Blasted Bluetooth Module....

[CondorX5]

Why does such a simple and inexpensive technology now, have to be such a pain on the X5?? I leave a phone permanently connected in the car as its such an absolute pain getting it to go into pairing mode / deleting old phones etc etc. Most of the time its absolutely fine, but yesterday the system got itself in a tizz and although the phone seemed to be connected, I couldn't make or receive calls and the phone book also disappeared from the car. Now I know enoough about the X to know exactly how to pair / delete etc so I started by just trying to get into the Bluetooth mode so could delete all previous phones. It took about an hour and a half before it suddenly eventually worked, managed to delete previously paired phones, and then reconnect all while still in the same pairing thank heavens, as heaven knows how long it would have taken to get back into pairing mode again.

Surely it shouldn't be such an amazingly frustrating and random process - when my bluetooth kit works, it pairs well and stays paired with an odd glitch here and there, but it takes forever to get into pairing mode - its an AUC, should I try to get the Bluetooth Module replaced when it goes in ? I bet the dealer won't spend two hours trying to pair it with a phone!!!!

[Sanj]

If still under warranty - try. Got nothing to lose!

They may say - newer phones are not so compatible or not on their list, so watch out for that. But always worth a go - over £400 new (x555 knows exactly how much - he once asked).

[Raj]

If you are taking it into the dealer to check ensure before hand they aren't going to charge you if it's not an issue or not going to be sorted under the warranty. If the module is a problem then it will be covered.

[X5Sport]

Bluetooth sometimes seems like a Black Art and needs some Black Magic to make it work. SWMBO's E46 regularly fails to play nicely and often stops playing at all if there's anything more than a house fly in the boot. She could not get her iPhone4 to pair at all despite days of trying, and following the instructions in the manual to the letter. Had a word with the Sales Guy when I order my E71 and he did it first time. He did nothing different than she had but it just worked.

2.4GHz radio has always been a bit odd because so much operates in and around it. It's in the ISM Band (Industrial, Scientific & Medical) and sometimes a nearby microwave cooker, or wireless network or factory welding plastic can provide just enough interference to stop everything! Even the weather can make a difference - too much water vapour in the air and the signal gets absorbed, and it refkects iff all sorts of things and gets lost. It can be really frustrating too, especially when something so apparently simple becomes a marathon.

[CondorX5]

X5Sport....yup, couldn't agree more! But its really annoying when a cheap Parrot kit or Nokia kit works flawlessly everytime, with any phone. We have a little Merc A class as a runabout - paid about £4500 for her, already had a Parrot kit installed, checked the model downloaded the manual and it just works. Wish BMWs could be like that!! I know about the slight incompatibilities with newer phones, like the iphone4 issues, so I bought a new "old" phone - an Ericsson K800i - which was one of the stalwarts along with the Nokia 6310i - that BMW had on their list. My problem isn't getting a phone to connect to the car, its getting the darn Bluetooth Module to activate and go into pairing mode - its just so random and its nothing whatsoever to do with the phone handset itself.

Raj...I don't think they can argue the toss - I'll report the Bluetooth module as being flaky and difficult to activate, which surely isn't normal for what was an expensive luxury car....as Sanj says, may as well use the warranty. I'll just turn my phone off and take it out the car and tell them to try to pair up another one, with any luck they'll give up long before I did and change the module, it would be far less trouble for them than spending 2 hours trying to get the Pairing message on the screen. Come to think of it, when I collected the car I gave my phone to the dealer and told them to pair it up while I had some dealership cappuchino (thats Hexagon for you!) and their tech-savvy people muttered about how they had struggled but they managed it eventually. Personally, I think it should be a lot easier, it really is like Black Magic, X5Sport is quite correct.......

[Raj]

[quote=""CondorX5""]Raj...I don't think they can argue the toss - I'll report the Bluetooth module as being flaky and difficult to activate, which surely isn't normal for what was an expensive luxury car....as Sanj says, may as well use the warranty. I'll just turn my phone off and take it out the car and tell them to try to pair up another one, with any luck they'll give up long before I did and change the module, it would be far less trouble for them than spending 2 hours trying to get the Pairing message on the screen. Come to think of it, when I collected the car I gave my phone to the dealer and told them to pair it up while I had some dealership cappuchino (thats Hexagon for you!) and their tech-savvy people muttered about how they had struggled but they managed it eventually. Personally, I think it should be a lot easier, it really is like Black Magic, X5Sport is quite correct....... [/quote]

True say, they will just change it and claim it back anyway. I use my warranty for the smallist issues as that's what it's there for.

[petert]

I have to say that once I got my old Nokia 6310i paired with my 3.0i the pairing never let me down once - it just worked until the day I sold that car. That makes me suspect that you may have a fault somewhere. I share your frustration though - it took a while to get my car and phone relationship working properly - first cradle supplied by dealer was faulty.

Peter T

[CondorX5]

Peter, its a right pain - it's not actually the phone or the pairing that's the problem, its actually getting the Bluetooth module to go into pairing mode which is the issue. It took me nearly 3 hours the other night (lesser mortals would have given up I know!!!) I can connect a 6310i, the k800i etc easily once I get the car to go into pairing mode, its just getting it there. Now and then something upsets the pairing and you have to redo it - its happened once since I got the 4.8 - and you don't expect to have to spend hours trying to get the module to respond and go into pairing mode, do you? I've got it working again, but I booked the car in today as one of the rear parking sensors is duff and irritating me (beeping constantly when in reverse) and I've listed the Bluetooth module as problematic to them as well. Booked it into Soper BMW, Lincoln, as I'm working in that area - anyone have any experience of them??

As for the Bluetooth, well I'd just like the kit to go into pairing mode when I carry out the procedure which I know all too well after all the hours of practice!!! Shouldn't be such a hugely complicated issue!!!!

[finnie]

Thats my problem, the darned thing wont go into pairing mode! Have tried so many times and also had the armrest apart but still nowt. Cant update the operating system for the nav either, could they be related???

[petert]

I agree that once paired it shouldn't need to be 're-paired' (excuse the pun). It does sound like a fault so I'm sure you're doing the right thing. You have made sure there aren't too many SMS messages on the phone haven't you? This was a real issue for me and has been documented on the forum a few times. The system doesn't seem to like trying to sync a lot of SMS messages each time the bluetooth connects so it seems to go into an endless loop of connecting, synching, timing out and then doing the whole thing over and over again. My wife had over 100 messages on her phone and that had to be reduced considerably to allow the system to work as designed.

Peter T

[petert]

Finnie - I don't think the bluetooth issue and the nav software problem are likely to be related. IIRC the nav software update process took place entirely within the nav computer. I think the only thing in the central armrest that is linked with pairing is the actual pairing button itself, so as long as that is working properly and connected I would have expected it to work. How about getting with pete on this forum who most recently struggled with pairing (with the E53 he bought from me and I knwo that was working when it left my possession - he has sorted it now!)

Hope it all works out for you.

Peter T

[finnie]

Thats the thing, how do I know the button is working, I don't think it's used for anything else!

There is the same symbol on the wheel buttong but i don't think that will induce bluetooth pairing mode anyway.

[Jalf]

Must be a new system on the 6 as its really easy, never had any trouble with it, its even better than the level of compatibility stated on the BMW website with a few of my phones I've tried.