[gspannu]

Does anyone know where the SIM card used for BMW Assist, Telematics is physically located in a 2009 3 series E9x? Is this SIM card accessible?

Further I have heard that the communications is based on Edge and not 3G, would it be possible to put my own SIM card (which supports 3G an unlimited calls/ internet) and use this for faster communication?

[fdiprete]

I'm assuming that you are in the US/NA and have a TCU unit.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85149

I do not have a TCU myself, so I'll extrapolate.

The unit does not appear to have an accessible SIM slot, nor do I think that the unit uses a SIM at all. Note the ESN on the unit which is used to provision the service vs an IMEI + SIM.

The ability to use EDGE vs 3G is not a function of a SIM card, but a function of the units ability to send/recieve on specific frequency bands.

For more fun reading about UMTS EDGE GSM and CDMA :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers...cations_System

If somebody has more information about the design and functionality of the TCU the feel free to contibute

[Technic]

No SIM in the USA TCU (GSM 04/08-on).

[gspannu]

Originally Posted by fdiprete

I'm assuming that you are in the US/NA and have a TCU unit.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85149

I do not have a TCU myself, so I'll extrapolate.

The unit does not appear to have an accessible SIM slot, nor do I think that the unit uses a SIM at all. Note the ESN on the unit which is used to provision the service vs an IMEI + SIM.

The ability to use EDGE vs 3G is not a function of a SIM card, but a function of the units ability to send/recieve on specific frequency bands.

For more fun reading about UMTS EDGE GSM and CDMA :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers...cations_System

If somebody has more information about the design and functionality of the TCU the feel free to contibute

I am in the UK.

I guess there has to be a physical SIM card somewhere, purely from a technical viewpoint.

SIM on CHIP technology (upcoming technology where the SIM card is built into the silicon on the electronics board rather than an actual plastic SIM card in a holder) does not work across multiple providers.
This is a current legislative limitation that forbids SIM on CHIP across multiple telecom providers; hence the SIM on CHIP has not taken off in a big way (The technology has been around for ages).

Since the cars in UK are known to connect to multiple telecom providers (Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile, etc... depending on signal stength and black spots); I am taking an educated guess that there is physical SIM card somewhere.

[carlosalbertogui]

yes there is a sim and its located inside TCU on the right side floor of the trunk

[gspannu]

Originally Posted by carlosalbertogui

yes there is a sim and its located inside TCU on the right side floor of the trunk

Any diagram/ pictures/ instructions to help inspect/ remove the unit and access the SIM?

[SharkBait]

If they are GSM/3GPP compliant (e.g. EDGE / UMTS / HSPA / LTE) then there will have to be inside the TCU either a physical SIM (most likely) or embedded SIM (SIM on chip) that has a unique IMSI. The hardware will have a unique IMEI and the combination of IMSI/IMEI is what is needed for registration on the network.

For CDMA networks (3GPP2 e.g. US Verizon and Sprint), there isn't likely to be a SIM just an ESN that is registered with the network.

I expect the ESN or IMEI/IMSI is matched to an account at the back end to validate your equipment so changing the SIM might break it. However, there has got to be some room for hacking these modules. If you could redirect the destination IP/domain in the TCU and put in your own SIM, you might be able to intercept/send messages to/from the TCU.