Bluetooth audio and track information

I have a new 2013 x3 which is amazing!!

I am enjoying the Bluetooth audio option, which is a nice upgrade from my previous 328i which did not have this feature.

What I have found interesting is that the idrive system does not download the track information from the iphone with bluetooth audio selected. This would seem to defeat the purpose of using bluetooth audio when driving as you cannot do anything other than go forward or backwards one track at a time. I thought that the purpose of the Bluetooth audio was to allow you to keep your phone in your pocket, etc, while driving, and to be able to control music selection wirelessly.

Am I missing something here with the setup?

If not, is there a place to go to send BMW feedback for a future feature upgrade?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by docal97

I have a new 2013 x3 which is amazing!!

I am enjoying the Bluetooth audio option, which is a nice upgrade from my previous 328i which did not have this feature.

What I have found interesting is that the idrive system does not download the track information from the iphone with bluetooth audio selected. This would seem to defeat the purpose of using bluetooth audio when driving as you cannot do anything other than go forward or backwards one track at a time. I thought that the purpose of the Bluetooth audio was to allow you to keep your phone in your pocket, etc, while driving, and to be able to control music selection wirelessly.

Am I missing something here with the setup?

If not, is there a place to go to send BMW feedback for a future feature upgrade?

Thanks!

I don't think you're missing anything, and it's one of the reasons why I plug in my phone to the USB instead of using the bluetooth for audio. The idrive features you get when using the USB are pretty good. You're able to sort by artist, playlist, album, song and even enter searches...

Originally Posted by docal97

I have a new 2013 x3 which is amazing!!

I am enjoying the Bluetooth audio option, which is a nice upgrade from my previous 328i which did not have this feature.

What I have found interesting is that the idrive system does not download the track information from the iphone with bluetooth audio selected. This would seem to defeat the purpose of using bluetooth audio when driving as you cannot do anything other than go forward or backwards one track at a time. I thought that the purpose of the Bluetooth audio was to allow you to keep your phone in your pocket, etc, while driving, and to be able to control music selection wirelessly.

Am I missing something here with the setup?

If not, is there a place to go to send BMW feedback for a future feature upgrade?

Thanks!

This is how it works, with bluetooth you will have only next and previuos track control and you will need to choose your songs from the iphone itself, with the USB-Y cable you can do it using idrive

One thing I have noticed when playing an album (via USB or BT) is the ordering is based on the song alphabetically instead of the track number. I have several gapless albums and this is super annoying having it go through it non-sequentially. Is there any way to change that behavior?

Originally Posted by snowboardjoe

One thing I have noticed when playing an album (via USB or BT) is the ordering is based on the song alphabetically instead of the track number. I have several gapless albums and this is super annoying having it go through it non-sequentially. Is there any way to change that behavior?

I had that happen to me, but not through the car (I forget where). The solution for me was that iTunes didn't have the correct track information. Verify that not only the album has the correct track # for each song and the album is ordered by track. Then re-sync. That fixed it for me.

I simply cannot understand how bmw did not enable complete song/artist info which is searchable for bluetooth audio connections. I have seen this implemented in other cars very well. Without these features it virtually cripples bluetooth audio, unless you are a passenger in the car. How can one realistically use this feature productively while driving? it more or less forces you to use the usb connection for full functionality.