I am curious what the TCU (Telematics Control Unit) controls in an E60 (besides Bluetooth and BMW Assist).

I am also curious what impact a partial of full TCU failure would have on an early model E60, would it effect iDrive or Navigation?

Any thoughts are very appreciated.

 

The TCU controls :-

Bluetooth
BMW Assist
BMW Online
Remote functions ie remote door locking, remote heating / AC control etc.
Teleservices
SOS emergency call

Only bluetooth and BMW assist are applicable to your car but if the TCU goes bad it will only affect the above functions.

 

Thank you for your response, Blood. A service advisor from BMW told me that the TCU also ties into the navigation system... I wonder if that is the case. I interpreted it as "if the TCU is failing it may make the navigation fail also", I wonder how accurate that is. Blood, if you happen to have more information please chimein.

I wish we could get a spec sheet for the TCU which officially shows everything it supports.

Thanks!

 

I just had mine replaced be cause the radio was stuck on mute and no audio for anything. Also was not able to change any audio source. quick 1200$ lol feel scammed but thats the way it works I guess.

 

I'm doing a TCU retrofit on my E60 right now, which didn't even have the wiring for it. Ofc I was able to remotely lock my doors without having a TCU

I have the TCU wired up and Patryk should be doing the coding later on today. From what I gathered from the guy who was wiring it up, the modules in the E60 are wired up in a sequential chain and if one goes bad, you're pretty much bound to have issues with the rest or at least some. For example my BT is now wired "through" or maybe "before" my TV module (I admit I'm clueless, just saying what I was told , so while he was working, I periodically lost sound and the TV tuner on the Idrive. So yeah, I guess you could bump into issues with other modules, if your TCU is faulty

 

A TCU (or ULF) failure/fault can affect the iDrive responsiveness, radio, navigation and CD changer. They're all on the MOST (fibre optic) bus. If one device goes bad it affects the whole bus (depending on the type of fault).

I had a defective ULF. It was affecting the iDrive, Nav and radio. I unplugged it and got them all back, but instead the CD changer stopped working....

 

Yes because you left loop open?, if you remove a module on the MOST bus the a special connector has to be used to close the loop.

 

I recently received a 2004 BMW 545i as a graduation gift. Im super stoked to have it but the blue tooth capabilities don't work. It has a bluetooth option but only says "contact BMW dealer" when selected. I went to the dealer and they told me they could successfully find the pairing code for my unit but couldn't stream data through it and would charge me $2,369.00 to replace the TCU. If only the bluetooth isnt working should i bother buying an aftermarket TCU and finding someone to program it at a reasonable price or should I buy an aftermarket ULF instead?