Using a US Model X5 40e in Europe.

[BlazeFallow]

Hey All,

We own a US Model 2018 X5 40e and we're loving it. We moved to Vienna, Austria a few months after we got the car in the States, and while we were at first a bit leery about how well it'd work, I can say that (except for a few caveats) it's worked very well for us. It's been great for the road trips we do and the battery is typically *just* enough for simple trips around the city without needing to use any gas (even a trip to and from the Airport).

But let's talk about those caveats.

ConnectedDrive You can tool around the forum for just a few seconds and you'll see more than enough threads about ConnectedDrive not working when you move a BMW to a different country (or continent in this case). Can confirm: it does not connect; so those 2 years of service, over the air map updates, live traffic feeds, etc etc etc are out the window. Aggravating, but c'est la vie I suppose... What's particularly aggravating is that they offer the same type of service for their vehicles in Europe. And it's the same hardware for the connection. And it's an electronic SIM. But they claim that it's not possible to update the SIM to work on the European network. In fairness to BMW, this is not a bait an switch moment, they advised me when purchasing the car that these services likely would not work when we moved. It is just silly to me that I've got a global cell carrier that works, with 4G data, in 220+ countries, but somehow this is not possible in my $80,000 car.

If anyone knows of a way around this connectivity issue... I'm all ears. Having that traffic feed again sure would be nice.

Maps The Dealer tried to tell me that I'd need an entirely new head unit and navigation system to use Navigation in Europe. This would have cost me ~$3500. Through some very helpful folks on the forum I was able to get the region swap code for my infotainment system and the latest European maps for... considerably less, and without any hardware changes. Just a 64 gig USB thumbdrive and an hour of my time. Especially since I was supposed to get 2 years of free automatic map updates, BMW should be ashamed (I know they don't have the capacity for that feeling) that they could not offer me that same service.

Charging When it works, charging is fast and easy. When it works. I had to purchase a Mennekes (Type 2) Service connector to J1772 (Type 1) Vehicle connector charging cable, but that was relatively cheap. This is mostly (almost entirely) an admonishment of Europe's charging networks and fee structures. If you live in a single place and never travel outside of it, it'll work fine for your EV. You'll go through the lengthy process to set up an account and RFID charge card, and when you need to charge at one of their stations, it's a simple plug in and boop the card, and you're good to go. Gods help you if you need to travel to a different country, with its own unique charging network (they each seem to have their own). Over half of the networks I've stopped at to try to charge do not accept any form of direct payment, specifically needing an account with them and an RFID card to charge with; worse than that, half the networks that do have direct payments options would not accept my US credit cards, and have no options for other US type payment systems (PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc).

Europe definitely needs to get its stuff in order for charging. Currently Tesla is the one company of all of the automotive companies in Europe with a decisive advantage over all competitors due to their dedicated Tesla charging network across all of Europe. Any other EV Owner will need 13 different charge cards to receive anywhere close to that level of support. It's absurd. I'm not voting for monopolistic charging companies, rather the CCS charging schema is sounding sweeter and sweeter every day. That being what they call "Plug and Charge" where your car has the payment info included in its charging system, and negotiates payment when you plug in the charger automatically.

Now, some bits that I could still use some help with:

I know that the onboard charger for my 40e is only capable of maximum 240v 16 Amp single phase (3.7kWh) charge rate for the vehicle. So that limits how fast we can charge the car, which is fine. We get from empty to full in 2.5 hours due to how small the battery is. My main question is: When plugging this into a 22kwh or 43kwh charge station, can my vehicle still charge on these stations? Will the vehicle just downgrade them to the 3.7 kWh or lower rate that it's capable of (just as I'm capable of setting the charger rate to the 3 different settings in the vehicle itself.)?? I can at least confirm that I'm able to charge on the 11kWh charging stations, which are basically 11kWh 400V 3 phase power - but that translates to ~3.7 kWh 220v 16 amp single phase. Does anyone have experience charging a 3.7 kWh charging car on a higher amperage charging node?

And of course if there's any way to update/upgrade the communication unit in the car to allow a data connection in Europe, that'd be great.

[gwes]

Originally Posted by BlazeFallow

Hey All,

We own a US Model 2018 X5 40e and we're loving it. We moved to Vienna, Austria a few months after we got the car in the States, and while we were at first a bit leery about how well it'd work, I can say that (except for a few caveats) it's worked very well for us. It's been great for the road trips we do and the battery is typically *just* enough for simple trips around the city without needing to use any gas (even a trip to and from the Airport).

But let's talk about those caveats.

ConnectedDrive You can tool around the forum for just a few seconds and you'll see more than enough threads about ConnectedDrive not working when you move a BMW to a different country (or continent in this case). Can confirm: it does not connect; so those 2 years of service, over the air map updates, live traffic feeds, etc etc etc are out the window. Aggravating, but c'est la vie I suppose... What's particularly aggravating is that they offer the same type of service for their vehicles in Europe. And it's the same hardware for the connection. And it's an electronic SIM. But they claim that it's not possible to update the SIM to work on the European network. In fairness to BMW, this is not a bait an switch moment, they advised me when purchasing the car that these services likely would not work when we moved. It is just silly to me that I've got a global cell carrier that works, with 4G data, in 220+ countries, but somehow this is not possible in my $80,000 car.

If anyone knows of a way around this connectivity issue... I'm all ears. Having that traffic feed again sure would be nice.

Maps The Dealer tried to tell me that I'd need an entirely new head unit and navigation system to use Navigation in Europe. This would have cost me ~$3500. Through some very helpful folks on the forum I was able to get the region swap code for my infotainment system and the latest European maps for... considerably less, and without any hardware changes. Just a 64 gig USB thumbdrive and an hour of my time. Especially since I was supposed to get 2 years of free automatic map updates, BMW should be ashamed (I know they don't have the capacity for that feeling) that they could not offer me that same service.

Charging When it works, charging is fast and easy. When it works. I had to purchase a Mennekes (Type 2) Service connector to J1772 (Type 1) Vehicle connector charging cable, but that was relatively cheap. This is mostly (almost entirely) an admonishment of Europe's charging networks and fee structures. If you live in a single place and never travel outside of it, it'll work fine for your EV. You'll go through the lengthy process to set up an account and RFID charge card, and when you need to charge at one of their stations, it's a simple plug in and boop the card, and you're good to go. Gods help you if you need to travel to a different country, with its own unique charging network (they each seem to have their own). Over half of the networks I've stopped at to try to charge do not accept any form of direct payment, specifically needing an account with them and an RFID card to charge with; worse than that, half the networks that do have direct payments options would not accept my US credit cards, and have no options for other US type payment systems (PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc).

Europe definitely needs to get its stuff in order for charging. Currently Tesla is the one company of all of the automotive companies in Europe with a decisive advantage over all competitors due to their dedicated Tesla charging network across all of Europe. Any other EV Owner will need 13 different charge cards to receive anywhere close to that level of support. It's absurd. I'm not voting for monopolistic charging companies, rather the CCS charging schema is sounding sweeter and sweeter every day. That being what they call "Plug and Charge" where your car has the payment info included in its charging system, and negotiates payment when you plug in the charger automatically.

Now, some bits that I could still use some help with:

I know that the onboard charger for my 40e is only capable of maximum 240v 16 Amp single phase (3.7kWh) charge rate for the vehicle. So that limits how fast we can charge the car, which is fine. We get from empty to full in 2.5 hours due to how small the battery is. My main question is: When plugging this into a 22kwh or 43kwh charge station, can my vehicle still charge on these stations? Will the vehicle just downgrade them to the 3.7 kWh or lower rate that it's capable of (just as I'm capable of setting the charger rate to the 3 different settings in the vehicle itself.)?? I can at least confirm that I'm able to charge on the 11kWh charging stations, which are basically 11kWh 400V 3 phase power - but that translates to ~3.7 kWh 220v 16 amp single phase. Does anyone have experience charging a 3.7 kWh charging car on a higher amperage charging node?

And of course if there's any way to update/upgrade the communication unit in the car to allow a data connection in Europe, that'd be great.

You can use a higher amperage charge station - all of the charging is on the cars side. As long as it has the right connectivity J1772 - you just can't use it on DC stations.

gwes

[Austrian148]

Hi,
We are moving back to Austria in the next couple months and we would like to take our X5 40e with us as well.
We have purchased a 10 month old 40e in the US, unfortunately it does not have a head light washing system for the Xenon, but this is a requirement in Europe. How did you solve this issue?
Did you have to pay any NOVA taxes to get the car approved in Austria?
Where have you done all the other modifications (replacement of back lights, fog lights, etc.) and how much did it cost you?

Thanks for any help...

[ace4q]

Austrian148 were you able to register without the headlight Washing system in Austria? if not what did you do?