Comments on: Fix for iPhone and BMW iDrive address book not synchronising

By: AT

AT — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:22:49 +0000

I just syncd my iphone with the z contacts. About to head out and see if it works. What I’ve found is that my iphone will constantly drop the connection to the bluetooth in my car IF in the settings on the iphone i have the contacts selected to sync. If I leave the sync contacts option unticked, the phone doesn’t drop the connection and i can dial directly from the contacts on the phone or via the voice commands through bmw bluetooth.

SO I would recommend that if anyone has the drop out issues, go into settings>general>blueooth>bmw and turn off syncing of contacts. turn your car off and then on again and see if it still drops out when trying to make a call. obviously your contacts won’t appear but you should be able to make and receive calls through the bluetooth system with no dropouts.

going outside to check if the z contacts make and differences!

btw have a 2005 e46 320i with standard business radio headunit (no nav screen)

By: scott

scott — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:36:37 +0000

iphone 3g will not work 100% with 06 x5. There is a hardware issue with the bmw. Will not be fixed. 2g works fine.

By: scott

scott — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:35:50 +0000

I have an 06 x5 without nav. My iphone 2g worked great. Upgraded to 3g and although it will pair it does not remain paired after leaving vehicle and when starting up again. Iphone sw version 2.2.1 Local BMW not sure what the issue is. tried the 2000 names solution but same thing happens. Any thoughts out there would be appreciated.

By: Erik

Erik — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 02:26:19 +0000

Worked like a charm on 2007 X5, thanks for doing this!

By: derek

derek — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:32:35 +0000

Need Help

Thanks! It works. But I got a problem: when a new contact added to iphone, it won’t sync to bmw. So I can’t update the contacts of bmw. The address book in bmw always stay the same. Any one has the same problem and knows the way to fix it?

By: Jey Sivendra

Jey Sivendra — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:08:34 +0000

You are a genius!! I have been holding out for the iPhine to work with my BMW’s!! I have tried your remedy on a 2006 M5, a Z4 coupe, and an 2007 X5. it works with all of them!! Thank you for sharing. By the way I have the new upgrade for the iPhone(2.1) and software udpate for the BMW 31, however one of my vehicles has software 27 and the phone fully works.
Thanks again

By: Kev Batchelor

Kev Batchelor — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:23:04 +0000

Followed your instructions and now have all my contacts off of Iphone 3g working in my 2006 535d via bluetooth. Many thanks. Having read all the other stuff I didn’t think it would work but it was raining and I was bored so gave it a go. Brilliant

By: Scott Bragagnolo

Scott Bragagnolo — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:06:45 +0000

Absolutely fantastic. I still don’t understand how but you did it. This was going to be a deal breaker for me and the iphone with my 10/06 build 335i and idrive. Worked fine with the 3G when new but since 2.02 and 2.1 no go. Now it works seamlessly again. Thanks again for the great work!

By: Peter Ridges

Peter Ridges — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:10:28 +0000

Works for me!! Thank you so much guys for keeping at it. My 530d with Business- Pro pack (06 plate) is up and running again. It’s a shame that the BMW & Apple guys don’t share your tenacity. Keep up the good work!