[AvantGardeTime]

Hi all,

First time poster here (Although I have been a long time lurker in this forum).

I own a 2011.5 E90 328i without iDrive, and over the weekend, I was checking the Bluetooth/telephone firmware version currently installed in the car:

SWID: TX-002.005.025-002.005

According to BMWUSA' Bluetooth compatibility Check page, the firmware in my car is seriously out of date. The vehicle was manufactured during March 2011 and this SWID file was made to support iPhone 4/4s with iOS 5.0 which was prevalent at the time of assembly.

I currently have an iPhone 6+ (Running iOS 8.4.1) paired to the car with no problems. However, I feel that if I could update the SWID firmware to the latest and greatest version the phone integration with my 6+ would work even better.

According to the compatibility page (And based on my VIN) the latest SWID firmware available for my car is: TX-003.005.008-003.004

The newest firmware has been enhanced to support iPhone 6 as well as other newer Apple devices.

According to my build sheet, the car has the following from factory:

- Professional HI-FI stereo (Option 0676)
- BMW Assist (06AA)
- Combox controller (06VC)
- Bluetooth (Phone calls only, no audio BT) and USB port for iPhone/iPod integration

Since my car doesn't have iDrive, BMW does not allow me to update the Bluetooth firmware directly from the USB port in the center console as the Professional HU appears not to have the required software update utility present in the iDrive interface.

I have done quite a bit of search but I have found no threads (Here or elsewhere) that discuss the proper procedure to update this SWID Bluetooth firmware on cars without iDrive/NAV.

Has anyone done it here? Is the dealer (Or an INDY) the only way to get the Bluetooth firmware up to date?

Any pointers, tips, etc are greatly appreciated

[BOTUS]

The good news is the Main dealer updates the whole car properly and it will improve a lot of things in a subtle manner. An independent will just offer a quick update on the BT.

However...

BMW dealers NEVER update the car software! (they like owners to have faulty / more dangerous / less reliable cars). Someone in the marketing team probably thinks this makes sense!

What you want is called a "vehicle integration update" and actually cost only 1 hrs labour. As all they do is drive in a bay plug on a power supply, connect the cables and push a button. Then come back 3 hours later to drive it back round to take your money (if they aren't busy they'll even wash the car).

When it works, it updates ANY computer module on the car that has newer software available, (Engine, Gearbox, ABS, ESP, PAS, Cruise control, Sat Nav, Bluetooth, DAB tuner, etc. up to 37 separate ones on my old BM, 42 on my current merc and LOTS more on new cars).

However, the dealers don't know how their cars work (including their best master technicians) and when they try updates many cars crash and they don't know why, so they avoid any updates like the plague...

They crash on updating because most BMWs are poverty spec vehicles / with overpriced options and the first owner is often too stupid to know how to spec appropriately. This means many second owners retrofit toys that are missing. To do this the "vehicle order" (VO) is updated (a list of toys currently fitted to the car). BMW techs never bother to check this list matches what the computer in Germany thinks is the VO and off it goes trying to wrongly program various systems before keeling over and giving up.

Que, 5 hours on the phone for support before the dealer and BMW think to check the VO, then they insist on disconnecting all the retrofit toys and trying the 3 hour program from scratch. When this magically works, they like to hand the car back to you with half your old toys not working and worse still the retrofit toys have not had their firmware / software updated.

This tends to offend owners who rant at the dealer, thus the 1 hour job that actually took about 12 hours to get right, leaves the workshop short of someone to charge 11 hours labour to and an upset customer...

Or you could try a coding guru and will put last years software on it for you (coz he can't be bothered to download the update that came out last month) or you try an independent dealer. Trouble is, he will struggle to understand how his Autologic tool works and he will spend 3 hours on support to do a 15 minute job. Either of these guys will charge anything between £20 to £150

Or be brave download all the software (its out there for free quite easily) then buy a cable of ebay for less than £100 and start reading this forum a lot !!!

NOTE whilst its all possible you risk bricking the whole idrive system or if you get carried away much more and it won't start....

if the cars stock, go have a fight with your nearest BMW dealer....

[mfish123]

I have an 09 E90 with Idrive and Bluetooth. Sometime when I get an incoming call, I press the phone button on the steering wheel and then on the idrive screen it shows that the call has been answered and the timer starts counting like normal.

However on my LG G2 Verizon Android phone the call is not answered and I have to hit the green answer button on the phone to get it to answer. This is an intermittent problem and sometimes it works just fine. My bluetooth software version on the car appears to be 9231090.

Any suggestions?