New Feature programming

Reading through many of these posts I see many people going to the dealer to have their car reprogrammed for things like alarm and satelite radio integration. Is there any feedback on the work/time it took the dealer and costs for these changes? Was it successful? Any suggestions of what to look for and ask?

Please reply. I'm thinking about having both the alarm and radio added, but hearing its a 3 hour (@100 per hour) upgrade that may take all day if it doesn't go well. This has been really discouraging just to have what I expected a plug and play module added like the radio capability.

Originally Posted by kalemkea

Reading through many of these posts I see many people going to the dealer to have their car reprogrammed for things like alarm and satelite radio integration. Is there any feedback on the work/time it took the dealer and costs for these changes? Was it successful? Any suggestions of what to look for and ask?

Please reply. I'm thinking about having both the alarm and radio added, but hearing its a 3 hour (@100 per hour) upgrade that may take all day if it doesn't go well. This has been really discouraging just to have what I expected a plug and play module added like the radio capability.

My feeling is that your original dealer should do it for free. When we got our cars a lot of features were not available yet, and we should not be penalized for lining BMWs pockets in May and early June.

Unfortunately, my dealer does not seem to have the updates available to load on my car. It's weird because owners in Boston have reported they have had their alarms activated, but my dealer here in CA claims they don't have the software to do this yet. I will check some other dealers in the area, though.

Also, some drivers with NAV reported they can activate the alarm via Idrive. Not sure if you will be able to or not.

Good luck, and let me know if you get it activated.

Has anyone gotten it done for free?

Software upgrades are and should be free. Alarms and sat radio, not sure about though