[MoreCowbell]

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About 50% of the time when I get into the car, my phone, an iPhone 15 Pro max will not connect. Even when I go into 'connect a mobile device' and select my phone it still won't connect. The only fix is to hold down the volume button and reboot the iDrive. As soon as it is rebooted the phone automatically connects.

I have tried removing and adding the phone back. I have tried changing the phones name. I have tried manually connecting to the phones Wi-Fi. Nothing seems to work.

Does anybody else have any ideas?

This is my one and only issue with the car. I love it so far.

[whofelt]

Reset the phones network settings. It’s in the same menu that you would utilize to reset the phone. Don’t reset the phone! Just the network settings

[trivalent]

Originally Posted by whofelt

Reset the phones network settings. It’s in the same menu that you would utilize to reset the phone. Don’t reset the phone! Just the network settings

But know that when you do that, you will lose some things, for example Wi-Fi network passwords.

[trivalent]

Hello. Do you have or can you borrow a pre-15 iPhone for testing CarPlay?

If so, connect it to your car exactly as you are doing with your iPhone 15 Pro Max now, and see if the problem persists.

If it does not, then likely the problem is specific to iPhone 15 generally or to iPhone 15 Pro Max specifically.

[Trevor G]

Originally Posted by trivalent

Hello. Do you have or can you borrow a pre-15 iPhone for testing CarPlay?

If so, connect it to your car exactly as you are doing with your iPhone 15 Pro Max now, and see if the problem persists.

If it does not, then likely the problem is specific to iPhone 15 generally or to iPhone 15 Pro Max specifically.

Oy you could just go Android
I know.. No help but couldn't resist.

[trivalent]

Originally Posted by Trevor G

Oy you could just go Android
I know.. No help but couldn't resist.

Heh. I use both.

[darylp310]

I've had problems connecting to CarPlay maybe 2-3 times over almost a year of ownership. But a soft reboot of iDrive also fixes it.

Any chance that this could be related to your My BMW profile? I think it makes certain assumptions about which phones should be connected by default. If you have multiple Fobs vs. Apple Watch vs. NFC card vs. spouse's phone, etc., each of these could cause a conflict with your primary login. That's another variable you should try to eliminate from the equation.

[MoreCowbell]

Originally Posted by whofelt

Reset the phones network settings. It’s in the same menu that you would utilize to reset the phone. Don’t reset the phone! Just the network settings

Do you know for sure if this works? I’d hate to lose all network settings just on a hunch.

Very much appreciate your response

[Sequence001]

Originally Posted by MoreCowbell

About 50% of the time when I get into the car, my phone, an iPhone 15 Pro max will not connect. Even when I go into 'connect a mobile device' and select my phone it still won't connect. The only fix is to hold down the volume button and reboot the iDrive. As soon as it is rebooted the phone automatically connects.

I have tried removing and adding the phone back. I have tried changing the phones name. I have tried manually connecting to the phones Wi-Fi. Nothing seems to work.

Does anybody else have any ideas?

This is my one and only issue with the car. I love it so far.

So this has happened to me a bit, and I work in the Tech Industry so I know my way around a little. What I found is a few things that could cause it to occur / fix the issue.

1. A Bluetooth headset.
I had “Nothin Ear 1” earbuds that wouldn’t disconnect from my phone when i put them back in the case. So me being unaware of this, would get in the car and experience the same issue. I replaced those and haven’t experienced it since.

2. Before that, I found that my BMW was not connected in my wifi settings and my bluetooth settings. I connected those and saw no improvement of the issue but that led me to finding out the Nothing Earbuds were still connected. I only note this because it’s possible it may still help in the event you have no external Bluetooth devices involved.

3. Exit the car, lock it, wait 20 seconds and unlock and re-enter the car and try to use it again. This has worked for me in some situations.


4. (Sort of related) sometimes when I entered the car, the Audio would skip. No matter where the source was coming from: The Youtube app, Apple Music, Soundcloud, or even from BMW Assistant, the audio would skip. Restarting the phone didn’t work.

I fixed this by resetting iDrive. (Hold the volume knob for 20-30 seconds until the screen turns black) the iDrive system restarts and the skipping went away.

Hope this helps.

[whofelt]

Originally Posted by MoreCowbell

Do you know for sure if this works? I’d hate to lose all network settings just on a hunch.

Very much appreciate your response

you won't know until you try it.

play it on the safe side and reboot idrive, if that doesn't work, try my suggestion, what do you have to lose? the shits not working anyways, might as well try it.

[Scrapula]

Mine doesn’t connect 50% for my husband but always works for me. He does wear an Apple Watch. Also we are both in the car together, so 2 phones and one watch. I am always alone when I drive.