I've been around NAM and the Web (Apple sites, BMW sites, etc.) looking for an answer to this one... I wanted to be a hero and post a fix before too many people had a problem. No luck so far, though. Maybe someone here can help.

I have a January 2009 build R56 MCS with the factory USB/Bluetooth option, Hi-Fi stereo, satellite, but no Nav. I have a first generation iPhone running v2.2.1 (5H11) of the iPhone software. I have just over 1,000 contact cards in my Address Book on Mac OS X. This may amount to as many as 3,000 numbers across all entries.

I have successfully paired the iPhone with the MINI, and had contacts from the iPhone sync with the MINI. I can scroll through the alphabet and then through each letter using the "other ****", and I can make a call that way.

Here's the problem: some contacts just don't sync with the MINI. They are still on the iPhone, but they never show up on the MINI. The missing ones are from throughout the alphabet. For example, I have a bunch of "M" entries, then 2 missing ones, then the remainder of the "M" list. I am missing 1 V, a random T, and possibly more. I can't seem to find a pattern to the ones that are missing.

Without knowing the cause, I am blindly seeking a solution. I have tried un-pairing both the car and the phone and then repairing. No change. I have tried altering the contact files on the phone and then re-syncing. Nothing. I have been on the lookout for special characters, redundant numbers, unusual fields, etc. I have even started looking for things in the entry preceding the missing one in case some error is getting triggered there. I'm stumped.

So, has anyone seen this behavior? Any thoughts on causes and fixes?

 

Things tend to get spotty once you're around 1,000 contacts- it's a confirmed issue with Blackberries, I wouldn't be surprised if it happened with an iPhone too.

Also, phone book entries that contain an @ symbol are known not to transfer from the iPhones too. (See item six in the list of limitations here)

 

Thanks for the response. I hadn't known about the Blackberry issue. I hope this isn't just an undocumented version of that problem. This seems different, though, due to the fact that the missing files are spread throughout the data set. They aren't at the end of the alphabet, or even the end of a letter grouping.

Thanks also for pointing to the iPhone info. I had read that a few times, and I checked the missing entries for "@" signs. That didn't seem to be the issue either, since almost all of my entries have email addresses, but those addresses come after the phone numbers in the records. That is to say, most of the records that successfully synced have @ signs in the same place as the records that are missing. As a result, I interpreted number 6 to mean that contact names or numbers that included the "@" would be problematic. Not sure if that's right, though, so I'm open to testing some other things.

I forgot to mention that some BMW sites (I heard that the cars share some software) mentioned that, in some cases, a contact with the same number as an earlier one will not be synced. I only appear to have 2 of the 10+ I've found missing so far that fits this category.

My next test is to try deleting some of the contacts from the phone, deleting and repairing the phone, re-creating the contacts by hand (in case there is a hidden character in them causing corruption), re-pairing and re-synching. I'll report results in case this set of experiments helps anyone else.

 

Also make sure that the contacts are filled out correctly. You may have First Name: John Smith, Last Name: <blank>, which would screw with the order.

 

It may be that the BMW software was not designed to handle more than 1024 entries. It wouldn't be surprising.

As far as alphabetical goes, it is quite likely that the entries are not stored in alphabetical order, even though they are displayed that way. So, I don't think you can conclude much from which entries are missing.

 

Zag - Did you get anywhere with this?

I've got a related problem in that I just got a new phone (Samsung Eternity). It paired fine, added the address book (or so I thought). I noticed that where I had multiple phone numbers under a contact name, it only picked up one.

So, I looked more closely at my phone contact list and found that the AT&T copy from my Verizon phone to the AT&T phone had all the contacts as a "cell phone" type. So I edited my contacts in the AT&T phone setting them all to Home, Work, Cell, etc. type. I also deleted some entries that I didn't want.

Resync'ed and address book unchanged. Deleted entries still showed up in the mini. Ok, I delete the phone in Mini, re-pair, Mini goes through the adding process, but my deleted entries (i.e. they are not on the phone) still show up in the Mini.

Fine, rename my phone, re-pair. Mini gets the new name but the phone book still has all the deleted entries -- i.e. Mini seems to associate the phone book with the phone's device ID.

So, my question is: Is there anyway to force the Mini to erase the phonebook and get it when I resync again?

 

I would suspect that contacts are stored in the order that they were entered on the phone and not alpha as previous writer. Deleting one that exists (maybe not one you don't really need) and re-adding might prove or disprove this - they wouldn't get re-synced.

 

Not as far as we know- supposedly the corruption of the Bluetooth module that the Treo 750p caused was because the phone book filled up. As far as I can tell the intent is to have the address book copied fresh from the phone each time a connection is made. The address book is never actually available until after the phone has completed it's 'sync', and this avoids needing any logic for comparing or storing contact data.

I'd gotten the impression that the contact order was determined by the phone and just alpabetized by the Mini afterwards, but I've got no proof of that- it just makes the most sense to me after all the odd behavior we've seen.

 

After my first set of struggles with this issue, I got too busy to test everything I wanted to test. I just gave up and dialed missing numbers from the phone. Not at all satisfying, but it got the job done.

The phone delete and re-pair seemed to at least eliminate deleted entries from the car's address book, but I'll have to go back and double check that. Unfortunately, the MINI is in the shop (MINI v. deer - ouch). When I get it back, I'll go through a few more tests.

I wish there were better documentation about the limits of the Bluetooth system. I wonder if there is anything better that just doesn't get to the US, e.g., a German or British manual.

 

I've been through everything I could find from the US and UK, and there's not much out there. The most revealing info has been in the phone specific PDFs linked from http://www.wireless4mini.com.

I've been through a few German PDFs I've come across, but my German was sketchy (and non-technical) to begin with and is many years rusty. Even so, with Google translate to assist I didn't find anything that appeared helpful.

 

Are you able to adjust the call volume using the radio volume control ****? I have the same phone 8GB with the same software but the volume control will not work. At freeway speeds it is impossible to hear the phone.

Pat

 

PatM,

There's actually a little trick to the phone volume that I discovered... Make sure you turn the iPhone volume to maximum using the volume button on the side of the phone. You may need to be connected to the MINI's Bluetooth when you do that (on a call, for instance). Once the iPhone volume is at maximum (you'll see the volume icon on the iPhone screen), then the MINI volume **** should work pretty well.

I discovered this since I use a Bluetooth earpiece when I'm not in the car. The volume of the earpiece is controlled entirely from the phone. If I leave the earpiece turned down when I switch to the car Bluetooth, the volume is too low in the car, and the car's audio volume **** can't adjust enough to compensate. As long as I turn the volume up on the iPhone, I don't have any troubles.

- Zag

PS - The body shop said that maybe I'll get the car back tomorrow. I'm hopeful.

 

Thanks Zag. I tried that as well but no go.

Still looking.

Pat

 

Pat your answer is here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...iphone-3g.html

and here in posts 631, 632, and 637:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...y-list-26.html

I also have tried this personally with a friends iPhone with firmware version 2.2.1 on three different 09's at a dealer, and two 08's one being mine and one being his.

Volume on the MINI MUST BE ADJUSTED while someone on the ohter end is speaking. If they are NOT speaking the bluetooth volume on the MINI WILL NOT adjust.

On the iPhone you MUST be connected to a bluetooth device AND "In a Call" to adjust the iPhone Bluetooth volume.

 

I did all that but to no avail. I will try again as specifically stated just in case I missed something but I'm thinking I did not.

I'll let you know. Didn't drive the MINI today, drove the GTO, so I will have to try another day. (The GTO is not as much fun to drive as the MINI believe it or not.)

Pat

PS: I would challenge you to do this at 70 MPH while on the freeway. If the volume did go up I was not able to tell and it in no way could overcome the road noise. And this was with the climate control system off, windows and sunroof closed.

 

I even had my friend call me from his MINI and with the sunroof and windows open he could get enough volume and hear me at 65 with no problem. His voice as a little noisy on my end due to al the wind noise but i could still understand him.

 

Like I said I will try again and see what I missed.

Pat