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How to Retrofit a OEM Bluetooth TCU to your car

429K views 718 replies 72 participants last post by  AlexFNT 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
cleaning topic & only leaving required info
 
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#12 ·
can the same coding be done with NCS expert?

Thanks again!
Yes. Read the module (MMI in this case) with NCS expert and you get the NETTODAT.TRC file which contain the command lines Ace is referring to.

You can modify the hex value on line 3002 as per Ace's guide and save the file as NETTODAT.MAN then code the MMI using the basic functions/coapiCodeSgByNettoDATA Type "NETTODAT.MAN".
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi politby,

Thanks for that, I will read the MMI this weekend and have a look. Im using INPA and DIS on my macbook using a virtual machine inside a virtual machine which is pretty slow! So im setting up a old computer in the garage at the moment purely for diagnostics etc...



I will take a picture of the unit this weekend, The wiring sounds simple just need to find the diagrams for my unit and the new one i will be fitting and match the connections up.

Thanks again

Stuart
 
#23 · (Edited)
Hi politby,

Thanks for that, I will read the MMI this weekend and have a look. Im using INPA and DIS on my macbook using a virtual machine inside a virtual machine which is pretty slow! So im setting up a old computer in the garage at the moment purely for diagnostics etc...
A VM inside a VM? So you're what, running a Windows VM in VMware Fusion on the Mac and then running VMware Workstation or VirtualPC in that VM? Cool, but why?

I've been working in virtualization for 6 years and only just now found the occasion to use it personally... to be able to run old 16-bit BMW software on a modern O/S... :D

Rather incredible that no one at BMW has leaked these specs, in all these years. Makes me wonder what they are threatened with if they did...
 
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#19 · (Edited)
Okay, while working on creating a 32-bit Win7 partition so I can run NCS Expert natively, I made a little dry run.

I used Revtor's NCSdummy tool to compare the NETTODAT.TRC files before and after the change on command line 3002. That's a handy function to find out what a hex code change in the nettodat file will result in the human "readable" parameter file:

Code:
Generated with NCS Dummy version 0.5.0.5 ***8212; copyright © 2011 revtor software


Output       : Trace Differences
Chassis      : E65 (E65,E66,E67,E68)
Module       : MMI_E65.C03
Trace file 1 : "C:\NCSEXPER\WORK\NETTODAT.TRC" (Nettodata)
Trace file 2 : "C:\NCSEXPER\WORK\NETTODAT2.TRC" (Nettodata)
Differences  : Yes


1   2   FUNCTION KEYWORD        FUNCTION KEYWORD TRANSLATION
            PARAMETER KEYWORD       PARAMETER KEYWORD TRANSLATION
        ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
        BLUETOOTH_HANDY         
*           nicht_aktiv             not active
    *       aktiv                   active
As you can see the parameter affected by the "3D" to "3F" change in the 7th hex pair is the BLUETOOTH_HANDY value which gets set to active. "Handy", of course, being the German word for cellphone.

Now, it's anybody´s guess why something this obvious has not been successfully attempted by anyone on the German 7-forum, but my hunch is that this simple coding change may not work on every pre-sep-06 facelift car because the TCU versions may not necessarily be timed with the facelift date (s).

And for those using NCS Expert this means that coding this can be done via the standard method so coding by way of NETTODAT is not necessary.
 
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#26 ·
Well it was worth a try but unfortunately it did not work in my case.

I recoded the MMI - BLUETOOTH_HANDY to "aktiv" (equivalent to changing the command line as Ace did) and it had absolutely no effect. MMI looks exactly the same and the only Bluetooth setting is the on/off toggle.

Then I also coded the PORTABLE_BT parameter to "aktiv" in the TCU. That didn't do anything either.

Strange that NCS Expert would report those parameters as codeable when they have no effect.

So I have to conclude that the TCU in my car does not support any other bluetooth functionality other than pairing with the BMW handset in the drawer. Unless there are more, less obvious, code changes needed.

I used INPA to interrogate the TCU and despite being a facelift car my 750i has a TCU manufactured in Dec 2003. I guess BMW had to get rid of old parts. :(
It does have the Bluetooth sticker with the pairing code and the car came with the pairing code card which is still in the glovebox.

Maybe I was just unlucky to get a facelift car with an old TCU, so I am real interested in hearing from stuartjohn24 and rostman about their TCUs and coding results.
 
#27 ·
Hi,

Shame to hear you haven't had much luck so far!

I have just been playing with this NCS Expert, I haven't used it before but managed to get the hang of it and read the coding information from a few units.

I still have the original re-facelift MMI but decided to have a look at what options are codeable.

The telephone related options that I can see are as follows:

ECE_TELEFON
nicht_aktiv not active
* aktiv active
US_TELEFON
* nicht_aktiv not active
aktiv active
TEL_WDCT
nicht_aktiv not active
* aktiv active
TEL_BLUETOOTH BLUETOOTH TELEPHONE
* nicht_aktiv not active
aktiv active
TEL_US_BUSINESS BMW BUSINESS TELEPHONE (USA)
* nicht_aktiv not active
aktiv active
TEL_US_PROFESSIONAL BMW PROFESSIONAL TELEPHONE (USA)
* nicht_aktiv not active
aktiv active
TEL_EXPLORERLISTE
nicht_aktiv not active
* aktiv active

I have no idea what ECE_TELEFON is, there also appears to be business and professional versions of the US phone option, is that for the BMW branded phone that goes into the armrest?

It would be interesting to see what activating the TEL_BLUETOOTH option does, can options conflict? like if the ECE_TELEFON is say for the phone in the drawer what will activating the bluetooth option do?

One other thing, when you read the coding you get the hex dump pop up and the line ACe refers to is there 3002, I understand he is using the 4 in 1 lead with dashsoft which looks like a copy/hacked version of carsoft/PA soft v2.1.0?

Obviously NCS expert converts the hex into a readable trace file showing what options are coded etc... isnt it simpler using NCS expert and NCSdummy to change the options rather than changing the hex values directly to see what they do?

Or have i got this all very wrong!
 
#28 · (Edited)
I have no idea what ECE_TELEFON is, there also appears to be business and professional versions of the US phone option, is that for the BMW branded phone that goes into the armrest?
I'm pretty sure ECE means a European market version, U.S. market models are labeled US, such as this one listed on eBay. Note this one has an ESN rather than an IMEI number on the label which tells you it is a CDMA unit, not GSM. So it would be useless in most of the non-U.S. world.

I have seen three basic TCU variants, Europe (or rest of world) GSM, U.S. CDMA, and U.S. GSM. I see no reason why the latter should not work in other GSM areas as well.

One other thing, when you read the coding you get the hex dump pop up and the line ACe refers to is there 3002, I understand he is using the 4 in 1 lead with dashsoft which looks like a copy/hacked version of carsoft/PA soft v2.1.0?
The hex dump you get is the NETTODAT.TRC file which is a hex representation of the FSW_PSW.TRC file. I am not sure if they say exactly the same thing or if the NETTODAT file contains more options.

Obviously NCS expert converts the hex into a readable trace file showing what options are coded etc... isnt it simpler using NCS expert and NCSdummy to change the options rather than changing the hex values directly to see what they do?
You need NCS Expert whichever way you want to code. NCSdummy does not code, it just reads and translates the information. Essentially you edit the NETTODAT or FSW_PSW trace file, save it as .MAN and feed it to NCS Expert which performs the actual coding. It is pretty well explained here.

Believe it or not I found a TCU for sale at a local salvage yard, coming out of a 2007 E66. It was only ~150 euros so I placed an order immediately. Pretty cheap compared to the ones listed on the German eBay. I should get it in a couple of days. Part number 84109149615.

Hopefully the wiring is the same so I won't have to rebuild the connectors. Maybe I can convince Ace to share how he coded his new TCU for his VIN.:)

If that does not work, I will give up.
 
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