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New to the forum, so apologies if i have missed this issue -
I have a 2009 E89 3.0iS with Bluetooth - Fantastic i thought only to find that no-one can understand / hear when i talk - they complain of noise rendering speech unintelligible. Friend bought a 2010 E89 and has same issue. I believe the microphone is in the steering column?
Does anyone have a BMW phone kit that they can actually use? If so did you do anything special to get it to work well? BTW the issue is with roof up not just when down!
Car is in for new Gearbox and Fuel Pump (already had a seemingly unnecessary diff last week) so if i can get dealer to look at this too with your pointers that would be fantastic.
Thanks in advance

It is hard to use when the roof is down for obvious reasons. I've checked quality with a number of people I've spoken with in the car and they've told me they can tell I'm hands free but perfectly understandable.. and that's with a Yorkshire accent!

No problems here either, also a 2009 30i. Do you have the iDrive, maybe that makes a difference?

Mine's a 2010 3.0i and no problems with the phone

A test you could do....phone yourself so it goes into voicemail and leave a message.

Then you can play it back and see what it's like.

Admittedly, I like talking to myself!

Could be a dodgy mic?

Both my Current & previous e89 the phone connection is fine with roof up , fairly useless with roof down and moving at more than 20 mph , in the Z4MC it really didnt work at all and when I mentioned it the dealer pointed out that my phone wasnt on the recommended BMW list whereas my current phone is , not that I believe that was the issue

We've had no problems with ours roof up or down.
Connection via Bluetooth is seamless. With 2 iPhones paired to the head unit it simply accepts the one that gets there first.

Titan wrote:We've had no problems with ours roof up or down.
Connection via Bluetooth is seamless. With 2 iPhones paired to the head unit it simply accepts the one that gets there first.

I challenge you to drive at 60+ mph with the roof down and hold an easy conversation over the hands free. Its a right old pain, far too much turbulence to hear or speak properly.

Roof up, as said, not an issue.

Maniac wrote:I challenge you to drive at 60+ mph with the roof down and hold an easy conversation over the hands free. Its a right old pain, far too much turbulence to hear or speak properly.

I didn't say what speed I was driving at
IIRC we were probably in the 50mph limit along the North Wales Coast Road but had no problem hearing or being understood by the other party.
However if I was driving top down at >60mph any phone calls would be ignored or, if they were that important, I would stop and give them my full concentration, officer

Generally I would avoid using handsfree with the roof down as all the world and his neighbour can hear what's being said

"Generally I would avoid using handsfree with the roof down as all the world and his neighbour can hear what's being said"

This is very true , on one occasion i was in a slow moving traffic jam chap to my left in a convertable TT talking to his girl/boy-friend that was an interesting conversation

In my 2013 lci model I can hold conversations at 70mph on mway with roof down. Not tried any faster for obvious reasons.

Speech quality and recognition is good - I have issues with Bluetooth and Samsung Galaxy phone.
The problem is currently with BMW tech -

Any updates on this? I cant seem to get my galaxy s5 to play music via audio BT. I have the 2010 3.5i. I just see the connecting antennae, icon blink for a little bit then drop.

Hi all.

I have a problem where I can hear people fine on bluetooth but the other person hears me like I am talking under water. The dealer has replaced the microphone to no effect. The dealer has also tried to re programme the radio unit but the re programme failed. They are now telling me to replace the radio head unit at a cost of over £700. Anyone resolved this problem since £700 is a lot of money to use bluetooth!!

Is it possible to fit a second hand radio head unit from another Z4 or does it need some sort of programming?

Thnak you.

I have poor audio quality using the car kit too - I can hear them fine, but my voice sounds like I'm talking in a tunnel or underwater.

The fix I have implemented is to simply not take calls when driving the car