Considering Getting Carly, But Have Concerns

[indulj]

I drive a 2011 Z4 sDrive35i. I've been considering getting Carly and have been doing some reading. The more I read, the more questions I have.

• On a neutral product review, they said even with the full version you still have to pay for some in-app purchases. But on Carly's website in the FAQ section, they say there won't be any in-app purchases with the full version. But when I went to read about Carly in the actual app store, at the bottom it said "in-app purchases can't be shared with family sharing". Was this because it was talking about Carly Light, and not the full version? Can someone give me a better understanding of this issue? If there are in-app purchases, what are they? I'd love to know before paying for a subscription.

• I read on a post in here that Carly CAN NOT do what a SmartTop module can do, that Carly can only code your car to drop your convertible top with the key fob, but not raise it, and same with the windows. But on the list of code possibilities on Carly's site under Z4 (e89), there were codes for dropping your top with the fob door unlock button, raising your top with the fob door lock button, and also folding the mirrors with the fob. I also saw a code to dictate what top speed at which the top can be dropped. It seemed to have all the options that a SmartTop module provides.

• I usually buy older iPhones to save a little money. I've never really had a need for a brand new one. So I have an iPhone 6. Would this be a problem if I want to subscribe to the full version of Carly?

I may have been reading older posts, and Carly may have updated some things. But the question of in-app purchases is still a concern for me. Any advice? Thanks!

[Silverstar]

You may want to hold off and wait for Bimmercode. It's an app for IOS on the app store, seems to be able to do everything Carly can do but it's a one off fee of around 31 GBP rather then Carly's yearly subscription. Right now it only supports the F series cars but I sent them a message and they told me that support for the Z4 will be available in the next one or two weeks.

[jparnes1]

There are no longer any in app purchases with Carly. And I use an iPhone 6 myself. Carly is also a code reader, gives real time engine data, and many other features.

[indulj]

Interesting about Bimmercode. I'll have to check it out. If you wanted to share any links for me to check out, that would be great too. Maybe about the hardware needed, etc...

Originally Posted by Silverstar

You may want to hold off and wait for Bimmercode. It's an app for IOS on the app store, seems to be able to do everything Carly can do but it's a one off fee of around 31 GBP rather then Carly's yearly subscription. Right now it only supports the F series cars but I sent them a message and they told me that support for the Z4 will be available in the next one or two weeks.

[indulj]

It's good to know this about Carly. Do you know what the coding is like for controlling the top? I've read it can't do everything the SmartTop can do, but I've also read some things that seems to indicate it can.

Originally Posted by jparnes1

There are no longer any in app purchases with Carly. And I use an iPhone 6 myself. Carly is also a code reader, gives real time engine data, and many other features.

[Silverstar]

Originally Posted by indulj

Interesting about Bimmercode. I'll have to check it out. If you wanted to share any links for me to check out, that would be great too. Maybe about the hardware needed, etc...

Here's a link to their website: https://bimmercode.app

I just checked it and they now support the E89 Z4, you can see what can be done with the app on their website.

[indulj]

I went there yesterday. It seems like a good alternative to Carly, depending what you need or want. I didn't see anything about diagnostics though, or registering your battery or resetting your service light.

[Silverstar]

Originally Posted by indulj

I went there yesterday. It seems like a good alternative to Carly, depending what you need or want. I didn't see anything about diagnostics though, or registering your battery or resetting your service light.

They have another app called Bimmerlink for that. Support for the E89 will be out soon. But there are many other apps you can use to do that with the OBD scanner that you will need to buy to use Bimmercode anyway.

Right now I just want to code a few things so I have ordered the Veepeak OBD scanner of Amazon.com and have downloaded the Bimmercode app. Will see what app to use for code error reading as when I need to deal with that.

All in all it will cost around 70 GBP with Bimmercode for me to get the coding functionality, Carly would cost a lot more especially since now you can only get as a yearly subscription!

[Go351]

Originally Posted by Silverstar

They have another app called Bimmerlink for that. Support for the E89 will be out soon. But there are many other apps you can use to do that with the OBD scanner that you will need to buy to use Bimmercode anyway.

Right now I just want to code a few things so I have ordered the Veepeak OBD scanner of Amazon.com and have downloaded the Bimmercode app. Will see what app to use for code error reading as when I need to deal with that.

All in all it will cost around 70 GBP with Bimmercode for me to get the coding functionality, Carly would cost a lot more especially since now you can only get as a yearly subscription!

I bought carly app because the website and the tech support guys told me it would close and open top with fob. IT DOES NOT WORK!
The subscription model sux and I have since moved to bimmercode. I already had bimmercode for my m4 but it didn't do e89 at the time.

I don't know how to clear codes with bimmercode. I don't think you can. But overall I don't see the need for carly if you have bimmercode.

Did I mention I hate subscription based software. Grrrrr.