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I rented a BMW from Sixt in the USA earlier this year. I wanted to use the ConnectedDrive features, but it was blocked by BMW because the vehicle VIN was (correctly) registered as a Fleet Vehicle (i.e. a rental car) and thus none of those features were allowed with that car.

I have rented BMWs in the Netherlands and don't recall being able to use these features either.

Thus you seem to have encountered a situation which BMW and Sixt know about and have procedures in place to prevent, but their Italian subsidiary seems to have missed it with a certain batch of fleet vehicles, or just this specific one. I'd report it Sixt and move on.

I've read in multiple places that this "resetting" is something that is on a list of things to do, but is rarely done. I seriously doubt any person working at the rental place prepping the car for the next use does anything but the most basic/obvious of refreshing. I'm guessing after checking the fuel status and the mileage, they just don't care. I doubt that cars get vacuumed after each rental and only if it's obviously needed.

As the person that is entering their own personal information into a car that you do not own, you absolutely should be the one to remove that data. Do not depend on someone else doing their job. You took the time to add it, so take the time to remove it. It is the only way to be sure.

I once rented a Peugeot 3008, and wanted to pair with Apple CarPlay. The car warned me that it's in "rental" mode and pairing will disable that and will share tons of data (which was listed as bullet points) about me and the car between my (apple) profile and the car.

I rejected and didn't go further. I appreciate the honesty, though.

Yes, this has been known for many years.

Most rental car companies don't bother setting up fleet services for their connected vehicle services. They require infrastructure that car rental companies don't seem to consider important.

I've used this mostly to remote start my rental car in cold climates. I delete my account after my rental is done, though I've learned recently that some providers, like Hyundai, make this SURPRISINGLY difficult.

The only exceptions I've seen to this are FordPass with Avis (this was locked down a few years ago) and Tesla with Hertz (before they unloaded them all).

What timing. I rented a BMW from Sixt in Italy last week. Worst thing I have ever experienced as a driver. I wrote about it here: https://x.com/thejoephase/status/1933156741031633159

Constant interruptions and problems from the computer. I've dealt with a few "modern cars" but this was over the top. I'll never rent or buy a BMW going forward.

Not sure how it varies across the pond, but I've rented a few cars in the States and they've never been reset. You'd think they'd have a rental mode or something. But instead, it's full of their preferences, phones, etc. Very annoying when they turn off modern safety features and stuff

I have a year old BMW and the software is a complete and utter f*cking trash. The whole UX is just garbage.

Basically BMW goes out of its way to force drivers onto ConnectedDrive. Half of the functionality is hidden - for no clear reason - behind online ID.

You'd assume that if my wife or I open the car with our respective keys, we'd have the matching profile loaded, the seat adjusted, etc. Mwahahaha. NO! Unless the key is linked to an online ID - no soup for you! Infuriatingly stupid.

The dealer essentially forced me to create an online ID and activate ConnectedDrive saying they can't deliver the car otherwise. Immediately after, the car enrolled itself in some sort of Premium trial and never bothered to mark what functions are included and which are premium. It took 2 phone calls to get the trial cancelled and - what do you know - the traffic info was a part of it! What a bunch of wankers.

Even then, you'd assume that if they are so set of online bullshit, it would be polished. Ha, dream on. If you unlock the car and it has no cell connectivity, you get a guest profile. Car starts speaking German, all settings are at defaults, including the seat position.

I mean ... it's not my first BMW, but the pace of its enshittification is beyond belief. Stay the heck away.

I just rented a BMW from Sixt and there was no way to disable the annoying wheel-yanking "lane departure" technology.

It showed disabled in the menu, but it was definitely still active.

So SIXT are forcing this horrible feature on everyone

A much worse feature than the one everyone complains about, the one that kills the engine when idling

In the rain, driving through roadwork, with abrupt lane changes, you have to cope with the car yanking the wheel back and forth when it can't figure out where the lanes are.

I'm baffled how we've come to accept such poor quality software in our products and key services. We seem to shrug off software issues that would deter purchase if they were material or mechanical.

Enterprise Holdings manages theirs via fleet, so while a BMW ID can be added, the car is generally fleet restricted. Includes restrictions on capabilities like using (the cursed) subscription "features" you've paid for.

So yeah at least one of the big renters has handled it appropriately on the cars I've rented from them.

So... did you press the honk button?

If you want to invest the time you can report this DPA violation. They are obliged to reset the car to ensure the next renters privacy, especially if you told them. Violations can be expensive and it is generally a good idea to report so the big corps keep getting reminded that privacy is an important right of their customers.

My standards are low. I wouldn't even expect a car rental company to handle this sort of thing properly.

So, which carmaker does surprise you pleasantly nowadays?

Love these types of 'hacks' :)

I bought a Tesla from Carvana in 2021. It was still linked to the previous owner, along with their card details. I could have pulled up to a supercharger and plugged in and charged on their dime.

This is frankly just bad customer service. Companies don't take it seriously as a problem because nobody is upset about it and it doesn't affect their bottom line.

OMG rental cars AV systems and bluetooth are the bain of traveling ... my travel buddies and I will spend up to 5% of our entire trip talking and dealing with this pain cause we have iPhone and or Android.

The UX is painful and now bluetooth is controlling even more portions of the car ... hilarious yet dumb and concerning.

Write the authority concerned with GDPR-Enforcement in Italy about this. Sixt will act very quickly then