MMI and NAV. Multiple Qs, isssues
 

I love the car. This isn't a railing complaint thread. I'm interested in advice before I see my dealer. Three issues have come up.

First, for about a minute after connecting an iPhone 5 via Bluetooth, music cuts out intermittently. It doesn't pause. Audio just cuts and returns. The dealer did check the system and declared it, or course, fine. I'm wondering if it is an issue only with the iPhone Bluetooth.

Second, GPS is making mistakes on final destination by about 350 yards routinely. I know it is that distance because that's as far as I've ever hit a tee shot with a driver. (downhill with favorable wind of course) That's a big deal going to an appointment, and I do that almost daily. I'm wondering if that's an Audi fault or a GPS anamoly. I'm curious because I rarely had that much error in the past, the iphone nav isn't that bad, and it has come up five times in completely different geographies and twice in Conshocken, PA. The latter cost me on time arrival because even in a small city that's the wrong building.

Finally, there's insanely unhelpful NAV traffic re-route from time to time. Now that one, as an old software geek, I may be able to understand because the code to route isn't simple, but have you noticed NAV will attempt a route so far out of the way that it is completely senseless?

Thx in advance to the many experts here who may take the time to respond.

Sorry, not much help here. I haven't experienced any of these particular problems and I'm on my second MMI unit. Your car being a 2012, you have a very early MMI 3G+ unit. There have been software and hardware improvements since then.

From your problem description it doesn't sound you are running into this, but there is a known hardware flaw in these units that causes them to lose the GPS signal and put you in a completely wrong place. Your problem sounds more like an inaccurately digitized map for your region, though.

However, if you do find the Nav is losing the satellite signal, report it to your dealer. Audi is very aware of this issue and is replacing the affected units. This is why I'm on my second unit. As a side effect you'll get the very latest firmware and a map update. I can tell you from my experience, that the redesigned unit is noticeably improved over the original unit that came with my car.

Thx. I'll watch that. Could explain why I also get 'turn now' 50 yds late from time to time.

By the by, the iphone 5 does exactly the same thing in my GF's 2015 Q5. We both have 5s. They both do it in both cars.

Yeah, check how many satellites it sees when you get these inaccuracies. The Nav is tied in with the car's sensors, so if it doesn't see any satellites it uses signals from the ECU such as your speed, direction of travel etc. to approximate your current position based on the last known GPS coordinates. The longer it goes w/o a satellite signal the farther it drifts from your actual position.

As for your phone issues, Apple just can't get Bluetooth right it seems. I thought the issues were resolved with the latest iOS 8.0.2 or whatever it is, but perhaps there are still some issues. What you can try is to delete the pairing from both your phone and the MMI, then reset the network settings on the phone and for good measure reset the Bluetooth settings in the MMI and then pair the phone again.

Ah, you're familar with the epic Apple Bluetooth fail. It connects better than it used to overall to devices, but still drives developers nuts. Overall Bluetooth was a bad spec to begin with. Reminded me of the VHS vs Betamax war, which proved that industry profit wins over better design all day long. Thx for the information about what NAV is really doing. It explains a lot.

Yes, I am. I owned two iPhones before I dumped the platform mostly due to the never ending Bluetooth issues. At that time I still had my B7 S4. Initially I had an iPhone 3G and Bluetooth actually worked pretty well, but it got progressively worse with every major iOS release. Towards the end I had an iPhone 4 and it would regularly drop the connection and the only way to get it back was by power cycling the phone.

I switched to Windows Phone 8, because I got a free Nokia Lumia 920 at the Microsoft Build conference. I still have the same phone, but in the meantime it's running Windows Phone 8.1. There were a few Bluetooth issues at the very beginning which Microsoft fixed with the first update and since then my Bluetooth headaches have vanished into thin air.

As bad as the Bluetooth spec is, Microsoft apparently manages to implement it properly. Both Apple and Google continue to struggle to get it right in their respective OSes. I think on Android it's actually more of a problem with the handset makers screwing up the firmware or something. It sounds like the Nexus devices don't have Bluetooth issues.

I was in the mobility world when Microsoft ruled it. Epic fail.

Yeah, they certainly fell asleep behind the wheel for a while, however, I really like the new platform. I'll take limited apps over basic core functions such as Bluetooth not working any day of the week. I particularly like the HERE mapping platform with true offline maps integrated into the OS, since I frequently travel internationally.