BMW iDrive Service History – how it works & how to modify it
Where to find the iDrive Service History information ?
To access the iDrive Service History menu you need to go to the Service Requirements page. You should then see the Service History right there, at the top of the list. It looks like in the picture we show at the top of this article.
What information you can expect to find in the Service History ?
The iDrive should have an entry for each visit to the service. Your iDrive should display sub menus for each item replaced. For example, if you had an oil change, there should be an entry for this operation, another entry for an air filter, etc. It should also show where it was carried out, the dealer’s number, which can then be contacted by anyone (for example, a prospective buyer for your car) to confirm the work that was done.
Missing iDrive Service History ?
Some BMW owners report not being able to find the Service History entry in their Service Requirements page. This can happen for a few reasons:
- First introduced on July 2014 (production date)
- BMW owners report that this information only appears on their iDrive after the first dealer service. On each subsequent visit, the dealer adds new information.
- The dealer / repair shop might have overlooked downloading this information onto your iDrive; or they simply do not know how to do it.
BMW owners who encountered this problem report many possible explanations given by the dealer. This happens when he’s not being able to write the Service History onto their iDrive. However, the take home message here is never to take No for an answer and to insist. This information can and should be downloaded onto your iDrive, for no additional cost. Owners who have taken this approach report that eventually they had their Service History on their iDrive, although on some occasions it was necessary to contact BMW Germany directly.
Wrong Service History information
If you notice that the information onto your iDrive is not correct, do not worry, you can correct it. Some BMW owners report that they had an incorrect date and mileage. You simply need to go back to the BMW dealer who performed the operation and have them correct the problem. Again, some people report having to insist; even to contact BMW Germany to have this corrected, but it will eventually be done.
BMW iDrive Service History – how it works
After each operation performed on your BMW during a maintenance visit to the dealer, your car gets an entry into the central database maintained by BMW. Now you can simply find it onto your iDrive navigation. After each visit to the dealer, your service history should be updated both in the central database, but also locally, on your iDrive.
Furthermore, you can modify, update and delete locally on your iDrive the Servicce History information if you need to. There are tools available to the general public and online information for how to update your iDrive Service History by yourself . Please mind that you should only do this in order to add information on jobs you might have done yourself (an oil change, for example) and not to conceal or add false information. When a main dealer (or an indy who subscribes to the BMW service) does a service, they will upload the details to the BMW central system, erase your iDrive’s local history and then reload all the information from the central database.
If you are doing maintenance work or if you are using a local service that does not subscribe to the BMW service and cannot update your car’s records on the central database on each visit, then you should keep the paper proof of all the work, which you will need if or when you decide to sell your car. Remember that no matter what your iDrive’s local Service History shows, a seller will always check directly with a BMW dealer the history of the car she intends to buy. If the information on your iDrive and that from BMW’s database do not coincide, the prospective buyer will likely want some proof of the maintenance work done.
iDrive Service History at a glance
To sum up, the iDrive Service History is a local copy of information on the BMW’s main database. The maintenance work done on your car needs an update on each maintenance visit to the dealer. If you perform some jobs yourself, it is possible for you to update the Service History. We hope you now have a more clear understanding on how iDrive Service History works.
Lastly, if you experience any problems with having your iDrive’s Service History updated, we would appreciate your insight.
If you would like us to go into more details, please leave a message below/contact us.
Comments (6)
Salut , deci care e solutia pana la urma ? Trebuie sa fi conectat official la BMW ?
Multumesc .
Hi very interesting article. Can I download the service history and store/view on my laptop? If so, how can I do this?
Also, does this mean car data is not available digitally prior to 2014? Or just not on iDrive and only available on the BMW’s central system (does it have a proper name?).
thanks Vincent
Hi, Please can you help? I had my BMW 1 series services with Halfords recently but i cannot see this on the iDrive. Is this because they cannot update the iDrive? It still shows up with the last service done and not the recent one.
I can see you have said to keep all the paperwork to show work was done if I ever wanted to sell the car. I had nearly £1000 worth of stuff done at Halfords and really annoyed that i cannot see the service as being done on the iDrive. I would appreciate your help. thank you
Hello,
You will need to go to a BMW dealership, they will be able to update your service history. Probably, at Halfords, they did not have the software tools to update it.
Thank you.
Hello, I rang up and asked them if they would do this for me and they said no. They would only update the iDrive information if they had done the work themselves.
Indeed, that’s a more delicate situation. For these cases, we were recommending in this article that the best approach is to keep the paper proof of all the work, which you will need if/when you decide to sell your car. Because the prospective buyer won’t be able to see this recorded in the Service History.
In case you just need this to be recorded for your own information, you can update your local copy of the sevice history yourself (see the link to a tool you may use for this in this article).
Cheers,
Alex from Mura Car Accessories