I cannot wait any longer for Nextel to come out with a phone that will work with my car. So I'm looking for the best phone that will work with the E60 bluetooth system. I live in South Florida so if anybody has experience with Sprint of Verizon please let me know how their service is? I would like a small flip style phone, but being able to use the phone hands free is really important. I use the car for business and believe it will be much safer to keep my hands on the wheel when using my phone. It's to bad I can't get a bluetooth phone through Nextel.

 

The ever popular link:
http://www.x5world.net/bluetooth_compatible_phones.htm

Bad news is with Verizon and Sprint you'll need a CDMA phone. As you peruse the list you'll notice nothing but issues with those phones (varying degrees of compatibility with the car). No little flip phones work perfectly with either network but there are hacks for a few of them.

 

I just went through this. After reading numerous posts on this board, I decided last week to switch from Verizon to Cingular despite the fact that Verizon's service is better in my area. Verizon has disabled many of the Bluetooth functions on its BT phones. I choose a Motorola Phone (V551) because the posts clearly indicate that Motorola phones are best for the BMW BT system. The Motorola phone has been easy to use with the car. So far, I'm very happy with the information I took from this forum.

 

Cingular is GSM, not CDMA as noted above. They have many phones that work well with the car.

 

Verizon has the Motorola v710 (Radioshack) which can be patched to work with the e60. Sprint has the Treo 650 (Palm PDA phone; Sprint store) which can also be patched to work with the car. Neither work out of the box. Being able to get a signal where you need to use the phone is by far the most important criteria.

Sam

 

I am a long time Verizon user who switched to Cingular to obtain functionality with my BT enabled E60. I believe Verizons service is marginally superior to that of Cingulars but am optimistic that as the merger with ATT matures the Cingular coverage will improve. That said, Verizon does not officially have a phone that works with the car. You need to buy their V710 and download a firmware update which then provides full functionality.

Member wnrussell and I have tested both a flashed Verizon V710 and Cingular V3 RAZR both paired with car with several voice tests from the same location.

Both phones paired perfectly and the address book uploaded. Voice quality on the V3 in our tests was better. The listening party said that the V3 sounded like a land line and V710 like a cell phone.

The V3 is spectacular phone. I have yet to plug it into the car for a charge, I do charge it every night though. Its form factor allows me to keep it comfortably in my trouser pocket. I have always needed a belt clip with other phones.

My nod goes to the RAZR V3. If its price is high, I would suggest any of the other Cingular BT phones from Motorola.

 

Yes, I also chosen V3 since everyone from this forum said, V3 works best with BMW. Although, I also had to change my carrier from verizon for last 10years..
So far, V3 works perfectly fine and I am never happy with my phone.
One problem(not the phone) BMW need to fix 5 ring limitation...

 

Whoops, my bad. I meant to write "Verizon and Sprint" and changed my post accordingly. I have Cingular on the brain because I too have dumped Sprint (CDMA) for Cingular/AT&T (GSM) to access the Sony Ericsson T637 which also seems to pair quite well with the car. If you're patient there has been occassion that Cingular offers these phones for free.....just watch the website. I wanted a small candybar phone, not a flip like the Moto.

I feel like I've waited forever for Sprint/Nextel to get their act together. I voted with my wallet.

 

Has anyone had any success with the Blackberry 7290 (Bluetooth enabled) with Cinglular service in an e60? I have read through quite a few posts over the past few weeks and don't recall seeing any comments on the Blackberry as being compatible.

 

Blackberries do not work with BMW bluetooth..... don't listen to that X5 world site.