[Revenger08]

Hi, Thanx for looking.
Just so you know I am a DOD civilian stationed overseas, and need some help and assistance for my wife's 2018 BMW X3. We brought the X3 with us from the United States (Pennsylvania), to South Korea, and was shipped by the DoD here. Upon pickup, the service gentleman told me that the entire IDrive system will not work unless I have a "chip" put in the vehicle. So my question is this.. Is the X3 really region locked, what 'chip" is he talking about, and can this be done by myself.... For now we have been driving the vehicle for about a week. The Radio doesn't work, the infotainment system doesn't work, and the big one, the backup camera doesn't work.

Any info and help that someone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[Yobyot]

Originally Posted by Revenger08

Hi, Thanx for looking.
Just so you know I am a DOD civilian stationed overseas, and need some help and assistance for my wife's 2018 BMW X3. We brought the X3 with us from the United States (Pennsylvania), to South Korea, and was shipped by the DoD here. Upon pickup, the service gentleman told me that the entire IDrive system will not work unless I have a "chip" put in the vehicle. So my question is this.. Is the X3 really region locked, what 'chip" is he talking about, and can this be done by myself.... For now we have been driving the vehicle for about a week. The Radio doesn't work, the infotainment system doesn't work, and the big one, the backup camera doesn't work.

Any info and help that someone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Your "service gentleman" is full of it.

Call BMW NA and have them send you instructions for driving an American-spec car outside the US.

I've done two European Deliveries and you shouldn't expect things like HD radio and nav to work — unless BMW NA can tell you how to load South Korean maps. Otherwise if you have CarPlay, try Waze.

[Revenger08]

Thanx, my man.. BTW does anyone have a good contact number/ email for BMW NA? For what ever reason, the NA BMW Website is blocked using korean IT provider... Keeps sending me to the BMW Korea website..

[Fast400]

1. So when you say radio doesn't work, do you mean not at all, or your radio isn't picking up the korean radio stations?
2. The back up camera has nothing to do with where the car is located. Was it that way immediately when you picked up the car? If yes, there is something going on with the car "HU_NBT" module.
3. As far as the maps go, they can be purchased and loaded by BMW ($200ish)

[jeff3820]

They only post 800 numbers which might be problematic for international calls:


Our Address

BMW of North America, LLC
300 Chestnut Ridge Road
Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677-7731

Customer Relations
1-800-831-1117
Hours of Operation
Monday - Thursday 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET
Friday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM ET

BMW Genius Hotline
Our Genius team is dedicated to answering your product questions.
1-844-4GENIUS (443-6487)
bmwgenius@bmwusa.com

Hours of Operation
Monday - Thursday 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET
Friday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM ET
Saturday: 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM ET

[Revenger08]

When I picked up the car, the entire infotainment system was dead... screen not working, no radio, nothing... Attempted a soft reset, but still not working.
without the system, I am unable to change settings, backup camera doesn't work etc...

more i think about it , the more upset I get... I spent alot of money on this car, even when as far as asking my local service/ dealer prior to shipping only to have the entire system crash, and become unusable... dealer/ service center said nothing about this... But did charge me for services rendered... Service tech told me you are good to go, damned liar! Even had to replace two tires @ less than 10k, which pissed me off even more.. I can only imagine the tires I will go thru here as the streets here are subpar to US roads...

Sorry for the rant..just extremely frustrated...

[Fast400]

Originally Posted by Revenger08

When I picked up the car, the entire infotainment system was dead... screen not working, no radio, nothing... Attempted a soft reset, but still not working.
without the system, I am unable to change settings, backup camera doesn't work etc...

more i think about it , the more upset I get... I spent alot of money on this car, even when as far as asking my local service/ dealer prior to shipping only to have the entire system crash, and become unusable... dealer/ service center said nothing about this... But did charge me for services rendered... Service tech told me you are good to go, damned liar! Even had to replace two tires @ less than 10k, which pissed me off even more.. I can only imagine the tires I will go thru here as the streets here are subpar to US roads...

Sorry for the rant..just extremely frustrated...

Making more sense now! New Country, Moving, issues....can be really frustrating! I've done it a few times.
As far as your BMW goes, there's a physical issue with either the Headunit or Screen. If it crashed prior to even shipping it to Korea...Korea is not the issue.
Find a BMW dealer there. Eventhough the warranty is different, they should still honor it on such a new car.

[Revenger08]

When I dropped the car off with the shippers, everything was working fine. Nav, backup camera, screen, everything...
So if the screen or head unit is bad, how? The car only had like one mile difference on it, between dropping it off and picking it up... Could the transport across the ocean, affected something.
Sorry for all the questions just trying to understand the hell is going on with it..

[383vett]

Is there a chance the battery might be low due to a door or light being left open or on? Sometimes weak batteries to weird things

[Revenger08]

do you think that manually pulling the battery and resetting the entire system will help? I really need the use of the backup camera here as the streets, parking areas, etc, are not as wide or big as those in the U.S. Makes me really nervous backing in or out of a parking spot here... Koreans are known to run/walk into the path of vehicles hoping for a payout for injuries, that and they love to not pay attention to where they are going. Walking with their head down, while playing on their phone, while chewing gum and smoking a cigarette.
I really don't want to be held liable for someone else's ignorance, especially since I a foreigner here, and the bias the court systems here have for non-koreans.

[383vett]

Wouldn't hurt to try. The battery is in the rear cargo floor on the right side. Dixconnect the negative terminal for a minute and reconnect.

[Dullimite]

First off I'm also a DoD civilian overseas and have taken delivery of a few BMWs in Germany, one of which I shipped to the states. The only thing that is regional for the US spec is Sirius satellite radio, SOS help, and you need to have the maps updated to the region you are in. BMW in Germany charges around 400 Euros for the European maps and US maps upon shipping back to the states. All that being said, you should file a claim with the transportation office. Take it to a BMW dealership and have them do a full diagnostic on the vehicle but contact transportation and get them involved. I know a lot of people who's cars were damage due to shitty contracted (lowest bidder) government moving companies. Sorry about the issues, moving is stressful enough without having to deal unexpected problems.

[TheusBimmer]

To add a few more things (I shipped my car from States to Europe this past fall):

- buy a VPN and set USA location; this way even though you are in Korea, when you surf the net, you will have a US ip address and it would be like surfing in the States, except you won't have access to some service providers (like Hulu)
- to call a 1-800 US phone number from overseas, use Skype or Google Phone (this last one, you should have set it up back in the States)
- def get the shipping company to explain you why the headunit is no longer working... it's most likely their fault and you should claim back that they repair it. Unfortunately you have already signed the papers when you took delivery that everything was fine so it would be hard to prove that they broke it...
- as per previous posts above, the only thing that wouldn't work in the headunit would be Sirius radio, AM radio (FM radio might still pick up a few channels, at least it does in Europe), maps (which can be purchased separately at bmw dealership or online - user fast400 would have a contact for Europe though not sure about Korea) - rear cameras, speed limit info, Carplay does work independent of the region you are in
- def go to a proper bmw dealership that has dealt with expats/us military as it will make life so much easier- ask the KATUSA (korean military branch that is supposed to work with US military?) and get them involved if need a korean/english translators - i'm sure the army will have extensive resources in regards

Hope this helps and good luck. Moving is complicated and tiring but hopefully you will find your stay rewarding in the long run. Cheers.

[js15514]

Hi Revenger08, was this fixed? I'm also a DoD civilian stationed in Korea and having a same issue after I pick uo my POV, 2018 BMW 540i. All functions are toally disabled including reare view camera which is very critical in Korea. I went to BMW Service Center nearby but not successful. Very fraustrated...