[snizzy]

Hi Folks,
I just bought a 2015 535. I knew about the issue with 3g towers being disabled etc, but only really cared about connecting phone to car for playing music so I wasn't too concerned.

But upon connecting my phone, I immediately ran into an issue: the phone pairs with the car, allows me to check both boxes for telephone and audio. I can make and receive calls, but contacts do not sync (annoying, but not a big issue). But for some reason the car will not allow me to select bluetooth (or usb for that matter) in the media menu.
The only selectable option there is aux.

I searched around this forum and others quite a bit and tried the following:

-Hold volume button to reset idrive. It WILL NOT reset. I held button for over a minute in every possible run state.

-Unpair phone from car and vice versa, restart phone and repair.

-Pair a different phone (same results)

-Download software update to usb (update software option is greyed out)

-Called BMW NA (They confirmed that bluetooth should still work, but nothing they can do other than bring to a dealer)

Has anyone experienced this issue before or have any other ideas to fix it? Is there a way to force the system to reboot other than the volume button? I was looking at aftermarket screens, but if there is an issue with the cars bluetooth, will i have the same issue with an aftermarket screen?

[LilWeenus]

Does it always say loading? If not, in mine I gotta press play on my phone before I switch to bluetooth media or audio

[walmark]

The “loading” suggests that the problem might be on the phone side. Make sure you provide all necessary permissions in the Bluetooth settings. On iPhone I need to actively allow the car to access contacts and send notifications. You might have to do something similar on Android.

[snizzy]

Originally Posted by LilWeenus

Does it always say loading? If not, in mine I gotta press play on my phone before I switch to bluetooth media or audio

Yes it always says loading on the car. Phone acts as if it's connected and will play Spotify etc displaying the car as the audio device.