guys i'm in Saudi Arabia, the E60 here comes with BT. It is very beautiful when it works, but i have been having some problems with it.
you can read the thread here to know more about my problems

http://www.bmw-forums.com/forum/index.php?...opic=8233&st=0&

 

Great thread. Plenty of useful info there. But I'm having issues with the bottom line. Is it possible that a Sony Ericcson T610 will work now here in the U.S.?

 

I recently purchased a 2004 530i from Richmond BMW in VA. My salesman told me Bluetooth was installed in it already. I have some type of bluetooth code which activates the system but I haven't activated it yet. I don't have a compatible phone as yet as I am with Verizon Wireless. Anyone else have this installed already?

 

Our printed materials included a BT passcode card; since the dealer quoted a $650 fee for BT module install, it never occurred to me that it was already enabled. I have an EricsSony T68i as my regular mobile; I will try to link the two this weekend & inform the group as to the result. I also have some PDF material from BMWUSA regarding supported phones, installation, etc. I am unclear on how to share this with the group.



regards, billb....


(525i, premium pkg, cw pkg, steptronic, adaptive xenon, titanium grey, grey dakota leather)

 

Here's what I know about Bluetooth. There are a couple of different things that conflict with bluetooth:

1. BMW Assist (in US).

2. NAV Professional (worldwide).


I have heard that the conflict with the NAV Pro should be solved by 9/2004 at the latest. As far as the conflict with BMW Assist, according to the following chart that should also be solved by 9/2004 (see chart below). This indicates that model year 2005 should have BT working.





There is someone named Jonathan Spira on the Roadfly boards who is an expert on the details of Bluetooth (what works, what does not work, what will or will not be available in the US) and here's what he says:

1. Bluetooth will NOT be available as a retrofit for 2004 US E60's. He is VERY sure about this issue. He insists that even though there are cards or other BT related materials that were put in the glove box of US E60's, BT is not installed in these cars and will not be available as a retrofit kit.

2. While BMW only has Eject boxes for 3 or 4 Bluetooth phones, all other BT phones SHOULD work with iDrive AS LONG AS they use something called "Bluetooth Handsfree Protocol". According to him this rules out the Sony Ericsson P800 and P900 and the Ericsson T28 with BT module, but the T68, T610, T630, Z600 etc. would work just fine. So this means that as long as the BT phone uses the "Bluetooth Handsfree Protocol" it will talk with iDrive, but since BMW may not have an eject box for it you can't "snap" it into its cradle inside the armrest to charge, AND it will not use the car's roof antenna. You can just keep the phone on your belt or in your purse and it will link with iDrive just fine. You would have to use other means if you want to charge the phone in the car (like a cig. lighter adaptor).

The good thing about BT is that you are not stuck with antiquated (and ugly) phones like the CPT-9000, as new BT phones come out year after year you could upgrade to a new one and it will still work with iDrive.

I have to keep my Verizon service because of the terrible reception of all the others in my area (Cingular, T-Mobile, etc.). The problem is that there are no BT phones for CDMA. Sony Ericsson just came out with a BT phone for Sprint's CDMA, which I assume will work with Verizon too, but I'm not sure.

rodybmw

 

rodybmw Thanks for your helpful posting there

Do you or your source have any ideas as to whether bluetooth can be retrofitted onto UK e60's ?

 

Unfortunately I have no info on the UK models, but I would guess that it would be possible to retrofit BT on your car (maybe not now but when the appropriate parts become available). Even in the US we can retrofit BT kit on the E39 and E53, and the reason that they are saying it can't be done on the 2004 E60 is becasue at this point it will still have a conflict with BMW Assist. I assume your car does not have BMW Assist as it will not even be available on the E60 in the UK until this spring, so if I had to bet I would say that if a retrofit BT kit is not available for your car at this point it will probably come out eventually.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

rodybmw

 

Whilst discussing other shortcomings with my dealer (lighters in the rear, TMC, A/C) he said, and i quote:
"hey we're not BMW we are a dealer -- and i have to tell people asking for BT-retro, who were told to expect it, to stop expecting it as it is not going to happen"

but, then again, he didn't seem too smart :-)

 

Thanks for the reply.

You are right about me not having BMW assist. I will keep my fingers crossed - or wait for better bluetooth headsets to come along (My present phone - SE P900 doesn't seem to work 100% with BMW's implementation of BT anyway)

 

look at this week's www.autospies.com
They have the ultimate BMW Bluetooth and Sirius internal documents describing availability for all BMW models.