[aptekcom]

Hi!

I took possession of my i5 e40i about 3 weeks ago. I am coming from a Tesla Model S and our other car is a BMW X7. Here are some questions / issues that I would like some help on, please.

1. When I put the wipers in "Auto" mode, they raise up from the "off" position. I like to keep them on "Auto" 99% of the time. They look weird in the "Auto" position. Am I missing something? My X7 doesn’t do this.

2. I have my phone (iPhone 13) synced via Bluetooth to the car. About 75% of the time, my contacts do not sync. So when i get a call, i get a number but no name. I have removed and readded my phone multiple times. When i look at the contacts, the screen says "No Contacts Available, Activate Approval". I try that and nothing happens. The only thing i am kind of noticing is that if the phone is in the wireless charging tray, it does not sync the contacts, but if I leave it out, it seems to work. I haven't proven that yet, but it seems to be more consistent.

3. Coming from a Tesla, I am very used to the "B" mode, is there any way to get it to default to "B" mode and skip "D", at least under my profile?

4. Relating to #3, when i put in Reverse, it behaves like "D" mode instead of "B" mode. In other words, it creeps back when i let off the brake instead of staying like "B" mode. Any options here that I am missing?

5. Is there any way to open the trunk from the app? I use my phone as the digital key and would love to open the trunk from the widget i created for the app.

6. POI - I use my BMW navigation for almost every trip when i go from client to client. It seems that the maps are updated, but not the POI's. For example, a customer of mine moved 3 years ago, and the navigation still wanted to take me to the old address. The Tesla was immediately updated. What does BMW use for POI?

7. Gesture Control – In my X7, I was able to close fist, open fist to tell the navigation to go home, but I don’t see that on my i5. Is that something only set for the “7” series of cars?

I’m sure I will have more questions. Overall, the car is awesome . So fast and so much more luxurious and sturdy. I thought i would miss my Tesla, but I don't at all. I rarely leave the city, so charging is no issue for me since I charge at home.

Thanks in advance.

[OHV_44]

5. Can't you open the trunk contactlessly with your foot? For example, if you don't have both hands free.

7. Use another gesture or voice control.

[Scrapula]

1. My wipers stay down when in auto. I’m not sure what you mean.
2. I have an iPhone. Check your phone settings, when I resync my phone with the car, it asks me if I want to import contacts. It might be your phone.
3. A BMW makes you start the car and put it in drive. Just press down again. It will become second nature.
4. Put your car on auto hold, the button is on your console. It stops any creeping.
5. Kick under the trunk. Make sure your foot is centered and the trunk will open.
6. I’m not sure how often the maps are updated. You can use Apple Maps in CarPlay at the same time as the BMW navigation and toggle between them.
7. There are gesture controls configurable for many things. You can set those up in iDrive. Or just say, ‘BMW drive home’.

Welcome to the forum.

[SkykingUSA]

Here are my 2 cents.

1. This is interesting. Mine always stayed down too, even in auto mode. However, yesterday when I was cleaning the windshield with window cleaner, the wipers came on a couple of times and startled me! Then, I noticed that they never went back down to the bottom position - they stayed up just a little. That was the first time that ever happened. I'm going to test later what happens when I put them in the off position and auto again. We have not had much rain here since my car received the latest iDrive update so maybe it's a change with the update? Just guessing, but if I learn anything more about this I'll share it here.
2. Sorry, I don't have an iPhone. So far, my contacts have been ok.
3. I don't think there is a way to auto-use B mode. I didn't check the manual though.
4. Like Scrapula already wrote, the Auto-Hold function on the center console should stop the creep, even in reverse.
5. No way that I have seen. Perhaps it will become available in a future version of the app.
6. Not familiar with this one, sorry.
7. Gesture Control – Currently, there are only two assignable gestures. You should be able to set them both to do almost anything you like. Look at page 59 in the manual for info about gesture control.

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by aptekcom

Hi!

I took possession of my i5 e40i about 3 weeks ago. I am coming from a Tesla Model S and our other car is a BMW X7. Here are some questions / issues that I would like some help on, please.

1. When I put the wipers in "Auto" mode, they raise up from the "off" position. I like to keep them on "Auto" 99% of the time. They look weird in the "Auto" position. Am I missing something? My X7 doesn’t do this.

2. I have my phone (iPhone 13) synced via Bluetooth to the car. About 75% of the time, my contacts do not sync. So when i get a call, i get a number but no name. I have removed and readded my phone multiple times. When i look at the contacts, the screen says "No Contacts Available, Activate Approval". I try that and nothing happens. The only thing i am kind of noticing is that if the phone is in the wireless charging tray, it does not sync the contacts, but if I leave it out, it seems to work. I haven't proven that yet, but it seems to be more consistent.

3. Coming from a Tesla, I am very used to the "B" mode, is there any way to get it to default to "B" mode and skip "D", at least under my profile?

4. Relating to #3, when i put in Reverse, it behaves like "D" mode instead of "B" mode. In other words, it creeps back when i let off the brake instead of staying like "B" mode. Any options here that I am missing?

5. Is there any way to open the trunk from the app? I use my phone as the digital key and would love to open the trunk from the widget i created for the app.

6. POI - I use my BMW navigation for almost every trip when i go from client to client. It seems that the maps are updated, but not the POI's. For example, a customer of mine moved 3 years ago, and the navigation still wanted to take me to the old address. The Tesla was immediately updated. What does BMW use for POI?

7. Gesture Control – In my X7, I was able to close fist, open fist to tell the navigation to go home, but I don’t see that on my i5. Is that something only set for the “7” series of cars?

I’m sure I will have more questions. Overall, the car is awesome . So fast and so much more luxurious and sturdy. I thought i would miss my Tesla, but I don't at all. I rarely leave the city, so charging is no issue for me since I charge at home.

Thanks in advance.

#3 - There is no way to default to B mode.
#5 - You can't open the trunk from the app, but as others have said you can use the kick to open function.
#7 - it sounds like in the X7 you set one of the custom gestures to go home. You can do the same in the i5 by setting that to one of the two customizable gesture shortcuts.

[aptekcom]

Thank you for all the replies.

1. Wipers - I checked mine again, and it does stay up in "Auto" mode. Interested to see what happens with fellow enthusiasts.

2. iPhone - Haven't figured this one out yet.

3. B-Mode - Ok. I will get used to it.

4. Reverse B-Mode - Again, I will get used to it.

5. Trunk - yes, i can use my foot, but it was nice to have it open once i reached the car. No big deal, just something that can be easily added if BMW wanted to.

6. POI Update - ?

7. Gesture Control - I figured this one out! In case anyone else wants to do this, go to "my destinations", hold down "home" and a menu will pop up to add to gesture control. Not quite as intuitive but works perfectly!

****

8. Additional Question - Is there any way to screen change back to the home screen after x amount of seconds? For example, when i get a phone call, it switches to the phone screen, but it just stays on it (unless i press the Home button). Is there a way that can happen automatically?

9. Automatic Time - Whenever i choose the system to Automatically set the time, it chooses the wrong time zone. Its off by 6 hours. Anyone else?

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by aptekcom

Thank you for all the replies.

1. Wipers - I checked mine again, and it does stay up in "Auto" mode. Interested to see what happens with fellow enthusiasts.

2. iPhone - Haven't figured this one out yet.

3. B-Mode - Ok. I will get used to it.

4. Reverse B-Mode - Again, I will get used to it.

5. Trunk - yes, i can use my foot, but it was nice to have it open once i reached the car. No big deal, just something that can be easily added if BMW wanted to.

6. POI Update - ?

7. Gesture Control - I figured this one out! In case anyone else wants to do this, go to "my destinations", hold down "home" and a menu will pop up to add to gesture control. Not quite as intuitive but works perfectly!

****

8. Additional Question - Is there any way to screen change back to the home screen after x amount of seconds? For example, when i get a phone call, it switches to the phone screen, but it just stays on it (unless i press the Home button). Is there a way that can happen automatically?

9. Automatic Time - Whenever i choose the system to Automatically set the time, it chooses the wrong time zone. Its off by 6 hours. Anyone else?

#9 is a very well known issue for many hopefully to be fixed in a future OTA software update whenever that comes.

[RichardInCA]

Two things to add:

1) Yes the wipers stay in a “ready” position in Auto mode. I leave them off unless I’m expecting rain, but hey, I’m in California.

5) you can open the trunk from your wallet app on the phone - easy. I’m currently ~3,000miles away from my car, but here’s the wallet view that shows what I mean on an iPhone 13Pro

[SkykingUSA]

Great info RichardInCA! Thanks. I forgot about the app that actually stores the key on our phones. On my Samsung Android phone the key is stored in the Samsung Wallet app. I never really use it, so I forgot all about it.

In addition, I just went out to the car and tapped the Trunk button and it did open the trunk. Seems like it only opens it though - it wouldn't close it again.



While I was out there, I also checked my wipers. When I approached the car and turned it on, the wipers were in the lower position (where they would be if auto was off) even though my wipers were set to Auto. However, after I turned off the Auto setting and then turned it back on, the wipers went across the windshield once and stayed in the ready position until I turned of the car. Once the car is off, they go back to the lower position.

It appears they will go to the lower position after turning off the car, and will stay there until they are actually used to wipe the windshield. Cool stuff.

[Scrapula]

I still didn’t notice the wipers because they are usually on. It’s sunny today, though. I will check it out.

[Scrapula]

Originally Posted by Scrapula

I still didn’t notice the wipers because they are usually on. It’s sunny today, though. I will check it out.

And, it looks like I have never actually turned them off to see the difference.
When it always rains, it makes sense to leave them on.

[agorski]

Originally Posted by aptekcom

3. Coming from a Tesla, I am very used to the "B" mode, is there any way to get it to default to "B" mode and skip "D", at least under my profile?

There are 4 regen settings you can choose from which will stick: Adaptive, >, >>, and >>>. The highest level approximates B.