Is anyone else seeing Bluetooth Auto-Reconnect issues with their car?

[ldubya]

I’m reaching out to see if others are experiencing Bluetooth connection issues on their S26 Ultra.

My phone has stopped reconnecting automatically to my car (a 2021 BMW X3). This means Android Auto no longer launches on its own when I start the car. I can still get it to work if I manually trigger the connection from the phone’s Bluetooth settings, but the automatic handshake seems broken.

I’ve tested this against other recent Samsung devices still running One UI 8.0 (like a Fold7 and S25 Edge), and they both reconnect perfectly, which makes me think this might be a bug specific to the One UI 8.5 .

Is anyone else seeing this? 

[Mujibar]

I've had that happen once or twice with my S26U, but it behaves itself for the most part.

[Tom6068]

Try clearing out the Bluetooth connection. This will be somewhat an inconvenience but it is a good workaround Go to Settings/General management/Reset/Rest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings then click the reset button. This will clear out all Bluetooth connections and connected devices. They will all need to be paired again. Also, it will remove the Wi-Fi connection which just requires using the home Wi-Fi login credentials. See if that helps.

[ldubya]

Ah yeah, tried that awhile ago with no luck.   Initial pairing will work but then subsequent connections fail to automatically connect.

This has been happening since the One UI 8.5 beta on S25 Ultra and it persists on the S26 Ultra.  I've almost lost track of everything I've tried. 

1. Reset iDrive numerous times.
2. Renamed phone name, deleted BT pairings on phone and car and then paired again.  Works on the initial pairing but not the next day.  
3. Tried changing AVRCP Version to an earlier version.  

[StrainedDig4]

Same with my S24U and S26U in a new Dodge Ram 2026. Android Auto connects wired but fails wireless, then it does, then it works then randomly drops connection then reconnect. Drops both wired and wireless. Had Dodge update and reset vehicle UConnect System. No improvement. No S24 or S26 update fixes it. Apple Car Play, no connection issue ever. Android Auto does not stay connected, then it does, then it won't connect at all, then it does. Heisenberg is absolutely correct, it is uncertain about connecting...

[Smeagal69]

Yeah, I’m seeing something even worse on my end — not just auto-reconnect, Bluetooth is basically dead across the board after the March security update.
At first it looked like an auto-connect issue with my car, but it’s escalated way beyond that.
What I’m experiencing:
Car won’t auto-connect or stay connected
Android Auto no longer launches automatically
Galaxy Watch constantly connects/disconnects in a loop
Bluetooth speaker won’t stay connected either
At this point, no Bluetooth device maintains a stable connection
What I’ve already tried:
Multiple reboots
Toggling Bluetooth on/off
Resetting network settings
Clearing Bluetooth cache/data
Safe Mode test (same issue)
Unpairing/re-pairing all devices
Full factory reset and setup from scratch
Tested across multiple devices (car, watch, speaker)
Result: Same behavior every time — brief connection, then disconnect or looping.
What’s still working:
Wi-Fi is solid
No other noticeable system issues
Given that everything was working perfectly before, and now every Bluetooth device fails after the March update, this really feels like a deeper One UI 8.5 / firmware-level bug rather than just the auto-reconnect handshake.
You’re definitely not alone — but if yours is only auto-connect, you might be catching the “lighter” version of whatever this is.

[ldubya]

Well, I took some more drastic measures and performed a factory reset on the BMW iDrive system in hopes that would flush out any BT gremlins but alas that did not help any effect.