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My experience since September has been quite similar. I too was sent a replacement model when I had complaints about the lack of a seamless experience like I've had on rental cars. Their promotion implies that the device will simply allow you to enter the vehicle, start and drive away and for me that just isn't the case.
And I would have preferred if the wired option were a real option that they plan for the the USB cable to come through the center console instead of just poking out the dashboard. I've moved mine to a discreet area in the footwell as I prefer an OEM look.
One difference with yours is that I use an Android phone.
I've come up with a work around for the delay at initial start which can sometimes take up to 10 -15 mins at a time to activate in my case -- as soon as I start the engine I pick up my phone and manually select the MMI Prime system on bluetooth. In less than 10 secs the system starts including music.
This works about 95% of the time or better and even though it's an extra step, by making the connection regular it comes across as seamless. Passengers don't notice that this isn't a regular feature of my X5. If I could get this function to work - connecting to MMI Prime on Bluetooth manually -- before I'm actually in the vehicle I'd likely less notice the extra step.
I've also discovered that instead of pressing the voice activation command button on the steering wheel, I press the jog switch for about 5 secs and the MMI prime prompts me to speak a command and carries it out. If I use the voice activation switch on the steering both the MMI Prime and the BMW system tries to respond.
As for the sound I did a lot of adjustment with the MMI prime audio settings and the BMW's to get a sound experience that I'm very satisfied with.
My up switch on the steering wheel does play the previous song and the down plays the next song -- which to me seems counter-intuitive.
As for extra phones, my X5 comes with an "additional phone" option allowing two phones to be connected at one time and I use this approach for the "other" regular passenger. My situation is unique in that the vehicle is almost never driven without me being in it as either a driver or passenger.
I'd give the system overall a B+. It does work, it's just that it promised to be more.
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