Apple CarPlay no longer works with My BMW X7 (2021) using iOS 17.3.1

The below fix seems to work followed by an ignition cycle

1. Press and hold the Vol knob until the console screen turns black and reboots. This is a basic reset. 

I’ve had this happen on all my BMWs -it’s a thing

I am now experiencing this same issue my apple carplay is randomly disconnecting in my BMW X3 and i have the iphone 13. I havent had an issue ever until now. I hope it fixes it self it has been for 2 days now disconnecting and i have to continuously keep hitting the "forget this device" to reset it. Me too I am I’m just waiting to get pulled over because I’m not using Bluetooth. 😂😂😂.

Same thing happened to me same day and still not working now. kept saying >

Bluetooth

Connection failed. Please check the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi settings on your mobile device.

Retry

Cancel

Odd! I have a BMW too, and sometimes the connection problems are a little wonky. It sounds like you've done all the right things, but perhaps you've done them sequentially, instead of all at the same time. I would recommend deleting the BMW from the phone completely, and then turn off the phone. Then, before restarting the phone, eliminate all references to your phone from the BMW. Then, turn off the car. Restart the phone and try the pairing process anew with the BMW. If this fails, bring it to the dealership. Good luck with it!

what to do when this doesn’t work? I’ve deleted accidentally my device this morning and after 30 mins of trial had to stop as I was getting late to work. I tried the reboot thing, didn’t ch age anything. my phone doesn’t seem to be able to keep the bt connection with the car and the car drops a « unable to connect » message.. HELP!

@CapitalOats, THAT IS THE SOLUTION!!! You are my hero! That worked perfectly. I disconnected and re-paired about 15 times with no success and could not understand why wireless CarPlay would no longer function but I could still connect to BMW’s Connected Drive. The reset with the volume knob is the answer.

To add a couple of details. I had the ignition on and did not have to cycle the ignition BUT you do have to hold the volume knob a long time, about 20 seconds. When it came back up, I went to Mobile Devices, tapped on my iPhone and then changed the connection method to ‘Apple CarPlay’ and it connected right away; took 3 seconds.

Hello, I was having an issue with my wireless Apple CarPlay on the BMW iDrive 7 system, it all got fixed when I turned on the WiFi hotspot in the iDrive system and connected my phone to its hotspot, this fixed my issue and wireless Apple CarPlay worked as it should, hope it helps!

This happens quite a lot with my BMW X2. Try the following,

1. Turn off the Wifi and switch this ON. At times this helps.
2. Reboot the head unit by holding the volume key for long.
3. Delete your device, from the list of connected devices and add it again.
4. Remove your BMW id from your phone and try adding everything fresh.
5. If nothing works, you need to take your BMW and your phone to the dealership for them to fix.

In my case, 1 & 2 didn't work but 3 worked. So didn't opt for option 4 & 5.

Cheers!!!

Thank you! I’ve been dealing with this for days and I just did the hold the button and it fixed it. I am thrilled. I thought I was gonna have to take it to the dealership because I was going to run somebody over if I didn’t have my Apple CarPlay.

I had this problem with my iphone x. And then I got the 16 pro, installed the backup from the old phone. Still same problem, even after using the volume knob on my bmw to reset everything or forgetting the device. Turns out it was because of the backup😂. I deleted the backup (factory reset) from my iphone 16 pro and it worked back again. I reinstalled the backup and it stopped working again😂😂. Don’t ask me how this is possible.

THANK YOU SO MUCH CapitalOats! This worked for me!

I was having issues with my CarPlay, suddenly it disconnected with my phone and would not come back up. I deleted my phone, paired it again, and it would only connect to BMW idrive but not CarPlay. I called Genuis and had to reboot the system.

With the vehicle running and in park, hold down the volume buttom on the radio until the screen goes completely black. This could take up to a minute. Once the screen is black, release the volume buttom and let it reset. Do not jump ahead, let the navigation maps fully come back on and then follow the prompts (also make sure you phone has been paired again before you do this, if you deleted it). CarPlay should pop back up and when you make a phone call and the volume comes back through the speaker you are good to go! This is the only thing that worked for me and I literally tried EVERYTHING!

Hope this helps someone who needs it!

@capitaloats Dude ! Thank you so much I tried to pair and re pair my Apple iPhone to my x5 like 20 times getting frustrated until I found this ! And it worked first try with your solution! I appreciate you so much ! Now my car play works again

as suggested by Capital Oats above, press and hold the vol knob is the solution

ThanksCapitalOats, right on!