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Just a few more things to add to this excellent thread.
1) Currently, there's a source for new TCUs on ebay at a very attractive price ($40). These are European (ECE) units with GSM cell phones. I've noted a few unscrupulous private sellers re-selling these units at higher prices ($150) with a comedy of explanations why they're getting rid of it. I've tried to get this to work in my E90 here in the US w/o success, but see note #2, below. Jury is still out if these will work to get bluetooth-only working.
2) I can confirm you MUST have the FZD (roof console) unit. My local dealership couldn't get the European TCU to program (no surprise). Since I've had to order the FZD (Tischer, those guys are awesome), I went ahead and popped for the US current TCU. As long as I need the Assist switch, I figured I might as well go whole-hog and get that running, too.
3) Still no resolution on the backup antenna issue that's listed in the SIB. Note that the part says "CDMA backup antenna", which is a US cell phone backup. I would guess the purpose is pretty simple. In a roll-over or other accident, in which the shark fin is damaged, this is the backup unit the TCU uses to call-out (much like the backup speaker in case the audio system is damaged). Makes perfect sense. Kudos to BMW for redundancy. I traced the backup antenna connector on the TCU, and it disappears into the left rear behind the seat. I couldn't find the other end of this for the life of me. The BMW parts illustration is no help, but it is listed as "trunk" in the diagram with the TCU and bracket. If anyone has found the location for this thing, let us know. Obviously, it's not needed to get everything working.
Waiting on delivery of the FZD and new TCU before continuing this (aptly-named) snipe hunt.
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