In Car Phone - E38

[VladD]

I picked up my 1998 E38 at the weekend. I'd like to get the phone to work, so I have a few questions.

1) Can I just get a duplicate Sim card from the phone company and still keep my current Sim card in my normal mobile?

2) Will it work if I'm with Orange?

3) Is there a better solution that I should know about.

Many thanks in advance.

[Mark V8]

I had this issue with my E38. I'd like to help but I'll need a little more info, though.....
Is it a fixed handset or not ? Whats the make and model ? You could always go Bluetooth....

Edited by Mark V8 on Monday 28th April 14:51

[VladD]

Mark V8 said:

I had this issue with my E38. I'd like to help but I'll need a little more info, though.....
Is it a fixed handset or not ? Whats the make and model ? You could always go Bluetooth....

Edited by Mark V8 on Monday 28th April 14:51

It's got the handset in the centre arm rest. BMW 750i.

[E30M3SE]

1. The sim required is probably going to be an old 2g card, current bing 2.5g or 3g.

2. The phone in the car is probably single frequency so will not work with Orange, only Vodafone or O2.

3. Try these guys....www.bimmernav.com

[welwynnick]

I looked into this a little while ago with mine.

You cannot have two SIM cards on the same mobile account or number. There are, unfortunately, no exceptions. the reason is that the network has to know which cell the phone is in all the time, so it knows where to route an incoming call to. That's the way GSM works. Makes sense.

What I did was get a pay-as-you-go SIM card only with it's own number. You can conveniently set-up call transfers or re-directs between phones as necesary. Not completely convenient, but that's the best you're likely to get.

That's what I did, and the novelty of placing and receiving calls using the steering wheel buttons is brilliant. You can transfer all your directories etc from one phone to the other, and that works out well. The SIM card will probably be credit-card size, but that's what the phone company will give you, so no problem.

Nick

[sniff petrol]

I love those big old phones - really retro cool IMO

[VladD]

welwynnick said:

I looked into this a little while ago with mine.

You cannot have two SIM cards on the same mobile account or number. There are, unfortunately, no exceptions. the reason is that the network has to know which cell the phone is in all the time, so it knows where to route an incoming call to. That's the way GSM works. Makes sense.

What I did was get a pay-as-you-go SIM card only with it's own number. You can conveniently set-up call transfers or re-directs between phones as necesary. Not completely convenient, but that's the best you're likely to get.

That's what I did, and the novelty of placing and receiving calls using the steering wheel buttons is brilliant. You can transfer all your directories etc from one phone to the other, and that works out well. The SIM card will probably be credit-card size, but that's what the phone company will give you, so no problem.

Nick

That's excellent. Thanks very much.

[SJobson]

Something you may not be aware of - there'll be a second SIM slot, probably in one of the boot side panels. Often the one under the phone doesn't work so you may be forced to find this out later.

I like the way mine shows 'Cellnet' with the O2 SIM in it.

Oh, I happened to notice that Vodafone will send you two free PAYG SIMs at the moment - have a look on their site at SIM-only PAYG. You'll probably need to put £10 on it to activate it though.

[croxsons]

err ... I think that Orange still do two sims?

They did at the end of last year ... but it was cheaper for us to get another number, stick that in it and forward the calls ...

[VladD]

croxsons said:

err ... I think that Orange still do two sims?

They did at the end of last year ... but it was cheaper for us to get another number, stick that in it and forward the calls ...

Will the Orange Sim card work in the car phone?

[SJobson]

Orange and T-Mobile won't work (nor will 3, fairly obviously, nor any other provider which uses Orange or T-Mobile's networks, such as Virgin).

O2 or Vodafone only, basically.

[VladD]

I've bought an O2 PAYG Sim, but the phone doesn't work. Maybe a knackered handset. I press the power on button and get a black line across the display for about a second and then it goes blank again. Anyone got any ideas?

[SJobson]

Try resetting it - hold the On button down for ages and ages and ages, beyond when the display changes (must be nearly a minute I think).

Also, try sticking your SIM in the slot in the boot - on an E39 it's behind the removable left hand side panel, above the wheelarch.

[Blues]

If it is any help i have been trying all sorts of ways to get this to work.
I have finally managed ot do it by using a Vodofone sim in the boot mounted unit. The same sim strangely does not work in the slot under the handset, nor does any that i have tried.

I have just upgraded an existing Voda contract, and got a free PAYG sim, which has £1 credit pre-loaded. This works just fine, and i divert my T Mobile (I know its ste, but it is my employer's standard) Blackberry to the PAYG sim. If you preload all of your numbers onto the sim, you can see who is calling and everything - just like magic!

Now, has anyone managed to convert this standard set up to Bluetooth, so that we don't have to use the extra sim?

[VladD]

Blues said:

If it is any help i have been trying all sorts of ways to get this to work.
I have finally managed ot do it by using a Vodofone sim in the boot mounted unit. The same sim strangely does not work in the slot under the handset, nor does any that i have tried.

I have just upgraded an existing Voda contract, and got a free PAYG sim, which has £1 credit pre-loaded. This works just fine, and i divert my T Mobile (I know its ste, but it is my employer's standard) Blackberry to the PAYG sim. If you preload all of your numbers onto the sim, you can see who is calling and everything - just like magic!

Now, has anyone managed to convert this standard set up to Bluetooth, so that we don't have to use the extra sim?

So is the Sim Card slot in the boot by the CD/Sat Nav like Simon said?

[Blues]

VladD said:

Blues said:

If it is any help i have been trying all sorts of ways to get this to work.
I have finally managed ot do it by using a Vodofone sim in the boot mounted unit. The same sim strangely does not work in the slot under the handset, nor does any that i have tried.

I have just upgraded an existing Voda contract, and got a free PAYG sim, which has £1 credit pre-loaded. This works just fine, and i divert my T Mobile (I know its ste, but it is my employer's standard) Blackberry to the PAYG sim. If you preload all of your numbers onto the sim, you can see who is calling and everything - just like magic!

Now, has anyone managed to convert this standard set up to Bluetooth, so that we don't have to use the extra sim?

So is the Sim Card slot in the boot by the CD/Sat Nav like Simon said?

If you remove the wing panel completely,(probably have to remove the sat nav drive first) you will see behind the Video module and Trimble (if you still have the MK I Sat Nav)a black rectangular box, about 6" high by 2 1/2 inches wide, with a slot in the top. You need to fit the sim card into one of those credit card sized "adapters" and then just slide it in with the metal face of the sim facing towards the inside of the car, and Bingo

[VladD]

Blues said:

VladD said:

Blues said:

If it is any help i have been trying all sorts of ways to get this to work.
I have finally managed ot do it by using a Vodofone sim in the boot mounted unit. The same sim strangely does not work in the slot under the handset, nor does any that i have tried.

I have just upgraded an existing Voda contract, and got a free PAYG sim, which has £1 credit pre-loaded. This works just fine, and i divert my T Mobile (I know its ste, but it is my employer's standard) Blackberry to the PAYG sim. If you preload all of your numbers onto the sim, you can see who is calling and everything - just like magic!

Now, has anyone managed to convert this standard set up to Bluetooth, so that we don't have to use the extra sim?

So is the Sim Card slot in the boot by the CD/Sat Nav like Simon said?

If you remove the wing panel completely,(probably have to remove the sat nav drive first) you will see behind the Video module and Trimble (if you still have the MK I Sat Nav)a black rectangular box, about 6" high by 2 1/2 inches wide, with a slot in the top. You need to fit the sim card into one of those credit card sized "adapters" and then just slide it in with the metal face of the sim facing towards the inside of the car, and Bingo

Cool. I'll give it a try this evening.

[VladD]

VladD said:

Blues said:

VladD said:

Blues said:

If it is any help i have been trying all sorts of ways to get this to work.
I have finally managed ot do it by using a Vodofone sim in the boot mounted unit. The same sim strangely does not work in the slot under the handset, nor does any that i have tried.

I have just upgraded an existing Voda contract, and got a free PAYG sim, which has £1 credit pre-loaded. This works just fine, and i divert my T Mobile (I know its ste, but it is my employer's standard) Blackberry to the PAYG sim. If you preload all of your numbers onto the sim, you can see who is calling and everything - just like magic!

Now, has anyone managed to convert this standard set up to Bluetooth, so that we don't have to use the extra sim?

So is the Sim Card slot in the boot by the CD/Sat Nav like Simon said?

If you remove the wing panel completely,(probably have to remove the sat nav drive first) you will see behind the Video module and Trimble (if you still have the MK I Sat Nav)a black rectangular box, about 6" high by 2 1/2 inches wide, with a slot in the top. You need to fit the sim card into one of those credit card sized "adapters" and then just slide it in with the metal face of the sim facing towards the inside of the car, and Bingo

Cool. I'll give it a try this evening.

Tried it, but still no luck. Should the chip on the card be at the top or the bottom when putting it into the slot?

[Blues]

VladD said:

Tried it, but still no luck. Should the chip on the card be at the top or the bottom when putting it into the slot?

It should be at the bottom. The "metallic" side of the chip should be visible when you mount it in the adapter card, and this side should be facing you as you insert it all.

When you have the ignition on, what is the message on the armrest handset?

[VladD]

Blues said:

VladD said:

Tried it, but still no luck. Should the chip on the card be at the top or the bottom when putting it into the slot?

It should be at the bottom. The "metallic" side of the chip should be visible when you mount it in the adapter card, and this side should be facing you as you insert it all.

When you have the ignition on, what is the message on the armrest handset?

There's no message, the screen is blank. When I press the power button, I just get a line appear across the display for 1/2 a second and then it goes blank again.