Bluetooth issues with E60 M5 and iPhone 3G

My Other Car is a Minivan · 2nd June 2009, 17:46

Have had my iPhone 3G and 2006 M5 paired for just about a year no - with no real issues (except synching the contacts list which SCOOPZ helped solve).

Last week, I turned the car on and it had one of its "moments" where it just decided not to find the phone and also wasn't in it's "paired list". I've found in the past when this happens, I can force it to connect by manually making a call from the phone. However, this time that trick did not work. Frustrated, I unpaired the phone and tried to repair but to no avail. I've been trying off and on for the last 3-4 days and I'm really starting to pull my hair out.

I've turned off wi-fi, 3G, location services, data roaming...nada.
I've turned the phone off and on so many times I can't count.
I've even tried pairing my wife's iPhone 3G and that won't work either.

All this suggest that it is the car that is having issues (not the phone) because both our phones pair fine with the Toyota minivan and BT headsets.

The one clue I think I might have is that in the I-Drive menu for Bluetooth Settings there is a checkbox for "Bluetooth communications active" - and the box IS checked. However, what's odd is that I cannot "uncheck" it and then check it again...what would seem to me to be the equivalent of "rebooting the BT stack" in the car. I have a feeling that if I could accomplish this, the issue would be resolved.

Any ideas?

My Other Car is a Minivan · 4th June 2009, 19:50

Wow...no responses. TTT.

I'm utterly convinced that the problem is related to the Bluetooth stack being "hung" or crashed and won't re-initialize properly. Biggest evidence (again) is that I cannot uncheck the option for "Bluetooth Communications Active".

I've thought about disconnecting battery but have read elsewhere that it may not always work. There has to be a programmatic or "service mode" way to "reboot".

I dread the thought of taking it to the dealer b/c the chances of finding someone who knows what they are talking about are practically nil. I'm sure I'll get some line of tripe about how the problem is with my phone, blah blah blah.

C'mon, someone must have run into this before and knows how to "reboot" the Bluetooth subsystem (or entire I-Drive)?

TIA

PianoProdigy · 4th June 2009, 20:08

Hold both eject buttons and push in the volume button at the same time.

iMe · 4th June 2009, 22:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by PianoProdigy

Hold both eject buttons and push in the volume button at the same time.

What's that do?

My Other Car is a Minivan · 4th June 2009, 22:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by PianoProdigy

Hold both eject buttons and push in the volume button at the same time.

Thanks, that did reboot iDrive but unfortunately had no effect on my stuck Bluetooth settings. arrgh.

Any other things to try?

BEMR · 5th June 2009, 07:57

Using a G1 tmobile phone and have from time to time bluetooth issues also, thought it might be the phone but not sure either. I have also had no audio at all issues, but when that happens I shut the car off for about 5 minutes and restart and all seems fine, go figure.

bavarian · 5th June 2009, 17:13

Since your iPhone works with the other cars it is obviously the M5's problem. Other than waiting for this problem to repair itself (which does happen much of the time) your best bet is to bring your car in for service. I assume it is still covered under warranty? There is a way for the tech to find an error code and reset the computer to clear the Bluetooth module.
I have an 08 and my iPhone only has occasional glitches when using the Pandora radio function via AUX in.

iMe · 5th June 2009, 19:51

BTW, I have software 3.0 Beta 5 on my iPhone 3G, no issues what so ever.

fvicente · 8th June 2009, 20:10

other option for a reboot of the TCU is to remove its power harness. it's on the left side of the trunk behind the liner. if you don't want to disconnect your battery, removing the harness for the tcu should do it. however, i'm pretty sure the TCU powers down completely when the car goes to sleep mode, so power cycle may not fix the problem.

My Other Car is a Minivan · 10th June 2009, 02:06

Update...

I finally got tired of pulling out my hair looking for clues/answers and took it into the Dealer for service today. Got the answer back that the Telematics Control Unit (TCU) is bad and needs to be replaced. Going to take a couple days to get the part in so will be without my Beast for most of the week. Argh.

Apparently, this is quite an expensive part (TCU replacement), the SA mentioned they needed to get special approval for the repair. Thank goodness still have 6 months of warranty coverage left!