iPhone Bluetooth Compatibility

[rjamieson]

Does anyone have any information/experience on how compatible an Apple iPhone will be with my 05 X3?

[rirrgang]

on their website. at www.bmwusa.com. You might have to sign in to the owners circle first, I don't remember.
-Rick ©
www.livesafeandhealthy.net
www.livelifewithoutlimits.net
BMWCCA 162285
06 X3 Silver Gray/Black / Sport / Prem / Step
My other car is a 07 Jeep Unlimited
05 Dolphin 5376, (that's 37' of fun)

[vincenzob]

As long as your X3 has bluetooth, it should work great with the iPhone. It worked great in my 04 x3 and now in my 08 x3 :) Easy to setup, microphone volume is good but the iPhone does crash from time to time.

[Arcticdog]

I have an '08 3.0si with Bluetooth & nav. The iPhone's telephony functions work well. When I took delivery, my sales advisor helped me get it paired, imported my whole contacts address book, and tested it all out. Using the multi function steering wheel buttons, I am able to browse the address book via the nav screen and choose a name/number to make a call without lifting a hand off the wheel. I can also use voice-activated calling by speaking out a digits of a phone number to be dialed. The sound quality on my end is very clear (I have the premium sound system if that matters); any audio programming I'm listening to automatically mutes when using the phone function. Although I tend not to make calls while driving, for those times when I receive in an incoming call, the hands-free Bluetooth system is great - and is actually required by law here in NY.

The iPod music portion of the iPhone does not get transmitted to the sound system via bluetooth. You will need to use an Aux input of iPod adaptor interface to get the tunes from your iPhone into the sound system.

Some annoyances:
If I were alone in the car, I wouldn't worry about privacy of the call. However, if I were with other passengers and I wanted to take or make a call privately, I would have to go into the iPhone settings to turn OFF bluetooth - to break the pairing with the X3 (fortunately the iPhone and X3 remember each other, and I don't need to start from scratch to re-pair the devices - just turn Bluetooth ON in the iPhone). This could be cumbersome while driving, since I would have to fumble with the iPhone and stick the earpods into the phone and my ear.

As far as I understand with any GSM-based phone, there is usually interference that results in some static or clicking noises heard through any audio speakers. This is true with the iPhone; I think more-so because the iPhone does so many things in the background. For example, when I receive an incoming txt message, or when the iPhone is pulling down email in the background, I may hear some buzzing or static noise through my speakers if the iPhone is physically close to any part of the center console controls/dash. I would have to bury the iPhone (out of easy reach) under the armrest to prevent this sort of audible interference - a location not necessarily good for cellular reception or signal strength for the phone itself.


On a separate note:
I had an '08 335xi fully-loaded loaner when my X3 was in for service. I was able to test out BMW's new USB iPod interface. I connected my iPhone and was impressed by the ability to see EVERYTHING in my music library (not just a certain number of playlists) on the nav screen - all playlists, genres, artists, song titles... etc. etc. The only thing that didn't appear on the nav screen was album art. But the thing worked well during the limited amount of time I had to play. :D

[Mark]

Any chance someone could provide me with a step by step list of how to connect the Iphone to an X3 (it is an 05).
my email is mdixon@siu.edu

Thanks!
-mark

[Eric]

What? You don't need to turn off bluetooth. When the phone call is active hit the large AUDIO button on the screen. There will be 3 buttons: BMW### representing the BT audio, iPhone representing the standard headset, and Speaker representing the iPhone speaker. You can click back and forth on those all day the the audio will move.

I honestly don't understand how you could miss this.