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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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      05-04-2013, 04:31 PM   #463
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The 4-pin round connector (black and blue) on the combox are USB connections..

6FL ONLY uses the black USB connector..
6NF, uses the blue connector..

:-)
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      05-04-2013, 04:37 PM   #464
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To troubleshoot your issue, do you have access to NCS and an OBD cable?

I havent read through the thread, so please help me out here..
Do you have the iDrive? If yes, can you send me the CIC.trc file? else, it will be the RAD2.

In general, if you have a combox, the mic is wired to the combox , and the radio expects the mic signals to come via MOST..
It could be that while coding, the mic might be set to as being directly connected to the radio, which is not the case..
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      05-05-2013, 06:55 AM   #465
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No idrive here. Someone else did the coding. I believe he just added $644 and I was able to see the phone option on my radio.
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      05-21-2013, 11:58 AM   #466
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2005 E90

Hi Guys,

new to the forum, and I have honestly spent the past three days reviewing a lot of threads on here. Unfortunately, I'm none the wiser to the answer to my question. I hope you don't mind my posting here.

I have the below spec, and would really like to add iphone integration to allow me to make / receive calls, play music and control the iphone via the cars controls.

A plus would be to have the track information on the display, but its not an absolute.


Code Description (EPC)
S609A Navigation system Professional
S694A Provisions for BMW 6 CD changer
S8SBA Telematics access request,country-spec.
S8SCA Telematics access request,country-spec.


Many thanks for any help or pointers you can suggest.

Thanks
soulfunk
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      05-21-2013, 01:50 PM   #467
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You've left out a bunch. If you have no $6FL, your best bet is a Denison gateway. Expensive, but really the best solution.
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      05-21-2013, 03:33 PM   #468
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexwhittemore View Post
You've left out a bunch. If you have no $6FL, your best bet is a Denison gateway. Expensive, but really the best solution.
Hi Alex,


was your post up there a response to my question, or another?

Also, if I wanted to stick with BMW OEM retrofit, what parts / kits would I need?
Thanks
soulfunk
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      05-21-2013, 03:47 PM   #469
alexwhittemore
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soulfunk View Post
Hi Alex,


was your post up there a response to my question, or another?

Also, if I wanted to stick with BMW OEM retrofit, what parts / kits would I need?
Thanks
soulfunk
Yours, sorry I forgot to quote.

If you wanted an OEM retrofit, you'd get:

MULF
USB socket+wiring
Mic
Mic wiring
Bluetooth antenna
iPod Y cable
30pin adapter (if you've got an iPhone 5).

All in all, that's not less than $500 worth of stuff, probably more like 6-7, and you get:

Bluetooth handsfree (no streaming)
Music playing from a USB drive
Wired music from your iDevice with headunit integration + wheel controls
No charging from the car's USB port.
Must use Y cable.

On the other hand, you could get a Denison Gateway 500s BT
http://www.dension.com/news/gateway500s-bt

which gets you
Bluetooth handsfree+streaming
Music from a USB drive
Wired music from iDevice, or android, or whatever, with headunit integration and wheel control
Charging up to 1A (and I think the thing might have 2 USB ports as well, presumably one for a thumb drive or hard drive and one for your phone)
Can use normal white USB cable if iPhone, or micro-USB if android

and the full install kit is something like $530 or $550.

Basically, I don't know of any reasons why the gateway isn't a strictly better solution than true OEM.
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      05-21-2013, 04:11 PM   #470
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexwhittemore View Post
Yours, sorry I forgot to quote.

If you wanted an OEM retrofit, you'd get:

MULF
USB socket+wiring
Mic
Mic wiring
Bluetooth antenna
iPod Y cable
30pin adapter (if you've got an iPhone 5).

All in all, that's not less than $500 worth of stuff, probably more like 6-7, and you get:

Bluetooth handsfree (no streaming)
Music playing from a USB drive
Wired music from your iDevice with headunit integration + wheel controls
No charging from the car's USB port.
Must use Y cable.

On the other hand, you could get a Denison Gateway 500s BT
http://www.dension.com/news/gateway500s-bt

which gets you
Bluetooth handsfree+streaming
Music from a USB drive
Wired music from iDevice, or android, or whatever, with headunit integration and wheel control
Charging up to 1A (and I think the thing might have 2 USB ports as well, presumably one for a thumb drive or hard drive and one for your phone)
Can use normal white USB cable if iPhone, or micro-USB if android

and the full install kit is something like $530 or $550.

Basically, I don't know of any reasons why the gateway isn't a strictly better solution than true OEM.
Hi Alex,

thanks for the quick response. By the sounds of it, the Gateway kit looks like the one. I'll check this out.

Thank you!
soulfunk
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      05-21-2013, 04:32 PM   #471
alexwhittemore
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soulfunk View Post
Hi Alex,

thanks for the quick response. By the sounds of it, the Gateway kit looks like the one. I'll check this out.

Thank you!
soulfunk
I'd see if you can find someone local who has one to meet up with just to chat. I'd like to see how it works and whatnot before I plunked down that kind of cash. But I'm quite sure it's a better option than a MULF retrofit.
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      05-22-2013, 12:07 PM   #472
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexwhittemore View Post
I'd see if you can find someone local who has one to meet up with just to chat. I'd like to see how it works and whatnot before I plunked down that kind of cash. But I'm quite sure it's a better option than a MULF retrofit.

Thanks Alex, sounds sensible. I've spoken to a local reseller, who is going to price this up for me, and says he has one of these fitted to a Porsche, that I could see for myself. Not ideal, as its a different car, but at least I get a look at how far it'll integrate.

I've also heard back from a mate of mine who works with BMW, and tells me that according to my VIN, I will need the following bits;

BT integration - 269.00 GBP
iphone Integration - 336.00 GBP
iphone cradle - 90 GBP;

total 695.00 GBP

Not sure what the part numbers are but if i can get a discount on this pricing, it shouldnt be too far out of the costs for the Dension.

If the costs were similiar for both, would it make more sense to go with OEM retrofit? I'm just thinking that the functionality would be better?

Thanks for any thoughts, and apologies for flogging a dead horse.
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      05-22-2013, 02:10 PM   #473
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soulfunk View Post
I've also heard back from a mate of mine who works with BMW, and tells me that according to my VIN, I will need the following bits;

BT integration - 269.00 GBP
iphone Integration - 336.00 GBP
iphone cradle - 90 GBP;

total 695.00 GBP
Actually, you shouldn't need the iPhone cradle (and in fact, if you have an iPhone 5, you can't use it anyway, not sure if you do). Many people DO say it improves reception as it claims it does (some kind of antenna magic), but I personally wouldn't use it anyway since, if my phone's plugged in, it's sitting up high on a dash mount so I can control music and whatnot.

But anyway, not needing the phone cradle should save you 90 squids right there. As far as the other two quotes, those are retrofit kits containing many parts, but I don't know what each contains . If I had to guess, BT contains Mic, mic wiring, and maybe antenna wiring for the cradle. iPhone integration contains the MULF, and probably only the MULF.

Depending on what wiring they have, it then becomes a question of whether your car is prewired for this stuff. I think all are for the MULF or TCU, but many AREN'T prewired for phone. Particularly, after MY 2008, they stopped including phone prewiring. But that's on US cars, I'm no expert on Euro cars. Can you run your VIN through something like http://bmwvin.com/ and report back?

Quote:
If the costs were similiar for both, would it make more sense to go with OEM retrofit? I'm just thinking that the functionality would be better?

Thanks for any thoughts, and apologies for flogging a dead horse.
It might make sense to see if you can track down a car with 6FL too. You can probably just ask a sales guy at your dealership to show you a car with one, but try to have them show you a used 06-10 WITHOUT SOS/BMW Assist, but WITH USB. BMW Assist is driven through a "combox," which replaces the "MULF" for USB and bluetooth functionality and is slightly different.

Anyway the reason I suggest this is because I think the integration look and feel is pretty much the same between the dension gateway and a MULF, except that the gateway has a better feature set. I am not 100% certain on that, though. It'd be a bummer to find out that the gateway doesn't show you track names or something (but I'm pretty sure it does).

And no worries! It helps to know what you're buying when you spend half a G, and there's no industry where it's harder to be sure about that than cars.
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      05-22-2013, 11:20 PM   #474
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Well my part came in a while ago. Got everything in and it works great. Just gotta clean the A-pillar I smugged up. Thanks for the help everyone!!
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      05-23-2013, 09:36 AM   #475
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexwhittemore View Post
Actually, you shouldn't need the iPhone cradle (and in fact, if you have an iPhone 5, you can't use it anyway, not sure if you do). Many people DO say it improves reception as it claims it does (some kind of antenna magic), but I personally wouldn't use it anyway since, if my phone's plugged in, it's sitting up high on a dash mount so I can control music and whatnot.
<snip>
And no worries! It helps to know what you're buying when you spend half a G, and there's no industry where it's harder to be sure about that than cars.

Alex, you are Gent.

I've just run the vehicle vin through the online tool and get the attached;

Code Description (EPC)
S1CAA Selection of COP-relevant vehicles
S205A Automatic transmission
S240A Steering wheel, leather
S249A Multifunction f steering wheel
S2BHA BMW alloy wheel, double spoke 156
S302A Alarm system
S321A Exterior parts in vehicle colour
S403A Glass roof, electrical
S428A Warning triangle and first aid kit
S431A Interior mirror with automatic-dip
S441A Smoker package
S4ACA Fine wood trim Poplar woodgrain
S507A Park Distance Control (PDC), rear
S520A Fog lights
S521A Rain sensor
Code Description (EPC)
S534A Automatic air conditioning
S540A Cruise control
S563A Light package
S609A Navigation system Professional
S694A Provisions for BMW 6 CD changer
L812A National version England / Ireland
S850A Additional Export tank filling
S863A Dealer List Europe
S877A Omission of non-combined operation
S880A On-board literature, English
S8SBA Telematics access request,country-spec.
S8SCA Telematics access request,country-spec.
S8SMA Car ident. number visible from outside
S8SPA Control unit COP
S9AAA Outer skin protection

Standard equipment
Code Description (EPC)
S853A Language version, English

Based on the above, do I have the requisite wiring to support what I want to do? Also, not wanting to regurgitate information already posted somewhere, would you be aware of a useful post / thread that I should review to understand more about what is a MULF or a combobox?

Once again, many thanks for all your help.
soulfunk
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Last edited by soulfunk; 05-29-2013 at 10:49 AM..
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      05-31-2013, 06:49 AM   #476
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anyone able to comment?
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      05-31-2013, 05:17 PM   #477
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soulfunk View Post
anyone able to comment?
Sorry I missed this!

You aren't phone pre-wired, but can you get a shot of the wiring under your trunk floor liner? That should be revealing.

In general, the dension should come with all the wiring you need for everything, but I don't know about that. If you go MULF, you probably won't need wiring for that itself (the pic will reveal), but you probably WILL need aftermarket wiring for the mic, and OEM wiring for the USB socket.
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      06-03-2013, 05:10 PM   #478
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexwhittemore View Post
Sorry I missed this!

You aren't phone pre-wired, but can you get a shot of the wiring under your trunk floor liner? That should be revealing.

In general, the dension should come with all the wiring you need for everything, but I don't know about that. If you go MULF, you probably won't need wiring for that itself (the pic will reveal), but you probably WILL need aftermarket wiring for the mic, and OEM wiring for the USB socket.
Hi Alex,

Thanks for the response. Bad news unfortunately. Checking under the trunk lining reveals no cabling whatsoever, which fits with your comments, unless I'm looking in the wrong place!

I'm guessing getting that wiring run will be more cost than is warranted. I'll investigate the Dension options!

I can't seem to upload a pic right now, will try again from a PC.

Thx
Soulfunk
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      06-03-2013, 06:23 PM   #479
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soulfunk View Post
Checking under the trunk lining reveals no cabling whatsoever, which fits with your comments, unless I'm looking in the wrong place
You could be. Did you lift the liner out totally, looking under the section behind the bend where there are obvious bolts for mounting brackets?
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      06-04-2013, 04:10 PM   #480
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Hi Alex,

I believe so, I completely removed the boot liner and saw nothing, unless I'm looking in the wrong area? See picture attached.

Many thanks
Soulfunk
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      06-04-2013, 04:13 PM   #481
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soulfunk View Post
Hi Alex,

I believe so, I completely removed the boot liner and saw nothing, unless I'm looking in the wrong area? See picture attached.

Many thanks
Soulfunk
Nope, that's all she wrote.

I'm not actually sure how you'd even retrofit stock bluetooth into a car with nav, but without MULF or combox wiring. Newer headunits include all the provisions for satellite radio, bluetooth, and USB, but I don't know where that works in with nav.

Perhaps someone else has something more enlightening. You could always, for giggles, try coding in $644 and see what happens
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      06-06-2013, 04:01 PM   #482
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexwhittemore View Post
Nope, that's all she wrote.

I'm not actually sure how you'd even retrofit stock bluetooth into a car with nav, but without MULF or combox wiring. Newer headunits include all the provisions for satellite radio, bluetooth, and USB, but I don't know where that works in with nav.

Perhaps someone else has something more enlightening. You could always, for giggles, try coding in $644 and see what happens
Hey Alex, thanks for the response. I guess it's as we expected and a Dension kit is going to be better bet.

By the way, coding $644, what will that do?

Thanks
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      06-06-2013, 04:19 PM   #483
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soulfunk View Post
Hey Alex, thanks for the response. I guess it's as we expected and a Dension kit is going to be better bet.

By the way, coding $644, what will that do?

Thanks
On the off chance your nav already has Bluetooth hardware, coding that in would let you pair your phone, indicating that the only thing you need is a mic. If you plan to code yourself and get the cable, it's effectively a free and (relatively) easy test.
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      06-10-2013, 09:34 AM   #484
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexwhittemore View Post
On the off chance your nav already has Bluetooth hardware, coding that in would let you pair your phone, indicating that the only thing you need is a mic. If you plan to code yourself and get the cable, it's effectively a free and (relatively) easy test.
Hi Alex,

that sounds interesting, and certainly worth a punt. Any reccomendations on where to start looking at learning coding?

Thx
Soulfunk.
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