All,

Hello. This has been a very good forum and brought alot to my attention. have a 2004 BME 530i with prod date of 11/03. Does not have NAV, but does have CDC. The vehicle is a Certified Pre-Owned. Was in getting some CPO repairs and I mentioned I was looking at a couple of options to enhance my car. Discussed them putting in the iPod aux and he said there was two options, with the more expensive being around $500 and working with iDrive.

I mentioned I was considering getting an after market Blue Tooth since the BMW integration and asked if they would install it etc. He said, they would only install BMW stuff at that if I did do it, any electrical problems I might have would no longer be covered by the warranty. This sound right to you? Wouldn't it be dependent on what type of problem etc.?

I have looked at a bunch of options, but nothing seems to quite fit the bill. Not having NAV I believe means that even if I installed the Dension GW, that the readout would not be text readings of songs, etc. or bluetooth. Thats why I though of the genuine BMW installed iPod aux into iDrive and after market bluetooth. Too afraid of screwing up the warranty though.

Damn shame with these cars at times. This whole iDrive thing makes it difficult to do any after market stereo or anything else. How can they be so advanced and yet have a solution that if I installed it would not get text. Just venting overall, have been happy with almost everything else except the finer points. My 2004 Maxima got song titles on the radio and this thing doesn't.

Thanks for any response on the warranty thing or general suggestions.

Welcome, first you should have the song id for radio you can turn that on in the idrive menue under RDS, second with that production date you should have not problem installing the official ipod module that takes the place of the cd changer in the glove box follow this thread http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=59271, thirdly the car should be able to support bluetooth thru the BTUM least of all but if you have the correct TCU Module it could work thru software. Good luck with it just be paitient as sometimes your car will be on the rack for these mod for awhile

Thanks much for the reply. Any idea why BMW is able to get their iPod interface to read text on oDrive but the Dension Gateway can't. Also,if my iDrive has BMW assist, does that mean i have phone prep with mic installed?

I don't claim to be an expert in the Denison Gateway, Bruce Maranda would need to chime in to answer that question about the gateway.

As far as the phone you most def have mics installed, whether the correct TCU to have bluetooth enable by software upgrade. There is a series number printed on the TCU that is stated in thread probably at the begining of it that tells you whether you have the upgraded one.

Yes, BMW is taking a position on warranty work for communications (not all electrical items) issues if owner is using an unapproved cell phone. Look at this thread for more info.

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=60387

Again, thanks for all who have responded. Hopefully this will be my last newbie comment or question as I have been scouring the threads for info. My vehicle has a box that is in the armest, but there is nothing inside of it that is like a cradle. Also appears to have a hole pre-drilled with a plastic piece that moves up or down to cover it. On my iDrive under communication, it gives me Phone, SMS and BMW Assist. SMS is not selectable, but Phone is and it tells me to talk to my BMW Center.

Is this just standard phone prep for one of these vehicles, or is it possible the owner before me had something integrated. I am going to go in the trunk and try to look at the TCU and part number. Just trying to figure out the difference between the BTUM and full Bluetooth integration is. I am guessing that one means having a phone in a cradle that iDrive controls, the other is not needing any cradle and just having the phone in the vehicle with iDrive controlling.

Oneside note. I just went to the Mobridge site and it looks they they have an iPod connector which appears to be text enabled for both MASK and CCC. I have emailed them to see if this is true. In addition, they have a bluetooth option advertised, but the specific vehicle guide has not been updated for it. Asked about that as well and will let people know the response.

I had same problem as you. You will have to replace the entire TCU in order for other people to hear you. You can get the software upgraded, but it still won't have full use.

I ended up going with this unit http://www.sourceoneaudio.com/index.asp?Pa...amp;ProdID=6289
and had it installed professionally. Works great, installed in ash tray. They wanted like 1500 bucks to replace TCU. Because your build date is prior to 01/04 you are basically screwed.