Software Update - 2014 Mazda Mazda3 S Long-Term Road Test

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Software Update - 2014 Mazda Mazda3 S Long-Term Road Test

We took our 2014 Mazda 3 in for a recommended software update.

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gloss

Don't jinx yourself.

scottybb

"If I were a regular owner ..." would I get an email from Mazda indicating that a software update is available? I'm guessing that these emails are not available to "regular owners". It would be nice it manufacturer's did set up a convenient system to notify owners of updates to software related systems in their vehicles.

barich1

It would be better if it could just use your phone's data connection over Bluetooth or connect to Wi-Fi to download the update. Requiring a dealer visit is dumb. Even being able to download the update to a flash drive from a computer would be a better option

meckser

The software update on my BMW took overnight to run. And apparently it fails frequently. Seems mind boggling to me.

stever

The manufacturers are probably afraid that a consumer will "brick" their car if they let 'em do their own updates.

Tesla (and likely some others) notifies owners of updates and lets them update immediately or schedule it for later.

Firmware upgrades are another story.

bc1960

You can upgrade the navigation data and the Gracenote database (whoopie!) yourself. I haven't tried the nav update yet because you can only use your original, magic SD card, although the software allows you to make an image backup of the existing data to another drive first.

m0d01

I'm on v33 and its still buggy. Ipod often will not play more than a couple songs in a row before freezing at 0:05 seconds into a track.

Also have the new maps. Those still have incorrect streets (David St to get onto the 10 west at La Cienega??) AND the nav voice sounds WAY too soon before upcoming turns. It says "Turn Left!" when there are still 2 streets between here and where I need to turn.

Something in MZD connect needs to fundamentally change. I know they're working on it. The dev community is starting to take this one on, too, so maybe there's hope.

Got my car (2014 3s Touring 5 Door) in April with v29. I did the v33 upgrade myself about a month ago. I've had some time to work with it and I have to say that I'm having a hard time finding whats different...except that wifi has been disabled.

150% satisfied with the car. 25% satisfied with the infotainment system.

javaforlife

I have been curious, does the infotainment system support music tags in traditional chinese, japanese and korean? The only base head unit that I have seen with those language support are from Kia and Hyundai...

grakl

@m0d01. MazdaConnect takes a ridiculously long amount of time to load metadata from an iPod containing lots of tracks. Once you start the car, just let the iPod site for 8-10m. Then you'll be able to use it properly. (At least, that has been my experience). Even sillier is that you have to wait 8-10m every time to stop and start the car. I've made a list of issues and will be taking it in to the Mazda service dept within the next couple of weeks. The said they can send these complaints straight to Mazda HQ.

grakl

Btw, anyone know how to check your version of Mazda Connect?

melidere

@m0d01: How did you update the firmware yourself? I am on 29.00.000 and it has some stuttering when streaming music from my iPhone 5, I'm hoping updates fix this, do these releases come with notes on what they fixed?

ex_tdier

You can't update the firmware yourself and there is no way for the consumer to know when an update is available. One would think you could do so yourself through the Mazda toolbox, For now, the firmware update is available under warranty. Once your warranty is over, don't expect support from Mazda.