Vehicle ordered options

[minesapasty]

Hi there, I have a 2007 e70 3.0d, and today, as I was in the area, I popped into the local dealership to get a couple of things (in reality, I was dangling a carrot), I really wanted to ask a couple of questions before heading off to foreign lands where people drive on the wrong side of the road.
Anyhow, while chatting with the bloke in the service department, he printed off a list of the ordered options, that the original owner had chosen when buying the car. On the list there are a couple of things that have got my curiosity going:
1. 0840 - High-speed de-restriction
2. 0698 - Area Code 2 for DVD

First question, as I have the diesel version, why would they need to de-restrict the high speed? Here in the UK, cars are sometimes restricted to 155mph, are the 3.0d models capable of reaching such speeds? I would have thought that a 3.0d would struggle to reach 155 mph, unless it was pushed out of a plane at 15000 feet with no parachute fitted.

Second and final question (for the moment ), I have seen several posts where people ask about the DVD, and general opinions seem to be that unless the changer in the glove box has DVD written on it (mine doesn't, and I have tried a DVD in both the changer and the one in the dash) then the DVD player in the dashboard plays discs with data for the sat nav...... Why would it then need an area code, or is it purely because DVD area code 2 is for UK, so stops us buying copies of up to date sat nav data from anywhere other than the UK ?

Other than that, all is well, the bloke made a nice comment on the condition of my car and also about the amount of options that the original owner had chosen for the car, but I still won't be buying any more bulbs from BMW, I'll stick with buying from my local motor factor, I have looked hard, but can't find any gold leaf or diamond encrusted emblems to justify the cost of the bulb that I bought, it wasn't a xenon bulb either.

[ard]

I am of the opinion that those 'option codes' we're not 'selected bu the original ordered'... They were automatically selected as part of a standard uk config, or as a result of some other actual ordering package. You'd need to find an old 2007 order guide PDF to be able to see...

Dunno what they do, out of my wheelhouse...

[Qsilver7]

The S840a (high speed synchronization) option code increases the top speed and usually comes optioned with sport pkgs. Perhaps you read it incorrectly. What is the last 7 digits of your VIN...if you post it someone can pull up your build sheet to verify.

DVDs have area (region) codes that they are designed to play in. A DVD for the Canadian & USA (region - 1) won't play on a DVD unit designed for other regions. See the list of international DVD regions (aka AREAS) below:

• R1 Region 1 ~ U.S.A., U.S. Territories and Canada
• R2 Region 2 ~ Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland
• R3 Region 3 ~ Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong
• R4 Region 4 ~ Mexico, South and Central America, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Caribbean
• R5 Region 5 ~ Russia, Eastern Europe, India, Africa (excluding South Africa), North Korea, Mongolia
• R6 Region 6 ~ China

And here are the BMW option codes for the regions (areas) listed above:

• S697A Area-Code 1 for DVD
• S698A Area-Code 2 for DVD
• S699A Area-Code 3 for DVD
• S700A Area-Code 4 for DVD
• S701A Area-Code 5 for DVD
• S702A Area-Code 6 for DVD

[minesapasty]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

What is the last 7 digits of your VIN...if you post it someone can pull up your build sheet to verify.

DVDs have area (region) codes that they are designed to play in. A DVD for the Canadian & USA (region - 1) won't play on a DVD unit designed for other regions. See the list of international DVD regions (aka AREAS) below:

• R2 Region 2 ~ Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland
  
  

The last 7 numbers of my VIN are LZ18076, the link below shows the options on my car (if the link works)

https://www.mdecoder.com/decode/lz18076

I am aware of the DVD region codings, but I am just wondering why they bothered putting in regional coded DVD players, when the DVD is for discs with data content only. The DVD player is primarily there for the sat nav, so why did BMW go to the effort of regionalising them for different continents? They build the cars and they sell the discs, so why not just put in a Region 2 which covers Germany into all of their cars..... or, can the DVD player be used for something else I'm just wondering, there has to be a reason.

[josiahg52]

Originally Posted by minesapasty

The last 7 numbers of my VIN are LZ18076, the link below shows the options on my car (if the link works)

https://www.mdecoder.com/decode/lz18076

I am aware of the DVD region codings, but I am just wondering why they bothered putting in regional coded DVD players, when the DVD is for discs with data content only. The DVD player is primarily there for the sat nav, so why did BMW go to the effort of regionalising them for different continents? They build the cars and they sell the discs, so why not just put in a Region 2 which covers Germany into all of their cars..... or, can the DVD player be used for something else I'm just wondering, there has to be a reason.

On vehicles with CIC, the navigation data is stored on hard drive. The DVD drive, if equipped, actually plays video DVDs.

If I put a DVD movie disc in the disc slot beneath the HVAC controls, I can watch a movie.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by minesapasty

The last 7 numbers of my VIN are LZ18076, the link below shows the options on my car (if the link works)

https://www.mdecoder.com/decode/lz18076

I am aware of the DVD region codings, but I am just wondering why they bothered putting in regional coded DVD players, when the DVD is for discs with data content only. The DVD player is primarily there for the sat nav, so why did BMW go to the effort of regionalising them for different continents? They build the cars and they sell the discs, so why not just put in a Region 2 which covers Germany into all of their cars..... or, can the DVD player be used for something else I'm just wondering, there has to be a reason.

I'm sure now that after seeing the actual option code name for S840...that it is not an "restriction"...but indicates that you have an increased speed limit. WOO HOO!

And another thing to consider in regards to the DVD unit's regional coding...if BMW installed a DVD player or changer that was only for one region...then those outside that region would be doomed if/when BMW suspended support for map upgrades (which happened in prior navigation iterations).

My 2006 e53 X5 uses 2 DVD disks to supply maps for North America. BMW suspended dealer support of new maps and for the last few years maps were supplied by Tom-Tom for North America (which then ceased any new maps since 2015)...whereas our Euro counterparts still were able to get updated map disks from a European supplier.

So installing DVD components that are coded for the region the vehicle is marketed in...provides longevity of support. And if the vehicle is transferred to another region...the DVD can be recoded/changed up to 5 times to play disks for the region it is in.

{example of BMW DVD map disks being provided by different 3rd parties based on country/continent}

{2011 BMW original Disk by Tele Atlas}


{2012 DVD disks by Tom Tom}


{2014 DVD disks by Tom Tom}


{European DVDs by NavTeq}