E90 with 'phone prep' but no Bluetooth?!

[Mad Dave]

Hi all,

I'm looking at a 330i that has iDrive and apparently has phone prep (so has phone options on the I drive and a cradle under the armrest) but apparently doesn't have Bluetooth - does this sound right? If so, how easy/expensive is it to add Bluetooth? I use an iPhone 6 if that makes a difference.

Thanks

Dave

[mudster]

I would expect it to have bluetooth or the phone prep is pretty pointless. If no bluetooth is present, then a Dension 500BT is the solution and has the bonus of enabling iphone control if it's the older idrive fitted.

[Mad Dave]

THanks. From research it appears it's not uncommon to have the prep but not BT but this can be rectified with a Bluetooth antenna and some wiring

[Trabi601]

The E90 hails from an era where 'phone prep' was still considered to be a hardwired cradle.

Nokia used to make a fortune from aftermarket installs back then. (My first proper company car had a CK-7W kit fitted... which I removed and kept before it was sent off to auction!)

[pattyg]

Trabi601 said:

The E90 hails from an era where 'phone prep' was still considered to be a hardwired cradle.

Nokia used to make a fortune from aftermarket installs back then. (My first proper company car had a CK-7W kit fitted... which I removed and kept before it was sent off to auction!)

Not true, my 2010 has enhanced Bluetooth. Links with my iPhone no problem. I see yours is an 06 so doubt it will have the same connectivity.

[Trabi601]

pattyg said:

Trabi601 said:

The E90 hails from an era where 'phone prep' was still considered to be a hardwired cradle.

Nokia used to make a fortune from aftermarket installs back then. (My first proper company car had a CK-7W kit fitted... which I removed and kept before it was sent off to auction!)

Not true, my 2010 has enhanced Bluetooth. Links with my iPhone no problem.

Probably because the 'enhanced Bluetooth' option was ticked when it was ordered.

It was rarely standard back then.

[mudster]

Trabi601 said:

pattyg said:

Trabi601 said:

The E90 hails from an era where 'phone prep' was still considered to be a hardwired cradle.

Nokia used to make a fortune from aftermarket installs back then. (My first proper company car had a CK-7W kit fitted... which I removed and kept before it was sent off to auction!)

Not true, my 2010 has enhanced Bluetooth. Links with my iPhone no problem.

Probably because the 'enhanced Bluetooth' option was ticked when it was ordered.

It was rarely standard back then.

Yeah, makes sense trabi. My car obviously has enhanced bluetooth despite being a 2006 car.

Dension is still the way to go if OP wants bluetooth and iPhone control through Idrive.

[Mad Dave]

Thanks for the replies. Some websites suggest it only needs a £20 Bluetooth antenna? I've also seen a cradle on eBay that clips in but has a lightning connection so it'd work for my iPhone 6 and any Iphone I replace it with.

How much is a Dension?

[Mad Dave]

If it assists, I've just looked on VIN Decoder and apparently the vehicle has:

"s633 mobile phone preparation, business"

I take it that doesn't include Bluetooth?

Thanks

Dave

[Digitalize]

The E90 is a bit of a minefield for phone support.

I think 'phone prep' means it has the cradle in the armrest. From memory with modern phones it's pretty pointless, all it will do is charge them, the media cradle also requires a lot more features ticked to actually work.

There's two main versions of iDrive, CCC and CIC, If it has CCC (Earlier, Pre-LCI especially) then basically forget any real phone support as the system was designed in 2005. CIC can be upgraded to work nicely with iPhones etc, but as yours doesn't have Bluetooth it definitely won't have USB which is what is really needed. From memory none of the systems will do anything with BT other than phone.

Your best bet is to get on to E90post, people on there know the cars inside out, and what each exact spec can do what, but as said from my experience full phone support is an absolute nightmare unless you already have CIC.

Edited by Digitalize on Monday 26th September 23:32

[Mad Dave]

Thanks. All I want is to make phone calls. I might get a clip in cradle with a lightning cable and do it that way.

Do the Dension modules work well with the earlier I drive?

[Digitalize]

I'm not sure the cradle will even definitely work, I've seen people say all it will do with newer phones is charge them.

I don't have iDrive so I'm not sure, Dension solutions seem to work somewhat, but worth some research.

I'd say just get a cheap BT receiver solution that plugs in to AUX, as far as I know all E90's have an AUX input in the armrest, no matter what spec.

[here_we_go]

Digitalize said:

I'd say just get a cheap BT receiver solution that plugs in to AUX, as far as I know all E90's have an AUX input in the armrest, no matter what spec.

Do they? I wonder if it depends on age - my 2005 E61 has no aux anywhere. Appeared to be an option on these.

(My car originally had a glovebox CD changer, replaced at some point with an iPod integration, into which I now plug a Vizeeeo Tuneair 1000 (oh yeah) for BTing music. Happily it iss bluetoothed for phone.)

[Digitalize]

here_we_go said:

Do they? I wonder if it depends on age - my 2005 E61 has no aux anywhere. Appeared to be an option on these.

(My car originally had a glovebox CD changer, replaced at some point with an iPod integration, into which I now plug a Vizeeeo Tuneair 1000 (oh yeah) for BTing music. Happily it iss bluetoothed for phone.)

I think the E6x series is different, as it's an older design, coming out in 2003. 2005 would be Pre-LCI when they changed to keyless start like the E9x.

I could be wrong but I don't think I've ever seen an E9x without AUX, I haven't seen an absolute base spec car though.

[Mad Dave]

It has an Aux socket, I'll do some research on that, thanks

[lostmotel]

Take a look at the Fiscon Bluetooth systems, they basically have innards of a Parrot and then an emulator for the iDrive. Because of the Parrot internals it apparently works better than the factory Bluetooth.

You need to get the one that corresponds to the system you have or want, so MASK (small 4:3 ratio screen), CCC (widescreen, DVD sat nav, old UI), or CIC (widescreen, hard disk, newer UI).

[Mad Dave]

That looks really good, thanks

[AlmostUseful]

I bought a basic parrot and installed it under the Dash. Just paid the £80 or whatever it was 4 years ago to use the steering wheel controls and it's like the car has it integral.

You can use the phone button on the wheel to activate siri too, and voice control your phones apps, dictate texts etc.

Can't see who is calling, but that comes up on the phone.

As I said, the canbus system (or whatever) was about £80 and the parrot was about £30 and it's a pretty perfect stealth installation.

[gizlaroc]

Buy a bluetooth module off ebay, then buy the harness off BMW, if you buy the USB/Bluetooth harness you will get ipod/usb connectivity as well.

The modules go for around £20, the harness was £120.

Buy the bluetooth antenna off eBay too, pay around £15.
A short smb-smb cable is fine with the bluetooth antenna in the boot next to the module.

You will need a mic, these are cheap at BMW, then buy some cheap twin core cable from Maplin.


Total install time takes around 30-60 minutes.

You then have it properly inegergrated, and I think you can code in bluetooth audio too.

[Mad Dave]

Thanks. I'll bare it in mind when I eventually manage to find a decent car to buy