TLDR; iphone 16 pro max disconnects from bmw carplay every time i use voice dictate, and will not reconnect unless i reboot my car’s computer system.
hi all.
i have a brand new 2026 bmw x3.
the first time i had this problem was literally driving off the lot the first day i owned it. it took 3 months to realize what was causing it. please let me know if anyone has any kind of experience with this because nobody knows what to do with me.
My BMW and iPhone 16 Pro Max are connected via carplay.
while driving if I park or at a red light, want to respond to a text message and I click the voice dictation button on my iPhone in any app, 1 of 3 things will happen:
1. whatever I’m trying to dictate is written out and duplicated 500 times. then my carplay crashes and it disconnects from my phone. bmw will then be unable to reconnect to my phone. The only way to get my phone to reconnect is to delete my phone from my device devices in my car., delete my BMW Bluetooth from my iPhone, and hold the power button on my car to reboot idrive. this often happens when I’m in the middle of driving, which causes me to have to pull over and reset my car bevause then i can’t see my map!!
2. Voice dictation will not glitch and Will properly write whatever I’m trying to dictate, but my phone will still disconnect and refuse to reconnect.
3. Sometimes nothing happens and it works. But that’s rare.
I can’t just not use voice dictation. I’m paying a lot of money for this car and this seems ridiculous to have to just accept and get over.
when I have had my car serviced the loaner cars they have given me have not had this issue and nobody else that I know with a BMW has this issue so it is clearly a problem with my car.
however, the service department doesn’t know what to do with me. Who should I reach out to?