skipper

Ok, I have been here for a while and I have been reading the forums for a long time and most posts about the phone are in reference to bluetooth. Well it appears that it is never going to come to us 2004 E60 owners in the USA. :'( So I am not going to wait any more. What are my options for a phone that will tie into the I-Drive and what do I have to do. I do have the ejetor box pre-installed however it is just an empty box with no hardware connections or anything. What do I need added and is the CPT9000 the only possible phone that will work with the system? I just want a phone that will add my contacts to the address book and that I can dial from the I-Drive and talk through the vehicle mic and hear through the stereo speakers.

Thanks.

jksanford

I believe that your only option is the cpt9000. I just read elsewhere on this forum that there will be no retrofit for Bluetooth in the 04 model cars. The cpt9000 will be the only phone supported for our cars.

skipper

I read that too and that is what prompted my question since I have read on here before of people that have various phones working with their car, just not the BT option. This however is a problem and I think that BMW will be forced to make a way to integrate it since it was part of the sales brochure as a feature of the car. People bought the vehicle with that expectation that they will get this feature. It would be like not getting seats. They are part of the vehicle that is specifically mentioned in their sales brochures. A class action suite may be in order for failure to deliver what was promised.

firewired

Who knows if it ends up being true or not, but I was on the phone with BWMNA and had them check the status of bluetooth and if it was going to be on my ordered car. The rep read through all their releases and said they had just gotten one in on the MY 2004 retrofit, saying they should be released in November. I know that you all have been given a lot of false promises, and I have been misinformed by BMWNA about options on a previous car I ordered, I just hope that it turns out to be true that bluetooth is an option for all of us.

skipper

I agree, especially since it was clearly mentioned in the owner's manual as well as the sales literature as a feature of the car. If they do NOT make this work then I would at least hope that they would offer cradles for other types of phones since I am not a big fan of Motorola phones, especially the V60i which the antennas break off of quite easily.

hinckley

I too was waiting for the BMW bluetooth retro-kit, but finally opted for the new Motorola v710. It has a bluetooth wireless headset with a near flawless voice activation system. Just speak any name in your directory, the phone recognizes it and dials the number -- no hands!!

You don't get the radio mute, however I had my dealer remove the phone cradle from the armrest, and I've now got a pretty large storage space (much needed IMHO). I leave the v710 in my briefcase or the driver's door map pocket, wear the wireless headset and I've got a pretty slick alternative to the cpt9000 and the (will it ever exist) BMW bluetooth retro-kit at a fraction of the cost.

Farbton

Hinckley, I also have the V710 and it is hands down better than that piece of crap CPT 9000. I had it for 6 months and the dealer could not fix all the problems with it. (docking connections, "no network" messages, etc). They finally gave me the money back and I got the V710.

Also note there is a bluetooth wireless handsfree kit for the car with speaker and control module. It does not go through I-drive but is a lot better than the BMW system.

Should also add that the phone and kit were less than $500, installed.

hinckley

Farbton, I've seen the car kit but didn't get it because I use the wireless headset. Do you think that you need both?

skipper

I already have the Sony-Ericsson t39 which is a bluetooth phone. Have had it for about 2 years. I also have the wireless headset. I would just like an option that would integrate into the car so that it would mute the radio and I could just push the button on the steering wheel to make a call. I was also happy to read about a year ago that that was one of the phones that would be supported when the BMW blue-tooth came out.

mrbelk

Just FWIW, nowhere in my E60 brochure (that I got in October of '03) was it mentioned that the car did or would support Bluetooth; nor is there any mention of Bluetooth in the online owners manual. The only thing that was mentioned was the CPT9000. Is it possible that you read marketing material from another market (like the UK or Europe, since they have BT working right now, and have had it since the intro of the vehicle)?

I happen to like the CPT9000 setup. The phone, while "old tech," works just fine (I don't see the need for all of the extra crap that they're packing into cell phones these days), and the integration with the vehicle systems is excellent. I feel significantly more in control of the vehicle while talking now that I have the system working.

-MrB