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1997 BMW 540i Phone, what to do with it?

13458 Views 11 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  Caliwator, 
T
I have a 1997 540i BMW. The car came with a phone (a 1997 phone!) which of course doesn't work now as it is obsolete (I think!). Any suggestions as to what to do with that? I have heard about some retrofits (so that I could take advantage of the very neat capabilities the car already has regarding the integration of the phone system with the steering wheel and stereo system), or if I should just replace the center console (as right now it is just dead space), or both (new center console arm rest accessory and retrofit)... Anyone can provide me with the part numbers and links for me to see how to go about this? Are these tweaks easy to do or are they complicated and something can go wrong, in which case it would probably be best to leave things as they are?
Thanks!!!
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E
I suspect the only possibility is Bluetooth, but the early cars don't support that. Check with Crutchfield for a possible retrofit.

BTW, that phone is analog technology; no wireless provider supports it anymore.
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02BMW530
Tebo80 said:
I have a 1997 540i BMW. The car came with a phone (a 1997 phone!) which of course doesn't work now as it is obsolete (I think!). Any suggestions as to what to do with that?
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You actually have several options.

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Likely a great wheel chock!

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Living room skeet shooting

5-


Wait a few years and see if they'll take it.

Sent from my iPhone using BimmerApp
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DominguesE30
It would make a great war club in a situation where some smart ass on the road tries to smash ya :)




Sent from my iPhone using BimmerApp
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Flug540
I removed mine together with the phone module in the trunk and sold on eBay. Someone paid $60 for it. Then I used this to install Euro arm rest.
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bluebee
- How to add hands-free OEM ULF/TCU bluetooth or Parrot or cellphone pairing to your E39 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) & Hualigan (1)
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Orxan4ik
mine works just fine, got a separate number 2
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J
I installed one for my customer on a 2000 528i, and when he went to the dealer to get it activated, the techs laughed him out of the dealership. The techs told him that they cannot activate it any more, and it is useless.
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F
It makes the car look factory? :dunno:

I would keep it... someday, it might be worth a lot of money:)
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R
i say ripp it out... just because mine had a short and caused my LCM act up and took out my blinkers and interior lights once i unplugged the phone everything went back to normal
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bluebee
For the record, this user is trying to use the BMW cellphone (perhaps in the UK?).
Biggy1976 said:
My in car phone won't get a signal I've put the SIM card in the slot under the phone and in the box above the cd changer in the boot any info plz help
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C
I don't know what standards you got in the US but in sweden the phone works fine with a normal sim-card. I use my phone when going for long trips.
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