New BMW M In-Car Apps and Specific Enhancements

[JABCAT]

Another gripe I have, and this seems to be more an iDrive 7 issue, is the vehicle deciding whose phone to connect to randomly if both my wife & I are in the vehicle. We had a '20 & '23 Grand Cherokee that allowed not only assigning the phone to the profile/fob but also assigning a "primary" & "secondary" device.

Many times my wife will be driving her vehicle, it'll recognize her profile & fob but connect to my phone. The opposite happens when I drive using the 2nd fob assigned to my profile. It'll also connect to a phone inside the house when pulling out of the driveway.

That doesn't happen in my M2.

[Accident]

Originally Posted by JABCAT

Another gripe I have, and this seems to be more an iDrive 7 issue, is the vehicle deciding whose phone to connect to randomly if both my wife & I are in the vehicle. We had a '20 & '23 Grand Cherokee that allowed not only assigning the phone to the profile/fob but also assigning a "primary" & "secondary" device.

Many times my wife will be driving her vehicle, it'll recognize her profile & fob but connect to my phone. The opposite happens when I drive using the 2nd fob assigned to my profile. It'll also connect to a phone inside the house when pulling out of the driveway.

That doesn't happen in my M2.

Not an issue for the iX3. One of the reviewers mentioned that with UWB and phone as a key, the car will connect to the phone closer to the driver’s side regardless of which phone was in range first.

[JABCAT]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

This is a fairly long-standing bug in iDrive 8/8.5 that doesn't look like it's ever going to be fixed. Drives me nuts.

One fix is to turn off WiFI on the phone and then let it reconnect CarPlay. The fix I use, since it shows up immediately upon startup is to turn off the car, open the car door, then close it and turn the car back on. This is a 100% fix for me and IMO is quicker than futzing with the phone. I've trained myself to look for it whenever I start the car.

Complete and total PITA but it's better at staring at "Unknown Artist", which unreasonably infuriates me. I'd like to think they'll eventually get this fixed, but it's been so long now that I've lost hope of that ever happening.

I've noticed in both my M2 (iDrive 8) & my wife's X3MC (iDrive 7) when I connect bimmerlink & check for errors, very frequently there is an CarPlay connection error shown.

I don't want to mess with any software updates because I have the CS software on my M2 & BMW has locked the ability to re-install it if it gets wiped from an update.

[NathObeaN]

I mean if you take your car on track the telemetry stuff might be cool, but this is mostly useless junk that no one asked for 🙂.

[6SPDG82]

They took a big swing on the Chinese market at the expense of what ROW wants. The Chinese market gamble isn’t going to pay off like they thought it would and now we’re all stuck with these design choices.

MB, Cadillac, and other brands did something similar and now they’re all reverting back to more hard buttons, different interior and UX/GUI designs.

[Phillies8008]

I find the idea of the move to less physical controls as having been motivated by the Chinese market a bit dubious. I think the much more likely answer is simply "money". Less buttons and dials = less expense = more profit. It's not any more complicated than that.

[6SPDG82]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

I find the idea of the move to less physical controls as having been motivated by the Chinese market a bit dubious. I think the much more likely answer is simply "money". Less buttons and dials = less expense = more profit. It's not any more complicated than that.

It’s both, they’ve already admitted (across a number of OEMs) is that both were key considerations.

[Janjohn]

Originally Posted by 6SPDG82

It’s both, they’ve already admitted (across a number of OEMs) is that both were key considerations.

From everything I’ve read I’d say that’s true.
There are several workarounds depending on your phones and iDrive version. I always rename my iPhone to something flashy so I can see the phone on the screen immediately. Secondly, the person driving gets the only wireless charging slot which the car instantly recognizes. This is the phone slot next to the driver. Having a BMW for a daily driver or weekend escape requires study and driving, especially for an M.