3G Sunset
 

Curious if anyone else is tracking the 3G sunset and whether it will impact any of your vehicles.

My 2016 F80 M3 is apparently impacted, though it sounds as though mine might be new enough that a simple software reflash is all that is needed. BMW actually seems to be doing more on this that most automakers, and is offering an upgrade free of charge for some newer cars (which in some cases is a software reflash and in others is a hardware upgrade). Even with BMW, though, once you go back past about 2015, there’s no upgrade option.

Other companies are doing nothing at all. See, eg, Toyota.

Fwiw, because everyone likes to talk about Tesla, this issue only impacts pre 2015 Model S cars, and they’re offering a $200 hardware upgrade to solve it.


https://www.thedrive.com/tech/43187/...screw-your-car

I'm pretty sure my 911 has a 'recall' to replace the cell module for map updates, etc. It seems like Porsche is being pretty pro-active regarding taking care of it as well. I haven't really considered getting it addressed as I don't use any of the features, but maybe I'll reconsider.

Looks like my 2017 240i may be impacted. But I also don’t use any connected drive services. Not sure what it means—if anything—for the in-car Nav. That is nice to have when in areas with no cell service.

I haven't paid any attention to the wireless connectivity technologies used in vehicles, so I don't know the scope and effect. I also didn't know 3G was about to sunset.

That story links to an October 2020 GM tech bulletin that says 2019-2021 Camaros will be affected (but not 2016-2018), but it's unclear what features/functions may be affected. It also says an OTA update will take care of it for all the affected cars except those where the customer has declined an update, the update failed, or the car was delivered with deactivated telematics.

One of the possible systems that could be affected on some Cadillac models is Supercruise. I don't understand how Supercruise could have been launched with a reliance on 3G. But, that's not my world. I just found it interesting to see.

Also, if the Tesla requires a hardware swap, $200 seems way too reasonable for Tesla. Was Musk high when he decided that? :dunno:

In that GM doc, it lists a LOT of GPS reliant functions that may break like clock functions, anything that relies on time, it may not show your correct location on the map, and on and on. No idea what BMW does, but the need for a cellular connection for things you'd expect to be GPS and onboard only was pretty surprising.

One issue that’s related to the 3G sunset is moving voice communications on the cell networks to Voice over LTE (VoLTE). Apparently in the BMWs that just need a software update, there is already a 4G LTE modem but they need to be reprogrammed to send the voice services over LTE instead of 3G. That might be the same thing that’s happening with Supercruise, to the extent it’s integrated with some sort of voice emergency service.

On the BMW side, impacted services are real time traffic, the various “send to” and remote control functions, map updates, and of course voice services (like emergency 911 stuff). Not clear whether a car with a 4G module that has voice stuff impacted could still access the other services, from what I’ve read.

The Tesla hardware update has actually been available for a while; I thought about doing it when I had my 2014 Model S but decided not to. I think they price it low because telematics are so useful for Tesla.

Pretty sure my 2017 X5 with ID5 has 4G, but I could be totally wrong? I mean in mid 2017 I do not know why any manufacturer would have been installing 3G TCUs away? I know BMWs with ID7 are rocking 4G.

Edit: I found this from May 20, 2021 ~ BMW will discontinue 3G connectivity support next year: https://www.bmwblog.com/2021/05/20/b...ort-next-year/

I have not heard a word for BMW NA so I am going to assume my X5 is unaffected. Famous last words…

I’m guessing GM used 3G to supplement GPS - using cell towers to triangulate locations. May also be the source of the time signal (faster than using GPS?)

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As for us… no cars impacted. Both Teslas use LTE. I guess if I still had the S that I’d have to for the $200 upgrade…

Interestingly, I did get an email from Tesla regarding the Powerwalls. But they sent a correction out the next day. Sounds like early Powerwalls don’t have LTE. Ours system is connected via wifi, but the Powerwalls and inverters have cell connections as an option to report data back to Tesla…

Update on this--turns out my car was eligible for the no-cost upgrade. At first they thought a software flash would do it, but it did not, so they had to replace the commbox. That was fine, except that the dealer didn't properly test the replacement and give me the car back with the commbox still not working. They took it back in after I pointed this out, and another software flash got everything working.

All in all, I'm glad I didn't have to pay for it because it sounds like several hours of diagnostic and troubleshooting in addition to the new part. But I'm happy that it works!

What year is your M3? Oops. Nevermind, you mention it above. Still am not clear about my 2017 2.