BMW iPhone Bluetooth Paring Instructions

[designoRTS]

These are instructions on how to pair iphone bluetooth with BMW vehicles.

I discovered how exactly to do this on my own after searching for over an hour online with no results on how to actually do it.

BMW's iDrive system basically sucks. BMW's manual on how to pair phones with the iDrive/BMW Bluetooth basically suck.

So this is what to do:
1. Go into the bluetooth settings on the BMW iDrive system and get yourself to the screen where is says "device connectivity is available on this screen" or something to that effect.

2. Enable bluetooth on your iPhone and let the iPhone find the car. In my case it found "BMW51327".

3. Choose the BMW vehicle that you found and you will be promted to enter a passcode. This is where it gets tricky because the BMW manual doesn't say ANYTHING about this step....On any other normal bluetooth paring I've ever seen, the side you're trying to pair with displays a passcode you should puch into your phone to pair, or vice versa... That is not the case with BMW's system.

4. You make up your own 6 digit passcode...It apparently HAS to be 6 digits, no more no less, for BMW. I just chose 123456 and typed that into my iPhone. Then the BMW instantly saw the phone and asked if i'd like to add a device. I chose yes, and then the iDrive prompted me for a password, so again, I put 123456 on the BMW side now, and then hit the idrive knob up to choose to confirm it.

5. The iPhone was now connected and worked flawlessly. It takes about 30-40 seconds for the phone to show up once the car is started when I leave and come back, but as long as BT on the iPhone is on it will work.

I hope this helps anyone who has been struggling with this. I can confirm it works on 2.2.1 and 3.0.

[RIboater]

Does the iphone sync up fully? I have a OEM bluetooth from bimmernav.com. It's about 3 years old and is a higher generation that what they were selling at the dealer at the time. Not sure now... I have an old razr now and it works perfectly. Full function of the steering wheel to scroll through the phone book, voice dialing, etc.

[clannom]

Great review for pairing. When I pair my iPhone 3gs to my 2010 528 I get the phone name listed as "localhost". It does not use my iPhone name. All works fine, however. Anyone know how user define the device name?

[Mtaback]

For some unknown reason, the pairing between my iPhone 3GS and my BMW530 has ceased to function - after several years of successful operation. While the iPhone can detect the BMW, I can't seem to get the BMW to detect the phone. When I go to Communications settings - Bluetooth, I can't get the BMW to detect the phone. All I get is: "Please activate phone."

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It seems that the problem is with the ca

[ovrpar6]

Anyone having trouble with the iPhone usb connection? Ie. won't connect so I can't play any of the music on it. iPhone Bluetooth works fine for phone calls

[typlanter]

I just use these directions and successfully (first try) paired an iphone 4S with my 2011 i535. Outstanding directions!

[MWaz]

After quite a bit of searching, I found this thread. Thanks so much for the info this is exactly what I needed. You are absolutely correct about the manual not telling what the passcode needed to be!!! and that you yourself pick a 4 or 6 digit pass code!

Details:
2005 530i (E60), factory installed Bluetooth, iPhone 4S with iOS 5.0.1

[reza0527]

My Iphone is paired to the bluetooth. However, when I step away from the car, my iphone loses connectivity to the bluetooth which is understandable. However, it does not connect back when I get back into the car. Does anybody know how to fix this?

[XxManyStrifexX]

Im a Owner of a BMW Z4 2007 and i tried and tried and i can make my iphone pair with the car i don't get nothing like signal and the radio doesn't show any sign of bluetooth search mode please help ?

[Dan1974]

Thank you so much for these instructions - 4 years old but worked with the iPhone 5 and my 2012 BMW 520. All other instructions on the web are wrong - including an official BMW USA Youtube video on how to do it!

[la832]

Paring to a BMW can be frustrating. I have a 2008 528xi that I finally got my iPhone 5s paired with.
As it is mentioned in several threads, once you enter the pin with the iDrive, you have to "enter" or "verify" the pin. This seems a little counter-intuitive when the system "fails" paring so quickly. It seems the newer models make this a little easier, but the older "Non-Connected" systems are tricky. The best thing to remember when doing things like this, is to TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT! If it isn't working, your doing something wrong, likely missing a step (the last one). and trying something different won't hurt a bit.

Hope this helps.

[DJCFUN]

This advice worked perfectly for me! Thanks much for doing the research and then figuring out how to do this on your own. I agree the owners manual (I have a 2008 X5) really is complicated and hard to understand in some sections.