[granadablanca]

In an 06 330i, fully loaded, out of warranty. Simply refuses to connect to or find any of my phones. I've reset the computer, restarted the car, done everything logical. Everything else works fine. Any ideas? Thanks!

[granadablanca]

If it matters, my two phones are a blackberry curve and an iPhone 4. Neither connect now.

[faustola]

Do you have a SOS malfunction warning ?

I lost BT function after a SOS warning.

[fdriller9]

Sounds like your TCU is shot....how's the rest of the system acting? Idrive?

If it's acting like normal I bet the Bluetooth has failed within the TCU, but the TCU itself is fine.

Grab a used TCU and have it coded.

[jsunma]

I had something similar happen the last time that the dealer uploaded software...which was required to reprogram the sunroof closing action after replacing the sunroof gaskets. After that, while I was checking everything out before leaving the dealer, I found that I had no bluetooth function at all. What was required to fix the problem was a complete reboot of the ECU (disconnected battery, etc.) which somehow re-enabled the bluetooth (TCU?). It's worked fine since then.

So, you might try such a reboot before replacing the module....unless that's what you mean by "resetting" the computer. Try it again?

Sorry that I don't have any more specific instructions on how to do said reboot...but I'm sure that there's help to be found on one of the forums/threads here.

[granadablanca]

Originally Posted by faustola

Do you have a SOS malfunction warning ?

I lost BT function after a SOS warning.

Yeah, I've got the SOS/frozen iDrive thing a million times, but not since (or during) this bluetooth problem.

[granadablanca]

Originally Posted by *********

Sounds like your TCU is shot....how's the rest of the system acting? Idrive?

If it's acting like normal I bet the Bluetooth has failed within the TCU, but the TCU itself is fine.

Grab a used TCU and have it coded.

Yikes. Can you link me to the proper part at Tischer? Any recommendations on finding a used one?

Everything else is acting perfectly fine, but I do get the occassional "SOS" freeze, that's been happening for a year or more now. Not during this problem though.

[granadablanca]

Originally Posted by jsunma

I had something similar happen the last time that the dealer uploaded software...which was required to reprogram the sunroof closing action after replacing the sunroof gaskets. After that, while I was checking everything out before leaving the dealer, I found that I had no bluetooth function at all. What was required to fix the problem was a complete reboot of the ECU (disconnected battery, etc.) which somehow re-enabled the bluetooth (TCU?). It's worked fine since then.

So, you might try such a reboot before replacing the module....unless that's what you mean by "resetting" the computer. Try it again?

Sorry that I don't have any more specific instructions on how to do said reboot...but I'm sure that there's help to be found on one of the forums/threads here.

Well, the next morning, it was able to find my phone again, and worked fine, but then has since stopped again.

Basically, it freezes at some point during my commute - the little antenna icon gets frozen, even after disabling on the phone, resetting the iDrive, it'll still be frozen where it was, unable to find/connect to anything. The phone is unable to find the car as well. So if you're referring to the "three finger" reboot, that didn't work.

It was recently in for service (brake work), does anyone recommend I check the antenna connection itself, as suggested in another thread here? Or would that be more of an "either it works or it doesn't" situation? Also, that probably wouldn't freeze the icon on the screen either, huh.

Thanks everyone,
Dave

[fdriller9]

Well first before you buy a new module.....I should have mentioned this before.

You should check the connections to your TCU. I doubt the harness behind the
HU is loose.....it has a locking lever. TCU is located under the trunk floor, right behind the back seats. If you have folding seats, you can fold them down and go in through the back seats....the floor can be lifted up.

Remove and reseat all the connections and see if that does anything.

That SOS error is usually caused by an incompatible phone. Phones not on the BMW approved list are known to cause the SOS malfunction. Although, I have an iPhone 3GS (approved) and it gives me the error. I'm jailbroken/unlocked on 4.1 but am using the AT&T network. My BT tool also pulls a code related to bluetooth.

[granadablanca]

Originally Posted by *********

Well first before you buy a new module.....I should have mentioned this before.

You should check the connections to your TCU. I doubt the harness behind the
HU is loose.....it has a locking lever. TCU is located under the trunk floor, right behind the back seats. If you have folding seats, you can fold them down and go in through the back seats....the floor can be lifted up.

Remove and reseat all the connections and see if that does anything.

That SOS error is usually caused by an incompatible phone. Phones not on the BMW approved list are known to cause the SOS malfunction. Although, I have an iPhone 3GS (approved) and it gives me the error. I'm jailbroken/unlocked on 4.1 but am using the AT&T network. My BT tool also pulls a code related to bluetooth.

I'll try to find it and see if anything is loose. You're suggesting simply disconnecting/reconnecting everything? Will that cause any other trouble?

I'd love for it to be a "hardware" issue like that, but I'm skeptical since the bluetooth has worked again since the first time it froze. I'd think if something physically came unplugged, it'd just stop and that's it.

Regarding the phone - both of mine are approved by BMW, but I agree, 99% of the times the problem occurs, it's when I start the car with the phone's bluetooth already activated. If I let it fully load before turning the phone's bluetooth on, I usually avoid the SOS freeze.

[FelixCatus]

Hi there,

I have the same problem with my iDrive 2006 330. Bluetooth was working, then it stopped.
Drove to the dealer, the guy erases all the phones, wipes the car from my phone, pairs it again, everything works! Or so I thought... A few days later the problem shows up again, phone can't pair with the car.

Here's a couple strange things I've noticed:

First, it's not a phone issue. We had this problem with four different phones, a Blackberry 8300, another Blackberry, an 8520, an iPhone 4 and a Samsung Galaxy.

Second, it appears to be totally random. A couple times I was able to get the car to connect by doing the three finger reset, but as of lately this has stopped working.

Sometimes the car would connect, you start a phone call and halfway through it a strong noise (a buzz, if you will) comes through the speaker system and you lose the BT connection. The call continues on the phone, I was able to continue the call picking up the headset and hang up at the end, but strangely the car is still acting like the BT call is on - Radio off, call timer counting. The only solution is turning off the car.

Then I found something else: when the car and the phone are not pairing, if I go to the Bluetooth settings page (the one with the little checkmark to disable Bluetooth) and try to disable it, it won't respond.



So, that's my rule to know whether Bluetooth would or won't work on any given day: if I can uncheck BT, it will work. If it remains stuck, it won't. (I'll try to snap a pic and post it later, I don't even remember the exact name of the menus and options, hopefully you'll get it). For those of you on iDrive and a similar problem, see whether you can uncheck the checkmark.

Now for more randomness. I gave up on Bluetooth, but then I'm driving and once in a blue moon my phone rings through the car speakers! I answer and have a normal conversation. Sometimes it goes all the way, some other times it crashes halfway through. So it's still working, albeit randomly.

Now... don't laugh at me... here's what I've noticed: Bluetooth seems to work in the winter, but it quits working as temperature rises in the Texas summer. This year, for the second consecutive year, Bluetooth worked between November and March... In other words, what I'm saying is that if it's cold outside, my phone would connect. If it's hot, it won't.
I know it doesn't make sense (well, maybe it does, more on this later) but that's my practical observation...
I mentioned this to the dealer, who almost laughed me out of his office and said that I need to reset / re-pair everything. Obviously the idiot doesn't know squat about this problem.

Now, as for the Summer / Winter issue, sometimes a connector, a bracket or another car part may expand in the heat and contract in the cold. This issue has been known to cause connectivity problems in computers (card and motherboard), so why not my Bluetooth module?

The car is going back to the dealer in a couple weeks for an unrelated issue (program a new keyfob, wife lost hers) and we'll look at it again, I'll keep you posted if I get any answer.

In the meantime I've tried a couple things: the car was unplugged for a good time when the shop replaced the battery but BT didn't come back. I checked the connections to the computer (including the fiber optics) and other computers, but that didn't make a difference either. There may be other tests to perform or other ways to access a maintenance or error menu but I don't know what they are. Any suggestion is truly welcome.

Did any of you experience the same problem? Thanks for your help.

[jsunma]

Just to chime in again, I've continued to have the random bluetooth failures that others here in this thread have discussed. Like FelixCatus, I have found that when bluetooth is "out", I cannot turn it off (or back on) via the headunit (I don't have iDrive but instead use the headunit controls under /Configure/Phone). The car shows my paired phone, but cannot seem to use bluetooth to connect to the phone.

I too have done various tests to determine that it's not the phone's bluetooth that is non-functional. It's the car. SOS is working and throws no errors.

I have found that these problems seem to come up when my car has been into the dealer for anything that requires a battery disconnect (which is most anything) or software upgrade. But bluetooth failure also seems to happen randomly. In nearly every case, it will "reappear" after I have had the car turned off for at least 30 minutes. Then, it will work fine again....until it doesn't.

I should note that one time it did this (failed) when I was leaving the dealer after having a repair done (to the sunroof) that required software/reprogramming. As I was getting ready to drive off, I noticed that bluetooth was dead...so I called the SA back out. He couldn't get my phone or his own phone to pair, so he got the mechanic back involved. After another hour to reflash the software, and "cycling the power" (disconnecting the battery I guess), it came back. I asked for an explanation and was told "Oh, all of these things are finicky and sometimes it takes some fiddling to get them back online." Riiiiiiiight.

It's a maddening problem and one that I fear won't be addressed by the dealer as diagnosis requires a lot of fiddling and occurs randomly. This of course is exactly the sort of problem that results in a "bring it back when it's doing it again" result....which of course is super-inconvenient unless one lives next door to the dealer. ;-)

So, the question...has anyone here who has had bluetooth problems (such as those described in this thread) been able to VERIFY that replacing the TCU fixes the problem? If I knew that was the case, I'd go fight for a TCU replacement and not put up with the "mess with you until you give up trying" tactics of the typical dealer.

????

[jsunma]

Well, I took the car in to the dealer today (for an oil change and some misc things) and decided to see if I could also get this bluetooth problem addressed. I'd experienced the problems described earlier in this thread numerous times in the past couple of weeks....but of course this morning as I prepared to go to the dealer the thing was working flawlessly, so I expected the "we can't reproduce the problem, come back" response. But I figured what the heck, it can't hurt to ask.

To make a longer story shorter, the end result is that I'm getting the TCU replaced (they need to order the part, so it'll be next week before the actual replacement). The SA said that they were able to find "a few bluetooth related stored error codes" and that this lead them to "a couple of BMW TSBs" which indicated the need for a replacement. I didn't get the actual codes or TSB numbers, but will next week when the replacement work is done.

I was surprised that codes were actually stored on this and that this didn't trigger any service reminders/alerts in the car. But so be it. Fortunately, this work is getting done under warranty as I expect that it'd be a $400 or $500 job between the part, labor, and time for coding. Plus, my car will be going out of warranty in about 6 months and even though I may be picking up the extended warranty, it doesn't cover radio-related things, so this would likely be out of pocket if I were to encounter the problem (and want to get it fixed) later.

For those interested, i'll post another update with the codes and TSB numbers once I have them.

[Steve320d]

I've just experienced the same problem in my 320d 2008 model with iDrive. Bluetooth just stopped working. I have been searching this site for answers but it appears that no-one has been able to reolve.

Has anyone had anyluck resoving this issue recently? Should I replace the TCU?

[statelax3]

i have an 07 335 idrive and have the same issue about not being able to turn bt on or off and it just being frozen on. i also had no issues over the winter and usually have this happen when it is hot out. it is frustrating as hell! looks like i will look into the tcu function.

[F31cruisin]

Anyone solve this? I have the same exact issue as post 11. I have PMed some posters on this thread with no answer. Any help?

[SupremePower3335]

Just to revive this old thread..my S3 keeps losing the BT connection..I have a "rooted" S3. My wife hasnt complained about the Nexus but it drives nuts..any updates? We have a 2011 335 E90..

[carlosalbertogui]

SOS call system failure everytime i start my car

everything working well sound idrive bluetooth etc

[Najt]

Originally Posted by faustola

Do you have a SOS malfunction warning ?

I lost BT function after a SOS warning.

hi, I have the same problem. I am getting the SOS warning failure... and cant connect the bluetooth phone. Once it worked. The phone was paired, but didnt read my contacts. I have checked the parametres from modules and found, that i have set option Bluetooth - nicht aktiv.

My car is e92 325D with idrive business. And should be bluetooth connection prepared. So shall I only code the module to bluetooth aktiv?

M.

[inabis]

My car BT just died as well I can't even pull up the option to pair my phone and my phone no longer can "discover" my car thus making me believe the unit has died.

HOWEVER, I see this as an opportunity to upgrade the unit. I have an 06 e90 with IDrive, is it possible to replace it with one of the newer units that stream music?

Also, if the wiring is already present couldn't we just replace it with an aftermarket unit?

[PortablePasCher]

you can try to remove the device from your phone's bluetooth device list and then you restart the process

[live4rush]

Is anyone able to fix this issue?
Jsunma or Felixcactus -- I have the exact same problem
If so what is your solution.
Replace TCU?

Appreciate your response