petem77

UK question - what integrated E60/61 functions would you expect to work with any (non-approved) bluetooth phone?

I would expect not to be able to use snap-in integrated cradle; therefore no phone charging available (any other down side of not using cradle)?
So phone would simply be somewhere in the car - glovebox/door pocket etc.

What would happen with an incoing call?

Could I make an outgoing call? How?

I'm a complete beginner with this - no idea how the integrated system works, so any help appreciated.

PeterS

I'm using an 'unapproved' Nokia 6680 with my 535d. It pairs with the car, and I can make and receive calls, but I am unable to access the phone book or the recent calls list. Not sure if this would be the case for all bluetooth phones though

Peter

petem77

How do you make a call?
...and receive a call?
(I've never seen/used bluetooth connectivity - so I'm a total beginner - hence these questions!)

PeterS

Once you have paired the 'phone with the car its straightforward. When you get in the car, and if bluetooth is active on your phone, the two recognise each other and pair. If you receive a call the stereo is muted and your I-Drive screen switches to the 'communications' menu, showing an incoming call. You also hear the ringing through the car speakers. You can then answer using the little telephone button on the steering wheel, or use I-Drive to 'accept' the call.

Making calls is a little more difficult if you can't acccess the telephone 'phonebook. You can either use I-Drive to input the number (not recommended on the move!) or use the handset to select/dial the number. When you press 'call' the car responds in the same way as when an incoming call is received.

Hope that makes sense...

Peter

PeterS

Sorry, should have added that pairing the phone and car is a one time event. You can also pair multiple phones to the car though (not sure how many; I only have 2 atm)

Peter

petem77

Thanks - that certainly does make sense. Exactly what I was looking for.
I've seen somewhere here that bluetooth use drains the battery more quickly than normal mobile use - do you find this?

PeterS

Battery life on my Motorola V500 (an approved phone I think; the BMW bluetooth kit could access the phone book etc) had pretty poor battery life in the car. A day of driving would certainly see the battery almost flat. Wasn't a major problem as I just used a cigarette lighter charger (only a fiver...) to keep it charged.

However, it was one of the reasons I switched back to Nokia, as in my experiece they have much better battery life. This proved to be correct, as a day of driving seems to have little impact on it, though I have a charger in the glovebox just in case

bruce_miranda

Bluetooth is now a standard and all phones with bluetooth should provide you atleast the basic make and receive call feature (i hope) The main drawback with the unapproved phones is that because they are not completely integrated into the idrive you need the phone at arms length to access things like the phonebook etc. Because the phone book is not accessible you then have drawback of no phone lists, no voice dial etc etc.
Believe it or not the biggest thing I miss is not having a mute mic button on the bmw bluetooth system. My cheap handsfree had that!

petem77

Presumabley there's a microphone somewhere in the car - so you don't need to use the phone's mic?
If so where is it?

PeterS

The microphone is up in the headlining, by the map lights etc AFAIK...