[Jorn]

Hi all,


I just got my new X3. Oh LORD it's great! White M-sport with saddle brown, I can't stop looking at it.
I'm generally very impressed with the car. It feels really well built and I love all the gadgets. Top view camera + head-up are the favourites so far, really glad I got those options.

Here's what's really bothering me though: The music system is built for someone that still lives in the last decade. It is almost laughably bad for music streaming services, although I don't feel like laughing considering the price I paid.

A few observations:

• Cover art displays for the first track, then freezes. Same for BT and USB
• Track title ALSO displays for the first track, then freezes. Same for BT and USB.
• There's no way to browse through my playlists, I have to navigate to the right one on my iPhone 5 and then I can only skip back and forth 1 track at a time.
• The phone dock in the armrest. BMW, please kill this one as soon as possible

I drove a 2011 520 and I can't remember it being that bad. As far as I can recall it actually displayed the right artist / title info in both head-up and dashboard screen, although cover art was hit and miss there as well.
I just figured this would be solved in the LCI, and to my big surprise it's worse than before.

Am I doing something wrong? Anyone with similar experiences?

[flavius]

I have a 2014. I don't have an iPhone and don't use Bluetooth for music. I do use USB everyday with an iPod classic and I don't see any of the issue you are describing. In fact, it's working great - I can browse and use my playlists, jump around and search, everything.

Did BMW botch the interface with the 2015 model? Really?

[Jorn]

USB with an iPod (or any iTunes style device) works fine. The same with CDs, radio etc.
The problem is with streaming services, which are becoming more and more common. Especially here in the Nordics. 1 in 5 Norwegians have an active Spotify account.

I do have an iPod laying around somewhere but I'd much rather listen to all the music I have playlisted in Spotify. Why, BMW?

[Roundown]

If had to guess- I think BMW sees Apple's CarPlay and Android Auto as the medium term replacement to bespoke, in-house developed app support (BMW Apps) and has slowed or stopped investment/development in the later as a result.

[Jorn]

Thanks. I'll get back to BMW Norway and voice my disappointment.

[kevink1]

The downside of the changes in electronics is that, by the time the car gets to end of life, it is hopelessly out of date. I was in a 5 year old Mercedes yesterday, and the entertainment screen sure looked dated. I hope that, by the time my X3 gets to 8-10 years old, it can still support the phones for audio and voice. And apps, for example.

[Roundown]

Originally Posted by kevink1

The downside of the changes in electronics is that, by the time the car gets to end of life, it is hopelessly out of date. I was in a 5 year old Mercedes yesterday, and the entertainment screen sure looked dated. I hope that, by the time my X3 gets to 8-10 years old, it can still support the phones for audio and voice. And apps, for example.

That's the benefit of things like CarPlay- the software and hardware are your personal device (which can be readily updated) not something built into the car.

[philtrick123]

Pity you can't specify the Tesla dash on the X3. Imagine the BMW upgrade cost £££$$$€€€...

[kevink1]

Originally Posted by cSurf

That's the benefit of things like CarPlay- the software and hardware are your personal device (which can be readily updated) not something built into the car.

Assuming, of course, that the interface for carplay remains stable enough.

What happens if Apple messes up at some point, like Nokia or Blackberry, and no one cares in 5 years?

Or apple makes some other change, and their 2021 phones no longer work the 2016 BMW cars?

Apple made the change in recent years with their connecters. Some features that worked stopped working with the new cable.

[Roundown]

Originally Posted by kevink1

Assuming, of course, that the interface for carplay remains stable enough.

What happens if Apple messes up at some point, like Nokia or Blackberry, and no one cares in 5 years?

Or apple makes some other change, and their 2021 phones no longer work the 2016 BMW cars?

Apple made the change in recent years with their connecters. Some features that worked stopped working with the new cable.

That's the beauty of this approach- all BMW is offering is API access via a USB port to anyone that wants to develop for it. In theory, backwards compatibility (i.e. a 2021 XYZ phone supporting 2016 BMW APIs) should be much simpler than forward compatibility (i.e. BMW trying to continually update legacy in-car hardware/software to support an infinite number of new/unknown PEDs).

No matter what connector your phone (or future PED) uses, as long as the other end is/connects to USB (which is the -legally- universal standard in a good part of the developed world, including Germany), then you've got a good shot of being able to interact with your car, no matter how old it is.

Hopefully the above bares out in practice.

[bounderboy]

My Volvo of 4yrs streams all audio from my Iphone no problem at all. Think the car just acts like a Bluetooth set of headphones might.. So anything playing on the iphone comes through speakers such as podcast apps, streaming apps etc..

Really hope my new X3 doesn't step back from this basic feature!

[kevink1]

I haven't tried through USB yet, but when I have the siriusXM app running on my iPad, audio and labels come through the system.

[jamiey]

Carplay sounds great, but the question for me is will it be enabled as a firmware update or is it going to require new hardware?

I'm looking to order an X3 (or a F11 530 or a F31 335 still trying to work out what will suit my family best) before the end of the year and it would rubbish to just miss some major connected drive hardware update.

[Jorn]

Some more observations after driving 6500 kilometers this summer:

- Playback works most of the time. If it doesn't, change mode and disconnect the phone, then reconnect.
- It feels really, really dumb that the car won't recognize any title beyond the first track you play. Music still plays, but it's just INCREDIBLY frustrating to have that big empty space on the screen where both artwork and artist / title should be displayed.

Anyone have any idea whom to contact here? My local dealer suggested stopping by a dealer in Germany during my vacation but I couldn't find the time.
There must be a department to contact, surely. I find it strange that BMW would allow this to be an issue, it certainly doesn't feel very modern when a car can't recognize services that have been around since 2007.

[xDrive35i]

Originally Posted by Jorn

Hi all,


I just got my new X3. Oh LORD it's great! White M-sport with saddle brown, I can't stop looking at it.
I'm generally very impressed with the car. It feels really well built and I love all the gadgets. Top view camera + head-up are the favourites so far, really glad I got those options.

Here's what's really bothering me though: The music system is built for someone that still lives in the last decade. It is almost laughably bad for music streaming services, although I don't feel like laughing considering the price I paid.

A few observations:

• Cover art displays for the first track, then freezes. Same for BT and USB
• Track title ALSO displays for the first track, then freezes. Same for BT and USB.
• There's no way to browse through my playlists, I have to navigate to the right one on my iPhone 5 and then I can only skip back and forth 1 track at a time.
• The phone dock in the armrest. BMW, please kill this one as soon as possible

I drove a 2011 520 and I can't remember it being that bad. As far as I can recall it actually displayed the right artist / title info in both head-up and dashboard screen, although cover art was hit and miss there as well.
I just figured this would be solved in the LCI, and to my big surprise it's worse than before.

Am I doing something wrong? Anyone with similar experiences?

Spotify has been an issue title and cover art wise with the BMW, but my 2009 A4 does the same. I've been driving a 2014 A4 loaner and a 2011 Q5 for about a week now, and both usually work, but sometimes they get tripped up. Universally, unless there's a specified app in the car's system, you have to use your phone for Spotify playlists, unless all you want to do is skip forward and back. But sometimes it gets it right. Weird the way things work selectively.

[Cosmic Heretic]

Originally Posted by xDrive35i

Spotify has been an issue title and cover art wise with the BMW, but my 2009 A4 does the same. I've been driving a 2014 A4 loaner and a 2011 Q5 for about a week now, and both usually work, but sometimes they get tripped up. Universally, unless there's a specified app in the car's system, you have to use your phone for Spotify playlists, unless all you want to do is skip forward and back. But sometimes it gets it right. Weird the way things work selectively.

Factory blue tooth sound in my 2011 f25 sucks! BT tech changed a lot and it's in all the new phones. I just ordered this adapter that has current tech that gets good reviews. https://bmwstream2air.com

[OldenburgerM3]

reviving an old thread, but this is right on with something I just did:
2015 X3 here, and Bluetooth streaming from Android phone was unusable because the phone/bluetooth connection kept resetting itself (disconnect/reconnect).
It was sometimes better, sometimes worse, as in more frequent disconnects or semi-reliable but still interrupted music. Tried several different Bluetooth protocols on my and my wife's phones. Tried deleting and re-pairing phones. Tried only one phone. Nothing worked.
Just got back from the dealer, they told me a story that they had three service bulletins on the matter and several Firmware updates to pick from. They used the latest version, whatever that means, and flashed the firmware of the car.
I'm still waiting for the wife to report back on whether this fixed it, but BMW does have a few things they can try if you take the car in.