timindp

I have a 2005 A8.
I have the bluetooth working fine, everything works fine, then after about 120 seconds or so, the music cuts out for 2-3 seconds and my bluetooth drops the connection, then about 2 seconds later it re-connects, disrupting the music that is going. It will do this every 2 minutes or so. What could be the issue?

Brozee

First start off with stating what device you are using to stream music. And you must be talking about the AMI bluetooth. That should be stated as well.

jakematic

Check the firmware on the device you are streaming from for updates.

IIRC there was a bluetooth spec change that fixed that some years ago some time back in a lot of devices.

It's possible the MMI, hence AMI, may need updating too.

timindp

I am using XM sat radio. I did do an update on my phone. I am using the Garmin T-Mobile phone. It has the latest update on it. Since I have owned the car, I have never done an MMI update. I was reading some posts that the MMI update may conflict with other items in my car and many posts say that they reversed the update. So, I guess I can try the MMI update and see what happens. I do not know which version I am running. Where would you check that? on the MMI itself?

ModestW12

2005 A8's did not ship with Audi Music Interface (AMI), a prerequisite for bluetooth music streaming. Did you retrofit AMI?

In addition to AMI, you need the Audi AMI bluetooth dongle to stream music from an A2DP bluetooth enabled phone. Do you have the Audi Bluetooth dongle?

If no to either of the above, are you somehow using the A8's bluetooth telephony to stream music??

I do not understand why you mention using XM sat radio in the context of discussing bluetooth music streaming issues? XM is a completely separate module that has nothing to do with bluetooth. Are you using some sort of XM app on your phone as the bluetooth music source?

I don't remember which menu the version screen is in. I think it's in Setup, the one below Car. It will look like the 1st photo below. You need at least 33.6.0 for an installed AMI module to work. Per the photo, my car is currently at 46.1.0, the latest US version at the time of this posting.

The second photo shows AMI and bluetooth dongle. The context of your posts leads me to believe you don't have AMI and Audi bluetooth dongle. If you do then unfortunately I have no idea what could be causing your issue.

jtzedak

Hello,

I am trying to make sense of the Audi MMI system and I am having a rough time getting clear information.

I hope you all can be of help.

The A8 has the Bose version of the audio system. It apparently has Bluetooth as well. However, I "need" a phone cradle to make any of that work. In addition, the CD player (located in the glove box) will not play MP3 disks, but only audio CD's.

So, what I want is to use any Bluetooth phone through the MMI menu options. I also want to be able to play my ipad/iphone music through the radio, and use the MMI controls for that as well. Apparently, the '08 version of the car does ALL of this. However, my car will need an aftermarket Bluetooth kit for nearly $750 (not installed) and another $500 Ipad/Ipod kit so that I don't lose the CD player. Audi has an Ipod/Ipad kit that REPLACES the CD player for about $1,000.

So, any words of wisdom? Has anyone done any or all of this?

Also, how can you protect the MMI controls and STILL use the cup holder?

Thanks,

Todd
North East OH

ModestW12

In the US, I pretty sure all 05+ A8's have bluetooth telephony standard. You don't need a phone cradle, the cradle is only for charging and connection to the car's rooftop antenna which supposedly increases the signal reception.

Instead, you need to pair your bluetooth phone with the car's bluetooth telephony. Follow the directions in your car manual for pairing with your phone. If you don't have one, here is a summary: While in your car, turn your car on, it will be pairable for the 1st 5 minutes, go into your phone's bluetooth settings, search for paring devices, select "Audi UHV XXXX", XXXX being some 4 digit number, you should get prompted for a pin which by default is 1234, then select connect or pair or equivalent on your phone.

To answer the second part of your post, please reread my previous post in this thread carefully. It applies to you as well. Audi Music interface became a standard feature in A8's in late 2007. If your car was not retrofited with it, you do not have it. And without AMI, you cannot possibly have Audi bluetooth dongle for bluetooth music streaming (look at the photos in my previous post).

Also, the CD changer gained the ability to play MP3's around 2007, no sooner, so you do not have that either.

You can add an AMI unit AND still keep your CD changer. It requires a retrofit cabling kit that includes two types of splitters. You will also need a minimum MMI software version 33.6.0 (see my previous post in this thread). Follow the AMI link in my signature to a previous posts on DIY AMI retrofit.

Brozee

Generally all 05's without Onstar have bluetooth built in without the need of a cradle.

jakematic

Todd-

I bought the cradle from the UK for about $200 and it marginally increases the signal. At least in my head it seems like it does - if only to justify the insane cost of it.
The advantage is on long trips the phone is charging in an out of the way place. For short trips I keep it on my belt and it works just fine.

As the others stated the cradle does nothing else to add functionality.

Due to the massive cost of the retrofit and my MMI being too low to support AMI I just went head with a subscription to Sirius.
The ROI was almost 4years on the hardware versus the subscription cost.


Keeping the cap on the drink is the only way. It's a pain but is easier and cheaper than replacing the controls.
A spill resistant travel mug for coffee is a wise investment.
I almost never use cans in any vehicle because they are prone to leak and draw ants when placed in the trash bucket.
Placing a can in the holder tends to compress it initially and make it go "toink" splashing liquid out. Found this out the hard way, and have a sticking button now after a panicked cleanup.

-Jake

timindp

I am not streaming audio. I di not say I was. The problem I have is when I am listening to my stereo (XM radio) through the car stereo, not streaming, the bluetooth connects and disconnects every 120 seconds or so and mutes out the music for a sec or so.
It's annoying