BMW E46 Integrated Bluetooth and Voice Command for Less than $100 Pictorial DIY

Originally Posted by Bimmerci330

like to look at what? you shouldn't even be able to see anything the kit can be installed behind your glovebox.

im talking about the mic location, i first had the mic where you have yours installed but i had to move it to the other side (outside of the headliner) because people said i sounded like i was in a tunnel.

Fortunately, after placing the mic on the headliner next to the moonroof switch and soldering a 10K ohm resister, I'm very pleased with the install. I'm told my voice sounds very clear now, very little background noise even if traveling 60+ mph and on bumpy roads.

Unfortunately, not as "stealth" as I'd hoped...but using the OEM location just won't work for me.

Ordered mine Feb 4th, shipped Feb 10th, arrived Feb 26th. Hopefully if the weather lets up a bit, I will put it in tomorrow.

This is great I ordered parts today and I'm looking forward to completing the install. Delmarco (and others), I am new to this site and have read some of the many other DIY's. You really do have a way of simplifying what could otherwise be complex, saving us all tons of time and $$$. Thanks for taking your valuable time to put this together

With a new driver in the house, this is more of a safety issue. Regardless of what parents tell them, I know most kids use their cell phones in the car. This is the best way to make and receive calls. Text is totally unacceptable

Has anyone tried this with a Droid? I have a Droid and the voice calling and navigation is excellent. I'm wondering if the voice enabled navigation will work with this system -- if so, that will be outstanding. If the turn by turn driving instructions work in tandem with the radio, you would never need to purchase an overpriced nav system ever again... I'll update once I get everything installed.

Originally Posted by Cideways

This is great I ordered parts today and I'm looking forward to completing the install. Delmarco (and others), I am new to this site and have read some of the many other DIY's. You really do have a way of simplifying what could otherwise be complex, saving us all tons of time and $$$. Thanks for taking your valuable time to put this together

With a new driver in the house, this is more of a safety issue. Regardless of what parents tell them, I know most kids use their cell phones in the car. This is the best way to make and receive calls. Text is totally unacceptable

Has anyone tried this with a Droid? I have a Droid and the voice calling and navigation is excellent. I'm wondering if the voice enabled navigation will work with this system -- if so, that will be outstanding. If the turn by turn driving instructions work in tandem with the radio, you would never need to purchase an overpriced nav system ever again... I'll update once I get everything installed.

Thanks. Sounds Great!
Good Luck with your install.

BTW,
I sooo wish my parents bought me a BMW when I was younger.

lol.

Originally Posted by delmarco

I sooo wish my parents bought me a BMW when I was younger. lol.

Yup, i'm feeling your pain !!! When I got my license in 1986 (i am so old) I got to share my mom's 1978 Pontiac Acadian - 4 cyl, 4 speed stick.

But it was better than being without

Yep, mine was a 74 Pontiac Ventura. Pontiac's version of the Nova. My mom really didn't like driving around with the craigers and jacked rear, so she sold me the car cheap. It's been uphill since then...

Thanks very much to Delmarco for his great work here.

After a great deal of research I eventually decided that I needed the 40-pin Connects2 kit for my car, as I have a Feb 2002 (South African) built 330i, RHD (Australia delivery), with:

- 16:9 board monitor widescreen in the dash
- BM53 Becker radio unit in the boot (trunk for the 'Northerners')
- Analogue TV tuner
- 6-CD changer
- NO sat nav

So, I took the plunge and ordered off eBay:
- Connects2 CTPPAR008 (50 pounds plus postage)
- Parrot CK3000 Evolution (2nd hand, A$86 delivered)

The good news is the research was good, and the 40-pin Connects2 was what I needed - so I now have working Bluetooth for under A$250 - BMW wanted A$1200+ for the retrofit, so I told them what they could do with that...

Here is a step-by-step for you - sorry no vids or pics as I'm not as technical-like as Delmarco, but PM me if you get stuck and I will try and help as best I can.

As usual, no warranty implied or offered - follow at your own risk...

YOU WILL NEED:
- Components listed above
- Screwdrivers
- 5m 1/8-inch mono plug to 1/8-inch mono socket extension lead for Microphone (I bought wire and plug/socket to make my own)
- Isopropyl alcohol (or similar) to clean mounting surfaces
- Double-sided adhesive tape
- Adhesive cloth tape (to wrap around connectors preventing rattling)
- Stiff wire (eg. old wire coatchanger)
- 8mm socket/ratchet (spanner will do)

1) Disconnect vehicle battery (10mm spanner required)
2) Remove boot/trunk floor carpet and board
3) Remove L/H tail light bulb holder and then L/H inner trim from boot/trunk (where CD changer lives) - one clip on top, two clips at rear of back seat (I recommend reaching behind and holding on to the backs of these as they are loose and can fall behind and get lost!)
4) Undo single 8mm bolt to remove TV tuner box - can leave plugged in if you wish, just leave it on a side carefully
5) Undo single 8mm bolt to remove BM53 radio unit
6) Disconnect black antenna cable from BM53 by squeezing in at rear and pulling out
7) Disconnect 40-pin block connector from BM53 by lifting lever to disengage and pulling out
8) Undo 4 x 8mm bolts to remove storage tray (or Sat Nav unit) from under CD changer - this will give you more room to run wires
9) Run Connects2 loom (with 40-pin connectors) behind black radio/TV bracket so that 'Car Side' (male) goes into gap between bracket and rear suspension tower, and 'Radio side' (female) goes into area where BM53 goes
10) Separate the smaller 12-pin connectors from the (original BMW) 40-pin connector by squeezing each at the top and pulling out - note the position of each - on my car, (looking at the rear of the 40-pin connector, the white 12-pin was on the left, and the black 12-pin was on the right)
11) Carefully run 40-pin female (original BMW) connector into area between bracket and suspension tower - you can then connect this to the male Connects2 connector from step 9.
12) Insert the 12-pin connectors into their respective positions on the Connects2 (female) connector - make sure you have the locking lever DOWN before you do!
13) Connect the Connects2 (female) connector to the BM53 (remembering to lock in the locking lever), and the antenna cable and bolt it back into the car
14) Re-fit TV tuner unit
15) Use adhesive cloth tape to wrap around the male-female 40-pin connectors between the black bracket and suspension tower to stop them rattling
16) Use isopropyl alcohol to gently clean top of CD changer and underside of Connects2 and Parrot boxes - as they will be mounted here
17) Apply strips of double-sided adhesive tape to underside of Parrot and Connects2 boxes and mount them on top of CD changer with Connects2 towards front of car and Parrot towards rear of car, with the Parrot connectors facing the rear of the car
18) Connect the Connects2 wiring looms to Connects2 and Parrot boxes
19) Connect Parrot controls (knob plus red/green buttons) to Parrot box - just leave it dangling for now
20) Plug 1/8-inch microphone extension lead into Parrot box and run cable behind black bracket, following car wiring loom to rear of back seat.
21) Go inside car and remove seat cushion of rear seat by levering up from front edge
22) Use the stiff wire/coathanger bent into gentle curve, tape the mic extension wire to the end with electrical tape (or similar) and gently poke it downwards through the rubber grommet in the rear bulkhead (behind the rear seat) as far as you can - BE CAREFUL NOT TO POKE IT THROUGH THE SEATBACK!!!
23) Go back inside the car and carefully lift up the rear seat backrest to reach underneath and pull through the wire.
24) once through, remove the tape and pull the stiff wire/coathanger back out through the boot/trunk
25) Start running the mic extension lead towards the dashboard by carefully lifting the plastic lower door sill panels and tucking in the lead.
26) Remove sunroof control switch trim. If you have the blank spot for microphone, secure it there. If not, clip the Parrot microphone to the front edge of the headlining near the rear view mirror, angle it slightly towards the driver
27) Carefully pull away the black door weather rubber/velvet strip along the A-pillar from the roof down to the floor
28) Carefully run the mic cable along the front edge of the headlining and down along the A-pillar toward the underside of the dashboard
29) Remove the black plastic dashboard under-panel by undoing the screws
30) Connect the mic extension lead to the mic plug and tie up the excess cable so it can be tucked away under there neatly and safely

YOU'RE NEARLY DONE!!!

31) Reconnect the vehicle battery and test the system, making sure the steering controls work as they should. You will lose radio presets, trip computer and trip meter settings, but car customisation options are preserved. No need to enter in any radio codes (Follow Parrot instructions for pairing, setting up words etc.)
32) On the board monitor display, you will now see the 'Telephone' option on the main menu - this will stay 'on' for a few seconds after you turn on the radio, but will then 'grey out' - apparently this is normal, as the board monitor recognises the handsfree, but can't control it.
33) If all OK, reassemble everything and you now have 'integrated bluetooth'!
34) When reassembling boot/trunk trim, make sure you pull the Parrot hand controller through the acccess flap for the CD changer - I used double-sided tape to secure it to the bottom plastic strip (near where the flap folds down), towards the rear of the car. This still allows you to close the flap and 'hide' the hand control until it is needed)


Enjoy...

This may have been asked and answered already but is the mic location the same on the convertible.(next to the overhead lights) i just bought an 04 325Ci with premium, sport, and assist. it looks like there are some mic vents on either side of the HVAC controls.

Originally Posted by tljakejr

This may have been asked and answered already but is the mic location the same on the convertible.(next to the overhead lights) i just bought an 04 325Ci with premium, sport, and assist. it looks like there are some mic vents on either side of the HVAC controls.

Those are some type of air/temp sensors not mic openings. OEM mic location on verts I think is on the steering column somewhere??

Originally Posted by tljakejr

This may have been asked and answered already but is the mic location the same on the convertible.(next to the overhead lights) i just bought an 04 325Ci with premium, sport, and assist. it looks like there are some mic vents on either side of the HVAC controls.

+1

I have an m3 vert.

+1

I want to know too, I'm about to do this install, I already have all the parts! I'll default to top of steering wheel column I guess.

I just did this install in my early 02 M3. The harness and all the parts worked a charm, HOWEVER... voice dialing is not working for me.

When I press the VOICE button on my steering wheel, nothing happens. If I hold it down for 2 seconds, it does redial the last number, so I know the button is working.

Likewise, if I press the R/T button while just listening to music, nothing happens. I'm not sure if anything should be happening here though.


Questions:

- Is there something I may have screwed up or a wire or two to look to change to enable voice dialing?
- Is voice dialing phone dependent? I have a Motorola Droid, I do not know if it has native voice dialing or not.


Thanks in advance for any help.

Originally Posted by Reach

Questions:

- Is there something I may have screwed up or a wire or two to look to change to enable voice dialing?
- Is voice dialing phone dependent? I have a Motorola Droid, I do not know if it has native voice dialing or not.


Thanks in advance for any help.

Voice dialing IS phone dependent. If the voice dial feature is installed, enabled, and functioning on your phone then the steering wheel buttons should also work. You'll need to get your "droid" to voice dial from the phone before troubleshooting the steering wheel functionality.

Originally Posted by JLondon

Voice dialing IS phone dependent. If the voice dial feature is installed, enabled, and functioning on your phone then the steering wheel buttons should also work. You'll need to get your "droid" to voice dial from the phone before troubleshooting the steering wheel functionality.

The kit itself also has programmable voice commands or magic words that you can set yourself. I briefly glanced over this in the manual but didn't go into reading it so I cannot say exactly how it works.

The voice commands that I use is via my Blackberry 8900 Javelin so I didn't have to program my kit for magic words.

What an awesome DIY, I just finished it, as you said it was under 1 hour. The only thing I changed was the mic mount. I used the small clip and clipped it to a wire harness up above the factory mic grill. Sounds good, again, thanks much for such a clear and easy project!
You rock!

Originally Posted by hillsider

What an awesome DIY, I just finished it, as you said it was under 1 hour. The only thing I changed was the mic mount. I used the small clip and clipped it to a wire harness up above the factory mic grill. Sounds good, again, thanks much for such a clear and easy project!
You rock!

Thanks.

Thanks for the great DIY, installed it today and everything is working. I just need to play around with the mic location. The price has gone up a little on the parts, it cost me $134 but still this is a great alternative the the oem setup.

Next up is to swap out my Dice kit for a USA Spec one and I will be following your DIY on that as well.

Unbelievable! DROID DOESN'T ... support voice dialing. I can't believe I did this whole DIY and never thought to see if my phone supports it. Well, I just assumed Android would do BASICS like voice dialing. I was wrong. Egg on me. And Android! I can only hope they push out voice dialing capabilities via a software update in the future. I had to search some phone forums to find this out.

There is a 'voice dialer' application on the phone, but the phone's bluetooth profile doesn't support BT voice dialing. I really hope that is something they can iron out with an android update. I've made a 'work around' by assigning the voice dialer to the side button as a shortcut, so now I have to press the button on the phone instead of the button on the wheel to voice dial.

OP: Great, clear, easy DIY. Thanks again... everything YOU did was good.

WOW...No BT Voice Dial on the "droid", just googled myself. Quite a few angry "droid" users out there. Unbelievable oversight on Google's part.

Well, you'll have to look into the Parrot's "MagicWords", "keywords", and "voiceprints" for some increased handsfree functionality.

re: MagicWords - I recommend AGAINST enabling the feature. My reasons for this are limited, but here they are:

1. I have a blackberry that supports voice dialling from its contact list very well.
2. I did not (nor do I really know how) transfer any contacts to the parrot.
3. Using the word "HANGUP" to terminate a call only worked about 70-80% of the time.
4. The parrot hears the word "PHONE" or "CALL" or any other word close to that in normal conversation with someone in the car & activates voice dialling.

#4 was happening quite a lot. I didn't immediately link the behaviour to the MagicWords feature until I read delmarco's post about enabling it & thought "damit, I bet that's what's happening". Since I have disabled the feature, the sporadic activations have cleared up.