Bluetooth contact syncing = SUCCESS! (2010 e90, NAV, Android)
After lots of tinkering and searching, I was finally able to get my contacts to sync from my HTC Rezound to iDrive in my 2010 335d. I could pair it up just fine, and phone calls through the stereo system worked, but contacts would not sync. It just kept spinning and spinning...
There are a lot of other threads that describe some basic troubleshooting steps, such as properly pairing your bluetooth, granting permission to share contacts and recent calls, etc. but this solution was a bit more involved and I didn't see too many similar success stories so wanted to share this one.
Between searching BMW enthusiast forums and Android forums, it seemed like some Android phones worked while others didn't. How I got mine to work was to ditch
HTC Sense and run a ROM based on
AOSP (Android Open Source Project, or 'plain vanilla' Android). This eliminates the HTC user interface layer called Sense. This may or may not also apply to Motoblur (Motorolla's user interface) and TouchWiz (Samsung). I suspect that something in the way that Sense handled or communicated contacts over Bluetooth was not standards-based or just plain wasn't understood by iDrive.
Anyhow, I won't go into detail on how to backup your phone and flash a new ROM (barely survived the process myself, LOL!), as these processes are covered in android-based forums. Just sharing my success story, as I am excited to now be able to use this feature in my car!!!
Usual disclaimers apply. Pursue at your own risk!
Android resources for DIY ROM upgrades:
http://www.xda-developers.com/
http://www.cyanogenmod.org/
http://forums.androidcentral.com/
Phone:
HTC Rezound (Sensation-family) on Verizon
ROM = CyanogenMod 10.1
Android version = 4.2.2 Jellybean
Relevant Options on my 2010 e90 335d include:
ZPP - Premium Package (Bluetooth interface)
6FL - Ipod & USB adapter
609 - Hard Drive-Based NAV
6NF - Smartphone Integration (anybody know what this might enable??)
639 - BMW Assist (Bluetooth interface)