well guys i just did some research on this and just wanted to point something out. i know we crack down on the service guys at BMW for not knowing all their stuff but when they tell you that a "hardware" upgrade is required, lots of times its that they are just telling you what BMW's computer system is saying about your car.

Apparently their system is telling them that the 03/04 to 08/04 cars don't have the TCU or the right TCU. my service guy told me i needed some hardware and i called BMW North America and the guy there also told me that my car needed hardware. i finally got a service LADY (go figure) from another town that said i needed an upgrade cause the TCU wasn't installed till the 09/04 production date.. i told her i already have a TCU and she was surprised. i informed her it came with my car and that i didn't buy nor install it. I gave her the part number (84116948921) and the SIB. she took the info and looked up the SIB, she also asked a tech about it. the tech wanted me to go through the pairing procedure but i told her its not activated. i pointed her to the #4 on the SIB, my car needs a software update. she read it and she said to bring it in and she'll take a look. I didn't live near that town but asked if i could tell my Service guy about it. she said to give him all the info about my car and about the TCU and he should be able to help me.

this is some great info. its not their fault i guess. BMW should have put in what parts are in the cars. my service guy would just tell me that i needed an hardware update. the lady actually told me what part i needed. that little info was what got me my Bluetooth!! i guess my service guy still required a knock on the head as when i asked him what the name was of the part i needed he said, "the btum or something." he didn't even know the name of the part he was charging me over $1000 for.

SIB

 

I hope my recollection of the events is correct, but here is what I recall to be the background.

The original E60 production run was set up to work with the old Moto CPT 9000 phones via a cradle in the arm rest. BT was set available in the TCU's but had not been activated at the factory as it was not fully up and running at the start of E60 production. That is why you cannot have a charger cradle for any phone other than a CPT 9000 in an 04 E60. There was also a conflict between BT and Assist in the very early cars that could only be resolved via a change to a new design TCU that went into production for vehicles built after 03/04.

The BTUM was a module that fit into the armrest cradle for a CPT 9000 that permitted BT to be used in the pre 03/04 production cars without changing the TCU. The service guy is somewhat correct.

 

yes he is, but i have the TCU produced through 09/04 and those do not work with the BTUM. but like you said, and like i figured out, he didn't know that the TCU was even in the car.

Another thing, unlike the other threads where others have stated they were charged for 1 hour, they are charging me $280 for 3 to 4 hours to do the Software update. . the next closest dealer quoted me $240 and thats for 2 hours, though he said it may take longer. the 1st dealer didn't tell me how many hours, just that it would be $280 and take anywhere from 3 to 4 hours.

looks like i'm getting my BT done and i didn't have to yell at a Service Tech to get it

 

Ok Guys so im in the same boat. I have an 04 E60 with a production date of 9/30/03. I called BMW and they were able to tell me that my car does in fact have the TCU and they could see that it was set to inactive. I will call my dealer to see how much the software update would cost. IF it is a good price i may just install the aux cable kit i bought as well. I will keep you guys updated.

Has anyone had any success doing this? Does it indeed malfunction or does it work correctly.

 

I also called my service center and they were very suprised that this was possible. they said they would charge me for two hours of work, but they did say it may not take the software upgrade and if it didnt i would still have to pay. So, I have not done it yet, but prob will once i get a few other mods out of the way.

 

Be careful here that you don't rush in to trying to get your TCU coded needlessly; for your production time (pre 03/2004) you'll need to swap out your TCU in order to get the BT working. The 2004 models made on or after 03/2004 have a TCU capable of BT but it needs the software update to turn it on. The 2004 models made before 03/2004 by all accounts I've seen are physically incapable of utilizing the BT function due to a hardware limitation.

Steve

 

does this include non nav 2004 models produced after 3/04?

if so i'm in need of this retrofit.

can anyone confirm nav is not needed for bluetooth?

i have an 7/04 production 530i sport package non navi though.

anyone know?

 

I can confirm (mine is a 8/04 build) that without Nav, I was able to get my bluetooth activated at the dealer. It works perfect and even had voice dialing which is tedious to use, but fun just the same.

 

Ok. I've got an 04/2004 production date on my 545i. This sounds like I can get a software upgrade that will enable my BT? I was told by 3 dealers TODAY that it either couldn't be done (1), or that I had to buy a later TCU for about $2000. Is there anyone with first hand experience, a phone number for a dealer that did this successfully or a link to an SIB that I could bring in? I'd hate to run down there and drop a few hundo. for nothing...