I have a 1999 BMW 540iA with navigation system. The car was produced in March 1999. I have successfully installed the CPT8000 kit, with compensator, in my car, as per the BMW instructions. Note that my car required use of the Analog-to-Digital retrofit harness, as specified for installation, and this was installed properly. The phone itself is a CDMA CPT8000 for Verizon.
The CPT8000 works fine, both as a handheld, and when connected to the car. All of the "in-car" phone features operate as advertised and/or explained in the manual. However, I have two issues:
1) When docked in the cradle with the coil cord attached, when the car is turned off, the phone does not turn off. That is, the phone remains powered on even then the car is turned off. The manual says that the phone will go into standby (i.e. turn off) when the ignition is turned off to preserve the car's batter, but this is not happening.
2) Once a day, immediately after starting the car, the phone dials BMW Assist as if I had initiated an Emergency call by selecting on the car's menu (even though I haven't). This does not happen every time that I start the car, but in the three days that I have had the kit installed, it has happened once each day, always in the afternoon, and it happens just as I start the engine.
Number "2" above is the main issue for me, as I have no way to keep the car/CPT8000 from dialing BMW Assist once a day. According to BMW Assist, they do receive the sent data correctly, and are able to tell my location, etc. So, the BMW Assist call seems to be transmitting fine - it's just that the car is calling BMW Assist without me requesting it.
Notes: After installing the complete CPT8000 install kit, I checked the "Telematics" setup menu of the car. Here I found that the VIN number was empty (filled with seven underscore "_" characters), the license plate entry was blank, the car color was not selected, car type was set to "E38", both phone numbers are set to German numbers (i.e. begin with "+49"), and the last entry, "Aut. Em-call" was set to "No". Note that at this point, the phone was not actually attached to the coil cord (i.e. the entire install kit was installed, including the TCU, but the phone itself was not yet connected).
I changed the settings in the "Telematics" setup menu to the following: entered the last seven digits of my VIN into the "VIN" section, entered the license plate number, the car's color, changed the car type to "E39" (which is correct for a 5-series), and changed the "Aut. Em-call" to "Yes". I did not change either of the phone numbers. [Note that it is not clear to me whether the CPT8000 TCU actually uses these values, or ignores them entirely.]
I have talked to another user who has a 2000 528i and self-installed his CPT8000 kit. When he entered the "Telematics" settings, the last seven digits of his VIN number were already in place (i.e. it had automatically been transfered to the TCU). In addition, the "Aut. Em-call" is set to "Yes", and he is not able to access that setting to change it. The other settings were just as I found them originally.
After the second day of the car "automatically" calling BMW Assist for no reason, I changed the setting in the "Telematics" menu, "Aut. Em-call" to "No". Regardless, the car still called BMW Assist the next day.
Although the car has, for three days, called BMW Assist once per day, and always in the afternoon, I have no proof that this is time-dependant, or really will only happen once per day. That is, it may be a totally random occurance, that has just happened to have occured once a day, so far.
How can I stop the car/CPT8000 from calling BMW Assist every day?
Hi Brad,
Just got a call back from two dealerships about those two problems you mentioned.
They told me that during the standby mode, the phone doesn't actually turn off. The LCD on the phone will dim to reduce the amount of power that it gets from the car's battery.
On the second issue, they told me that they haven't had any customers come in with that problem. One of them said that it could also be some with the car's software. Seems a new version of the car's operating system just came out (ver 17.2). Now I don't know if it's for the nav system or car diagnostics system. I will probably go by the dealership next Monday to find out.
Glenn
Quote:
Originally posted by Brad D: I have a 1999 BMW 540iA with navigation system. The car was produced in March 1999. I have successfully installed the CPT8000 kit, with compensator, in my car, as per the BMW instructions. Note that my car required use of the Analog-to-Digital retrofit harness, as specified for installation, and this was installed properly. The phone itself is a CDMA CPT8000 for Verizon.
The CPT8000 works fine, both as a handheld, and when connected to the car. All of the "in-car" phone features operate as advertised and/or explained in the manual. However, I have two issues:
1) When docked in the cradle with the coil cord attached, when the car is turned off, the phone does not turn off. That is, the phone remains powered on even then the car is turned off. The manual says that the phone will go into standby (i.e. turn off) when the ignition is turned off to preserve the car's batter, but this is not happening.
2) Once a day, immediately after starting the car, the phone dials BMW Assist as if I had initiated an Emergency call by selecting on the car's menu (even though I haven't). This does not happen every time that I start the car, but in the three days that I have had the kit installed, it has happened once each day, always in the afternoon, and it happens just as I start the engine.
Number "2" above is the main issue for me, as I have no way to keep the car/CPT8000 from dialing BMW Assist once a day. According to BMW Assist, they do receive the sent data correctly, and are able to tell my location, etc. So, the BMW Assist call seems to be transmitting fine - it's just that the car is calling BMW Assist without me requesting it.
Notes: After installing the complete CPT8000 install kit, I checked the "Telematics" setup menu of the car. Here I found that the VIN number was empty (filled with seven underscore "_" characters), the license plate entry was blank, the car color was not selected, car type was set to "E38", both phone numbers are set to German numbers (i.e. begin with "+49"), and the last entry, "Aut. Em-call" was set to "No". Note that at this point, the phone was not actually attached to the coil cord (i.e. the entire install kit was installed, including the TCU, but the phone itself was not yet connected).
I changed the settings in the "Telematics" setup menu to the following: entered the last seven digits of my VIN into the "VIN" section, entered the license plate number, the car's color, changed the car type to "E39" (which is correct for a 5-series), and changed the "Aut. Em-call" to "Yes". I did not change either of the phone numbers. [Note that it is not clear to me whether the CPT8000 TCU actually uses these values, or ignores them entirely.]
I have talked to another user who has a 2000 528i and self-installed his CPT8000 kit. When he entered the "Telematics" settings, the last seven digits of his VIN number were already in place (i.e. it had automatically been transfered to the TCU). In addition, the "Aut. Em-call" is set to "Yes", and he is not able to access that setting to change it. The other settings were just as I found them originally.
After the second day of the car "automatically" calling BMW Assist for no reason, I changed the setting in the "Telematics" menu, "Aut. Em-call" to "No". Regardless, the car still called BMW Assist the next day.
Although the car has, for three days, called BMW Assist once per day, and always in the afternoon, I have no proof that this is time-dependant, or really will only happen once per day. That is, it may be a totally random occurance, that has just happened to have occured once a day, so far.
How can I stop the car/CPT8000 from calling BMW Assist every day?
Regarding "standby", anytime the phone is closed, the LCD is turned off. So, this is not what "standby" should mean. Thinking about it a lot, if that's what the manual means by "standby", then there is no difference between when the car is either on or off. It would be in "standby" any time that you are not on a call! I'd still like to know for sure what's supposed to happen.
From the bimmer.org board, I've seen two other posters with Mk.II nav systems and the CPT8000. The one with the latest nav software does not have the BMW Assist problem. The other poster has the same, older version of the nav software that I do, and he has the same problem that I do.
I will try updating the nav software first, as that seems relatively quick and easy - i.e. simply inserting a CD-ROM.
What would be entailed in upgrading any of the car's other software?
Thanks for your help,
Brad D
Quote:
Originally posted by GlennR: They told me that during the standby mode, the phone doesn't actually turn off. The LCD on the phone will dim to reduce the amount of power that it gets from the car's battery.
On the second issue, they told me that they haven't had any customers come in with that problem. One of them said that it could also be some with the car's software. Seems a new version of the car's operating system just came out (ver 17.2). Now I don't know if it's for the nav system or car diagnostics system. I will probably go by the dealership next Monday to find out.
Hi Brad,
As far updating the car's software, you'll have to go to the dealership. I let you know what it entails as soon as I have mine done.
Cheers,
Glenn
Quote:
Originally posted by Brad D: Regarding "standby", anytime the phone is closed, the LCD is turned off. So, this is not what "standby" should mean. Thinking about it a lot, if that's what the manual means by "standby", then there is no difference between when the car is either on or off. It would be in "standby" any time that you are not on a call! I'd still like to know for sure what's supposed to happen.
From the bimmer.org board, I've seen two other posters with Mk.II nav systems and the CPT8000. The one with the latest nav software does not have the BMW Assist problem. The other poster has the same, older version of the nav software that I do, and he has the same problem that I do.
I will try updating the nav software first, as that seems relatively quick and easy - i.e. simply inserting a CD-ROM.
What would be entailed in upgrading any of the car's other software?
Just upgraded my car (3/99 production with Mk.II nav) up to navigation software version 7.0 (from 2.4). I don't notice any changes, yet, but it will take a while to see if it calls BMW Assist or not.
I did notice some changes to the "Telematics" section of the setup menu. See my description in the message below of how the menu looked originally (with v2.4). After upgrading to v7.0, now the menu is rearranged. I can no longer change the VIN number (which contains the correct last seven digits), the car type, or the "Auto-Em.Call" setting. This seems to replicate what others have on their cars.
The thing that bothers me is that the Car Type is set to "7er" and the Auto-Em.Call is set to "no" (and I can't change either). I am worried that with the Auto-Em.Call set to "no", the car will not automatically call BMW Assist if an airbag goes off (i.e. MAYDAY feature). My car was produced 3/99, and E39 cars from 3/99 are supposed to support the MAYDAY feature. But I have absolutely NO confidence that this will work as advertised, and there is no way to test without getting in a wreck. Anyone know more about this?
I will update in a few days regarding whether the random calls to BMW Assist have been cured.
CPT8000 keeps calling BMW Assist!!!
Linear Mode
