Chris2403

Hey Guys,

first of all I have to admit I am not a native speaker, so i apologize for any mistakes in this post

I have a 2004 525i E60 with Business Navigation MASK. I have no CD-Changer or CD-Changer Preparation.

I managed to install the Dension 500S BT. It took me about 1 hour without ever having worked in my Bimmer before. Actually it wasn't that difficult. After i installed the device i coded my Car with +KMP3 and iPod retrofit Option (First i tried to code CD-Changer option aswell but NCS told me that iPod and CD-Changer together is not possible, so i deleted the CDC Option again). Guess what...it worked straight out of the Box after having that options coded.

The Dension does everything it should do. Charging my 4th Generation iPod Nano, playing Music from it, giving me access to my USB Drive, showing ID3 Tags and so on.

Because of the fact that i bought my Dension on eBay and the one selling it did not Mention that it actually is a Bluetooth Version i first did not recognize this feature. I stumbled upon it when i tried to connect to my in-ear BT Headset and suddenly the Dension showed up in my iPhone's BT Menu. I once again connected my Laptop to my car and coded the Telephone/Handsfree Option (i actually do not know the corresponding english name, in german it is FSE for "Freisprecheinrichtung").

By the way my iPhone 4S is jailbroken on 6.1 . I tried to pair my iPhone and the Dension but it always told me that it could not get connection. So i retried with my old 3GS and my Wife's Samsung Galaxy S2 which both worked! I realized that it must have to do something with my iPhone and/or its jailbreak. I deleted the /var/Mobile/Library/Preferences/com.apple.MobileBluetoothDevices.plist, rebooted the iPhone 4S and then i could manage to get it paired with the Dension.

So far so good. The things that work are initating and answering calls from the iPhone itself or the iDrive. Quality is quite good. I updated the Densions Firmware to the last available (0050) and put the included "Special BMW" configuration File on it that came with the Firmware-Update package. Paring still works flawlessly.

Many words, but here is my Problem:

My Contacts will not show up on the Dension/iDrive Menu. What the Dension does is some sort of "Half-Syncing". In the iDrive's Communication Menu (iDrive Controller UP) the last calls are shown with caller ID (which means, the names are shown, not only the Numbers), the missed calls are shown with caller ID aswell. The same happens in the "Redial" tab. Caller ID is shown. BUT when i select the "A-Z" Option (accessind the whole Phonebook) it always tells me "No Entries available". The strange thing at this point is that the letters i have no cantact starting with are are replaced with dots (for instance i have no contact starting with the letter "E" so this letter is not available) but no matter what letter i select it always tells me "No entries available). So it looks like the Dension is accessing my Phonebook in some way but it doesn't sync it completly. Here is a picture of it (of course with german text, but as i said "Keine Einträge vorhanden" means "No entries available" - "vorhanden" is better translated with "present" but i do not know what the iDrive tells you in an american or british car )



I rechecked the /var/Mobile/Library/Preference/com.apple.MobileBluetoothDevices.plist File on my iPhone and it says the following:

I changed it by hand to "Supported" but that didn't help. Everytime i reconnect to the Dension it overwrites it back to "Unsupported". I contacted Dension Support but all they told me so far is "Update to the latest firmware, reboot/re-pair Phone and Device, check that you don't have more than 1000 contacts (i have 61), check the permissions on the Phone for accessing the Phonebook....." so the things that i actually did before contacting them

Is anyone else here facing the problems i have? Is someone here with a working Phonebook Sync with Dension 500S BT and an iPhone 4(s) that is jailbroken/not jailbroken? What is your com.apple.MobileBluetoothDevices.plist saying? Does anybody have a solution for my problem?

I hope I managed to describe my Problem in a way everybody understands

Greetings from Germany and thanks in Advance!

roskinc

are you sure thats the bluetooth for the dension? i thought it looks different on the dension and yours looks like the factory bluetooth menu. when you coded the bluetooth, maybe you activated the bluetooth that was already in your car (some later years 2004 had the tcu module that just needs to be coded) i know this because i have personally coded several bluetooths on peoples cars that they did not know they had. all worked fine, but had issues syncing contacts like your having. when i did mine, contacts loaded up normally. these contacts eventually loaded up for the people i coded the cars for, so maybe give it some time? some people even had hundreds of contacts, i have little over a hundred.

far as the dension 500s BT, i just ordered one as well as the Dension ICON, i will be installing and reviewing both these products and post it on my youtube channel, its comming from Uk so i expect to have it in a few weeks. so if i run into this issue i will tell you if i find a solution.

Chris2403

Hi roskinc,

since i have an early 2004 E60 (April) i guess i have no TCU Module. I tried to read TCUM with NCSExpert but it told me that there is no such control unit so it could not be read.

When i initiate a call from within my iPhone it always switches directly to the factory bluetooth Menu and shows me the Name and Number i dialed. I am able initate calls from the factory Bluetooth Menu by using the iDrive-Controller to enter the digits. It behaves the same way. It switches to the "Active Call" factory menu and shows me Name and Number.

As far as i understood the Dension itself has no own option to actually access the Phonebook. You can only select which Phonebook should be synced (From SIM-Card, from Phone's internal storage, both or none). When i select the Option (SIM or Internal or both) it just switches back to the "Now playing" screen and nothing else happens.

I think i gave it enough time to sync, since i drive my car for at least 1 hour 5 days a week.

It would be great if you could share your experiences with me when your Dension arrives. In fact it is an outstanding device, except the Phonebook Problem i have.

laurentProd

thread bump !!


did u solve your problem?
I have fitted mine a month ago without any problems.
Great device !

Chris2403

Hi,

well....sort of. I threw it out and sold it for around 400$. I took the Money and put it into a TCU 1.5 for Bluetooth and an OEM-iPod-Interface, retrofitted them by myself and now everythink works like a charm.

Cheers

primo1

I was about to do the same , but finally managed to tackle the thing.
Let me share my particular setup experience.
Few weeks ago I bought a Dension 500S BT in order to install it on E60 2004 CCC professional.
Installed it according to maker instructions in the glovebox ( the cars has CD preparation) using the power supply and the MOST connections in there.
Now the coding part.
After reading a tons of forums,setup instructions I coded the CCC as following:
1.removed $694 from VO
2.added $672 (CD changer) and $644 ( bluetooth handsfree) in VO
3.added +KMP3 in VO.
VO saved in CAS and LMA.
CCC(CAPPL,CAUDI,CGATE,CHOST,CTUNE ) default coded acc/to the new VO.
The car left to go in sleep mode then restarted.
Unfortunately the only thing that worked was the bluetooth handsfree.A new menu appeared in Communication in Idrive that manages the handsfree options.
But only this. The other functions of dension didnot work. CD1-CD6 appeared in Entertainment menu , but they were greyed ( inactive) .
I tried some other options . I exchanged $672 with +IPOD but no avail.
Then tried to setup the DIP switches of the Dension as for Porsche (have read it in some furoms) as 1,2 up 3,4 down, 5,6 up. Then The USB ,Aux, BT streaming worked up and CD1-CD6 became active ,but ID3 tags were missing and unavailable,music was playing w/o any particular order and BT handsfree became unaccesible. So I returned the original DIP switches setup for BMW ( 1 up , 2,3,4 down, 5,6 up) because I prefered to have BT handsfree more than having USB,AUX "capabilities".
Followed searching the net for the similar issues and their solution, but without success. Nothing similar! I wrote to Dension , explaining my problem , but I'm still waiting their answer.
I almost gived it up because no solution was found. Actualy the only remaining option was to update the CCC unit with the dealer ,but I knew that there was a risk of burning the chips and I didnt want to do it.
As a last resort I decided to play around with coding the CCC modules.
Tried many different combinations , but the below one gave me the results:
1.Erased $644 , +IPOD fm VO.
2.Added $672 in VO.
3.Default coded all 5 CCC modules.
Then amended CAPPL,CAUDI modules :
TELEPHONE TYPE - universal mulf bluetooth phone
BLUETOOTH NODES CCC - profil 1
PHONE VERSION - most phone1 -1 mic
MP3 CCC MP3 SUPPORT - cd changer
BLUETOOTH PORTABLE INTEGRATION - active
Uploaded the amended coding in CAPPL
The car set asleep and then restarted.
Very satisfying, the above amendments worthed the efforts. The bluetooth handsfree worked as before(immediately connected to Sams S4) as well as USB ,AUX ,BT streaming of Dension. In Entertainment menu appeared CD1 already active and under it all the submenus of Dension (source,artist,album etc).
Now the unit plays the USB mp3 files and song names ID3 tags appeared on CCC display.

I think this can help someone to setup the dension without to update CCC modules on pre LCI cars.

Cheers