BMW ConnectedDrive and My BMW services no longer work in Russia: what’s going on?
By ForGeeks
The BMW ConnectedDrive online services and My BMW mobile app have stopped functioning in Russia. Car owners are complaining about loss of connection with their cars and app malfunctions. The reasons for the outage are still unclear, and restoration of the service may take longer.
How the problem manifested
“My BMW app stopped working,” “Lost connection with the car,” “No weather on the screen,” were messages like these posted en masse by BMW owners on forums and social networks in August 2025. Some users are still using the services, but many have experienced disconnections.
The app requires a BMW car no older than 2014 with an active subscription to ConnectedDrive services. The car connects to the internet via its built-in eSIM and can display news, weather forecasts or run music and video apps. But the most important thing is remote access: checking the fuel level, closing or opening the doors, and starting the engine remotely.
The popularity of such services is high despite paid subscriptions. However, following the withdrawal of European automakers from the Russian market in 2022, most brands have switched off support for online features. Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volvo and others discontinued the apps. BMW supported customers in Russia for the longest time, keeping ConnectedDrive and My BMW running. Now these services are virtually inaccessible as well.
The first failures appeared back in 2024
The problems didn’t start in 2025. Back in 2024, owners of imported used BMWs from Europe complained that My BMW had stopped detecting cars. Then the problem was circumvented: specialists re-flashed the eSIM, and owners registered on the German or British BMW website. The exception was cars from China, which could not be connected to the service.
In August 2025, cars with re-flashed eSIMs were also “switched off”. This coincided with restrictions on calls in Telegram and WhatsApp, which prompted speculation about the actions of Roskomnadzor and law enforcement agencies. It was assumed that the measures were related to the fight against drones and terrorism. But it is possible that the reason is due to internal decisions of BMW’s IT services.
Version: BMW’s own decision
Reporters requested comment from BMW headquarters. They declined to respond, neither confirming nor denying the outage.
In early September, the app was still working with cars officially sold by Russian dealers. Only cars with re-flashed eSIMs and registration on foreign websites lost support at first. It was assumed that BMW had disabled such cars to avoid roaming charges for European SIM cards.
At the beginning of September, the app was still working with cars officially sold by Russian dealers.
In late September, however, cars officially sold in Russia also stopped connecting: some owners lost full access, while others were left with only the ability to view the car’s status without remote control functions.
Who’s to blame and what’s next
There are no official statements from BMW, Russian authorities or operators. No one is claiming responsibility for disabling ConnectedDrive and My BMW. Specialists are looking for workarounds, but there’s no stable result yet. More modern BMW models can’t be hacked, and cars for the Chinese market didn’t connect to the services in Russia originally.
Like other manufacturers
Mercedes-Benz has disabled Vodafone’s eSIM in Russia. Owners have to travel to Belarus for system updates. Porsche did the same, strengthening identity verification during registration.
Interestingly, Volvo’s On Call app, which was shut down in 2023, has unexpectedly reopened in 2025. However, it can’t be used on all cars and only after registering on foreign websites.
