E46 Bluetooth

[GregM3]

Hi All,

Hoping someone might be able to help me out here as I'm not very technical at all.

Basically my phone will not and never has connected to the Bluetooth since I've owned the car (Feb 15). The car is still under warranty and I've sent it back to Conlons BMW Naas recently to get some other work done and I was told that nothing could be done about the bluetooth. Specifically I was told that the car was too old and my phone too new - Iphone 5. I don't know if this is true or BS but i didnt think that there were different types of bluetooth signals???

To add to this there's an Iphone 4 connector in the car which doesn't seem to do anything. Tried a few Iphone 4's and nothing happened. cannot pick up car bluetooth. Some pics below of the screen and the connector


Q. Should Conlons fix this or is there really nothing that they can do? Any help / advice would be appreciated.

Long term I do plan on upgrading to a Dynavin unit or something similar, but that wont be happening until the money fairies pay me a visit.

Any ideas?









thanks

[John_D]

I don't know much about factory Bluetooth but that sounds like complete BS. Out of interest have you tried to pair an older phone with the BT?

[Gar]

3 versions of Bluetooth exist 2.0 3.0 and 4.0 ,4.0 being the newest the module in your car is probably a gen 3 very early with Bluetooth 2.0 you can try downloading a Bluetooth app from the play store that will bridge between devices ideally if you pick up a gen 13 Bluetooth module this should work with the iPhone 5 have you tried any other phones ? And have you tried to connect the iPhone to any other Bluetooth source


Just rereading your post it looks like you might have a faulty module you could try getting germaniks to run a diagnostic on it and see what the issue is

[JohnH]

That's bollix, my Mrs has a 2006 x5 with the same setup. I've paired iPhone 3, 4, 5 and 6s to it

[Gar]

06 x5 would be way up gen list for Bluetooth modules most e46 owners grab them from e53's think they were fitted with gen 6 and up

[Gar]

It's not bollox btw it's outdated tech which wouldn't be covered under warranty that modules over a decade old which may as well be 50 years in technology terms its been a long time since I looked at the Bluetooth modules in bmw but iirc from gen 6 are the ones to go for remember the iPhone is only 3 or so years old
[hr]
How come you can say bollox and I can't

[JohnH]

It's not b***** btw it's outdated tech which wouldn't be covered under warranty that modules over a decade old which may as well be 50 years in technology terms its been a long time since I looked at the Bluetooth modules in bmw but iirc from gen 6 are the ones to go for remember the iPhone is only 3 or so years old
[hr]
How come you can say b***** and I can't

Bollix bollix bollix

I'm not familiar with the different generations but maybe an update to a later part is in order

[Gar]

It's not b***** btw it's outdated tech which wouldn't be covered under warranty that modules over a decade old which may as well be 50 years in technology terms its been a long time since I looked at the Bluetooth modules in bmw but iirc from gen 6 are the ones to go for remember the iPhone is only 3 or so years old
[hr]
How come you can say b***** and I can't

Bollix bollix bollix

I'm not familiar with the different generations but maybe an update to a later part is in order

Ah bollix not bollox I thought you might have paid the 5e for the swear filter removal package

Not to sidetrack and back to the op while different gens will work with newer phones etc bluetooth is "supposed" to backwards compatible but it causes big issues mixing old with new I just ran into it recently myself , but if it's a faulty module then they should be replacing the unit so if possible swap it with another or have a diagnostic done be no harm to remove and see what gen it is may as well check all connections while in there

[Dave]

on a slight side not, do not buy a dynavin.

[GregM3]

I don't know much about factory Bluetooth but that sounds like complete BS. Out of interest have you tried to pair an older phone with the BT?

I've only tried Iphone 4 and Iphone 5. I'll see if I can get one of the guys phones in work to pair later on today. Assumed Iphone would have worked as there are I pod manuals and phone manuals which give instruction for re-setting the Bluetooth but that hasnt worked

3 versions of Bluetooth exist 2.0 3.0 and 4.0 ,4.0 being the newest the module in your car is probably a gen 3 very early with Bluetooth 2.0 you can try downloading a Bluetooth app from the play store that will bridge between devices ideally if you pick up a gen 13 Bluetooth module this should work with the iPhone 5 have you tried any other phones ? And have you tried to connect the iPhone to any other Bluetooth source


Just rereading your post it looks like you might have a faulty module you could try getting germaniks to run a diagnostic on it and see what the issue is

Just the Iphones but will see about downloading a bluetooth app later on.

on a slight side not, do not buy a dynavin.

Any reasons in particular other than the high price? I have no experience of them and have only read comments in various forums. Would you recommend any alternatives?

thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll try pairing a different phone and downloading the bluetooth app menitoned. After that its probably worth getting a diagnostic run