Enhanced Bluetooth option

[Atommad]

Does anyone know what this option gives you?

 

[Davidfromdigswell]

My understanding is that gives you:
- the chance to connect 2 phones by bluetooth
- the ability to stream audio by bluetooth, and
- phone cradle in box between the front seats

I decided against ordering it as I only have one phone, cant imagine why I would need to stream audio, and am happy to charge my iphone via the USB cable.

 

[Atommad]

Thanks David, think I'll give it a miss too.

 

[Atommad]

My understanding is that gives you:
- the chance to connect 2 phones by bluetooth
- the ability to stream audio by bluetooth, and
- phone cradle in box between the front .

On the streaming audio point, does the professional media have a HDD, and if so how do you transfer music? I didn't see a SD slot, or CD slot.

 

[JonnyBi3]

In addition to all that mentioned above (which is also my understanding), it also gives you an enhanced interface for music played from your phone (eg album art displayed on car screen) and an external aerial (when your phone is connected to the cradle) which improves your phone signal. I did go for this option largely for that reason; my iPhone 5's reception is pretty bad at the best of times, so I hope an external aerial will improve the ability to make hands-free phone calls on the move.

 

[AndrewDebbie]

We have basic Bluetooth on our 2012 Z4. With hindsight, not getting the Enhanced Bluetooth was a mistake.

Why? Neither Debbie's iPhone 5 or my iPod nano are compatible with the car's USB audio. The only way to use them with the car is with a set of adapter cables connected to the radio's aux in port.

If we had ordered enhanced BT, we'd have better control of our music players.


The i3 USB audio will probably work with an iPhone 5, but it may not work with the iPhone 6 or many other devices newer than the car.

 

[Davidfromdigswell]

I don't know if this is of any use to you Andrew, but I had a look on the BMW website and they do allow you to update the connected drive software to add connectivity for new phones. I am not sure if this works on 2012 models but hopefully means that when I swop my iphone 5 for a 6 next year I will still be able to use it in my non enhanced bluetooth i3.

http://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/owners/mobile-devices/update.html

 

[AndrewDebbie]

Thanks for the link. I had a look. Unfortunately it won't work for our car because we it doesn't have a Control Display or iDrive. The pack that includes those was a very expensive option.

To perform this software update, you will require the USB audio interface (included in optional equipment codes 6FL, 6NH, 6NK or 6NL) as well as the Control Display and iDrive.