[smallcarking]

Hallo everyone,

In my 2024 BMW M340i, I'm encountering an issue with the native Spotify app and Bluetooth connectivity. I'd like to use the native Spotify app for its superior sound quality compared to Bluetooth streaming or Android Auto. However, when I select the native Spotify app as the audio source, the car's system mutes all other audio from my connected Android phone. This includes navigation prompts, YouTube audio, and most importantly, phone calls. When I receive a call and answer it, there's no audio on either end – I can't hear the caller, and they can't hear me. This is clearly because the audio source is locked to the native Spotify app.

Is there a way to use the native Spotify app while maintaining full Bluetooth functionality for phone calls and other audio from my phone? Or am I forced to choose between the two? I'm reluctant to switch to Bluetooth audio or Android Auto solely because of the significant drop in audio quality compared to the native Spotify app.

I'd appreciate any advice or solutions from fellow BMW owners who might have encountered this issue. Thanks in advance!

[PeteFinn]

Hello,

Originally Posted by smallcarking

However, when I select the native Spotify app as the audio source, the car's system mutes all other audio from my connected Android phone. This includes navigation prompts, YouTube audio, and most importantly, phone calls. When I receive a call and answer it, there's no audio on either end – I can't hear the caller, and they can't hear me.

This is not normal and definitely shouldn't be happening! My previous car was a 2021 M440i with iDrive 7, and the native Spotify was my most used source of music, I used it all the time. I never had any problems with bluetooth phone calls during the 3,5 years I owned the car. When I made a phone call or got one, Spotify automatically muted and transferred audio to the BT phone call.

I now have a brand new 2025 M340i with iDrive 8.5 and it works exactly the same. Audio switches between native Spotify and phone calls normally.

But funnily enough just a couple of days ago I noticed about the same thing. My phone was normally connected to the car and I could make or receive phone calls but there was no audio. Spotify got muted just like before but phone calls were without audio. I rebooted the phone and iDrive but that didn't help. Then I unpaired the phone and paired it again and everything works again. Difficult to say if it was a software bug with the phone or iDrive.

So I'd suggest you unpair the phone from the car and make sure there's no trace of the phone or the car in phone BT and iDrive mobile devices settings. And just to be extra sure reboot the iDrive. Keep the engine running and long-press the volume knob on the dashboard for 20-30 secs until the big screen goes black and iDrive reboots. This in itself often solves many small issues including bluetooth connection problems.

After this pair the phone and car again and pair the phone only as a bluetooth phone, don't select Android auto yet to make things a bit more simple. After this make a few phone calls with native Spotify playing music. It should work now. Also activating Android Auto after this shouldn't make any difference, but it's best to test the audio first without it.

What's your iDrive software version? Mine is 7/2024.35. I believe there are a least a couple of bugs in this version. This might be another one, who knows. Also the new Google Pixel 9 series phones are known to have connection issues with several car models, including at least some of the older BMW models. My new phone happens to be a Pixel 9 Pro, so this could also be a problem at least in my case.

[m440i804]

Is spotify really that high in quality? Is it lossless? Better than Sirius?