iPhone 7 owners complain about issues with BMW Bluetooth support, Verizon LTE connections

Posted:
in iPhone edited September 2016
Some iPhone 7 owners are encountering trouble with Bluetooth connections in BMW vehicles, and/or LTE connections to Verizon, according to complaints on Apple's support forums and tips to AppleInsider.



BMW drivers are experiencing issues with their iPhones failing to connect to their cars, or losing Bluetooth audio playback after just a few seconds. Tactics like restoring or re-pairing a phone don't appear to offer a permanent solution, if any.

In email responses, BMW's support staff are said to be telling customers that the iPhone 7 "is not an approved device for our vehicles until testing has completed," without offering an estimated timeframe.

"Please continue to look for an update from Apple for a new iOS and our update website to help resolve your concerns: www.bmw.com/update," the emails say.

Verizon subscribers are meanwhile running into trouble with LTE connections randomly dropping out. Affected people may still have 2G or 3G data, but find their connections unable to switch back to LTE, if they have signal at all. Some AT&T customers are experiencing similar difficulties.

Verizon, at least, is believed to be aware of the situation, and collaborating with Apple on a fix. Some iPhone 7 owners are reporting temporary success with resets, SIM swaps, and/or toggling Airplane Mode on and off.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 49
    I bet it's iOS 10, not the iPhone 7.  The fact that the iPhone 7 only uses iOS 10 is what points to that model.
  • Reply 2 of 49
    sog35 said:
    Solution: get another car. 
    Numpty 
  • Reply 3 of 49
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,433member
    I am having an issue that I attribute to the way Contacts are managed in iOS10. Until I updated my IP6 to iOS10, the contacts showed on my non-iDrive BMW radio with the name and a description of which phone I was calling (cell, home, work etc.) These labels were selected when setting up a contact. Now it just shows the name with a # next to it, leaving me to try and remember which # was which. Hoping it gets resolved in a future update.
  • Reply 4 of 49
    HenryFSU said:
    I bet it's iOS 10, not the iPhone 7.  The fact that the iPhone 7 only uses iOS 10 is what points to that model.
    I have seen a related issue that leads me to conclude that it is not iOS10; but strict adherence to the latest changes of the Bluetooth specification on the iPhone 7 that is at the heart of the issue with the BMW. 

    I have a Polar V800 triathlon watch that worked flawlessly with multiple versions of developer Betas as well as the release version of iOS 10 on my iPhone 5S; but getting the V800 to sync via Bluetooth with my iPhone 7 has been an ongoing struggle. 

    I opened a support case with Polar regarding this matter and we have established a crude work-around that after a typical 3-4 tries will result in a sync of data, where only one attempt would have been needed with the 5S. The 5S did not need to pair with the watch before every single sync attempt; but the 7 does. 

    This leads me to conclude that ongoing changes to the Bluetooth specification, which Apple is adhering to with the 7 but had not rolled out to the 5S, are at work with regard to the BMW issue, as is apparent in the case of my watch. 

    The situation is irritating enough that I am giving serious consideration to acquiring the series 2 Apple Watch and demoting my V800 to race and heavy training duties, whereas it is my daily wear watch, as well as training and racing watch, presently.
  • Reply 5 of 49
    Most people driving BMWs are pretty broke. Better sell it and buy something that works.
    perkedel
  • Reply 6 of 49
    longpath said:
    HenryFSU said:
    I bet it's iOS 10, not the iPhone 7.  The fact that the iPhone 7 only uses iOS 10 is what points to that model.
    I have seen a related issue that leads me to conclude that it is not iOS10; but strict adherence to the latest changes of the Bluetooth specification on the iPhone 7 that is at the heart of the issue with the BMW. 

    I have a Polar V800 triathlon watch that worked flawlessly with multiple versions of developer Betas as well as the release version of iOS 10 on my iPhone 5S; but getting the V800 to sync via Bluetooth with my iPhone 7 has been an ongoing struggle. 

    I opened a support case with Polar regarding this matter and we have established a crude work-around that after a typical 3-4 tries will result in a sync of data, where only one attempt would have been needed with the 5S. The 5S did not need to pair with the watch before every single sync attempt; but the 7 does. 

    This leads me to conclude that ongoing changes to the Bluetooth specification, which Apple is adhering to with the 7 but had not rolled out to the 5S, are at work with regard to the BMW issue, as is apparent in the case of my watch. 

    The situation is irritating enough that I am giving serious consideration to acquiring the series 2 Apple Watch and demoting my V800 to race and heavy training duties, whereas it is my daily wear watch, as well as training and racing watch, presently.
    You are correct, the BT specs are different for the 7 (I'm assuming they "perfected" BT for it's lack of headphone jack).  Hope a fix comes soon for everyone.
    longpath
  • Reply 7 of 49
    I am having dropped calls on Verizon network with iPhone 7. Sometimes 1 dot where as my iPhone 5s is at full dots.
    rogifan_new
  • Reply 8 of 49
    Its an issue specific to the iPhone7. How can I be sure? I had both my 6 and 6s Plus updated to iphone10 and had no bluetooth issues whatsoever. Got the iphone7 first and my wife's BMW went ape sht.. The main console would reboot while driving, connections would drop, but 10.0.2 fixed a little but not all the way through. Now I have the 7 plus and same thing in my 3 series. Its the phone not the OS.
    longpath
  • Reply 9 of 49
    Most people driving BMWs are pretty broke. Better sell it and buy something that works.
    Yup . . . totally busted here in my 3-week old, $80k 2017 BMX X5 and 1-week old iPhone 7 . . . =) I had no problems pairing my iPhone 6S and using Car Play, but have had difficulty pairing the iPhone 7 I picked up last week. Hope a fix is coming soon!!
  • Reply 10 of 49
    My iPhone 7 will pair with my 2011 Hyundai Tucson, but 18 - 24 hours later that connection will fail. So I need to pair it daily. Never had an issue previously, with any iPhone or iOS.
    longpath
  • Reply 11 of 49
    No problems so far. 2016 328xi, iPhone 7+, iOS10.1. Paired right up, everything (music, phone, contacts, etc.) works just fine. AT&T. 
    Hard to tell if others' issues are unlucky combinations of BMW model years and options, carrier, iphone model and iOS version.....


  • Reply 12 of 49
    I recieved my iPhone 7 Plus yesterday. So far, no issues with Verizon LTE or the bluetooth connection in my car. 
  • Reply 13 of 49
    Lots of jealous haters. I'm surprised. No-compromise consumers who are willing to pay for the best experience often find themselves in a BMW just as they find themselves owning Apple products. Steve Jobs used the analogy frequently and for good reason. This is not a big problem and I bet a lot of other car brands probably have the same issue, but their owners don't even know how to listen to music through their car via bluetooth or they haven't gotten iPhone 7's yet.
    mike1
  • Reply 14 of 49
    Perhaps the LTE problems on Verizon's network stems from the QCOM modem. 

    It remains to be seen whether AT&T will experience similar problems, the anecdotal reports notwithstanding. Perhaps the Intel modem will prove superior over the long run. 
  • Reply 15 of 49
    sog35 said:
    sshravan said:
    Its an issue specific to the iPhone7. How can I be sure? I had both my 6 and 6s Plus updated to iphone10 and had no bluetooth issues whatsoever. Got the iphone7 first and my wife's BMW went ape sht.. The main console would reboot while driving, connections would drop, but 10.0.2 fixed a little but not all the way through. Now I have the 7 plus and same thing in my 3 series. Its the phone not the OS.
    sounds like a BMW problem to me

    ultimate driving machine but definitely not the ultimate technology machine
    So it's able to connect to every other Bluetooth device in the world except for the iPhone 7, and it's their fault? Please 
    uraharanetmage
  • Reply 16 of 49
    I absolutely despise articles like this. It could be 1 issue. I am sure it is less than 1% Why even mention it is an issue when more than likely it is not.
  • Reply 17 of 49
    I have an MBZ GL450 and an iPhone7. I have no issues whatsoever with Bluetooth, streaming music, or contact display. My wife has a 6 plus and it works workout issue as well. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 49
    Anecdotal, but no problems with iPhone 7 and Subaru's bluetooth audio.   The Subaru stereo is such complete crap I would have expected the BMW one to work better, kind of a surprise tbh.
  • Reply 19 of 49
    I have a three week old 2016 BMW i3 and iPhone 7Plus and they are flawless. No Bluetooth issues what so ever. 
  • Reply 20 of 49
    The iPhone 7 is a glitch fest at the moment:

    - terrible battery life
    - missing home screen icons
    - onscreen camera button not working
    - Bluetooth and lightning headphone bugs

    Probably the worst new iPhone experience I've had. OS updates needed urgently especially for the battery problems. Mine gets nowhere near the specs or the review benchmarks. Struggle to get more than 1.5 - 2 hours usage in a day. Have seen the iPhone 6 do 4-6. 
    edited September 2016
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