[esquire]

Much like many of our forum members i picked up an iPhone a few days ago. It's a great little gadget, and its addictive no doubt. And surprise surprise, the iPhone is actually fully compatible with our BMW bluetooth (which is corroborated by the other posts on this topic).


But is anyone having a problem in regard to actual call quality when their iPhone is paired to their BMW bluetooth? my experience so far has been an utter dismay. Every 2-4 seconds the phone blips out, basically dropping entire word(s) from the conversation, and making it impossible to carry on a coherent conversation. I'm wondering if this is just my phone or if more than one person has had this issue.

iPhone owners, please comment on your iPhone's call quality while connected to your BMW bluetooth (or other bluetooth devices). your comments would be much appreciated.

- esquire

[RANJHA]

no problems whatsoever...maybe youre not in the best AT&T coverage area :

[bimmer4me]

Yep, I'm having the same problems. I posted this earlier. I'm forced to turn off bluetooth at times to carry a conversation. Sorta really sucks. I'm on Progman 25.01.01, FWIW.

[BMWChi]

I'm having a similar problem, but it seems to only happen on the first answered call after I connect to the car, if I dial the first call after connection to the car, it seems to work fine. It seems like it's not fully connected to the car and the phone is switching from the phone itself to the bluetooth connection. I can hear the caller in the ear piece of the iPhone and they can hear me through the mic on the phone. It switches a couple times between the car and the phone, and then it works for the remainder of the call and all calls after that.

[tibook]

Is your old phone in the car? I noticed a big problem with this is when there are multiple Bluetooth devices around.

[ebanul]

I had the same issues. I did some testing and found out that it is interference with the Wi-Fi. If you turn off the Wi-Fi everything with the Bluetooth works great, no more cutting in and out. Try it out and let me know if this fixes the problem with you.

[aakar]

Anyone had the opportunity to confirm ebanul's post?

[apw2607]

This is a great post guys. Although I dont have one of the newer MOST based cars (mine's a old 2005 M3), it does have the BMW Assist with Bluetooth.

I too am having exactly the same problem as you describe, with the phone audio dropping in and out.

I turned off the Wi-Fi, and it seems to have completely fixed the problem !!!

Thanks for the tip !

[aakar]

I can confirm that turning off the WiFi does fix the problem. While that's great for the time being, it seems that the idea of turning off the WiFi everytime I step into the car or turning it on everytime I step out of the car is an inconvenience

[ebanul]

I agree it is a big inconvenience, but I think this is something that will be plaguing all devices that have both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The signals must be close to one another or something. I'm not sure there will be a software fix for the iPhone for this, but I could be wrong. I'm just glad I found out how to get it to work and can at least use it. Here in California they started giving tickets to people not talking on headsets.

[bimmer4me]

I tested turning off wi-fi too and that made a HUGE difference. It is inconvient to disable wi-fi every time you you get in the car, but not that bad.

For those that did NOT have any problems with Bluetooth, was your wi-fi turned on? If so then that would indicate it is a phone specific problem.

I'm considering just leaving wi-fi off and only turn it on when I need it. The only place that I have access to wi-fi is at my place and a couple of friends's homes. Maybe that would save on the battery as well.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by ebanul

I had the same issues. I did some testing and found out that it is interference with the Wi-Fi. If you turn off the Wi-Fi everything with the Bluetooth works great, no more cutting in and out. Try it out and let me know if this fixes the problem with you.

i will definitely try this out. sounds promising. thanks in advance.

[apw2607]

Perhaps apple should introduce a new setting for a bluetooth device that turns wifi off when paired, and back on when bluetooth is disconnected?

[ebanul]

Originally Posted by apw2607

Perhaps apple should introduce a new setting for a bluetooth device that turns wifi off when paired, and back on when bluetooth is disconnected?

that would be great.... someone needs to do this....

[esquire]

Originally Posted by apw2607

Perhaps apple should introduce a new setting for a bluetooth device that turns wifi off when paired, and back on when bluetooth is disconnected?

it shouldn't have to be a trade off. a lot of people use wi-fi while simultaneously using a bluetooth headset. it's just ridiculous that one has to be sacrificed for the other. apple just needs to think of a solution that doesn't involve sacrifice.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by ebanul

I had the same issues. I did some testing and found out that it is interference with the Wi-Fi. If you turn off the Wi-Fi everything with the Bluetooth works great, no more cutting in and out. Try it out and let me know if this fixes the problem with you.

i tried this... and it seems to work. there is a marked improvement in my call quality. great advice. thanks.

[collinp]

Interesting. I've had no problems so far using the iPhone with the built-in Bluetooth in my 2006 330i. WiFi is definitely on in my phone. Though while driving the WiFi isn't connected to anything.

To answer a previous post yes Bluetooth and WiFi (and cordless phones, and video extenders, etc.) all use the same unregulated frequency bands. It's cool that the FCC allows for these open bands, but it means that things can step all over each other. Cordless phones, microwaves, video extenders, etc. more often than not stomp all over the 2.4Ghz frequency range. Bluetooth and WiFi are supposed to play nice with each other, but if there are too many WiFi and/or Bluetooth devices chatting in a certain area there can be problems.

- Collin

[csepulv]

Originally Posted by esquire

it shouldn't have to be a trade off. a lot of people use wi-fi while simultaneously using a bluetooth headset. it's just ridiculous that one has to be sacrificed for the other. apple just needs to think of a solution that doesn't involve sacrifice.

I also am having the reported problems with choppy voice coverage of the person I call. They report everything is fine with respect to hearing me.

I haven't tried the wi-fi thing.

But as a note, I tried a bluetooth headset I have and it works fine. I actively am using wi-fi at home and making calls with the bluetooth headset.

So there seems to be something that is specific to the BMW's bluetooth integration.

[wsmiii]

the cutting out that I was experiencing. Thank you for the suggestion! Whew, I almost had my first negative experience with my iPhone!!! :-)

[mikki]

Does the address book transfer over?

[ericwass69]

The address book does indeed transfer over. The problem is it transfers EVERY CONTACT. And every phone number for every contact is a separate entry. It's overwhelming. I've got hundreds. Anybody know how to just transfer over your favorites???

I have the same bluetooth issues. Can't wait to try the WiFi fix. Hope it works and hope Apple and/or BMW addresses this.

[schneid4323]

yeah over my BMW the call quality sucks for some reason, but BMW and apple have been talking about making the Iphone perfectly compatible via bluetooth for radio and everything