Hi all,

Just picked up a 2014 Mazda3 i GT on Sunday, and I'm having severe problems with the guidance audio from the nav system.

The first time I tried it, the voice prompts were extremely low volume, such that I could barely hear the instructions. Following the user manual, I went into the settings menu for Guidance Volume and raised it, and when the slider changed position the voice would say "Navigation will be at this volume" but the voice volume never actually changed, it was always very quiet.

The next time I started the car, the voice prompts were so loud it was hurting my ears and I had to cancel navigation to be able to drive. Again, went to the Guidance Volume menu and tried lowering the setting all the way down, but every time the voice would say "NAVIGATION WILL BE AT THIS VOLUME" and it never changed the actual volume.

Next time... audio was so low it could not be heard at all. Next time... back to screaming again.

I called Mazda support and they walked me through some reset procedures but nothing helped.

I would also like to mention that the nav crashed twice while in the middle of navigation, and also it is constantly forgetting my audio settings (bass/treble, favorite FM stations, etc.)

Does anyone know if there is any user accessible "hard reset" function or a software update? Otherwise I'm going back to the dealer...

Thanks.

 

I brought home a 2014 Mazda 3 GT today, and I'm also having issues related to the guidance volume, as well as other minor bugs.

I actually never did hear the guidance voice instructions. At first I thought there wasn't any voice, but then I found the settings where you can set the volume (and it was 3/4 the way up).

After a minute of navigation, sound cuts out of the entire left hand side of the car. It only plays on the right hand side.

To make matters worse, once that happens, the volume adjustments appear to only impact navigation volume (which so far has not made a sound, the volume control is pointless). I can not turn up or down my music volume. I've scanned the manual and went into every option I can think of. The only thing that fixes it is to turn off the car and turn it on again.

Also, my voice command button has ceased to work. Even after turning off/on the car, the button just doesn't seem to do anything.

 

There's an easier way to adjust the voice prompt volume. Using the volume **** while the navigation system is speaking will actually adjust the navigation volume directly.

There's even a trick to get the navigation to start speaking so you can make this adjustment any time. If you are in the nav system (and you have a destination set), pressing the nav button will make the system repeat the last instruction. This way, even if the volume is set so low that you can't actually hear it, you can press the nav button, then turn the volume up to an audible level.

 

Handy tips, thanks!

I think what happened to me yesterday, was that the guidance system voice got 'stuck' before actually saying anything. That's why my music was only playing from the right hand side and the volume adjustments only adjusted the nav system (it was like this for 10 minutes straight)

I haven't had an issue today though! Even my voice button has had it's full functionality restored.

 

I have had 2014 M3 GT for almost 3 weeks. I love the car everyday in every aspect. But I had issues with Navigation as well.

My issues are a little different. But certainly it has to do with navigation.

Normally, the navigation works well without problems when I ONLY USE NAVIGATION. I have had problems with volume control but it was because I did not know how to control navigation volumes correctly I think.

But when I connect any storage device (smartphone or USB drive) for mp3 playback through USB hookups and use navigation at the same time. 9 out of 10 times the system crashes being either without navigation voice or without capability to access the storage device. Or sometimes both. And it always happens about 20-30 minutes after I turn on both devices. Oh, yes sometimes the music sound gets totally mute on the driver side while navigation voice goes mute too. So all I hear is just the half cut volume music from the passenger side without any navigation voice.

Also, when I use ONLY the storage devices for mp3 playback, 7 out of 10 times it crashes.

There is no way to reset/refresh the system at the moment unless I turn off ignition and restart engine and reboot.

I highly suspect the USB storage compatibility or system resource to simultaneously handle the combined use with other devices. I am sure most of you guys having this problem had your smartphones or something connected through usb hookup for mp3 play or wifi when you had navigation crash. I tried couple different smartphones and usb drives, the results were same. Very annoying because it sucks if the navigation goes voiceless or music play gets stuck while I am driving on freeways. I can not concentrate on driving nor can I stop the vehicle to reboot the system!!!

Oh, also, my preferred system settings change little bit too once the system crashes like that. Such as speaker sound settings, navigation display settings, etc. So after every crash I find myself trying to put the settings back. And it sucks too because there are too many control settings to go through on 2014 M3. I heard Mazda designed the system for us to focus more on the wheels without distraction. Hell with it! I find myself everyday desperately focused on tweaking settings WHILE DRIVING trying to get the navigation back to work or put the music back thanks to this glitch.

Other than that, I am totally in love with my M3 GT. I put a scuff plate yesterday and looks fantastic.

Please anyone update if you find any solutions or firmware updates.

 

I am having some of the same issues with my GT s. The sound has cut out on the drivers side a couple of times and the remaining volume was so low it was unintelligible at highway speeds.

The voice control "Talk" button also works intermittently.

When everything is working this audio/navigation system is sweet, but it is seldom all working.

The factory setting reset does not address the problems.

I do have a 32GB USB drive installed for music and an HTC One phone tied in via bluetooth. I have tried removing each or both from the car but it does not help the problems.

 

Just an update: I've been in contact with Mazda support over the issue and they claim to be aware of these issues and are working on it.

In addition to the problems with the guidance volume, I'm also seeing the system crashes/reboots like the other posters have mentioned, and it does seem to be related to using USB or Bluetooth audio and navigation at the same time.

I've also noticed other menus, like the audio settings, reset themselves to default every 2nd or 3rd time I start the car.

And finally... although the dealer told me the car has radio-based traffic (like most Garmin and Tomtom GPS devices), it appears that it does not. There is no traffic info unless you sync with a Wifi device for internet access.

I'm very happy with all the mechanical aspects of the car, but the nav system gets a 0/10 until they get these issues resolved.

 

Just for the heads up, 2014 M3 navigation comes with 2 traffic info without needs of WiFi.

First one is HD radio traffic under the Application menu. This one gives real time info but in reality, its useless because you can not zoom in to see the details.

Second one is under the Navigation menu. I forgot which submenu it was but it's under third or forth icon at the bottom of the navigation screen. With this one, you can view all the details by zooming in. Only drawback is that it only updates every 30 minutes or an hour that what you see now might not be true as it always reflects results in the past.

If you can not find any of these menu options, perhaps you are trying to find it while you are driving. M3 navigation system is very sophisticated that it hides some of uncritical menus once the wheels are rolling. But when you come to a complete stop the menus appear right back on.

I just hope I can get my issues with navigation ASAP. It freaking annoys me when it crashes while driving. It certainly is not a joyful thing to do to stop the vehicle and restart the engine to reboot navigation and/or listen to the music. And most of the times when system crashed, I was on freeways. Damn it!!!

 

Look through your music/audio files on those USB drives for non alphanumeric characters. Stuff like %, *, ; etc. These seem to trip up the system and lead to the crash you're experiencing. re-naming or deleting those files might give you better luck for now.

 

Hmmm.. interesting. I gotta try that. Thanks.