iPhone / Bluetooth

[GaryM]

Hi , am I right in thinking that if my iPhone is connected using the USB I can listen to my full iTunes content and the phone will charge but it can not be used as an actual phone via Bluetooth at the same time ?
Please correct me if I am wrong as I have tried and can not seem to use as iPod and phone at same time
I tried downloading all music via Bluetooth but only seems to have worked with one album ? Car is 2012 msport, any help appreciated.

Thanks
Gary

[carsonr6]

Hi Gary,

I use my iPhone 4 via USB in the car and it works perfect with the bluetooth at the same time for making/recieving calls.

My phone usually connects when I get in the car automatically and then when I connect the phone to the USB I can go through my play list and artists etc via the iDrive no problem.

[X5Sport]

You should be able to do both. I have my iPhone 4 running as the music source and the phone simultaneously over Bluetooth. I have the basic phone cradle & snap-in which charges the phone and connects it via the external antenna in the shark-fin. You can select the audio mode in the iDrive under connected devices in the CD/Multimedia and Phone sections. I don't use the USB port in the armrest, and the one in the glovebox charges my Road Angel Vantage. Bluetooth audio only gives you basic control though. You can only change tracks and see the basic artist details on the iDrive screen if in split screen mode.

If you have the full smartphone integration and the multimedia cradle & snap-in then your music will run via USB with album artwork and the phone over Bluetooth automatically. The option used to be called 6NF & 6FL. I think it's now just called 6NR. If you're not sure what you have, get the 'Build Sheet' from the Dealer.

He will have to print it from their ordering system and it's a copy of what was required to be attached to the car as it went down the production line. It shows every option fitted to that car, and is NOT the order form. The build sheet has much more detailed info on what is physically fitted than the order form, including all the options you never see that are mandated for UK cars by BMW themselves.

[carsonr6]

I forgot to mention that I connect my phone using the Y cable into the USB port in the arm rest

[GaryM]

[quote=""carsonr6""]I forgot to mention that I connect my phone using the Y cable into the USB port in the arm rest[/quote]

By Y cable do you mean my basic iPhone with USB to phone cable ?

I use this and can connect to the phone for all my music no problem but it does not want to connect the phone via Bluetooth at the same time ? Will try again tomorrow and let yous know what message I get to see if we can get to the bottom of it.

Thanks for everyone's help so far

Gary

[GaryM]

[quote=""X5Sport""]You should be able to do both. I have my iPhone 4 running as the music source and the phone simultaneously over Bluetooth. I have the basic phone cradle & snap-in which charges the phone and connects it via the external antenna in the shark-fin. You can select the audio mode in the iDrive under connected devices in the CD/Multimedia and Phone sections. I don't use the USB port in the armrest, and the one in the glovebox charges my Road Angel Vantage. Bluetooth audio only gives you basic control though. You can only change tracks and see the basic artist details on the iDrive screen if in split screen mode.

If you have the full smartphone integration and the multimedia cradle & snap-in then your music will run via USB with album artwork and the phone over Bluetooth automatically. The option used to be called 6NF & 6FL. I think it's now just called 6NR. If you're not sure what you have, get the 'Build Sheet' from the Dealer.

He will have to print it from their ordering system and it's a copy of what was required to be attached to the car as it went down the production line. It shows every option fitted to that car, and is NOT the order form. The build sheet has much more detailed info on what is physically fitted than the order form, including all the options you never see that are mandated for UK cars by BMW themselves.[/quote]

I do not have the cradle installed , I am
Using apple cable to USB in armrest and music works fine but no phone, phone works fine via Bluetooth when not connected to USB

Gary

[carsonr6]

Yeah, it's basically the normal apple cable to USB but it has a 3.5mm jack as well for the headphone socket

[carsonr6]

Yeah, it's basically the normal apple cable to USB but it has a 3.5mm jack as well for the headphone socket. When I used the apple cable in my M3 I couldn't get the sound to play, although that was the old style idrive system

[X5Sport]

On my 2011 I don't need a 'Y' cable, in fact they told be that with the new versions of the iDrive you no longer need one with Bluetooth installed.

Have you enabled the functionality within the iDrive? My iPhone shows both a music and phone symbol in the Bluetooth display. I have bluetooth audio turned on in the connected devices options in CD/Multimedia. If I do use the USB port connection it is with the standard Apple supplied white iPhone cable only. I don't have a 'Y' type at all as the dealer said they were surplus once the CIC iDrive came into use in 2010.

The normal music library downloads via the glovebox USB port and is a maximum of around 8-11GB max I think. It was increased after customer complaints about the orignal allocated folder size. It is an 80GB hard drive after all, but the maps take most of it!! I can't remember if there are issues with DRM protected music in the cars though - as in it won't play it from the downloaded library. I know some of the earliest tracks/videos I have won't play in certain computer kit I use as they were bought before Apple removed the DRM protection. All those bought since work perfectly.

Try using your iPhone with just the standard Apple cable and see what happens.

[GaryM]

Ok , thanks everyone , here is where I am at , a bit further forward , got my phone working both simultaenously with Bluetooth telephone and iPhone music, the Bluetooth has to be on as well as the iPhone USB cable and all works well so good progress made.
My next issue is with 2 iPhones , my wifes and mine , I have mine configured as telephone and my wife's as additional telephone , both work when receiving calls but only my contacts and details are available through the I drive so outgoing calls can only be made through my phone settings/contacts when both in the car, I assume this is normal ?
When only my wife is in the car the I drive does not let her use her contacts, last number etc unless she goes into the configuration and makes hers the telephone and not additional handset , a bit of a pain. So I take it whoever gets into the car has to configure their phone every time of they want to use the I drive telephone system fully , any ideas ?

I never tried but it has just occurred to me , is the vehicle clever enough to save my phone settings and my wife's with the two different keys so the phone configuration will automatically go to the preferences of whichever key opens the door ?

Any experiences / pointers appreciated

Thanks
Gary



I

[X5Sport]

We have two iPhones and our own keys. If she gets in the car then the phone pairs to hers but if we both get in, it pairs to mine. Haven't found a way of getting it to use hers on her key and mine on my key, but my bet is we've probably got a setup setting wrong somewhere. Usually we just swap the phone priority over as necessary. It's set up the way it is now because she has to drive me about whilst I'm recovering from surgery. In her Mini, it's set up the other way around, and always selects hers, but then she has the full multimedia snap-in and required options installed so it uses the USB in the armrest via the second port in the actual snap-in adapter.

If you have the same options in you car (smartphone audio integration and USB) then adding the right snap-in will run your audio over the USB port built into the phone cradle, the phone over Bluetooth, connection to the shark fin and full charging, playlists, artwork etc. That snap-in is about £170 though, as against £70 for the standard one. It leaves you with no need to use the USB port in the armrest as everything runs through the adapter.

[carsonr6]

Can you get smartphone compatibility installed by the dealer at a later date? My car doesn't have it fitted.