[DukeofURL]

So I just picked up a 2014 LCI F10 550xi, but unlike my past cars where I obsessed for months before I picked it up, this one was kind of sudden… so I’m hoping you guys can point me in the correct direction to getting SMS to work. I’ve read all over here that it pretty much unilaterally works SMS with an iPhone & iOS 7, even though BMW’s bluetooth compatibility page saying it doesn’t…

The phone is an iPhone 5s at version 7.0.1, tried then upgraded 7.0.4 and retried with all the same results (that is, does not work). The car is version MN-002.017.007 & TN-002.017.007. I retried the procedure here (http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=882491) at least 3 times to set up the phone for SMS, with no luck. When I try to do a voice command for “Send text message”, it shows “SMS to” in the cluster display, but then tells me that “Function is currently not available”. Incoming messages don’t show up either in the list under Office, or when they come in & the phone is paired/car is on.

Office is selected as a bluetooth function for this paired bluetooth device (all options are selected, actually), and in the options for Office under “Show data from these devices”, the option for “Text message from iPhone” is checked…

Tried upgrading the phone to the latest software, and also the car via bmw.com/update, downloaded the “Latest Version” 30MB file from there (UPD5011), but the car said it was an unsupported update. I find that odd as I had to enter the Car ID (last 7 digits of VIN) just to get it… Same results.

For something that seems to “just work” for most people, I’m kind of out of things to try. I’m pretty sure if I went to the dealer, they’d just palm me off with a "oh everyone's having problems". Is it just a waiting game until there's an update available, or do you guys think there's still hope?

[ErnestHouse]

I'll give this a try later. You probably already know this but just in case, you can use Siri (long press on the steering wheel Voice button) to access your SMS and Calendar via Bluetooth and the lock screen on as long as you enable Siri on the lock screen. With the lock screen off, Siri will access your email.

[ErnestHouse]

I have the same level iDrive as you but in a MY 2014 F07 and iOS 7.0.3 on an iPhone 5s. I did not update the iDrive but otherwise followed the procedure. No Joy. With an incoming SMS notification and 20 something unread emails, iDrive's "Current Office" shows zeros for all it's categories. That's the same over Bluetooth and USB connection.

[DukeofURL]

I was using Siri in my E60 to send & read texts, it works... I was just hoping for something a little more updated with this new fancy nav system, heh. I guess I should just be glad it actually plays ALL the mp3s on my USB stick now at least!

[DukeofURL]

Funny enough, it just started working this morning. No changes since I'd last posted, but who knows what's going on in the car haha. Issuing the voice command "SMS to" still comes back with "Function currently not available", but at least I can read SMS on the iDrive screen.

[ErnestHouse]

Care to share what you might have done for it to work? iPhone 5 settings for SMS in particular?

[DukeofURL]

I actually hadn't changed anything since posting, but I'm guessing the most important setting to change is actually on the phone, under bluetooth settings. Click the 'i' with the blue circle around it to the right of your BMW under Devices, then switch 'Show Notifications' to on (it's off by default, I think). None of my changes made any immediate differences, but if I had to pick one that seemed the most likely, I'd say it was this one.

[pdrf10]

DukeofURL -

Thanks for your post - - I just followed your recommendation and it finally brought my SMS function back to life! I seem to have lost this capability when upgrading to an iPhone 5S and all the iOS 7 updates; problem solved...

[BlackMonster]

I am going to try your recommendation this afternoon. Thanks for the post.

[ErnestHouse]

I discovered the reason mine was not working in spite of duplicating these settings exactly. There are several places in iDrive named "Messages". They are under Navigation, Office and Telephone. SMS messages show up under Telephone which makes sense once you understand there isn't just one thing named Messages. I was looking under Office->Messages.