BT Audio Issue...

[buldogge]

Hey Guys...I've had an ongoing issue on my 2011.75 E90 and am hoping to get some input or maybe even a solution.

I have no idea if this is "normal" for the E90 M3 w/CIC, as I only have had CCC and NBT cars, in the iDrive era, otherwise.

System was originally HiFi, and now uses a Technic harness and JLA amp...FWIW.

When I first get in the car (or until I "do something about it") the bluetooth audio connection will "lag", with no audio. The usual fix is to choose external devices>USB and then switch back to external devices>Mark's iPhone. Does not seem to matter if is 30 seconds or 30 minutes after I get started although it is not 100% of the time. Phone is an iPhone 7, current updates, FWIW, and I am using Spotify.

Is there any fix for this, or does anyone have any ideas or input???

TIA
-Mark in St. Louis

[Freiheit]

Originally Posted by buldogge

When I first get in the car (or until I "do something about it") the bluetooth audio connection will "lag", with no audio. The usual fix is to choose external devices>USB and then switch back to external devices>Mark's iPhone. Does not seem to matter if is 30 seconds or 30 minutes after I get started although it is not 100% of the time.

Are you sure you're experiencing BT lag? Have you tried any other steps to fix the issue?

The reason I ask is that when I have my phone connected via BT, when I start the car the display says "Unknown Source" and "searching" and maybe some other stuff, I can't remember offhand. I can drive all the way to my next destination and the car will never connect to the phone and start playing the album I had playing the last time I got out of the car.

I could go through the steps you're talking about and get it working, or I can simply start turning up the volume. When I do that, the screen changes to show the stereo has connected to my phone and its playing Artist/Album/Song.

I guess BMW does that so people don't get surprised/blown away when they start the car and forget they had an album blasting at high volume the last time they drove.

[Theodore]

Glad you posted this, I'm experiencing the same problem. Immediately after upgrading my iPhone to iOS 11.4.1 the CIC system in my 2011.5 displays which album/artist is playing (I use Pandora) and even shows the time marker moving along the bottom as if it were playing the music, but no Bluetooth audio is actually playing from the speakers. Interestingly the phone Bluetooth audio works just fine. One more thing to note, I experienced the same problem with my Christmas rental car, a 2019 Buick Enclave, so I'm thinking the problem has something to do with Apple's iOS. Subscribed to the thread for any updates or fixes.

Edit: Looks like iOS 11.4.1 and newer is causing Bluetooth issues for some iPhone users, hopefully Apple resolves this within a reasonable amount of time.

Edit: Mark's suggested short term fix, to choose external devices>USB and then switch back to external devices>iPhone worked for me, though I have to reconnect that way every other week or so.

[Freiheit]

I couldn't help you there. I've never used Pandora.

[MahiC]

Happens to me all the time. Bluetooth is automatically connected and song time is advancing on idrive but no sound. Always works if I turn off/on Bluetooth on my phone, but I miss just hopping in the car and everything is already connected. Also sometimes music will have a little crackling as well, quite annoying, was going to replace the bluetooth module if it got worse.

[Freiheit]

Have any of you had your car "grab" the conversation if you walk by the car while talking on the phone? Its surprised me a couple of times. I will just be walking through the garage talking on the phone and suddenly the conversation diverts to the car stereo. Another time I had just pulled into a parking place and shut the car off, and as i was getting out of the car the phone rang through the stereo. I'm used to all the other BT vehicles I own, where shutting off the car and getting out means the conversation goes back to the phone and not the stereo.

The M3 does not like to be left out of conversations...

[buldogge]

Well...I'm "glad" to hear I'm not alone in this.

I think Theodore i probably correct with it being an iOS issue.

Having said that...it seems to be less prevalent in my wife's car (2015 with NBT).

As far as the phone call grabs...can't help, there...as my car is parked on the street.

-Mark

[buldogge]

Originally Posted by MahiC

Happens to me all the time. Bluetooth is automatically connected and song time is advancing on idrive but no sound. Always works if I turn off/on Bluetooth on my phone, but I miss just hopping in the car and everything is already connected. Also sometimes music will have a little crackling as well, quite annoying, was going to replace the bluetooth module if it got worse.

This is a pretty good description of my situation, as well.

I should get someone at work with an android based phone to test the connectivity, perhaps...

-Mark