[Jackhammer909]

in my 2018 M2, if I turn off the car but leave the infotainment system running with streaming bluetooth, it will continue to run for ~10 minutes and then the screen will tell you the radio is turning off but that you have the option to turn it back on by pushing the on/off button. Once the radio turns off, I turn it back on. the bluetooth connection screen will be visible but it won't reconnect to the smartphone.

if I turn off the car completely and then turn the car back on, the bluetooth will connect immediately.

Is this normal behavior? I've done the USB updates that are available through the BMW website. is this something that a firmware update will fix?

[1more1]

Same for me in my 2014 F22

[MarcoZandrini]

BT looses it connection whenever power to the head unit is cut off. Your device has to re-establish the "handshake" each time the head unit has power.

[Jackhammer909]

The issue is thst when you turn the head unit back on, there is no Bluetooth to connect to even though the HU shows the Bluetooth management screen.

You can search for the car's Bluetooth signal on the phone but there is nothing there for it to connect to.

If you then turn the car completely off and then back on, as soon as the HU starts up, it immediately gets connected to by the phone.

[Jackhammer909]

well, I guess that this "behavior" is normal for BMW.

Had the M2 in at the dealer for some end-of-warranty repairs and I got a 2019 4-series as a loaner and it exhibited the same behavior with bluetooth not working after the HU goes to sleep.

got the M2 back and as part of the repairs, the istep got updated to F020-22-03-552 and that still didn't fix the issue. oh well.

its just frustrating that when you turn the HU on and it displays this screen, but none of the options work. you can't manage devices and you can't connect a new device.

not a big deal now since its too hot to sit in the car for 10 minutes with the motor off, but in the cooler months, there are times where I'll be on a phone call and arrive at the house so I turn off the engine but stay on the call in the car.

edit: the BMW service advisor blew off the complaint as "oh, BMW's bluetooth doesn't work that good"

[Jershanart]

And is there any regularity for this, the IOS device or Android is also device to?

[MLJR235]

So weird how finicky the BT is on the my bmw too since inception. My only "cure" is to always leave BT active on my device ( Iphone) and if I have issues when vehicle is on, toggling between the Radio and Media buttons seems to get it straight... just my $0.02

[juantg93]

Try update bluetooth software.

https://www.bmw.com/en/footer/software-updates.html

[Jackhammer909]

Originally Posted by juantg93

Try update bluetooth software.

https://www.bmw.com/en/footer/software-updates.html

that was the first thing I tried, no change.
then, BMW updated the i-step to the latest version to fix the HU occasionally rebooting itself, that didn't fixt the bluetooth issue either.

right now, the car is in the shop to get the dash trim replaced so I again listed the bluetooth issue as a complaint to get an official diagnosis from BMW. if that is "expected" behavior and that all BMWs act the same way, that's fine. I just want an official answer about the issue from someone.