My analysis of the M’s iPhone integration

[AustinJerry]

I spent a bit of time this morning exploring all the iPhone integration options on my new M4.

Background: my Last vehicle was a 335i with no iDrive or display. The iPhone integration consisted of a cable with a Lightening connector on one end, and a Y-split on the other end, with a 3.5mm stereo jack for audio and a USB plug for charging. The cable was plugged into the AUX IN 3.5mm port in the console, with power from a cigarette lighter-to-USB adapter, also in the console. The iPhone was held by a custom ProClips center console mount. The iPhone displayed either audio information (Pandora, etc.), or the Escort Live app for my Passport Max with SmartCord. Everything worked perfectly, although it was somewhat difficult to read song titles on the iPhone display.

Current vehicle (M4):

Three options exist for iPhone integration:
- 3.5mm AUX IN port in Console
- USB connection in console
- Bluetooth

Method 1: 3.5mm AUX IN port.

The first thing I noticed when using the AUX IN 3.5mm port is that the audio characteristics had changed. Bass seemed over-emphasized, while treble was muted. Don’t know why the audio would change because of the port. I didn’t like the sound at all. Of course, there is no transfer of song title or artwork to the iDrive display. All audio apps worked fine, including Pandora and the Music Player, although all control was through the iPhone, of course. I could send the audio app to the background, bring up Escort Live, and view radar detector information while audio continued playing. I was also able to plug the USB power connection into the cigarette lighter in the rear passenger area, so the iPhone could be charging while in use. This is essentially the same connectivity as with the 335i.

Method 2: USB to console port.

I immediately noticed that the audio had returned to “normal”, i.e. it sounds the same as if I were playing a CD. Much improved over the 3.5mm connection. In iDrive, under Multimedia/external audio connections, the iPhone now appears. Selecting it results in song and artwork on the iDrive display, and there are certain controls in iDrive for the audio (e.g. skip to next track). Strangely, there are no “stop” or “play” controls. When Pandora is launched on the iPhone, its interface appears under “Radio” in iDrive. Once iDrive determines that Pandora is playing, the iPhone screen is replaced with a BMW connection screen, as shown below:



When clicking “skip to next track”, the skip functionality works fine for both Pandora and the Music Player. When using the Music player, I can also bring up the Escort Live screen, and the music continues to play. However, if I am playing a streaming app like Pandora and try and bring up Escort Live, the streaming stops. In other words, streaming audio and Escort Live are in an either/or state. Very disappointing. On the positive side, the USB connection charges the iPhone when in use.

Method 3: Bluetooth.

As with the USB connection, the iPhone appears under the Multimedia options screen. Also as with the USB connection, audio sounds just fine. However, Bluetooth exhibits some peculiar behavior. When clicking “skip to next track”, the next track seems to be a random track selected from my music library on the iPhone. I was unable to get the skip button to go to the next track on the same album. Weird! And when I launched Pandora, the song and artwork appeared on the iDrive display, but as the songs changed, the iDrive display continued to show the first song. I was not able to get the display to increment. Also weird! I was also unable to get Pandora and Escort Live to work simultaneously with Bluetooth. And as far as charging goes, a separate cable needs to be used to charge the iPhone, using one of the two cigarette lighter connections. Hiding the cable becomes an issue.

Summary:

Both the 3.5mm connection and the Bluetooth connection fall far short of expectations, each having serious issues. This leaves only the USB connection is the “most functional” of the three connection methods. Unfortunately, since my primary music listening is from streaming sources, and I can’t stream and use Escort Live at the same time, Escort Live is not likely to be used very much going forward. It would nice to have better iPhone integration in a $75K vehicle.

[Xtabi]

Originally Posted by AustinJerry

I spent a bit of time this morning exploring all the iPhone integration options on my new M4.

Background: my Last vehicle was a 335i with no iDrive or display. The iPhone integration consisted of a cable with a Lightening connector on one end, and a Y-split on the other end, with a 3.5mm stereo jack for audio and a USB plug for charging. The cable was plugged into the AUX IN 3.5mm port in the console, with power from a cigarette lighter-to-USB adapter, also in the console. The iPhone was held by a custom ProClips center console mount. The iPhone displayed either audio information (Pandora, etc.), or the Escort Live app for my Passport Max with SmartCord. Everything worked perfectly, although it was somewhat difficult to read song titles on the iPhone display.

Current vehicle (M4):

Three options exist for iPhone integration:
- 3.5mm AUX IN port in Console
- USB connection in console
- Bluetooth

Method 1: 3.5mm AUX IN port.

The first thing I noticed when using the AUX IN 3.5mm port is that the audio characteristics had changed. Bass seemed over-emphasized, while treble was muted. Dont know why the audio would change because of the port. I didnt like the sound at all. Of course, there is no transfer of song title or artwork to the iDrive display. All audio apps worked fine, including Pandora and the Music Player, although all control was through the iPhone, of course. I could send the audio app to the background, bring up Escort Live, and view radar detector information while audio continued playing. I was also able to plug the USB power connection into the cigarette lighter in the rear passenger area, so the iPhone could be charging while in use. This is essentially the same connectivity as with the 335i.

Method 2: USB to console port.

I immediately noticed that the audio had returned to normal, i.e. it sounds the same as if I were playing a CD. Much improved over the 3.5mm connection. In iDrive, under Multimedia/external audio connections, the iPhone now appears. Selecting it results in song and artwork on the iDrive display, and there are certain controls in iDrive for the audio (e.g. skip to next track). Strangely, there are no stop or play controls. When Pandora is launched on the iPhone, its interface appears under Radio in iDrive. Once iDrive determines that Pandora is playing, the iPhone screen is replaced with a BMW connection screen, as shown below:



When clicking skip to next track, the skip functionality works fine for both Pandora and the Music Player. When using the Music player, I can also bring up the Escort Live screen, and the music continues to play. However, if I am playing a streaming app like Pandora and try and bring up Escort Live, the streaming stops. In other words, streaming audio and Escort Live are in an either/or state. Very disappointing. On the positive side, the USB connection charges the iPhone when in use.

Method 3: Bluetooth.

As with the USB connection, the iPhone appears under the Multimedia options screen. Also as with the USB connection, audio sounds just fine. However, Bluetooth exhibits some peculiar behavior. When clicking skip to next track, the next track seems to be a random track selected from my music library on the iPhone. I was unable to get the skip button to go to the next track on the same album. Weird! And when I launched Pandora, the song and artwork appeared on the iDrive display, but as the songs changed, the iDrive display continued to show the first song. I was not able to get the display to increment. Also weird! I was also unable to get Pandora and Escort Live to work simultaneously with Bluetooth. And as far as charging goes, a separate cable needs to be used to charge the iPhone, using one of the two cigarette lighter connections. Hiding the cable becomes an issue.

Summary:

Both the 3.5mm connection and the Bluetooth connection fall far short of expectations, each having serious issues. This leaves only the USB connection is the most functional of the three connection methods. Unfortunately, since my primary music listening is from streaming sources, and I cant stream and use Escort Live at the same time, Escort Live is not likely to be used very much going forward. It would nice to have better iPhone integration in a $75K vehicle.

Thanks for the write up. Very informative. I wonder if there is some type of software update for the idrive system that will resolve some of the Bluetooth bugs.

[Taimur]

The piece about ablum art or song details not changing during streaming Pandora or Spotify seems to be well known. I just learnt this yesterday and read up on multiple bmw forum sites. This is the biggest issue for me.

iOS 8 and its new versions has not fixed the problem.

[Jmiller007]

I use Waze when driving on the highway and have always streamed iTunes Radio in the back ground. But lately I'm listening to Beats Audio more, but I haven't had a chance to try it in the background with Waze. It sure will suck if I have to choose between the two.

[AustinJerry]

UPDATE 1

OK, I solved another issue that has been driving me crazy. I only use the USB connection now--I have completely given up on Bluetooth for now.

The issue was with the order in which songs were being played when I use MusicPlayer. It seemed like the song selections were completely random, because MusicPlayer would not play songs on an album in sequence. I finally realized that on the iPhone at the bottom of MusicPlayer, I had selected "Songs", and iDrive was simply stepping through all the songs in alphabetic order. As soon as I changed the selection to "Albums", I could pick an album, and iDrive plays all the songs in the right order.

I know this may seem like something obvious to many of you, but I am pleased it is now sorted out.

So, if I want to have the Escort Live app displayed on the iPhone, I play music using the MusicPlayer. If I don't care about Escort Live, I can play music from other streaming sources like Pandora. I have not tried Beats yet.

[CanAutM3]

I simply copied all my favourite music from my iTunes library onto a USB memory stick and then trasferred it to the cars hard drive (it was very easy to do). My music, including artwork, is now permanently available in the car and I can use my phone totally independently .

[robbo mcs]

I have no problems with pandora using the usb cable.

I am in an different world market (Australia) so my car may be different spec. AFAIK we are the only other country outisde of the USA to have pandora.

My car does not have connected drive and I have extended bluetooth.

I Connect the phone via a standard iphone cable to the usb slot under the armrest and open pandora app on the phone. Most people then describe how pandora becomes available in "radio". This does not happen for me. I go to multimedia devices, and see my iphone's name in connected devices. I select that. I then get pandora audio playing. On the screen I get song, artist details and album artwork. This changes correctly with songs etc. I can skip songs etc, but no thumbs up or down on the screen, although I can do this on the phone.

In addition I can open other apps on the phone normally without disturbing pandora playback. If I use the phone (which is connected via bluetooth) pandora stops and resumes when I stop the call.

If I connect pandora by bluetooth I get this functionality, but the artist details, album artwork etc is flaky, and often gets stuck.

Edit : for completeness iphone 4gs ios7 oem lightning cable and subscribed to pandora, so pandora1

[Keto]

I use bluetooth to stream playlists that I've made in iTunes. I went through my music and rated it by stars a long time ago. I have Smart Playlists (4 star songs, 5 star songs, etc), playlists by band (all Muse songs >= 4 stars), etc. They all work just fine in order or with random shuffle. They all can be selected from HUD. Occasionally I search for a different artist, works fine. Whenever I add music to the phone, as long as I rate it, it finds its way there. I have another Smart Playlist for music I've purchased in the last year.

The copy music to the car thing would be ok, except that I would be doing it fairly frequently, so too much of a PITA imo. The car does get wonky when I plug the phone in to charge. I have to reboot the phone afterwards to get bluetooth to work right again.

I keep meaning to try Spotify. I have used Pandora, but I had problems with album art on my F10.

[SOM3]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

I simply copied all my favourite music from my iTunes library onto a USB memory stick and then trasferred it to the cars hard drive (it was very easy to do). My music, including artwork, is now permanently available in the car and I can use my phone totally independently .

Exactly this. I don't get why people just don't do this. In fact you can copy all the songs from your phone to the hard drive using USB cable.

[Keto]

Originally Posted by SOM3

Exactly this. I don't get why people just don't do this. In fact you can copy all the songs from your phone to the hard drive using USB cable.

Frequent updates; I prefer the hands-free access to my phone's smart playlists which change with ratings and time.

[SOM3]

Originally Posted by Keto

Frequent updates; I prefer the hands-free access to my phone's smart playlists which change with ratings and time.

Just FYI BMW hard drive stores your songs, then you can select your favorite ones by choosing so on the song menu, and finally BMW compiles top 50 list (songs that are most played). It's all quite simple.

But I do get that you stick to what works best for you.

[AustinJerry]

There is nothing wrong with the iPhone integration when using MusicPlayer on the iPhone. The issues are with streaming apps like Pandora.

I already manage one music library on the iPhone. I would not want to manage a second one on the M. And since MusicPlayer works perfectly fine, why would I want to do that?

90% of my music listening is internet streaming, not listening to my own music library. I have heard my own songs enough times that listening to new stuff from the internet is much more enjoyable. I just wish it were easier on the M.

[BEMR]

Android Note 4 and Samsung s5, no issues whatsoever the way you describe your Bluetooth issues with IOS.

Just downloaded 2500 mp3 songs last week although to a 16g data stick, and uploaded to m4, by far the best sound quality other than a CD, for types of music sources you mentioned. Stream Sirius from app, puts our in car version of Sirius to shame, almost as good as a cd.

[Keto]

Out of curiosity, all of you who stream sirius/pandora/spotify, how much data are you using your mobile device? I'm probably too paranoid about overages...

[AustinJerry]

Originally Posted by Keto

Out of curiosity, all of you who stream sirius/pandora/spotify, how much data are you using your mobile device? I'm probably too paranoid about overages...

I have a grandfathered unlimited data plan from AT&T, so I am not concerned about overages. However, out of curiosity, I monitor my usage stats, and clear them each month. My heaviest month was close to 2GB, but on average I am using about 1GB.

[AustinJerry]

UPDATE 2

Summarizing to date:

- USB is the most functional connection for me
- MusicPlayer works flawlessly
- Pandora works fine, but doesn't allow running other apps concurrently (e.g. Escort Live)

Today I tried a different streaming service, Beats Music. Beats did not appear under Radio, like Pandora. However, when I clicked on External Devices and selected my iPhone, the Beats music stream played OK. Unfortunately, after displaying the first song title and artwork, it doesn't increment the screen as new songs are played. The only controls available are Next Track and Previous Track. In other words, crippled functionality. I can't understand WTF the first song is displayed and not subsequent ones. Who designed the iDrive Audio system???

[sycd]

The requirement for running BMW connected apps in the foreground on the phone is one the biggest flaw of that system IMHO. The phone is no longer usable to do anything else, and it's not used at all to control the app since iDrive takes over. Mind-boggling.

[SMOKE EM IF U GOT EM!!]

Originally Posted by sycd

The requirement for running BMW connected apps in the foreground on the phone is one the biggest flaw of that system IMHO. The phone is no longer usable to do anything else, and it's not used at all to control the app since iDrive takes over. Mind-boggling.

This.
And the fact that even though it's hard wired to the car your emails and texts still will not transfer to the idrive w iOS 8.1.2 current update software. Get your shit together BMW and Apple.

[TMR]

Originally Posted by SMOKE EM IF U GOT EM!!

This.
And the fact that even though it's hard wired to the car your emails and texts still will not transfer to the idrive w iOS 8.1.2 current update software. Get your shit together BMW and Apple.

I put a dedicated iPhone in the car. What makes me mad is, i have to launch the connected app everytime i start the car. Drives me nuts. After you do that, rhapsody works great.

[Taimur]

Originally Posted by AustinJerry

UPDATE 2

Summarizing to date:

- USB is the most functional connection for me
- MusicPlayer works flawlessly
- Pandora works fine, but doesn't allow running other apps concurrently (e.g. Escort Live)

Today I tried a different streaming service, Beats Music. Beats did not appear under Radio, like Pandora. However, when I clicked on External Devices and selected my iPhone, the Beats music stream played OK. Unfortunately, after displaying the first song title and artwork, it doesn't increment the screen as new songs are played. The only controls available are Next Track and Previous Track. In other words, crippled functionality. I can't understand WTF the first song is displayed and not subsequent ones. Who designed the iDrive Audio system???

The piece about the artist info updating has been fixed. Go to BMW idrive software update website and download the latest update and install it. Problem fixed!

[SMOKE EM IF U GOT EM!!]

Originally Posted by Taimur

The piece about the artist info updating has been fixed. Go to BMW idrive software update website and download the latest update and install it. Problem fixed!

Thanks for the info. Gonna try it out tomorrow