Bluetooth music streaming on older models

[E82_125i]

This mainly applies to models dating back to E Series models, especially those with built in bluetooth for calls but am curious as to how people who stream music through the bluetooth do so.
Ive gone to the effort to replace my business cd unit with a professional one in order to get DAB, USB and Handsfree.
I decided against a carplay unit or an aftermarket so I can keep everything integrated and to keep the interior looking as factory.

Im very grateful to have a proper hands free system now with a proper phone directory however the only downside of this setup is that you cannot stream bluetooth music through it (its an 09 model so it wasn’t common to have cars steaming bluetooth back then but is a compromise I guess)

The only problem I find with keeping this setup is that if you try streaming Bluetooth music (either through an aux or a usb adapter) is that when you have the phone connected to both it seems to cause random skipping or stuttering when playing music…..well for me at least. It happens at random but music streams fine when you disconnect from hands free - this happens with different adapters too. It’s not a major problem but would be nice to get everything working seamlessly without having to go through the cable connected route or disconnecting from handsfree.
(Would go for bmw Y cable but heard sound quality isnt great)

Im guessing this is likely an iOS/iPhone problem with dual Bluetooth connections but would be interested to see if anyone else has come across this.
I currently have a Bovee Tune2Air which gives you steering wheel controls and track info, ive had the conflict of Bluetooth devices before I bought this.

It’s not just a bmw quirk either as it’s well documented on Audi and Mercedes forums who have early MMI systems with hands free only.

I guess the easy solution would be to replace it with an android unit or retrofit the newer CIC system which supported steaming but would be a shame to start all over again and spend even more or put in something that makes the cabin look weird.

Edited by E82_125i on Monday 29th April 22:21

Edited by E82_125i on Monday 29th April 22:22

[E82_125i]

Ok after a good amount of mucking around with different bluetooth devices, it doesnt seem to be down to the adapter itself but the phone, or ios.

I tried a different adapter and even a bluetooth speaker and the music playback did the same thing playing through them while the phone is also connected to the car.

A little annoying and i dont know if its a phone or an ios problem. Ive played with various different settings on the phone and none make any difference and the stuttering playback comes and goes very sporadically....odd. Maybe it cannot cope with handling the BMW handsfree and another device at the same time.

The only real solution is either get rid of the stereo for a non oem one that can stream and take calls over bluetooth, which i dont really want to do.
Or if i want to keep the steering wheel and unit controls while connected to hands free, is to get a BMW Y cable (Media cable) like this...




The problem however notoriously expensive and not much better second hand and there are reports of the sound quality not being very good. Not sure why though as essentially its just using the AUX for music and USB to control though car. Does anyone have experiencing of the sound through these?

I have looked at finding a cheap used one however the other issue is that the cable is nowhere near enough and finding an old 30pin ipod to lightning adapter, let alone a long enough cable that can handle music, seems nigh on impossible.

I can live with using the Tune2Air though as i know i can quickly reconnect to handsfree by pressing on the cars phone button on the wheel to turn on the bluetooth as it pairs very quickly with my phone.

[E82_125i]

Thanks for the suggestions. I sent back my Tune2air as despite the usefulness of the controls and auto play it just didn’t sound right. It had this weird split of bass and treble across the channels where my cheap bluetooth dongle doesn’t and I think it actually sounds better.

Ideally I’d like the steering wheel controls and auto play again so have been looking into the types of modules that plug into the fibre optic loop like mr 12 volt and blue music.

What im not sure about though Is that I have all the options under my pro head unit apart from a cd changer that typically uses the fibre optic connection. Do I need this coded in before I connect a module that uses this loop? I cannot seem to find a straight answer so far.