[eurobear]

Like many of you, when I ordered my car I got a wireless charging tray. Since I picked up my car I've found the charging slow and the sound really thin from the H/K system. Not enough bass and sound quality isn't as good as it was in my 4 series with a H/K system (yes I played with the levels).

At the weekend I plugged in a cable and wow, a world of difference from the sound system and the speed to charge.

Once again I've got beautiful sound, wonderful bass and am MUCH happier with the system - back to what I expected.

I would have thought that BMW might have moved their BT game on since the release of the 4 series coupe. My headphones are BT and they are much better than the BT in the car. So back to cables, but I love hiding the phone in the deep central cubby so the interior still neat and cable-free.

[hal4uk]

I use a cable because I don't have wireless charging. Just as well because I think my phone is too big for that compartment anyway (pixel2 XL). That sliding lid is rubberized on top and has a wide handle, so I store other stuff inside, close it halfway (leaving cupholders clear) and the phone rides very well on top of the lid. Never moves. Try it 😉

[teaston]

Wow the wireless charger must be really slow! The USB ports only put out 0.9A!

I’m currently trying to get USB C PD fast charge for my iPhone XS in my car, but I can’t seem to get anything higher than 2A currently, I need to do some more tinkering.

[AndroidRobot]

Originally Posted by teaston

Wow the wireless charger must be really slow! The USB ports only put out 0.9A!

I'm currently trying to get USB C PD fast charge for my iPhone XS in my car, but I can't seem to get anything higher than 2A currently, I need to do some more tinkering.

Wireless charging is 5W by default because I highly doubtful BMW offers faster wireless charging at 9W or 12W. Its not meant to be super fast in the car so I don't know why anyone would expect that. If the ports were 0.9A which will be at 5V is actually 4.5W ie less than wireless charging. The ports actually our put 2.4A depending on your device so for the record.

edit: Cable charging will always be faster until the wireless standards improve. Samsung offers 12W support and Apple has 9W both use the Qi standard. No car manufacturer to date that I've seen offers anything faster than 5W

[teaston]

Originally Posted by AndroidRobot

Wireless charging is 5W by default because I highly doubtful BMW offers faster wireless charging at 9W or 12W. Its not meant to be super fast in the car so I don't know why anyone would expect that. If the ports were 0.9A which will be at 5V is actually 4.5W ie less than wireless charging. The ports actually our put 2.4A depending on your device so for the record

I’ve tested them with both my iPhone XS and iPad pro and the maximum they deliver is 0.9A

[AndroidRobot]

Originally Posted by teaston

I've tested them with both my iPhone XS and iPad pro and the maximum they deliver is 0.9A

Sounds like an iPhone problem I'll test it with some of your Android devices because I'm positive they pull higher. I don't have an X3 anymore but the sole USB-A port in my X5 should be the same. 0.9A is still slower than wireless at 5V

[teaston]

Originally Posted by AndroidRobot

Sounds like an iPhone problem I'll test it with some of your Android devices because I'm positive they pull higher. I don't have an X3 anymore but the sole USB-A port in my X5 should be the same. 0.9A is still slower than wireless at 5V

0.9A is normal for USB ports that also provide data connection.

[AndroidRobot]

Originally Posted by teaston

0.9A is normal for USB ports that also provide data connection.

That's extremely slow for the record and yes I'm aware there are other ports too

[eurobear]

I don’t know the power output. All I know is that if I’m at 40% and plug in for an hour on my journey home, I’m at around 95% when I get in. On the pad I’m at 75%. Plus, I get better sound quality with cable

[teaston]

Originally Posted by eurobear

I don’t know the power output. All I know is that if I’m at 40% and plug in for an hour on my journey home, I’m at around 95% when I get in. On the pad I’m at 75%. Plus, I get better sound quality with cable

What phone is it?

[sinbad4]

Bluetooth audio historically sucks. First stereo was highly compressed, A2DP protocol, then SBC, both of which blow big time as they compress the audio a ton and throw out a lot of the sound. AAC from apple is a bit better. AptX can be excellent. AptX can be lossless and as good as wired. Apple CarPlay is also very good, as it uses BT to negotiate, but off-loads data to WiFi for extra bandwidth. That said, CarPlay almost certainly defaults to AAC (though higher bitrate than BT).

I don't know that our BMW X3s support AptX, I am Apple CarPlay user. CarPlay is excellent sound, it's much better than default iPhone BT audio.

In short, while Bluetooth has the ability to play audio at the same lossless quality a wired connection can, i suspect you may have a sub optimal experience. CarPlay is excellent. Someone will have to see if their Android device has the ability to use the AptX BT codec with their BMW X3. (Note, Apple MacBook Pro does not support CarPlay and thus is direct BT connection, not the BT / WiFi connection in the X3.)

This article has some good information, but is not accurate on data rates. I have observed / measured the following rates from my Sony 1000MX2 headphones to my 2018 Apple MacBook Pro.

SBC - 2Mb/s
AAC - 4 Mb/s
AptX - 5 Mb/s

https://www.soundguys.com/understand...-codecs-15352/

[teaston]

Originally Posted by sinbad4

Bluetooth audio historically sucks. First stereo was highly compressed, A2DP protocol, then SBC, both of which blow big time as they compress the audio a ton and throw out a lot of the sound. AAC from apple is a bit better. AptX can be excellent. AptX can be lossless and as good as wired. Apple CarPlay is also very good, as it uses BT to negotiate, but off-loads data to WiFi for extra bandwidth. That said, CarPlay almost certainly defaults to AAC (though higher bitrate than BT).

I don't know that our BMW X3s support AptX, I am Apple CarPlay user. CarPlay is excellent sound, it's much better than default iPhone BT audio.

In short, while Bluetooth has the ability to play audio at the same lossless quality a wired connection can, i suspect you may have a sub optimal experience. CarPlay is excellent. Someone will have to see if their Android device has the ability to use the AptX BT codec with their BMW X3. (Note, Apple MacBook Pro does not support CarPlay and thus is direct BT connection, not the BT / WiFi connection in the X3.)

This article has some good information, but is not accurate on data rates. I have observed / measured the following rates from my Sony 1000MX2 headphones to my 2018 Apple MacBook Pro.

SBC - 2Mb/s
AAC - 4 Mb/s
AptX - 5 Mb/s

https://www.soundguys.com/understand...-codecs-15352/

SBC is more than enough then, CD quality is only 1.4Mb/s!

[Jeepersjoey]

I have one of those little dohickies that tell you the current the USB is pulling.

I have never seen more than 0.9A no matter what I test it with.

I have an iPhone,iPad,Android (pixel 3 Xl) plus all sorts of other items.

Same results on my Samsung 8S (I think it was).

I also have wireless charging. Don't get me started on how unbelievably horrible (not poor...not bad..not mediocre) the wireless charger is with my phone.

No matter how I have it situated there is absolutely no way that I can get the phone to anything more than 3-5% per hour of not using and just sitting in the charger. Trust me...I have hundreds of hours of driving and trying. Purely useless for me.

Great...I got started.

Worst $ I ever spent.
Paul

[iManu]

I find satellite radio sounds better than CarPlay and Bluetooth. Maybe aux cable will be better?

[MechX3M40i]

Originally Posted by emmanuel.yoo

I find satellite radio sounds better than CarPlay and Bluetooth. Maybe aux cable will be better?

Glad to hear that you find Sat radio good. I feel the same, despite some members here found them worse than FM radios :

Maybe location difference leading to signal quality difference? Also, some channels have better quality than others so maybe we pick the right channels to listen to?

[MechX3M40i]

Originally Posted by Jeepersjoey

I have one of those little dohickies that tell you the current the USB is pulling.

I have never seen more than 0.9A no matter what I test it with.

I have an iPhone,iPad,Android (pixel 3 Xl) plus all sorts of other items.

Same results on my Samsung 8S (I think it was).

I also have wireless charging. Don't get me started on how unbelievably horrible (not poor...not bad..not mediocre) the wireless charger is with my phone.

No matter how I have it situated there is absolutely no way that I can get the phone to anything more than 3-5% per hour of not using and just sitting in the charger. Trust me...I have hundreds of hours of driving and trying. Purely useless for me.

Great...I got started.

Worst $ I ever spent.
Paul

Interesting! I think I read some member mentioned Android could draw higher current out of certain car charger adaptors vs iPhone, maybe it's true only if the aftermarket USB adaptors support up to 2.4A.

So I assume the 0.9A max output you mentioned was applicable only to the USB plug in front of the cup holders?

[TheMooseMan]

Originally Posted by Jeepersjoey

I have one of those little dohickies that tell you the current the USB is pulling.

I have never seen more than 0.9A no matter what I test it with.

I have an iPhone,iPad,Android (pixel 3 Xl) plus all sorts of other items.

Same results on my Samsung 8S (I think it was).

I also have wireless charging. Don't get me started on how unbelievably horrible (not poor...not bad..not mediocre) the wireless charger is with my phone.

No matter how I have it situated there is absolutely no way that I can get the phone to anything more than 3-5% per hour of not using and just sitting in the charger. Trust me...I have hundreds of hours of driving and trying. Purely useless for me.

Great...I got started.

Worst $ I ever spent.
Paul

Is there a way to play audio from Android devices using something else besides Bluetooth? I wish we could use the USB port on the car for audio playback.

Off-topic:

Abut the wireless charger, I think it's weird... I have a Samsung Note 9 and, despite it has a case, the wireless charger on my X3 charges it pretty quickly! Not as fast as the Samsung wireless chargers, of course, but at least on my car the charger is FAR from bad.
A few days ago it charged around 4~5% in a matter of 20 to 30 minutes and I was using bluetooth audio!

[Jeepersjoey]

Originally Posted by MechX3M40i

Interesting! I think I read some member mentioned Android could draw higher current out of certain car charger adaptors vs iPhone, maybe it's true only if the aftermarket USB adaptors support up to 2.4A.

So I assume the 0.9A max output you mentioned was applicable only to the USB plug in front of the cup holders?

I tried the one in the cup holders and the one in the back seat. They are consistent for me.

Paul

[MechX3M40i]

Originally Posted by Jeepersjoey

I tried the one in the cup holders and the one in the back seat. They are consistent for me.

Paul

You use the BMW supplied duel charger for the backseats? If that's the case, try an aftermarket one from Amazon that can support 2.4A for each outlet.

[MrPorter]

Not saying anyone is overlooking this but...

You don't have a super thick case on your phone, do you? Because if you do, then yes - wireless charging will suck.

I'm not thrilled with how well the wireless charging works in the X3, but I wasn't expecting anything crazy, either. My regular wireless charger is slower than using a cable, and I figured it would be even slower in the car.

The point of wireless charging for me isn't speed, it's convenience. I drop my phone in a tray, it charges. I pick it up when I need it, and I don't have to worry about any wires getting in the way. I put it back down. I pick it up when I leave my car, I go into my office, and drop it down on my wireless charging cradle. I then repeat the same sequence of events throughout the day. And because of that, my phone is definitely more well-charged than it was before I switched to wireless charging.

But no, it's not a miracle.

[AndroidRobot]

Originally Posted by Jeepersjoey

I have one of those little dohickies that tell you the current the USB is pulling.

I have never seen more than 0.9A no matter what I test it with.

I have an iPhone,iPad,Android (pixel 3 Xl) plus all sorts of other items.

Same results on my Samsung 8S (I think it was).

I also have wireless charging. Don't get me started on how unbelievably horrible (not poor...not bad..not mediocre) the wireless charger is with my phone.

No matter how I have it situated there is absolutely no way that I can get the phone to anything more than 3-5% per hour of not using and just sitting in the charger. Trust me...I have hundreds of hours of driving and trying. Purely useless for me.

Great...I got started.

Worst $ I ever spent.
Paul

Here's the readings from my X5 which should have the same output on it's USB-A port next to the wireless charger. I pulled 1.42A at 5.23V ie 7.4W with you S10+ and 5.2V / 1.15A or ~6S with my work iPhone 8. I have fancier meters which log data but they yielded the same results so I didn't take a picture using them.

I also recorded the USB-C port outputs which are 1.3A up front and 2A for the in seat ones. I suspect I could pull more than 2A with certain devices but the key here is the minimum of 5W and Max of 10W

[Brucecris]

Originally Posted by eurobear

Like many of you, when I ordered my car I got a wireless charging tray. Since I picked up my car I've found the charging slow and the sound really thin from the H/K system. Not enough bass and sound quality isn't as good as it was in my 4 series with a H/K system (yes I played with the levels).

At the weekend I plugged in a cable and wow, a world of difference from the sound system and the speed to charge.

Once again I've got beautiful sound, wonderful bass and am MUCH happier with the system - back to what I expected.

I would have thought that BMW might have moved their BT game on since the release of the 4 series coupe. My headphones are BT and they are much better than the BT in the car. So back to cables, but I love hiding the phone in the deep central cubby so the interior still neat and cable-free.

I can't take my wireless BT setup any longer. I get disconnects all the time. It's surreal. No solution in sight. My old Ford was better than this crap. I'm bitter at how prestigious the iDrive system is touted yet the reality is that this software is full of issues that are seemingly invisible and not accounted for. As an experience designer, this drives me nuts!