Siri usage with my car's Bluetooth/voice command button is completely broken after updating phone to iOS 26

Question

Level 1

8 points

Siri usage with my car's Bluetooth/voice command button is completely broken after updating phone to iOS 26

Siri has basically stopped working with Bluetooth in my car after I updated to iOS 26. Said car is a 2017 Mini Countryman.

I DO NOT have Carplay. Please do not give me advice regarding Carplay.

Basically, until yesterday, if I long-pressed/held down the voice command button on the steering wheel while my iPhone (3rd-gen SE) was connected to Bluetooth, it triggered Siri on my phone and showed up as a Bluetooth voice thing on the touchscreen. I was able to control directions, music, etc through it.

I finally got around to updating to iOS 26 yesterday. Since then, the following has happened:

I can only long-press connect to Siri once, shortly after starting the car. After this, long-pressing/holding down the voice command button simply does nothing.
That one press + any additional use of Siri via my home button/"Hey Siri" shows up as a call to my own phone, rather than the Bluetooth voice thing it previously did. This has only previously happened with an previous-gen Mini I had as a loaner while my car was in the shop.

In short, I can't use the voice command button to use Siri anymore, and therefore have little to no hands-free usage of my phone. Can't call, can't text, can't play music, etc, without using the phone itself, which needless to say is rather dangerous to do while driving.

I've tried basically every traditional troubleshooting method at this point - forgetting my phone on the car's system and re-pairing, forgetting the car's system on my phone and re-pairing, turning Bluetooth on and off again on my phone, turning Siri on and off again on my phone, turning the phone itself on and off again, turning the car on and off again, and so on. It still hasn't worked. I'm out of ideas at this point.

Anyone know how to get it back to normal, or am I just screwed?

iPhone SE

Posted on Mar 19, 2026 9:33 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Apr 12, 2026 2:54 PM in response to saabwagon

The BMW infotainment system including what you have in your Mini, shows on the car's screen as a call to your phone when using Siri, but it is not actually a call and your can continue to use Siri as you always did. You don't need to use your phone. The infotainment system has a timer while it is receiving the Siri commands and goes away automatically when you are no longer communicating with Siri.

If your car did not do that previously, then you got a software update on your car while it was in the shop and that is expected behavior. I have noticed on my BMW, there is a slight delay after activating Siri on your steering wheel, but all commands are still processed even though the car's screen is showing your phone number.

Reply