[Lscman]

Does anyone have any advice about integrating a new Bluetooth cell phone into an '98/'99 E39 that did not come with the BMW cell phone option?

I am getting a new Motorola V710 cell phone with bluetooth capability.

Is it possible or helpful to interface a bluetooth cell phone with the BMW electronics?

Maybe the whole idea of Bluetooth is to allow wireless connections to accessories and avoid interfacing. I'm not sure.

Thanks for any replies.

 

[mottati]

Rick, do you know if the car is pre-wired for the bmw phone? Most US spec cars are. Should have the little 'prewired for bmw phone' disc in the trunk. If so, most of the aftermarket bt retrofit kits should work, like the one that is (was?) available from bimmernav.com

 

[///M_Addict]

Does anyone have any advice about integrating a new Bluetooth cell phone into an '98/'99 E39 that did not come with the BMW cell phone option?

I am getting a new Motorola V710 cell phone with bluetooth capability.

Is it possible or helpful to interface a bluetooth cell phone with the BMW electronics?

Maybe the whole idea of Bluetooth is to allow wireless connections to accessories and avoid interfacing. I'm not sure.

Thanks for any replies.

Be careful with V710s from Verizon Wireless. They are not fully Bluetooth compatable because they have been crippled. You might want to check this link out: http://www.x5world.com/html.php?file=bmw_bt_phones.htm

Good Luck!
Dave

 

[Lscman]

Be careful with V710s from Verizon Wireless. They are not fully Bluetooth compatable because they have been crippled. You might want to check this link out: http://www.x5world.com/html.php?file=bmw_bt_phones.htm

Good Luck!
Dave

That is a great writeup, thnx for info.

It's clear that Verizon is all about profit, based upon their alacarte value-added strategy to charge customers for inherent bluetooth capabilities. The cozy Verizon/Motorola relationship is not customer-centric, for sure! Too bad Verizon is so powerful. Too bad Bluetooth folks allow Verizon to claim compatibility & use logo. Maybe that's why it took Verizon so long to release one. It was likely a power-struggle with payoffs.

As a new subscriber, I luckily only "blew" an extra $50 ea for two deluxe bluetooth phones, over their base non-bluetooth offerings. The sync/download limitations are sad. At least 512M mem cards cost only $70. Hopefully they have not defeated the ability to transfer files via card reader. Advertizing mp3 capability with no way to efficiently transfer files would be stupid. Hard to believe the USB and wireless transfer capability is intentionally shut off. I wonder if anything has changed since 2004, as they continue to tout Bluetooth ver# and capability?

The decision to choose Verizon for home use was almost a done deal for me, since it's the choice of my employer.

Anybody not "tied" to a carrier should look elsewhere!

This is one of the few instances where I spent a penny without first researching a topic to death.

 

[Lscman]

Rick, do you know if the car is pre-wired for the bmw phone? Most US spec cars are. Should have the little 'prewired for bmw phone' disc in the trunk. If so, most of the aftermarket bt retrofit kits should work, like the one that is (was?) available from bimmernav.com

My car is prewired and it has the old E39 4 spoke steering wheel with phone buttons on it. I'll look into bimmernav, thnx Mike!

Rick

 

[amfung]

I think '98/99 E39 were wired for CPT6000 phone. I remember when I went to CPT8000 from CPT7000 on my '00 Beast, I had to buy a analog-to-digital wiring harness. The wiring harness has the blue SES plug for VR.

Bimmernav is a good resource for BT and Martin can probably tell you if it's possible to do BT upgrade with '98/99 E39.

 

[Wang]

Bluetooth handsets such as Moto Razr are already feature ridden, with voice dialing, no need to cradle, etc, I would go with a bluetooth car kit and forget about trying to integrate into the relatively old built in phone ammenities of the E39. Heck, a phone like the Razr even has built in speaker phone. The technology of the standalone handset today beats out most features found in any factory carphone. The only thing that may bug the driver is lack of stereo muting during incoming call. :byee55amg

 

[Lscman]

I would go with a bluetooth car kit and forget about trying to integrate into the relatively old built in phone ammenities of the E39.

After some study, I agree.

The complexities of integration seem to outweigh any small benefits.

------------------------------

With respect to bluetooth V710 Motorola, it appears some earlier shortcomings described in the 2004 link above have been effectively addressed by legitimate firmware updates and even a few hacks.

 

[chrisj]

I would disagree that the complexity of integrating outweighs the benefit. <br><br>I upgraded my '00 with BT and a Moto v551. The phone has voice recognition, but surprisingly the VR in the BT ULF is much better. I have yet to have it make a mistake when recalling a name I have stored. You also get voice input dialing, which my phone didn't have. The integration with the car audio system is also a big plus - no missed calls because I am listening to the radio. <br><br>If you add the snap-in adapter for your phone, you also get in-car charging without the charger sticking out of the lighter socket. <br><br>The upgrade may sound a little tough, but I haven't seen many who have done it and had unsolveable problems.<br><br>There is a good forum on BT here:<br>http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/bluetooth<br>You can read lots of people's reviews on what it took.

 

[Lscman]

Thnx!