As the holiday season arrives, BMW decided to create special congratulations for its customers and fans. Therefore, if you have a BMW with the BMW 7.0 operating system (software status 07/2021 or later), you may only get seasonal greetings on the infotainment screen this year. Unfortunately, they are only available in 41 countries around the world, but it’s a good start and maybe next year BMW can do this kind of thing on a global scale.
Christmas greetings will be displayed on the information and entertainment screens starting December 24th. The festive greeting card can be thrown by BMW’s smart personal assistant saying “Hey BMW, Merry Christmas”. You can also activate it using the My BMW app on your phone by accessing the Vehicle menu. In some markets, the message will be able to be played for seven days from December 24, according to BMW. Still, I tried it myself and it’s already available in my car. Christmas entertainment will not be available in Germany, for unknown reasons.
As for the festive animation of the new year, it will be available in certain markets, as mentioned above, from 31 December. An animation can be played on the vehicle screen: a New Year’s Eve message accompanied by appropriate festive music and an orchestrated lighting sequence. After January 1, the car will start displaying a special banner on the control screen. Clicking on it activates the New Year’s program, which includes a full-screen festive animation on the control screen.
Customers also have the option to activate the New Year’s greeting sequence manually, either with the help of the BMW Smart Personal Assistant – “Hey BMW, Happy New Year” – or by using the Vehicle menu application, which will also be available for one week. The New Year’s banner will automatically appear up to three times when you start the car and will be accessible at any time in the Messages menu after the first activation.