My Z4 hates the Galaxy S7

[DocTB]

I just got a Galaxy S7, and having a real pain of a time getting it to play nice with the Z4.

Bluetooth pairing is a failure. The phone sees the car, the car requests the 4 digit pin and accepts it. The two are paired for a second, and then the connection breaks with no explanation. This is the 4th phone I've attempted to pair with this car (and I'm not the first owner), so maybe I need to unpair previous phones? How do I do that?

Plugging the phone into the aux port to listen to music gives a very nasty hiss that is only audible when sound is being output to the phone. When there is silence, there is no hiss, so I don't suspect it to be a ground loop issue. You can hear it start and stop with spoken words in audio books and "Ok google", and between music tracks.

Searching the web, I've found this issue has occurred to other people. The solution is to turn on the "UHQ upscaler" in the phone settings. This solves the issues with pre-recorded media (music, video, audiobooks), but not with voice interaction ("Ok Google", navigation). Really annoying.

Anyway, posting here in case someone else has the S7 issue and wants a partial solution, and also to ask how to clear paired phones from the car's memory.

2007 Z4 3.0si

[GuidoK]

Have you had succes with previous phones pairing with the car?
Depending on what version of your bluetooth computer in the car (ULF), it can or cant work with android phones. (I think iphone works on more versions of the ULF).
This is because how android has implemented their specific bluetooth stack for the car phone profile (all android versions previous android 4 (I think) worked fine, but after that, a lot of ULF versions (there are 13 different versions) stopped working properly)

Of course first thing to do with pairing problems is to remove all previous couplings (se the manual for the exact procedure to remove all previous coupled phones).
But as I said, this is no guarantee.

As for the aux port, if you're using the aux adapter cable (and not a aux port device like dension or whatever other one), it is known for having issues with impedance and signal strenght from phone outputs (certain phones might work better than others).
You can maybe solve this by fabricating a line amplifier inbetween. I dont know if you're good with electronics (on component level scale).

[DocTB]

Sorry, I did leave that out didn't I....
I've previously used a Samsung Galaxy Lite (Android), LG G3 (Android), and Apple iPhone6. All have connected successfully to the car via Bluetooth. None have had the aux port hiss I'm getting with the S7.

The manual does not explain how to remove previously coupled phones. I'm hoping this community might know.

[GuidoK]

Ah ok if you had previous android phones working correctly, there is still hope
So you dont have the instruction manual for your bluetooth module?
You can use this one:
http://dn1.bmwsections.com/dl.php?li..._2005_2006.zip
(pdf in the zip file)
I dont know if the link above works for you as it looks like a session dependant link, but its located on this page (loads of bmw manuals here):
https://www.bmwsections.com/docs/coms/
Basically its pressing the pair button for 3 seconds, then (when still pressing the button), switch the key on to contact 1, and then still hold it for 3 seconds (so the same as to get into pairing mode).
Then release the button, and press it again for 10 sec until you hear 3 loud beeps and it says that the paired phones are deleted. then switch off the car.

As for the hiss, I dont know. I dont use a S7 nor an aux cable. Usually when hiss is audible through the jack out when connected to a device but not audible when connected through the same jack but to say headphones (or another device) its an impedance problem.
A line amp can solve that because the input of the amplifier chip has a very high impedance (so virtually no electrical load for the device that provides the signal) and the amp chip can cope with low impedance.
Another way to do this is with an impedance transformer but that's very difficult without having precise electrical data.
If you want more theoretical background on this matter:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impedance_matching

The problem is, there seems to be no simple ready made device on the market that contain a simple audio line amp that can be plugged in your 12v outlet (or usb powered) that has a 3,5mm jack input for a phone and a 3,5mm jack output for an aux cable. There are loads of diy kits on ebay that probably can do this job for peanut money but they dont have a housing, or leads connected etc. Theyre just basic pcb boards with the chip on it.
Maybe the next best thing is a simple usb powered a2dp receiver like this. (but an a2dp connection is in theory not as hifi as a fixed lead)

Or a portable headphone amp (powered by a battery or build in lipo). Loads of them available but less suitable for permanent installation because the battery has to be charged/swapped or can leak/explode etc.

[E86Z]

I have an 06 3.0si and a galaxy s7. No problems here. Sometimes it takes a bit longer to connect than newer cars but it works fine (and I've had that issue with my previous phones as well).

I did try to delete the previously​ registered phones before pairing this one and I didn't get those audible beeps. I once had difficulty with Bluetooth not working at all and I was told to disconnect the Bluetooth module for a few minutes.


Have a look at this maybe disconnecting it will help like it did for me.
https://store.bimmernav.com/blogs/installation-bmw/installation-instructions-below-are-for-the-bmw-z4-bluetooth-kits

[DocTB]

GuidoK, I am very grateful for your assistance. But none of that information is working...at least for my car. I have all my manuals, but bluetooth control is not contained in the manual you linked to; it is held in a separate thin manual. This manual has a photo of a red police box on the front. For the lfie of me I cannot a find a photo of it on the internet, but it's useless anyway. Pairing in my car is usually accomplished by a random combination of key turns and pressing the voice activation button. The radio never displays "Bluetooth Pairing". The car appears in the phone's scan, I tap it to pair, enter the 4 digit passcode, and *boom* paired. Except with the S7 this doesn't happen. It appears to pair briefly, and then breaks the pairing. I know I've got the right passcode, because if I attempt to enter a different one, it is at least kind enough to tell me the passcode is wrong.

The 3+3+10-second button press does not clear the car's pairing database. It just places the in spoken command mode. The procedure you've provided is very similar to this manual (http://www.carnationsoftware.com/car...lBluetooth.pdf), which I suppose is no longer applicable to my car.

Again, thanks for the support. Perhaps E86Z's suggestion will help.

[Asianoak]

I have the Galaxy S7 and Bluetooth works fine although I rarely use it.

I also noticed the hiss when connected to the aux cable and it drove me nuts. I tried several other devices and all others have worked fine without the hiss. With that being said.... the LG V20 had by far the best audio in the Z when connected to the aux port due to it's 32bit DAC and higher power output. Also, I just got a Galaxy S8 and the audio from that is vastly superior to the S7. Samsung upgraded to a 32bit DAC on the S8 so the quality is much better, it was actually one of the only reasons I upgraded... the hiss annoyed me so much in the Z.

[ShakyDog]

There is an option when pairing for advanced blue tooth features on the S7, disable that and it should connect. I use my old S5 to play music as it still works well, it just has phone issues.

Steve

[DocTB]

This option does not appear in my phone, ShakyDog. Unless it is not contained in the Bluetooth settings.

[Huz-Z]

This is likely to be a useless observation but for my 06 3.0si, I've never had an issue. My old A920 Samsung flip phone paired easily and so did my iPhone 5S. I'll be pairing my newer iPhone 6s over the weekend and I hope that goes smoothly. Could it be that its something inherent in more recent Samsung phones that is causing this? In any case, I hope you get this resolved soon.

[ShakyDog]

Originally Posted by DocTB

This option does not appear in my phone, ShakyDog. Unless it is not contained in the Bluetooth settings.

So when you see the Bluetooth on the phone for your car, it should bring up a box for 'Advanced Features'. Not sure how to force the issue.

When I look at my Bluetooth on my phone, if I look at the settings on my BMW it shows two options: Call audio and Contact access. Call audio is disabled, and Contact access is on. The call audio does work as I have used it since pairing.

Steve