Northernlight

Hi everyone,

I want to able to use Blue Tooth in my 2004 545. Here is the picture of the TCU (Telematics Control Unit) part number part is 84.11 6948921



The manufacture date of this car was in April 2004 in Germany with navigation, delivered to Canada in late May 2004.

I am having conflicting information on this topic:

1). Some said this TCU is upgradeable, all I need is a software upgrade to 16.2

2) Dealer said I need to buy a whole new TCU in order to get Blue Tooth and junk my existing TCU, the recommended part is 84.11 6955688 which costs over 2,000 dollars plus labour.

Needed expert Help or members that have experience in solving the problem in this area! Many many thanks.

katmai

Cars produced prior to March 2004 has 84 11 6 942 592 (older part). I believe your TCU part would work, if it is activated.

alohalc

welcome aboard, northernlight ! i think you just need a sw update. i have the same manufacture date and going to get 16.2 tomorrow. hope they'll activate the bluetooth for me as well .

jksanford

Yes, software upgrade is all you need...

Northernlight

Thanks a bunch guys.

Alohalc if you can, please tell your story after you successfully upgraded to 16.2. Did you get your upgrade from the dealership or who else can do it, how much would it cost if you do not mind sharing?

I would like to get more inputs on the topic. I dislike the fact the dealer wants to take me to a cleaner, squeeze me for over 2000 bucks out of my son's educational fund and throw away a perfect functional part. It is not good for the environment, YIKES!

Just because we spent BIG on our bimmers , that does not make us stupid. I need your guys help to ward off the devil empire - dealers that are not competent and greedy.

I do have very high respect for dealers that act honestly and professionally, my hat is off for them.

jtp1947

An update to 16.2 doesn't have to cost you anything through your BMW dealer. Tell them the I-Drive screen blacks out now and then; tell them your radio comes back on after you have turned it off prior to turning off the engine; tell them the anti-trap feature on your power windows isn't working properly. These items are fixed in s/w 16.2 and should get you a free update. It will also include the perspective view for your NAV.

alohalc

will let you know after i p/u the car, northernlight .

jtp1947, sw update is free if there is any problem but activate the bluetooth is another story. i'm hoping they are going to do it for me for free but if they charge me an hour labor, i think i have to pay it :'(.

gdavis

fyi, my car was assembled in may2004, and my tcu was produced in april2004. when they installed the bluetooth software, they discovered that the tcu was not working properly/broken so they installed a new tcu under warranty at no charge for the tcu. the 'new' tcu was actually older (mfd in march 04) and it worked!

So it isn't only when the car was built, but also the tcu production date, and don't assume that all tcu's are working just because they are originally installed in the car.

I did have to pay for the time to install the software us$400, but I'm really glad I got it, as it is one of the coolest features in the car.

M3@Apex

Great, had the same question.

alohalc

my dealer just called and said they need to rewire something and going to charge me $250. not sure that is just for parts or with labor. but i thought many members just did the sw upgrade without touching any wires. is the dealer trying to rip me ?