[Johnrr6]

New Member….appreciate any suggestions..am at the end of my rope.

Car simply refuses to switch to the “priority” cell phone 90% of the time. My wife and I are constantly going through the 7 step process to switch to her phone…or my phone when I am driving. Whoever leaves the car last…that is the cell phone that is usually in place regardless of whether it is “priority” or not.

Vehicle: 2022 BMW X5 Plug In Hybrid (Love the electric…so simple)

Have internet searched, been to two different dealerships, Called the national genius number twice and taken these steps:

Updated vehicle software to latest version
Updated all apps
Rebooted Vehicle software system
Insured both IPhones in question were updated to latest versions from Apple
Deleted both iPhones from Car
Told both IPhones to “Forget this Device”
Re-paired and added both iPhones back to car and enabled CarPlay
Set Priority of iPhones to my Wife’s iPhone

Nothing solves the problem. One “genius” told me this was an “Apple Problem” but this is entirely not the case. When I set both phones to only use iDrive….the exact problem occurs…not recognizing the priority or not switching to the non priority phone…even when the priority phone is not present.

Bad design…why this entire setup is not tied to driver profile is unfathomable.

But I’d be OK if what BMW has would at least work.

Suggestions most appreciated…I am about to just delete my phone entirely rather than listen to my wife constantly bit**** about an $80K car that can’t even switch cell phones automatically.

Is there an official way to submit a “bug report” in BMW channels?

Dealers seem VERY loath to try to solve this and the national number said I had to go through a dealer…go figure.

[allinon72]

Mine has never worked right. I think this has been broken since the beginning.

[Johnrr6]

Anybody know how to submit a “bug report” directly to BMW?

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Johnrr6

Anybody know how to submit a “bug report” directly to BMW?

Not possible, they don't even take them from dealers as far as we have seen.

[Johnrr6]

Guess I am going to write a letter to BMW North America.

Find their Customer Service address

Or a letter to the President of BMW North America.

Doubt it will do any good except make me feel better. LOL

[whtbst]

Same issue for me in my 2019 40i for what seems like forever. My partial solve was programming one of my several hot buttons to the phone priority menu so I can more quickly switch phones from my wife’s to mine. Saves you the multiple other steps required prior.

[Johnrr6]

Originally Posted by whtbst

Same issue for me in my 2019 40i for what seems like forever. My partial solve was programming one of my several hot buttons to the phone priority menu so I can more quickly switch phones from my wife’s to mine. Saves you the multiple other steps required prior.

That sounds promising. I made up directions for my wife, who hates to push buttons, how to change from my phone to hers. It was seven steps total.

If you knew my wife, that was never gonna happen.

But if I could program some sort of macro, so it’s one push, that might work!

Thanks, I will look into it.

[Photographer918]

My X5 always tries to connect to beloved spouse's phone first. I find that exiting the driveway solves that problem, once I'm out of range of her phone, it connects to mine immediately. If we're on a road trip together, both phones connect to the car, mine provides Car Play, and either one of us can make or take calls via the car....

[Johnrr6]

Originally Posted by Photographer918

My X5 always tries to connect to beloved spouse's phone first. I find that exiting the driveway solves that problem, once I'm out of range of her phone, it connects to mine immediately. If we're on a road trip together, both phones connect to the car, mine provides Car Play, and either one of us can make or take calls via the car....

I will also try this, thanks…

Seems the priority…if there is one… is always set to my iPhone 13 Pro Max regardless if I change it to her iPhone 14 Pro.

So..your theory is to set her phone as Priority in iDrive…then simply have patience as it will ultimately connect to her phone as long as I am not in the car with my phone.

The problem will be that my wife has zero patience with technology….it either works for her instantly or she throws it away and gets something else.

[Johnrr6]

Originally Posted by whtbst

Same issue for me in my 2019 40i for what seems like forever. My partial solve was programming one of my several hot buttons to the phone priority menu so I can more quickly switch phones from my wife’s to mine. Saves you the multiple other steps required prior.

What menu exactly do you program to?

Will it go as far as seeing both devices and then selecting the one you want?

[Johnrr6]

Originally Posted by spreddybmw

Raised a CASE with BMW NA they called me today and said by end of May they will have a press release around clarity around 8.5 Updates.

Originally Posted by spreddybmw

As per our discussion today a official release will be made at the end of May that will address eligibility and capabilities of IDRIVE 8.5.

Should you have any questions in the meantime, I can be reached Monday through Friday at 1-800-831-1117 ext. 2402 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Kind regards,

Chris

----------------

BMW Group

Christopher Skibinski

Executive Customer Care

Customer Relations and Services

I found this in another thread. This customer service representative appears to have the ability to enter some sort of “case” into BMW officially. I am going to contact him about this issue.

I will report back what he says.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Johnrr6

I found this in another thread. This customer service representative appears to have the ability to enter some sort of “case” into BMW officially. I am going to contact him about this issue.

I will report back what he says.

Yes, they routinely create cases for various issues so worth a shot. Usually it is not for issues that should be resolved by a dealer though. Let us know how it goes.

[Rantoul1]

I had this same problem & purchased on Amazon a key fob protector ( Fariday RFID code protector ) for each key. It blocks the signal so if I drive with my key , my wife has hers in the protector. This prevents the car from getting confused by both signals & has worked for us.

[Johnrr6]

Chris at BMW it was very nice but said that this was “out of his area of expertise” and he simply could not help.

He also recommended that I speak directly with the service manager at my local dealership.

It seems odd that this is “out of his area of expertise”since the original post where he gave his name and phone number is specifically about the iDrive software, but, whatever.

I will contact my dealership and speak directly to the service manager and see if they are willing to submit this as a “case” or a “bug.”

Will report back.

Good thing that I’m retired. Most people wouldn’t have the time for this nonsense.

[Johnrr6]

Originally Posted by Rantoul1

I had this same problem & purchased on Amazon a key fob protector ( Fariday RFID code protector ) for each key. It blocks the signal so if I drive with my key , my wife has hers in the protector. This prevents the car from getting confused by both signals & has worked for us.

Thanks but….

Since Cell phone priority and Blue tooth is NOT linked to profile or key fob at all (wish it was)

Not sure how this helps…

however…I will check out your suggestion.

Thanks!

[Photographer918]

Originally Posted by Johnrr6

I will also try this, thanks…

Seems the priority…if there is one… is always set to my iPhone 13 Pro Max regardless if I change it to her iPhone 14 Pro.

That’s interesting - because beloved spouse’s is an IPhone 12 Pro, and mine is a 14 Pro. The phone’s names are iPhone 12P and 14P respectively in our phones; I wonder if the car is simply trying to connect them in numerical order? Try changing their names?

[Johnrr6]

Originally Posted by Photographer918

That’s interesting - because beloved spouse’s is an IPhone 12 Pro, and mine is a 14 Pro. The phone’s names are iPhone 12P and 14P respectively in our phones; I wonder if the car is simply trying to connect them in numerical order? Try changing their names?

Love this idea!

Will try this!

Thanks!

[whtbst]

Originally Posted by Johnrr6

What menu exactly do you program to?

Will it go as far as seeing both devices and then selecting the one you want?

Select: Home > Car Settings > General Settings > Mobile Devices > then choose your phone over your wife’s phone (save this final step as a dedicated hot button for future short cut)

[Johnrr6]

Originally Posted by whtbst

Select: Home > Car Settings > General Settings > Mobile Devices > then choose your phone over your wife’s phone (save this final step as a dedicated hot button for future short cut)

I could save at the step that showed both phones.

It would not allow me to save on a certain phone….

But I will try again.

This DEFINITELY shortens the steps!

Even my technology challenged wife should be able to do this!

Thanks!

[Johnrr6]

Originally Posted by Johnrr6

Love this idea!

Will try this!

Thanks!

Phones were named…..

John’s iPhone 13 Pro Max
Julie’s iPhone 14 Pro

Which strictly alphabetically would always place my phone first.

Changed my phone name is to Pro Max iPhone 13

Alphabetically J should be before P

So I will test this theory and report back.

Thanks!

[Johnrr6]

I also noticed that when I went to the settings menu and moved my wife’s phone up above mine to make it priority….I was not tapping on that phone once I moved it, and maybe not “setting” it to the higher priority.

Although when you went into the menu later, whether you had tapped on the phone or not, it’s showed that it was the higher priority.

Could it be something as simple as not tapping on that setting once you have moved it to the top of the order?

Don’t know, but I will report back on whether this seems to have solved the issue.

Why Phone Priority is not simply tied to a profile and the key fob is a mystery to me.

As advanced electronically as this car, is it such an intuitive thing.

Surprised that BMW has not realized this.

I mean, I can set doggone detailed “moods” in the car, but it can’t auto recognize what cell phone needs to be connected based on who unlocks the car?

I just find this hard to believe.

[Akiba64]

I have the problem where my wife’s phone automatically connects and takes priority over my phone whenever we are in the car, and hers connects without doing anything but mine requires me to go into general settings and connect wifi then connect Bluetooth before I can access CarPlay.