BMW Bluetooth Compatible phones; What WORKS?

I have an 08 328i, my Touch HTC with sprint works great. I don't think I am able to do SMS.

The bmwusa web site gives information about BT phones which is not wery well figured-out, as one may buy a cellular phone in Europe, for example, which will not appear in the listing on the bmwusa web site. Namely, I have Mototola SLVR L7, which is a T-Mobile's phone in Europe, while in the US it is exclusively AT&T's. In addition, my phone's software still fully works with my 325i regardless of being older than what has been specified in the compatibility chart under AT&T's SLVR. Which reders this web site pretty useless. I believe that most of the cellular phone providers will let you try to connect the phone to your car before you buy it. I understand that it may not be fun, because it will casue a lot of back and forth if the phone proves not to be compatible, but still, one will not be forced to buy something and then have it not working. THIS IS VERY FRUSTRATING!

The idea to check and see if the phone works before buying sounds good unless you buy into the fact that it might work for awhile and then cause major problems. I spoke with our local BMW bluetooth expert at our dealership and he told me that if I used my Treo it would work fine for awhile and then shut my I Drive down. He said to only use the phones on the list. Well as I said before you cannot buy ANY of the phones on the list at the local Sprint dealer. Well I went ahead and Paired my Sons MuZIQ sprint phone ands it works fine. It did not however bring in the contacts. I have bought a phone from the list on EBAY and will let you know how that goes.

Originally Posted by TBB13

The idea to check and see if the phone works before buying sounds good unless you buy into the fact that it might work for awhile and then cause major problems. I spoke with our local BMW bluetooth expert at our dealership and he told me that if I used my Treo it would work fine for awhile and then shut my I Drive down. He said to only use the phones on the list. Well as I said before you cannot buy ANY of the phones on the list at the local Sprint dealer. Well I went ahead and Paired my Sons MuZIQ sprint phone ands it works fine. It did not however bring in the contacts. I have bought a phone from the list on EBAY and will let you know how that goes.

Oops, I would never even thought that something like that could happen. Which by the way is scary, because it means that there is something building up in the Bimmer and then later it causes problems. I assumed that this would be a regular electronic thing, i.e., that it either works or does not. Anyway, I am glad that it appears that you are coping with it fairly well, because I would likely be very peed off. To me, the BT is really NOT some brain surgery and as such it should work as long as there is a BT connectivity in the car!
Your case actually should have prompted BMW to really try to keep the BT compatibility list always updated and correct, in addition to me noting that it should also include cellular phones not just sold in the US, because some of US have the opportunities to buy our cellular phones elsewhere! I hope that BMW is also listening to this, and I believe that this is not too much of a weird request for them!

Originally Posted by kd2789mo

As far as I know, BMW's Bluetooth software only supports primary stand-alone cellular devices. I've yet to hear of any Bluetooth device, incorporating cellular capability, being compatible with BMW's Bluetooth software, PDA's, BlackBerry, etc.

Not true. Some BB's work, some do not.

See:


http://www.wireless4bmw.com/

Phone model:
Car model: 2008 528i
[X] ability to make/receive calls
[ ] phone book automatically synches to car
[ ] dial by name (without verbal training of system)
[ ] calling name display (using adddress book)
[ ] ability to send/receive SMS

I have a Palm Treo 750 with AT&T. Phone will sync and I can make/receive calls. I can get the "Quick Dial" numbers on the phone's main screen synced to the car, but not the address book - go figure. So I just have lots of Quick Dials!

Do you have WM5 or WM6 in your touch? My locks up every time the bluetooth connects after the connection is done (IE the car is shut off).

Thanks.

I have a 08 535i, my Nokia E65 pairs with the car and I can make and receive calls but cannot access address book. Any ideas?

Hey Mail77 it is somthing to do with the Symbian software in the latest Nokia phones thats not compatable with the BMW Bluetooth.

I found this workaround on another forum, try it and let me know how you go.

Hi All,

Just bought a Nokia n95 and I paired it to my Gen3 ULF last night and transfered the phonebook.

Here's how to get the phone book across. (its a bit fiddly but works)

If you have already paired the phone (n95), then delete the paring on the phone.

Start the paring process again;

Press and hold the pair button,
Turn on ignition (stage 1),
Wait 3 seconds, release pair button,
ULF goes to paring mode,
Search and find ULF,
Select and input code,
Confirm pairing and connect, (this is normally where you then switch off the ignition to save the pair, DON'T)

While still in the pairing/connected mode go to the "contacts" on the phone,
Mark 10/15 contacts and use send business card -> via blue-tooth -> bmwxxxxx,

Then select another 10/15 and same again until all the contacts are transfered,

When finished the turn off the ignition to save the pair and address book transfer.

Wait until the phone disconnects with the car, then turn on ignition and hey presto the phone book is available.

This should work for any symbian phone, no SMS but thats no biggy

Well.. Today I took a chance. Stopped by the Sprint Store and picked up a Sanyo Katana DLX phone.

I decided on the Katana since I was looking for a good all around phone with Bluetooth. Didn't need a PDA Phone, and the overall reviews of the Katana DLX I read on the web were favorable.

My initial experience was positive with the 535i's iDrive / Hands Free system.

I haven't done an extensive check of all possible features, but the following basics worked first try:

1) Phone paired with the car.
2) Address book downloaded successfully to the car. Entries with multiple phone numbers in the phone's address book came into the car as multiple instances of the same name - but with a qualifier on the end for home, mobile, work, etc. like:

Alan (H)
Alan (M)
Alan (W)

3) I could place calls using the iDrive menus and address book in the car.
4) I could receive incoming calls and answer them using the controls on the steering wheel.

I did not test other functionality, but was excited to get this far in the first 5 minutes. I will do more extensive testing and report back when I have more complete info to share.

The BlackBerry Pearl (Research In Motion 8100) appears to be fully compatible, at least with a 2006 525i. The only glitch I had was the device access number, but when I was told you can enter any four digit number with BMWs it solved the problem.

Since there seams to be a serious lack of good info about currently available Sprint cell phones that work with BMW hands-free, here's my attempt at following Jonathan Spiro's format (see Bmwcca.org) for reviewing the Sanyo Katana Dlx.

I was really nervous about picking a phone, given the finiky nature of phones and hands-free car systems. But Saturday I took a gamble and picked up a new Sanyo Katana Dlx. I won't go into the phone itself other than to say I really like it - I did some web research ahead of time and there are plenty of good reviews of this phone. For the most part it gets high marks from those who have been using it for a while. The areas it was given lower marks were things I won't use much anyway.

Anyway for those who are looking for a good phone (Not PDA) with plenty of features and works well with BMW's car system (At least the 2008 535i), here you go....

Beware, though... I've only been using the phone with the car for 3 days. So far no issues. I've read that some phones may work for a while, then stop working with the car. So in that respect, the jury is still out on this one. But I'm cautiously optimistic and even more hopeful that won't happen here.


Phone: Sanyo Katana Dlx
Carrier: Sprint

Car Tested: 2008 BMW 535i (no Navigation Package)


Bluetooth cell phone test results:
Sound Quality: 8
Mobile pairs to car: Yes
Audio (receive/transmit): Yes
Transfer of phone book: Yes (See Note 1)
Place calls using dial by number: Yes
Receive calls: Yes
Display of signal strength: Yes
Place calls via speech recognition (i.e. dial by name): Yes (see note 2)
Caller ID for incoming calls - what shows up on display: Name (if number matches entry in phone book), otherwise number.
Rings through vehicle: Yes
Send/end call: Yes

Phone Info:
Software Rev: 1.010SP
Hardware: 0203
PRL: 60610

Notes:

1) Address book transferred completely. When a Katana phone book entry had multiple numbers for a name- e.g. home, work, and mobile, the iDrive menu showed each separately like this:

John (H)
John (W)
John (M)

2) Because I didn't have the NAV option, I had to manually set up voice dial name/number entries per the BMW manual instructions. Worked fine.

I just traded in my Blackberry Pearl (8100) for a Curve (8320). Absolutely no trouble pairing the Curve with my '05 545i. Address book was there immediately.

Originally Posted by Spy021

Anyone have any luck getting the system to pair with the LG vx9900 (ENV)? I can get the phone and radio to pair, but the system just sits there with the message "Loading Phonebook". I've waited approximately 15 minutes, but the message does not disappear.

I recently bought a 2005 330ci with nav and also have an LG vx9900 (EnV). I did not receive the phone manual with the car and wondered if anyone can let me know how to set up the car to work with my phone. I have been going through all the menus and have not seen anything that sounds like it has to do with pairing the two.

Originally Posted by lindsb233

I recently bought a 2005 330ci with nav and also have an LG vx9900 (EnV). I did not receive the phone manual with the car and wondered if anyone can let me know how to set up the car to work with my phone. I have been going through all the menus and have not seen anything that sounds like it has to do with pairing the two.

Update: I was able to get the car to see the phone and vice versa. Only problem I'm having now is that I do not have a passkey because that information did not come with the car when I bought it. Is there a way to reset the passkey so that I can start from scratch?

Originally Posted by lindsb233

Update: I was able to get the car to see the phone and vice versa. Only problem I'm having now is that I do not have a passkey because that information did not come with the car when I bought it. Is there a way to reset the passkey so that I can start from scratch?

The passkey should be in a card in the inner flap of your manual portfolio. I do not believe you can modify the passkey. The passkey is also located on the underside of the BT module located in the trunk. You would literally have to remove the module to view the passkey. The dealer should also be able to help you.

Originally Posted by lindsb233

Update: I was able to get the car to see the phone and vice versa. Only problem I'm having now is that I do not have a passkey because that information did not come with the car when I bought it. Is there a way to reset the passkey so that I can start from scratch?

Default passkey IF you didn't change it is 0000

Originally Posted by bevo1990

The BlackBerry Pearl (Research In Motion 8100) appears to be fully compatible, at least with a 2006 525i. The only glitch I had was the device access number, but when I was told you can enter any four digit number with BMWs it solved the problem.

The BB Pearl 8130 works perfectly with mine...........

I was looking for this info before I bought my car so I thought I should post it after purchasing and trying it out.

I successfully paired my AT&T Tilt (aka HTC Kaiser aka HTC TyTN II) with my 2005 545. As far as I can tell right now everything is working well....the sound is good...just an occasional crackle but hard to tell right now if it’s the Bluetooth or something at the other end of the line. The address book seems to be there as well at least all the contacts I needed so far!

Virgin Mobile has started selling the LG Flare.

It supports these Bluetooth Profiles:
Headset (HSP) / Handsfree (HFP) /
Dial-up networking (DUN) / Object Push (OPP) /
Generic Access (GAP) / Serial Port (SPP) /
Service Discovery Application (SDAP)

Do you think it might work in an E93?

Any tips on this...

Blackberry Pearl 8130 (Verizon)

While at the dealer, the tech helped me pair up my phone. Everything worked; even the address book, caller-id etc... Got in the car this morning; no address book. Just a giant speaker phone!

I went thru the setup from scratch... Nothing!

Any ideas on why my address book worked, among all other cool features, and today its not there?

Thanks!

Tom

Originally Posted by tcesar888

Any tips on this...

Blackberry Pearl 8130 (Verizon)

Any ideas on why my address book worked, among all other cool features, and today its not there?

It worked fine with my Pearl, except occasionally the address book did not come across - like 4 times in 4 months. Generally, the next time I got into the car, it was there again.

Originally Posted by WJGreer

It worked fine with my Pearl, except occasionally the address book did not come across - like 4 times in 4 months. Generally, the next time I got into the car, it was there again.

Hey Will, thank you!

Yup, it came back... I think it has something to do with the size of your address book. It takes some "time" for it to transfer if its larger... I think thats what it is anyway.

Mahalo,

Tom

Just got my 135 and want to get bluetooth working any suggestions for the compatible phone Thank you

Originally Posted by LDV330i

The passkey should be in a card in the inner flap of your manual portfolio. I do not believe you can modify the passkey. The passkey is also located on the underside of the BT module located in the trunk. You would literally have to remove the module to view the passkey. The dealer should also be able to help you.

Thanks for the info. Where about is the BT module located in the trunk? I went looking around in there after reading a couple posts about pairing and didn't find anything.