[Very]

This profile thing has me very confused...

I know the key tells the car to adjust the seat, mirrors, radio buttons, etc. to my preferences. (As opposed to the other key, which my wife carries)

I think I understand that the "profile" customizes stuff like this also. So, what's the difference and which takes precedence over the other?

Also, where does my pressing the seat memory button fit in to the mix?

[Raspartan]

Originally Posted by Very

This profile thing has me very confused...

I know the key tells the car to adjust the seat, mirrors, radio buttons, etc. to my preferences. (As opposed to the other key, which my wife carries)

I think I understand that the "profile" customizes stuff like this also. So, what's the difference and which takes precedence over the other?

Also, where does my pressing the seat memory button fit in to the mix?

After some experimenting, I think I know how this works but I could be wrong. As usual YMMV but this is what I think so far.

When you unlock, the key will use the profile that was last selected via iDrive for that key. I had to manually select a different profile for my wife's key the first time, but thereafter it chose her profile each time and my profile with my key.

The profile remembers which seat memory slot (1 or 2) was selected last, not the other way around. Therefore if you use key 1 and it uses profile 1, the seat position will move to that of the last selection for profile 1. This is why you can have 3 profiles, but only two seat positions.

With some exceptions, most other settings are also based on the profile. I have found that Bluetooth paired phones seem to be universal for all profiles.

[PrinceBarin]

Originally Posted by Very

This profile thing has me very confused...

I know the key tells the car to adjust the seat, mirrors, radio buttons, etc. to my preferences. (As opposed to the other key, which my wife carries)

I think I understand that the "profile" customizes stuff like this also. So, what's the difference and which takes precedence over the other?

Also, where does my pressing the seat memory button fit in to the mix?

Regarding seats, I think your key memorises the seat & mirror positions when you last locked the car with that key. The memory records whatever seat & mirror settings were saved to it. This will come in handy when your car is serviced and the technician has moved your seat about. The key will remember the technician's settings when he locks your car, but you can recall your settings using the seat memory buttons.

[Raspartan]

Originally Posted by PrinceBarin

Regarding seats, I think your key memorises the seat & mirror positions when you last locked the car with that key. The memory records whatever seat & mirror settings were saved to it. This will come in handy when your car is serviced and the technician has moved your seat about. The key will remember the technician's settings when he locks your car, but you can recall your settings using the seat memory buttons.

I used to think the settings were centrally related to the key, but I suspect that it would be more accurate to say that settings are related to profiles which are in turn related to the key.

[Mav555]

Has anyone actually figured out what specifically triggers the memory settings on the profile???

Everything I read says it is "automatic" and the manual/BMW references don't go into detail but stating it automatically detects the last settings according to the key fob used. My problem being that every time I start the car, the A/C (part of the stored profile) is always on. I have tired everything I can think of:

-most obvious, last setting theory, I turn off climate control before shutting down and locking w/ fob.
-tried using the fob buttons while car was running with the settings I want
-tried going to the stand by "radio" mode off then on again with setting I want
-check all the idrive settings for profile/climate settings
-positive thinking, cursing at the car, giving affirmation to the car

Everything short of creating a new profile which I haven't tested as I want to figure out if this is an actual problem with the car or something I'm missing. I'm sure it is something really simple, but this one has been driving me crazy for the past week.

[Number]

Originally Posted by Raspartan

I used to think the settings were centrally related to the key, but I suspect that it would be more accurate to say that settings are related to profiles which are in turn related to the key.

This is more in line with how it works. Profiles remember the last settings: seats, mirrors, radio stations etc. Your key fob remembers the last profile selected.

So if you give your fob to a technician and he changes your seat position, you will lose your memory for that profile. That being said, you can select the 3rd profile as a "guest" and assign "guest" to your fob before being serviced. After you get the car back, simply select your usual profile.

However, The memory in the seat buttons (the analog buttons on the side of the seats) are stored in the seat memory regardless of profiles or changing seat positions.

Correct me if I'm wrong. If not, I hope that clears it up.

[Number]

One more thing. If you do need to get the car serviced and they need to reset the computer (thus, losing all your profiles), you can download the profiles onto a USB stick thru the glove compartment I think. Then import the profile back in even though the computer got wiped.

[Raspartan]

Now the only thing I haven't figured out is how to switch profiles if my wife has already unlocked the car first. The only thing I can do right now is to lock and then unlock with my fob.

[svache]

Here's one thing I find a bit odd with the profiles...

So far, both my wife and I have used the same key (was just easier, also because she hardly drives my car), but when we switch to her profile, only the car settings (the electronics and such) but not the seats are going into her position. For her seats, she has to press the memory button on the seat.

Now, if I go back into the car and drive.. I press my profile and it will set everything, including the seats, back to what I want it to have.. everything, except for the exterior mirrors... for the exterior mirrors I have to press the memory button on the seat again lol

Kind of odd if you ask me, it doesn't seem to be really consistent (although I had the same feeling in my X5 before, with the keys being the actual reminders of all settings, it seemed to chance a little bit every time). Because of this, I am actually scared to also store everything under two keys lol xD

[Number]

Originally Posted by Raspartan

Now the only thing I haven't figured out is how to switch profiles if my wife has already unlocked the car first. The only thing I can do right now is to lock and then unlock with my fob.

Go into Settings > Profiles... you can now switch to whatever profile you want. If you do switch, it'll be attached to the active Key Fob (which is your wife's. Probably not what you want). So the next time that particular fob is used, it will be on the last profile you selected. You can also set the iDrive to display the Profiles page every time you start up the car. This is useful if you use the same key fob.

If you want to avoid putting the wrong profile on the wrong Fob, just do what you've been doing. Lock and unlock the car again with your Fob. Hope this helps.

[Raspartan]

Originally Posted by Tremolo

Go into Settings > Profiles... you can now switch to whatever profile you want. If you do switch, it'll be attached to the active Key Fob (which is your wife's. Probably not what you want). So the next time that particular fob is used, it will be on the last profile you selected. You can also set the iDrive to display the Profiles page every time you start up the car. This is useful if you use the same key fob.

If you want to avoid putting the wrong profile on the wrong Fob, just do what you've been doing. Lock and unlock the car again with your Fob. Hope this helps.

Thanks, I was forced to switch profiles like this last time, but as you say it's not ideal. What I did in this situation is switch back to her profile before locking up the car so that she wasn't surprised next time.

I can't bring myself to have to lock and then unlock the car, especially if my passengers have already piled into the car. Seems unrefined.

As a note to others who might want to set up the second profile, I believe the automatic seat adjustment is turned off by default in iDrive for some bizarre reason. My wife was complaining that she always had to fiddle with the seat positions and I stumbled on this being the reason why.

[jwickers]

IIRC you can also program one of the radio button as shortcut for the profile screen.

[Michael]

Does the profile setting remember the song/playlist being played from the internal media storage for each key? ie, if you open the car with the wife's key the song she was last listening to comes on?

Does the profile remember the main bluetooth phone connected to it and change it depending on which key is used?

Thanks.

[Weaselboy]

Originally Posted by Michael

Does the profile setting remember the song/playlist being played from the internal media storage for each key? ie, if you open the car with the wife's key the song she was last listening to comes on?

Does the profile remember the main bluetooth phone connected to it and change it depending on which key is used?

Thanks.

It will remember media settings. I know if I am listening to a MP3 form the hard drive and my wife drives the car with her fob it will start up with the radio already on her FM station where she left it.

I only have one BT phone, so can't comment on your second issue.

[Raspartan]

Originally Posted by Michael

Does the profile remember the main bluetooth phone connected to it and change it depending on which key is used?

Haven't done any rigorous testing but it doesn't seem to use profiles for this. So far my guess is that it connects to the first phone that it can.

The phone list itself is global and not tied to a profile.

[bacampbe]

My wife keeps telling me her seat memory doesn't work. It works fine when I try it with her fob or mine. Turns out she always unlocks the car from the passenger side, puts her purse (with the fob inside) in the passenger floorboard, then walks over to the drivers side to get in. It looks like this effectively bypasses the profile selection. If I was the previous driver, it leaves the seat in my position. I asked why she always puts her purse in the passenger side, and she tells me it's awkward to get in while carrying it (It's a bit on the large side.)

She tried just hitting the seat memory button, but as far as I can tell, the memory setting is also tied to the profile. So the buttons just move it to my position, not hers. When she starts the car, it does appear to switch to her profile. But she can't reach the brake pedal to start the car until she moves the seat forward manually.

Is there any way around this that doesn't require her to remove the fob from her purse, or put her purse into the car from the driver's side? She's pretty frustrated by this, as her old car's seat memory seemed to just work, and this is a step backwards from her perspective.

On a different but related note, we've both noticed that the side mirrors don't get repositioned when we unlock the car with our fobs. Using the memory button works, but merely unlocking the car with the respective fob does not. Is there some setting for this that I've missed?

[yellolab]

Originally Posted by Raspartan

Now the only thing I haven't figured out is how to switch profiles if my wife has already unlocked the car first. The only thing I can do right now is to lock and then unlock with my fob.

Easy- Using idrive go into settings, profile, and select/switch to whatever profile you want.

Kevin

[Frogman]

Originally Posted by yellolab

Easy- Using idrive go into settings, profile, and select/switch to whatever profile you want.

Kevin

Or even faster; program one of the 1-8 buttons to select that profile.

[jpoet]

You can make switching profiles pretty easy:

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showth...8&postcount=60

[bacampbe]

What fob related actions cause the profile to switch? As far as I can tell, unlocking with the (other) fob button does. Unlocking the drivers door by touch does. Unlocking the passenger side by touch does not. Does hitting the start button do it?