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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > AUDIO/VIDEO + BLUETOOTH + Electronics/Alarm/Software > **Bluetooth Retrofit Guide** for TCU and ULF



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      07-04-2012, 09:51 AM   #331
iamatticus
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Snoozee,

That's what I was thinking. He couldn't answer a number of questions I had with any authority. I mentioned the very same things, that the MULF has a Bluetooth logo on it, that the TCU is for BMWAssist, not Bluetooth, and he disagreed with me on both points.

Thank you for the detailed information, but I"m afraid I have one more question. How do I know if my head unit (radio) is bluetooth capable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by snoozee View Post
i guess the shop foreman knows less than he should know. just look at the MULF 2 module and you can see a bluetooth logo on it. that itself is a big hint that the module has bluetooth capabilities . BMW's documentation also states that MULF/ULF has bluetooth capabilities that allows for bluetooth handsfree phone. the official bluetooth retrofit manual also refers to the ULF/MULF and not TCU. TCU also has bluetooth capabilities BUT you DO NOT need TCU to get bluetooth phone if you already have MULF. TCU and MULF can co-exist in a car but only one module had bluetooth enabled.

from what i know, there are quite a number of 1 series (E8x) owners having done this retrofit with success. if you have a F series car, then don't bother to continue reading since what i'm writing is for E series cars only.

anyway to refer back to your other post on wiring routing. this is what i did for my E90 since my car did not come with SA640 phone prep as well.

1. bluetooth antenna. bought a 15cm SMB female to SMB female wire for eBay. connected the antenna to MULF and taped the antenna inside the trunk. BMW's official antenna location is in the driver side footwell. but trunk location works fine as well so save some bucks from needing to buy a longer cable and sweat from routing the cable from trunk to front.

2. mic is installed in the roof/map light panel. wiring is run from my trunk, through the bottom of the rear seats, up the c-pillar, across the top of the roof to the a-pillar, under the a-pillar airbag and finally to the map light panel where the mic is. this is easier than trying to route through the car's carpet or door sills.

3. code the car to add the SA644 VO (SA664 for US cars) and then code the radio to activate the new functions.

HOWEVER, before you do anything, please check if you already have a bluetooth enabled radio. BMW changed the radios sometime in 2010 and these radios come with inbuilt bluetooth and USB. if you have one of these radios, then your retrofit would be different. mic wiring will be conencted to the radio plug instead of the MULF. you may or may not need the bluetooth antenna since the radio already has bluetooth capabilities. coding is also necessary to enable this feature as well.
-tj in los gatos
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      07-04-2012, 10:00 PM   #332
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iamatticus View Post
Snoozee,

That's what I was thinking. He couldn't answer a number of questions I had with any authority. I mentioned the very same things, that the MULF has a Bluetooth logo on it, that the TCU is for BMWAssist, not Bluetooth, and he disagreed with me on both points.

Thank you for the detailed information, but I"m afraid I have one more question. How do I know if my head unit (radio) is bluetooth capable?



-tj in los gatos
unless you have some dianostic software for you to check the part number/serial number of the radio, the only other option is to remove the radio and check. you should see a bluetooth logo on it if it's bluetooth capable.
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      08-02-2012, 11:04 AM   #333
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snoozee

So I checked my module and bluetooth logo is on there, no wiring harness but thats ok. Having voice control also along with the telephone buttons on the steering wheel. Do I still need to change the mic pins behind the glovebox as desrcibed in the other thread or just need the bluetooth antenna, harness cables and coding?
Was dissapointed in having no OEM bluetooth, thought at the time all iDrive cars came with bluetooth enabled. You just made me fall in love with my car even more

You have been very helpful for the retrofit, thanks for everything
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      08-02-2012, 10:33 PM   #334
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluesnake01 View Post
snoozee

So I checked my module and bluetooth logo is on there, no wiring harness but thats ok. Having voice control also along with the telephone buttons on the steering wheel. Do I still need to change the mic pins behind the glovebox as desrcibed in the other thread or just need the bluetooth antenna, harness cables and coding?
Was dissapointed in having no OEM bluetooth, thought at the time all iDrive cars came with bluetooth enabled. You just made me fall in love with my car even more

You have been very helpful for the retrofit, thanks for everything
from what i understand, changing the mic pins is necessary for cars which are prewired. my car did not come with prewiring so i just ran a new set of mic cables from the MULF2 to the mic location.

you do not need to get the full harness for the bluetooth retrofit. just buy a SMB female to SMB female cable on ebay will do. I bought mine for about USD5 for a 15cm cable and just left the antenna in the trunk.
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      08-13-2012, 04:28 PM   #335
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iamatticus View Post
It seems that no one can definitively say whether or not a 2011 135i with the multi-function steering wheel, and the USB controller can be upgraded for Bluetooth capability.

Yes, this is frustrating.

-tj in los gatos
Yes, I have the same issue with 2011 335i. I'm also in Los Gatos and I also talked to Stevens Creek and Mountain View dealers, as well as DINAN and basically every third party audio/electronics installer in the area (and a few out of the area). Nobody knows how to do it. Virtually everybody says it is impossible.

Someone here gave me a link to these guys http://alekshop.com, as people who might have some expertise in that matter. But no luck there either.

Last edited by AndreyT; 08-13-2012 at 09:55 PM..
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      08-14-2012, 11:34 AM   #336
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I'm in a similar situation. My plan was to see whether the guys in Santa Clara can do the coding -- then in phone/BT showed up on my head unit, I'd feel confident that the wiring piece could be sorted.
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      08-24-2012, 05:34 PM   #337
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Anyone could share info which plugs:
http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...&fg=15&lang=en
and pins:
http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...=61&fg=15&hl=4
will work with BT microphone connected to Proffesional (non-Idrive) HU?
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      10-02-2012, 11:01 PM   #338
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Hey Snoozee, you say your car didn't come prewired, what are you driving? I suspect my late 09 328i is also NOT prewired (though it DOES have the MULF2 high). Where did you get the mic cable?
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      10-03-2012, 04:43 AM   #339
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexwhittemore View Post
Hey Snoozee, you say your car didn't come prewired, what are you driving? I suspect my late 09 328i is also NOT prewired (though it DOES have the MULF2 high). Where did you get the mic cable?
late 2009 E90 LCI.
mic wire is just normal 2 core wire which i ran from the FZD to the trunk. it might be better to use 2 core wire with shielding as this is what BMW used for the original harness.
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      10-03-2012, 11:30 AM   #340
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snoozee View Post
late 2009 E90 LCI.
mic wire is just normal 2 core wire which i ran from the FZD to the trunk. it might be better to use 2 core wire with shielding as this is what BMW used for the original harness.
You don't know off hand if there's a pin in the MULF plug to attach the shielding to, do you? Or would you just chassis ground it?
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      10-03-2012, 10:49 PM   #341
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexwhittemore View Post
You don't know off hand if there's a pin in the MULF plug to attach the shielding to, do you? Or would you just chassis ground it?
shielding is connected to pin 21. you'll need to do some soldering to solder the shielding to the wire pigtail which will connect to the MULF
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      10-17-2012, 05:07 PM   #342
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I'm curious if the retrofit bulletin has been updated since August 2008?

Original: http://www.bmwtis.com/tsb/attachments/B841405_E9x.pdf
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      10-18-2012, 09:41 PM   #343
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Is the only way to find the correct TCU for your car is using VIN on realoem?

Will a TCU from a e92 that doesn't match my part number on realoem for my 2007 year e90 work?
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      11-05-2012, 12:00 AM   #344
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Does anyone have the equivalent of this SIB for an E89 Z4?
http://www.bmwtis.com/tsb/attachments/B841405_E9x.pdf

Or have access to the EBAs to get the EBA for the official Bluetooth retrofit kit for the E89 Z4?
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      12-21-2012, 02:28 PM   #345
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Ok, so I have a 2011 335is with logic7 (HK) and no bluetooth it seems. What are my options?
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      12-21-2012, 06:49 PM   #346
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Quote:
Originally Posted by D25mn View Post
Ok, so I have a 2011 335is with logic7 (HK) and no bluetooth it seems. What are my options?
Nice ride... If you have iDrive, think this will work for you: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=660738
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      12-22-2012, 06:15 AM   #347
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Unfortunately no I-Drive it was a dealer lease vehicle that was a demo car.
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      12-23-2012, 03:20 PM   #348
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Just spent sometime going through the vehicle all the pieces seem to be there for bluetooth MUFL, Mic, Wiring, etc. but I don't have bmw assist. I'm going to go to the dealer and act dumb and ask why the bluetooth is disabled.
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      01-01-2013, 01:01 PM   #349
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what exactly did you have to do in order to get blue tooth? did you need a reprogram?
i have a 2007 e90 with ipod/usb but no idrive. I'm interested in adding blue tooth but the process is not entirely clear and i think my setup is different then the rest of this thread (which i have read)
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      01-01-2013, 02:14 PM   #350
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to followup on my last message... if someone with expertise could please help me out i'd appreciate it.

2007 328i with usb/ipod integration, verified that it has MULF2 and phone prep. What do i need to buy and do?
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      01-02-2013, 09:01 PM   #351
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atl32807 View Post
to followup on my last message... if someone with expertise could please help me out i'd appreciate it.

2007 328i with usb/ipod integration, verified that it has MULF2 and phone prep. What do i need to buy and do?
since you have the MULF2 Hi and phone prep, you only need to buy the bluetooth antenna and the mic to be placed in the FZD. do a search for the part numbers for the hardware.

before/after you've installed the hardware, you'll need to get the car coded with the additional of VO 664/644. search for one of my other postings on how to do the coding.

if you've successfully coded the car, you should be able to see the phone menu on the radio as well as having a weak bluetooth signal being broadcast. you can put your phone near the MULF to verify that the signal is being cast out.

all the information you required are in this thread and a few others. read through all the information and you should have a better idea of what is needed.
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      01-02-2013, 09:08 PM   #352
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snoozee View Post
since you have the MULF2 Hi and phone prep, you only need to buy the bluetooth antenna and the mic to be placed in the FZD. do a search for the part numbers for the hardware.

before/after you've installed the hardware, you'll need to get the car coded with the additional of VO 664/644. search for one of my other postings on how to do the coding.

if you've successfully coded the car, you should be able to see the phone menu on the radio as well as having a weak bluetooth signal being broadcast. you can put your phone near the MULF to verify that the signal is being cast out.

all the information you required are in this thread and a few others. read through all the information and you should have a better idea of what is needed.
do you think there is any chance a microphone is already in there?
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