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New E93 2 issues: USB charge & iDrive shut down

3465 Views 10 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  CALWATERBOY, 
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Took PCD on new E93 last week and we're loving it. I've RTFM & done some searching here, but get nothing definitive, so here goes:

Issue 1: Plugged in the iPod to the USB plug and it worked like a charm, but the USB plug does not seem to charge my 2-year-old iPod - am using a Radio Shack cord that's nice because it's coiled, keeping things neat beneath the armrest. I keep the iPod in there all the time as the car's music server. Would switching to a $30 Apple cord provide "chargeability" while the car is on?

Issue 2: When exiting the car, the iDrive stays on even after closing the door; manually turning off the radio doesn't turn off the iDrive. The only way this seems to turn off is by locking the door, which if you forget to do this runs the battery down. Have seen (ancient - 3+ years) posts on forums for other models saying it could be a Bluetooth issue (am going to test this with phones' bluetooth off). If it's a matter of proximity, this is still a bad deal: parked the car in my basement garage, left my key in its normal place in the kitchen, and noticed my Blackberry still flashing blue indicating it was still connected via Bluetooth to the car, which had not been locked. I locked it remotely from the kitchen & the BB stopped flashing blue, indicating to me the iDrive was thus shut down. Am not particularly good about locking the car when it's locked in the garage, so this is a concern when it comes to inadvertently draining the battery.

Hate to use Brand-x as an exemplar, but my A7 works better on both counts: the iPod charges fine while not running down the battery, and the MMI (Audi-speak for iDrive) shuts down with the close of the door, shutting off the bluetooth, which is fine because I know to have the phone in hand when getting out of the car. Maybe I'm missing something being new to BMW. No flames please - the 335i is a hell of a lot more fun to wing around a corner! :D

Hope this makes sense; any insights are very welcome.
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SD ///M4
1. Use the Apple cable
2. Always lock the doors.

Problems solved.

Additional comment: Your BMW is not an A7, you should be happy!
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Thunder Dump
80MGB said:
Took PCD on new E93 last week and we're loving it. I've RTFM & done some searching here, but get nothing definitive, so here goes:

Issue 2: When exiting the car, the iDrive stays on even after closing the door; manually turning off the radio doesn't turn off the iDrive. The only way this seems to turn off is by locking the door, which if you forget to do this runs the battery down. Have seen (ancient - 3+ years) posts on forums for other models saying it could be a Bluetooth issue (am going to test this with phones' bluetooth off). If it's a matter of proximity, this is still a bad deal: parked the car in my basement garage, left my key in its normal place in the kitchen, and noticed my Blackberry still flashing blue indicating it was still connected via Bluetooth to the car, which had not been locked. I locked it remotely from the kitchen & the BB stopped flashing blue, indicating to me the iDrive was thus shut down. Am not particularly good about locking the car when it's locked in the garage, so this is a concern when it comes to inadvertently draining the battery.
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How are you shutting off the car? If you are doing the single quick press of the start button that just shuts off the engine and keeps all the electronics alive. If you press AND HOLD the start button for a couple seconds it shuts down everything at the same time (including iDrive). The car will be off but the electronics will still be 'awake' for the next 16 minutes or so. To truly put the car to sleep, you do need to lock it.
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CALWATERBOY
80MGB said:
Hate to use Brand-x as an exemplar, but my A7 works better on both counts: the iPod charges fine while not running down the battery, and the MMI (Audi-speak for iDrive) shuts down with the close of the door, shutting off the bluetooth, which is fine because I know to have the phone in hand when getting out of the car. Maybe I'm missing something being new to BMW.
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That's one magic A7.
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CALWATERBOY
80MGB said:
Issue 1: Plugged in the iPod to the USB plug and it worked like a charm, but the USB plug does not seem to charge my 2-year-old iPod - am using a Radio Shack cord that's nice because it's coiled, keeping things neat beneath the armrest. I keep the iPod in there all the time as the car's music server. Would switching to a $30 Apple cord provide "chargeability" while the car is on?
Click to expand...
An iPhone w/cradle's much more convenient.

However, you may use BMW's cable or Apple's.
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CALWATERBOY
80MGB said:
Issue 2: When exiting the car, the iDrive stays on even after closing the door; manually turning off the radio doesn't turn off the iDrive. The only way this seems to turn off is by locking the door, which if you forget to do this runs the battery down. Have seen (ancient - 3+ years) posts on forums for other models saying it could be a Bluetooth issue (am going to test this with phones' bluetooth off). If it's a matter of proximity, this is still a bad deal: parked the car in my basement garage, left my key in its normal place in the kitchen, and noticed my Blackberry still flashing blue indicating it was still connected via Bluetooth to the car, which had not been locked. I locked it remotely from the kitchen & the BB stopped flashing blue, indicating to me the iDrive was thus shut down. Am not particularly good about locking the car when it's locked in the garage, so this is a concern when it comes to inadvertently draining the battery.
Click to expand...
BMW shutdown is a many splendored thing. Try holding the ON/OFF button down until everything goes dark, couple o'seconds.

Or not and you can cycle through options by briefly pressing same.

You may have noticed - everything times out / shuts down automatically if you don't do it, to keep the battery from running down.

Also, car comes with a manual.
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CALWATERBOY said:
That's one magic A7.
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Yeah, it flies too! :rofl: But man, it bounces a lot more than the 335i when it comes back down to earth!
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R
Like others have said, to shutoff the car, either hold the button down a couple seconds are you have to do the double press to get everything to power off.

As of the cable, the BMW one works well, the apple one is also supposed to work, almost anything from Radio Shack is a piece of junk and unlikely to work correctly!
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Got it with holding the button down, figured I missed something along the way despite several searches here & in the manual, thanks. Will try an Apple or BMW cable. The car is a real joy to drive!
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CALWATERBOY
80MGB said:
Got it with holding the button down, figured I missed something along the way despite several searches here & in the manual, thanks. Will try an Apple or BMW cable. The car is a real joy to drive!
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When you're ready for mods, handling; driver satisfaction can be immensely improved.

A7 a pretty good Zeppelin by compare.
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CALWATERBOY
80MGB said:
Issue 2: When exiting the car, the iDrive stays on even after closing the door; manually turning off the radio doesn't turn off the iDrive. The only way this seems to turn off is by locking the door, which if you forget to do this runs the battery down. Have seen (ancient - 3+ years) posts on forums for other models saying it could be a Bluetooth issue (am going to test this with phones' bluetooth off). If it's a matter of proximity, this is still a bad deal: parked the car in my basement garage, left my key in its normal place in the kitchen, and noticed my Blackberry still flashing blue indicating it was still connected via Bluetooth to the car, which had not been locked. I locked it remotely from the kitchen & the BB stopped flashing blue, indicating to me the iDrive was thus shut down. Am not particularly good about locking the car when it's locked in the garage, so this is a concern when it comes to inadvertently draining the battery.
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Times out - not a prob.
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