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Phone Camera Damaged from Vibration?

vvatc

vvatc

New member
My 2022 R 1250 RT has a built-in wireless phone charging "pocket" complete with a little fan to help keep it cool since the QI charger generates more heat than a cord charger. However, my iPhone camera no longer works when I use the 2.5 zoom lens as the image bounces around. It's as if the stabilizing function on the camera no longer works. A quick google search produced several articles and a few posts on reddit from users with all different makes of smartphones experiencing the same problem. I also found an official warning from Apple.

I'm a little surprised that the BMW engineers would specifically design a phone holder that damages the camera but it appears that may be the case. Anyone else have trouble with their phone cameras after using the RT phone holder? Any word on a BMW fix before I visit my dealer and place a warranty claim?

Bud
 
vvatc said:
My 2022 R 1250 RT has a built-in wireless phone charging "pocket" complete with a little fan to help keep it cool since the QI charger generates more heat than a cord charger. However, my iPhone camera no longer works when I use the 2.5 zoom lens as the image bounces around. It's as if the stabilizing function on the camera no longer works. A quick google search produced several articles and a few posts on reddit from users with all different makes of smartphones experiencing the same problem. I also found an official warning from Apple.

I'm a little surprised that the BMW engineers would specifically design a phone holder that damages the camera but it appears that may be the case. Anyone else have trouble with their phone cameras after using the RT phone holder? Any word on a BMW fix before I visit my dealer and place a warranty claim?

Bud
Click to expand...

Just bad luck I'm afraid. Earlier thread here- https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthrea...age-on-Motorcycles&highlight=iPhone+vibration

I would be kinda amazed if a warranty claim was accepted.

Let us know how you make out. :ear

OM
 
It's a fairly well known issue that mounting phones to motorbikes can damage the image stabilization that comes with premium cell phones. My K1600 seems to have taken out my prior Samsung S20 Ultra Plus phone camera focusing, which had been mounted via a Ramball mount on the steering column. My new S23 rides in my jacket pocket. I would imagine the temp extremes phones experience while mounted on a bike in Southern climates or in storage compartments anywhere near the engine will shorten the life of thr battery or risk taking out chips within the phone. I'm not taking thr chance again.
 
rhbike said:
It's a fairly well known issue that mounting phones to motorbikes can damage the image stabilization that comes with premium cell phones. My K1600 seems to have taken out my prior Samsung S20 Ultra Plus phone camera focusing, which had been mounted via a Ramball mount on the steering column. My new S23 rides in my jacket pocket. I would imagine the temp extremes phones experience while mounted on a bike in Southern climates or in storage compartments anywhere near the engine will shorten the life of thr battery or risk taking out chips within the phone. I'm not taking thr chance again.
Click to expand...
No camera issues, but I hosed the vibration module/haptic feedback on an S23+ a few weeks ago using the ConnectedRide cradle. Luckily Verizon covered it under warranty, but there are a ton of reports everywhere of this happening frequently now with all manner of mounts (BMW ConnectedRide, Quadlock, RAM, etc.). I installed the BMW ConnectedRide app on my old S20+ and now use that as my dedicated nav phone and keep my S23+ in my pocket. I read one report where someone tried to get Quadlock to cover the cost of a replacement phone and were denied. As was mentioned upthread, I don't think you'll have much luck getting anybody to reimburse you for your phone or pay for a repair. Let us know how it works out.
 
I had this problem with a loose phone mount - the normal vibration plus the loose mount scrambled the phone.
It returned to normal after I did a hard reboot. (iPhone)
 
I also had my iphone 12 mini camera damaged by mounting a quad lock WITHOUT the dampener to a dirt bike. I took it to a Apple repair place and they replaced the camera part for about $120.00. I installed the quad lock dampener and haven't had an issue since.
 
vvatc said:
My 2022 R 1250 RT has a built-in wireless phone charging "pocket" complete with a little fan to help keep it cool since the QI charger generates more heat than a cord charger. However, my iPhone camera no longer works when I use the 2.5 zoom lens as the image bounces around. It's as if the stabilizing function on the camera no longer works. A quick google search produced several articles and a few posts on reddit from users with all different makes of smartphones experiencing the same problem. I also found an official warning from Apple.

I'm a little surprised that the BMW engineers would specifically design a phone holder that damages the camera but it appears that may be the case. Anyone else have trouble with their phone cameras after using the RT phone holder? Any word on a BMW fix before I visit my dealer and place a warranty claim?

Bud
Click to expand...

Pardon my ignorance, but how is a known vibration issue related to your phone a BMW warranty claim?
 
At the BMW service department:

Hi. I need to file a warranty claim w/r/t my 2022 1250.

What part of your 1250 broke?

Nothing. My iPhone is broken.

I’m sorry, did you say your iPhone is broken?

Yes.

We don’t sell them and we surely didn’t sell you an iPhone so if your iPhone is broken you need to contact an Apple repair store.
 
If the hatch cover is open it conflicts with the handlebars but possibly the cover could be removed when it's safe to leave it open, from prying eyes.
 
ClassicVW said:
At the BMW service department:

Hi. I need to file a warranty claim w/r/t my 2022 1250.

What part of your 1250 broke?

Nothing. My iPhone is broken.

I’m sorry, did you say your iPhone is broken?

Yes.

We don’t sell them and we surely didn’t sell you an iPhone so if your iPhone is broken you need to contact an Apple repair store.
Click to expand...

ClassicVW said:
In all fairness, it says not to put your electronics in there if they’re sensitive to heat. Doesn’t mention vibrations. Possible route to take for a complaint?
Click to expand...

:scratch

OM
 
ClassicVW said:
In all fairness, it says not to put your electronics in there if they’re sensitive to heat. Doesn’t mention vibrations. Possible route to take for a complaint?
Click to expand...

One could certainly try, but if they cave into one complaint they are going to be buying a lot of people smartphones based on the number of incidents I have seen of this in the last year or so. I suspect the phones just got too fancy and fragile to mount to motorcycles. I have used phones mounted to various bikes (BMW, Honda, Ducati, KTM) with RAM mounts, the BMW cradle and other methods (bar, stem, clamp, windscreen brace, etc.) for years and never had a problem. I used my S20+ for a few years with the same mount on the same 2 bikes and had no problems for years. Fast forward to this year and doing the same thing with my new S23+ and it broke the phone in a little over a month of weekend use. I am sure type of phone has something to do with it as well as probably a dozen other factors (mounting location, type of engine, frequency/duration of use, blah blah) but until someone figures that out the safest thing to do is to not mount your primary phone to your bike.
 
From the info I've seen phones that have OIS are subject to motorcycle vibration issues. I wouldn't keep a phone with OIS on a bike.
 
Exposure to vibrations, like those generated by high-powered motorcycle engines, might impact iPhone cameras

Not really the operating system, it’s part of the image stabilization system which lets an iPhone be such a great camera.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212803

OM

strataj said:
From the info I've seen phones that have OIS are subject to motorcycle vibration issues. I wouldn't keep a phone with OIS on a bike.
Click to expand...
 
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