OverSoft

I just wanted to help some people who have some troubles with their TCU and want a cheaper solution than to buy a new one.

I had the problem that my iPhone3G couldn't see the original TCU at all. My older Nokia N73 worked, but whatever i tried, the iPhone couldn't see the car.
After trying dual-sim (which is a nightmare, as the computer in the car stays on for like a half hour or so after turning off the car, so all calls come in on the car), i realized i needed something different.

As i already had the Gateway 500 in the car, i could just plug in the BTA1500 and it should work instantly... (and it was really cheap, about 80 euro's here in Holland)
So, after receiving the module, i took it to my car-audio guy and let the car stand there, so he could do his thing (i don't have much time do this kind of stuff).
A couple of hours later i received a call that he couldn't get it to work properly. He could pair with the device and receive calls, but the iDrive menu still said: "Insert SIM card" and i couldn't make a call.

Remembering some posts from here, i remembered where the TCU was located and i headed over there to give him a hand.
I removed the leftside interior from the trunk and saw a big metal box with a couple of plugs in it and stickers all over it.
Disconnecting the bottom fiber optic plug didn't work, as the optical circle wasn't complete anymore and nothing worked anymore (no iPod, no CD changer, etc...)

Then i noticed a small black "connector array" (with lack of a better word) right next to the TCU. I noticed a couple of fiber optic cables already in it, so i figured: just rewire the thing so the TCU will be skipped.
I followed the optic cables to the TCU, disconnected those and disconnected one of the other lines. I then plugged it right to the back of the connector array, so the circle would be whole again.
(Sorry, didn't take any picture, but it looked like this:
Front of car -> optic -> ====== -> optic -> TCU
Front of car -> optic -> ====== -> optic -> TCU

and i rewired it, so it looked like this:

Front of car -> optic -> ====== -> optic -> Front of car
Nothing -> ====== -> Nothing)

I turned on the car and bingo! Working BTA1500 with all options available.
The only thing i now get is an "SOS emergency call warning", but that's kinda obvious as the TCU isn't there anymore
I've been told that the dealer can disable this message, so i'm going to do this at my next service.


Hope i've helped some people who were struggling with this as i was.