Comments on: iPhone 2.02 doesn’t fix address book sync with BMW iDrive

By: Robert Freeman

Robert Freeman — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:48:22 +0000

I have a 2007 750 (US Spec) and purchased my iPhone 3G in Sep 08. I updated the sw when I initialize the phone with iTunes. I was able to pair the phone to the car in 30 seconds. I have never had a problem.

By: Martin Davies

Martin Davies — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:24:33 +0000

Potential workaround for BMW users where contacts do not sync to address book until fix provided by apple or BMW. I have a Nokia 6230i that worked fine in the BMW before I bought the Iphone 3G. I reinstalled the 6230i in the snap adapter and paired it again with the BMW I-drive. I have a prepaid sim card in this phone so I can make outbound calls from address book when driving. Any incoming calls to my Iphone 3G (2.1 s/w) get picked up by the car I-drive bluetooth. Both Nokia & Iphone are paired with the BMW I-drive with Nokia the primary pairing. Works in my 2006 5 series.

By: Gman

Gman — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:10:43 +0000

Updated – 2.1 DID fix my issues. At first it did not seem to, but now all my contacts are showing up, and the phone itself seems noticeable faster.
I deleted my exchange profile AND my pairing. Then rebuilt my exchange profile and resynched. THEN rebuilt the bluetooth pairing. All contacts appeared immediately and seem to ALL be there which was not the case before.

By: Gman

Gman — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:56:18 +0000

2.1 does not appear to work as well as 2.01 (arrgh.)
I have ’08 335 with idrive.
iphone 3g did not work with 2.0, then worked with 2.01 although some address listings did not show.
now with 2.1 (downloaded today), the address book does not work at all. So, I took a step forward and now a step back.
aggravating to have a 50k car, and a 200 phone will not work.

By: KevinG

KevinG — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:49:57 +0000

I received a reply from BMW:
“Thank you for your email regarding the Apple iPhone 3G,
Further to our conversation yesterday, BMW are working on a software upgarde that will allow the Apple iPhone 3G to function with our vehicles. Any updates to the compatibility of the Apple 3G iPhone will be shown immediately on our website a http://www.bmw.co.uk/bluetooth
The Service Department at your nearest BMW Approved Dealership will be able to offer you further advice on the availability and cost of having a hardware or software upgrade completed once it is available. The upgrade is chargeable as technology has moved forward since your vehicle was manufactured. The type of upgrade required will depend on the age of your vehicle and the Bluetooth platform used’.

On the telephone he told me that they were hopeful for October for the fix – but was not sure if the fix will be for 2.0.1 or 2.0.2 – he said that they had not even seen 2.1 let alone started to develop a software fix yet.

By: Enkur

Enkur — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:56:41 +0000

anyone have luck with the 2.1 FW… this problem is really pissing me off. I have 2007 328i coupe iDrive with progam v25 and no contacts with 2.0.2

By: Viv

Viv — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:26:08 +0000

I was talking about the iPhone 3G v2.1 firmware update BTW

Viv

By: Viv

Viv — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:18:23 +0000

I feel like crying.

E90 330i SE with Progman v27 installed Sept 07.
Same outcome as with v2.0.2- no phonebook entries are available.
Access to phonebook contacts is faster & backup is faster as well, but that’s no consolation.

Viv

By: Scoopz

Scoopz — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:28:01 +0000

@KevinG – Good work, it’s nice when persistence pays off! I’ve always been told “its the squeaky wheel gets the oil” and in most cases this is true.

So a fix for 2.0 will be out next month, if this is true that’s great news, but, like pretty much every other iPhone user out there, nobody is running 2.0 anymore as it was too laggy/buggy and everyone went to 2.01, and that was even worse so everyone cheered when they brought out 2.02!

I’m hoping that whatever Apple changed regards bluetooth between 1.1.4 and 2.0 hasn’t changed again in 2.01 and 2.02 so that perhaps BMWs fix for 2.0 will work with 2.01 and 2.02….oh but then the BIG bug fix from Apple in the form of iPhone 2.1 is out tomorrow and everybody’s going to jump on-board and upgrade to that, then BMW will bring out a fix for iPhone 2.0, nobody will be able to downgrade from 2.1 to 2.0 and were back where we started

Scoopz (Admin)

By: KevinG

KevinG — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:17:32 +0000

I have just had a very interesting conversation with the Bluetooth specialist at BMW (persistence pays off!) He told me that the fix for 2.0 will be available in October and dealers will be able to upload the software immediately.
They have not looked at 2.0.1 or 2.0.2 and he advises that I do not upgrade until they do. This is a total pain because I am on 2.0.2 now!
He also confirmed that this is a BMW issue because of the complexity of the Bluetooth system.
I suggested that better information on the BMW web site may be helpful.