tomstin

There are several threads detailing the installation but given the multiple configurations over the life of the E60 I thought I would detail my experience in the hope it saves someone else some time and frustration.

With the help of this forum, I installed a BMW satellite radio module purchased of ebay and coded the car to complete that installation. That gave me the confidence to attempt this non-BMW component.

The coding forum http://bmwcoding.com/ is very helpful, but search, read and search some more. Patience is critical, and when you think you understand, read everything one more time!

I purchased the Dension Gateway 500 and BTA1500 from http://www.bumperplugs.com/BPindex.html Quick service, included an email with helpful tips and soft copies of all the documentation. Eric was very responsive to my email inquires. I highly recommend them!

The installation is straightforward but the documentation is sparse. However, there is really not much to installing the hardware. After removing the covering from the power and optical cables I used the CDC power and ground wires to provide power to the Dension.

Some great pictures here https://5series.net/forums/topic/487...e__hl__dension

The optical cables got a bit tricky. I separated the cables, turned the car on to verify which cable was lit. With the car turned on it?s real obvious, so mark this cable with a piece of tape being careful not to touch the end of the optical cable. To mate the optical cables with the Gateway unit I removed a connector from one of the patch cables supplied with the Gateway unit. Carefully remove the connector from the patch cable, ensure you have the light in and out (arrows on the connector) in the correct position, insert your car optical cables into the connector, now the connector into the Gateway unit.

As for the switches, two and six on was the only configuration I could get to work "BMW E60 M-ASK No CD Changer Connected".

I went to the gateway site and downloaded and installed the latest firmware from here: http://www.dension.com/downloads?fie...o_one=Firmware This process is interesting as you load the file onto a USB drive, insert the drive into the Gateway unit, turn the unit on and wait for two minutes. No blinking lights or any other indication. If the update is successful, the file is gone from the USB key.

The hardware portion is now done, on to coding the car.

I initially added +IPOD to the vehicle order along with +KMP3, tried all the various switch configuration on the Gateway unit and could not get anything to work.

Note: Make sure you power the unit down between any and all changes to the Gateway unit or devices. I chased my tail a bit not powering the unit off between changes!

I then removed +IPOD and added CDC $672 to the vehicle order. In the M-ask module I changed CDC and MP3 to active and coded the car. I now have the CDC in the iDrive and can play music through the iPod connection and USB connection WITHOUT text on the iDrive. I can move between songs with the steering wheel buttons along with the volume buttons but no text. The lack of text is not a problem for me since I use my iPhone for everything and if I want to select a particular song I can do that from the phone. The fidelity is much better than the FM or Satellite radios. So far, so good!

Now, on to installing the BTA1500. I installed the BTA unit and strung the microphone temporarily to the visor. I powered everything back up and tried to pair the phone without success. With frustration building I took a break and re-read the directions that were in the BTA package. In the wee print near the end of the directions it is noted that you need to remove the iPod cable in order to pair the phone! Back to the car for another attempt!

The pairing process is far from elegant! ?Go to CD6, disk 5, press fast forward?. Where the heck is the fast forward button????? This car doesn?t have a fast forward button!!!!! After several frustrating attempts it was time for another break. I dig out my BMW owner?s manual, and discovered you need to hold down the next button for fast forward! OK, got it, back to the car. CD6, track 5, press fast forward, CDC jumps to CD5, track 1, go to CD1, track 3 press fast forward, now you are ready to pair.

Go to your phone, Bluetooth, find device, enter 0000 and press connect to Dension.

Another less than elegant process!

Now I can stream music from my iPhone 4 over the Bluetooth. Again, only the CDC is showing on the iDrive and without any text.

I tried to receive a call, incoming call shows on the iDrive with caller name from my phone and I can accept or decline the call with the iDrive. The microphone volume is low. Off to the Dension website and I tried this to fix the microphone volume: http://www.dension.com/knowledge-bas...e-with-bta1500
That didn?t seem to help, so I installed the +3db and +6db fixes from here: http://www.dension.com/downloads?fie...guration+files

No of these fixes seemed to work. After a few notes back and forth from Dension I finally installed the volume fix patch from the above site. As for communicating with Dension, they are based in Hungry so I would guess all these folks speak English as their second language. Phrase your questions carefully and don?t expect perfect English in their replies. Patience, patience, patience!

With everything working I neaten up the cables, remove the A pillar, visor and the microphone / sunroof control unit from the headliner. I ran the microphone cable and used the included clip to clip the microphone to the headliner near the BMW microphone. I then reassembled everything.

I like the ability to get in the car and select the CDC and my play list starts. And, I can answer the phone without taking the phone out of my pocket. However, I would like to get my contact list to the iDrive and initiate a call from the iDrive. I still have to use the phone to select a contact or dial a number. Again, not a big inconvenience for me as I rarely initiate a call from the car but often want to answer a call. But I would like to get more phone functionality from the iDrive. I?ve tried a few tips I found on various forums without success but I?m open for suggestions.

Once again, read, search and read some more! The entire installation is frustrating, the directions and processes with the Dension unit are far from elegant, but it does work with limitations!

mullenc525

I think you should be able to get text working. See my thread:http://www.bmwcoding.com/showthread....hlight=bta1500

I used +kmp3 and +ipod which was sufficient to get the gw working with text. SAS then kindly modified something in my mask and tcum traces to get my bta working. Those files are posted in the thread and would work for you I think.

The biggest problems I'd had were configuring the dension correctly as mine was an older model with no dip switches and it took a month to get the right config files from dension.

JorgenT

I have done the same, and I have navi pro, so text working as a charm.. BUT I cant get the BTA 1500 working with the phone... I can pair it and play music, but it will not connect with the "phone part", I cannot make phone calls and so on.
In the menu I only have "BT Audio" (i think thats what its saying as far as I can remember)
I think the problem is that I have an old TCU installed, and a SIM-card in the armrest. Not possible to pair another phone with that TCU. Thats why I bought the BTA-1500.. I have a friend that had the same problem with his car, and he tried to disconnect the TCU and loop the fiberoptics that was connected in it. It still didnt work, and the speakers for the stereo had alot of noise.

Any suggestions?

PDP

Yes you're right. You should hace to disconnect the old TCU unit, as is not possible to have two bluetooh "controllers" in the same car. I think the best way to do this is through unplugging just the main connector on the TCU, it's a 54 pin connector, in my case TCU is in the left side of the trunk. Coding should be valid. Tomorrow is arriving my bta1500, so hopefuly I will confirm this point. At the moment I have disconnected TCU and no alarm or other bad effects are issued.
Regards

PDP

Finally my BTA1500 is working, but I have to say that my last post above is not completely correct. If you disconnect TCU, wou will have SOS emergency call alarm. I got my BTA1500 to work by disconnecting MOST (fiber optics cable) located in the trunk left side above TCU unit. Is connector number X14280. It's very tricky both opening this connector and changing optical cables. You have to disrrupt the old TCU Path and reconnect the rest MOST circuit to have "optical continuity" for the existent optical devices. This is just for not having the SOS warning, I have googled a lot trying to find a better way to deactivate TCU and SOS alarm leaving just BAT1500 working, but I didn't find anything better.

purin

Hello,

I have a 2008 535i with Nav, mp3 but without CDC. I have the pre-wire and will need to get coded for CDC.

I am working on installing GW500 and got the optical cables separated from the connector and connected to the adapter.

I'm not sure what to do with the power. I got a used unit with a "5" fuse (I'm not sure what it means) already on the line. Do I keep this on the line or use without?

Also, do I need to disconnect the battery to "tap" into the power? I was going to remove the original BMW connector and tape on the "new" one with the fuse on the line. Should I go to Radio Shack or something to get a real tap for a more secure power connection?

Is this correct?

thanks
-p

tomstin

The fuse in probably a 5 amp fuse. I wired mine like Muttley did in the link back in the original post and left the 5 amp fuse in line. Also, while wiring I pulled the fuse in the BMW fuse box for the CDC and choose not to disconnect the battery. However, the safest way is to disconnect the battery.

I choose to solder and shrink wrap all my connections. But a line tap and electrical tape from an auto parts store or Radio Shack will also do the job.

purin

Hi Tomstin,

Thanks for your reply.

Can you tell me which fuse is the one for CDC? I think I read somewhere that it is #38 but not sure which one that is.

I tried to removed the entire glove box like Bruce to see if I can mount the GW500 on the side wall like him to run the cables to the arm rest console to have wires there. I unscrewed everything after removing the door but the plastic casing for the glove box won't come off. Half is lose and almost seems like I have another screw somewhere but dont see it? I cant seem to find a DIY for removing the entire compartment, any ideas?

thanks again
-p

purin

I have some updates.

I got the parts from Bruce's plug and play thread and got them attached, it looks clean on the power.

I removed the 5amp from #38 while hooking things up and kept the 5amp fuse inline from the GW500 power to the CDC power. Battery was not disconnected and start button was on, engine off.

There was a faint click and I now get no audio. CD player seems to be playing but no sound. FM/AM options are grayed out on the display and can not select. I get AUX option but no sound. SOS system malfunction warning sign is on and BT between phone/car won't connect either. NAV still works but without any sound. Date was not reset but time was reset. Did I blow a fuse? And is that easy enough to get a new fuse to plug back in or something more serious?

I checked 18, 34, 37, 38 but they seemed to be in tact unless I dont know what a blown fuse looks like?

thanks again
-p

purin

OK, I did lots of searching for SOS malfunction issue. It seems most common are TCU or closing MOST loop. Since I only had the prewire, as soon as I connect it to the GW500, I get the error. When I close the loop by reverting back to the prewire stage, it brings it back and "fixes" everything.

My question is, does idrive see that the loop is open when I connect to GW500 because there is no power or because there is something wrong with my optics that its not closing the loop when it connects to GW500? How do I trouble shoot this? I dont want to hardwire and tap into the CDC power yet.

There are no LEDs on my GW500 so I can not tell if the unit is receiving power correctly or not. I tried connecting iphone/android phone to it to see if it charges but no response. My assumption is that power is not connecting properly. Is there a way to make sure power is going to the unit?

I disconnected the red/brown power from the CDC power and put them into UNIVERSAL SOCKET HOUSING UNCODED 3 POL. 61138377072. The GW500 power into UNIVERSAL PIN TERMINAL UNCODED 3 POL. 61136931929 as Bruce instructed. I can not tell if the 2 connectors are actually passing power? There arent any pins that stick out from either connector so I'm not sure how they touch to pass current? Is this correct?

I am putting aside trying to remove the glove compartment fully until I get the connection set up correctly. I have ordered a CDC bracket so I can at least secure it in the hole instead of taking up all space in the glove box. I'll pretty it up later, I would like to get this working first.

thanks
-p