Hi All,

We picked up our new Fiat 500c just over a month ago, and since then have had ongoing problems with the Blue & Me.

When playing tracks from the USB (and this is with two different USB's - see below) sometimes at the end of a track there will be a pause, and then a click and the mediaplayer will disconnect (so the radio will come on). This can happen when coming to the end of a track after it has played, or if you skip a track. Shortly after this - with it not being possible to select Mediaplayer on the controls we'll also see a disconnection from the phone that was connected by bluetooth (my iPhone or my partners Motorola Razr). After a short while again the connection will connect again and the the mediaplayer will play the first track (always the same - but I understand that) and it may be alright again for a while, or it may only last another couple of tracks before disconnecting again.

Before taking it back to the dealer the first time I bought a second USB in case it was an isolated problem with type of drive I had. I put no more than 1GB for safety on either key, but it continued to happen. It went back in - only to come back the same day with the garage saying that there were some non mp3 files on the keys but that they'd reset the control unit anyway. I didn't think that this could cause a problem (?) and the only other files were standard hidden index files that a Mac puts in any folder that's created. I called the service department and they said that they were pretty sure it wasn't Mac compatible. Again - a surprise as it certainly makes no mention of that anywhere - and surely mp3 files are standard. It is correctly formatted though as a DOS format which is what's required. I found a way to take off all these Mac index files and the problem continued. They seemed to accept this shouldn't be happening and took it back.
Finally - with the Service Manager himself finding a problem with the device when he looked at it - they replaced the Blue & Me unit.
But the problem persists. I'm at the end of my tether if truth be told. I haven't yet reported this back to the dealer as I'm hoping someone here might have an idea of what could be causing this.

One interesting point to add which may be relevant. On the pre-delivery inspection of the car the dealer noticed that there was an intermittent fault with one of the body computers (?). It apparently affected central locking, and was eventually replaced - though to be honest I don't think we experienced a problem with it for the 2 or 3 weeks we had it prior to repair. Probably unrelated....

Anyone got any ideas on this? Is there a secondary slot the USB can be tried in on a 500c like I've read for other cars (in case this is the issue).
Are people using their USB's with a Mac okay?

Thanks in advance

Also - forgot to mention:-

Since we've had it back after the replacement of the Blue & Me unit our inbuilt Blue & Me Sat Nav won't connect either. I can't see 'Navigator' or whatever was the option before through the steering wheel menu. Am I right in thinking they've given me this new unit on the new version which isn't compatible with the Sat Nav yet?

My 500 doesn't like the USB stick that Fiat gave me (I've only used it recently to put a few Christmas songs on). I don't know if this has just started a bigger problem off but the USB I had before this one was fine.
This one disconnects and like you said when it starts again it plays from the first song. Will let you know when I swap back x

Thanks for the response.
This doesn't seem related to any specific USB Key - which is a shame as at least it would be fairly simple to understand. It did seem to be affecting one particular key. I reformatted this on a PC and that made no difference. I swapped the files over to my other key - and the problem is now on the new key. So it does seem to point to the files or something in the media that Blue & Me doesn't like. They're all .mp3's though - so I'm at a loss. I need to speak to the dealer about the fact it's now lost it's ability to work with the Sat Nav (I suspect due to the version they've put on), but it get's odder and odder!
I may try a whole new set of songs on the two keys to see if that makes a difference. The real surprise for me is that it disonnects the from the phone - if it was a problem with just the audio playback that would be one thing, but with the phone as well it's weird.

Did you solve this?

My 2010 Punto evo seems to have an identical problem, the system switches to radio and the phone disconnects...

V. annoying...

Not sure if relevant with a Mac, but have you tried the FAT 32 format before using the USB? The first USB I used wouldn't work (at all) so I bought a new one, did the Fat 32 format and 6 weeks later no problems with two different USBs formatted in this way.

I'm using 2 different usb sticks (8&4GB), both were formatted to FAT32 (on a PC) and checked for any hidden files all of which are mp3's.
They currently hold about 400MB of data in 3 folders/albums...

dyzio said:

Did you solve this?

My 2010 Punto evo seems to have an identical problem, the system switches to radio and the phone disconnects...

V. annoying...

Click to expand...

Don't think you are going to get a reply from adthebad as his last post of 3 was 4 1/2 years ago?

Try formatting again in fat32 and only putting say 3 songs on the root directory, no folders etc and see if that works?

Every Usb was formatted before use, I've copied only mp3 files on it in various locations (root and sub folders), and the problem persisted.
Didn't try it with 3 files, every time there was a min of 100MB.

But, I've tried to copy mp3's onto a CD and use the CD player. About 40 tracks on the CD (root), haven't had any resets yet (on 30-40 min journeys).