My BMW Hates My iPhone

These two have had trouble from the start. They met over an iPhone 4s. There was a brief flirtation with a Blackberry 10. This was followed by a return to an iPhone 5c.

The problem, the deal-breaker I suppose, is the 14,000 names in my contact list. The iPhone dutifully, but unsuccessfully, tries to synchronize with Outlook. In the process of synchronizing multiple duplicate entries are created and maintained.

The BMW, then, tries to ingest all of these contacts via Bluetooth or the lightning connection, which is where the trouble begins. I cannot use the phone for the first 10 minutes of any drive while this futile effort is underway. But even after the contact transmission exercise, the functionality of the phone – even with a hardwired connection – is unpredictable.

I’ve given up trying to solve or even understand the problem. It highlights the fact that in spite of courageous and determined effort, BMW is still having iPhone connectivity problems. This is especially shocking given the fact that Apple closely controls its hardware, software and application eco-system.

BMW has gone so far as to create a console-mounted hardware interface device – which actually was soon rendered worthless by Apple’s lightning connector. So I do not fault BMW. In fact, I don’t fault either company. (The owner of the dry cleaner that I use owns a new BMW SUV bought, tried, and quickly sold his iPhone interface on Ebay. Hated it.) The bottom line is that it’s hard to get mobile devices to work in cars without hiccoughs.

It is for that reason that dealers are leery of demonstrating smartphone connectivity. And it is also why so many people have given up on connecting their smartphones in cars either via Bluetooth or a physical connection. (NB: Strategy Analytics research shows that there are a substantial proportion of consumers who are happy with their smartphone connections but they represent a minority of drivers.)

Until the industry overcomes this challenge the advocates for jamming, blocking or removing phones from cars altogether will have some justification. And don’t expect Apple’s CarPlay or Google’s Android Auto to solve anything. Both of those solutions will simply introduce a whole new set of bugs. (Perhaps it is no surprise that BMW has yet to set a date for implementing CarPlay or Android Auto.)

Meanwhile, I will continue to drive my car knowing it isn’t getting along with my phone. We’ll just try to make the best of things. (As a side note, my wife is having issues accessing all apps on her iPhone 5s on the Pioneer AppRadio3. Stay tuned for further updates.)