 

[leaf2i4]

Congratulations on your success; and thank you for sharing your experience here.

But as someone who is preparing to file a complaint with FCC against T-Mobile, after being targeted by them with two instances of wire fraud, and who was affected by T-Mobile's last two data breaches, I recommend that anyone with the option to use a different wireless vendor should avoid giving their personal data (including payment method) to T-Mobile.

Oof, I had similar experiences with AT&T. I'm aware of T-Mobile's breaches as a cybersecurity professional, however I personally do not rate the risk of their being compromised to the extent of also compromising BMW's network as high. Nearly all attackers are financially motivated, so while it is likely hackers will try to compromise T-Mobile's payment services again, it's just as likely they'll hit one of the other big carriers. And state sponsored groups typically go after bigger targets such as infrastructure, not individual car brands' eSIMs. To be frank, there aren't many "safer" options when it comes to your online data anymore, just acceptable levels of risk you must mitigate, transfer, or accept. That being said, the OPM hack gave me free identity monitoring for life, so I expect to continue having my identity stolen/have to react to that. /rant

 

[leaf2i4]

If you have the esim in the united states, be sure to add your Esim to the do-not-call registry, or you may get telemarketers calling your car.

National Do Not Call Registry

Register your phone number to report stop or block unwanted, annoying,telemarketing, spam calls, robocalls to the FTC

www.donotcall.gov

Dan

I've used this in the past, however it's a list also perused by spammers outside of the US, so adding your number often just confirms it's a live, valid number to dial. I've found the greatest reduction in spam calls by answering and muting my line. They listen for any sort of audio before playing the script, and eventually will remove your number from their list if they can't confirm it's connected to anyone.

 

[SpiritAdriftM]

This may be slightly off topic but wondering if eSIM activation is needed for hotspot? We have an X3 PHEV as well that has a hotspot without eSIM and got a 3 month trial. Did BMW replace this with eSIM?