Cell phone in 2003 530? (E39)

[Cathleen]

Last January, I bought a 2003 530 CPO from a dealer and they told me that although my car doesn't have the cell phone feature, I could order it any time. A friend of mine has a 2004 which has that feature standard and it works with her current Motorola Verizon phone so well I decided to get the upgrade.

But, I just called a dealer and they say they don't sell it anymore because customers kept getting it installed (control kit, jumper cables, etc.) and then wanting to return it because it wouldn't work with their phone. I need to buy a new cell phone anyway (cost of new phone is cheaper than new battery...), so I thought this would be a good time to get the car upgrade (along with a bike rack).

So:
- Has anyone ordered this upgrade and how reliable is it?

- Can you use any Motorola bluetooth phone? Or only the one that comes with it (which could be really old technology since I think this car model came out in 2001?)?

- Are there any gotchas or things that don't work the way they should?

- And which dealer would you recommend (who gives a discount to BMWCCA members)?

I'm a bit leary about this all because it doesn't seem BMW does a good job supporting "older" models and features -- I was never able to get a manual for my stereo that actually matches the stereo in my car. And that's fine for a stereo, but when I think the number of difficulties I could run into trying to make the phone work, I'd really like to have reliable documentation.

Thanks for your help!

[David Hicks]

Here's some general info on BMW BT kits
http://www.bimmernav.com/page4.html
and here's some on what phones are compatible:
http://www.x5world.com/html.php?file=bmw_bt_phones.htm

As for dealers, Towson seems to really be on top of things. There are a couple guys who work there who are very active with the club so I usually point people in their direction.

Can't really offer much more help than that.

[Cathleen]

Thank you so much, that's exactly what I was looking for. I took a look at those sites and it looks like the only phone that will work for me with Verizon Wireless - my current carrier (Motorola V710) has had the bluetooth feature disabled by Verizon Wireless because they want to sell some other feature... Looks like it's time to switch carriers... ah well, maybe if me and a few hundred of my friends do the same thing they'll learn something.

[SharkD]

The Motorola E815 (released yesterday) is the replacement for the v710 and should work with the BMW kits. It has almost every single "standard" Bluetooth feature that was missing on the v710. (OPP, OBEX, TransFlash file copy, etc)

Call Verizon customer service (*611 on your phone) or choose the "Upgrade Phone" option when logged into the account services section of the website -- it's not yet in the VZW stores (supposedly, that'll happen tomorrow), or on the public section of the website.

Alternatively, Circuit City is already selling the E815 in its stores, as of Sunday.

(IIRC, it's $299 retail, $149 1-yr, $49 2-yr.)

[David Hicks]

I've already voted with my dollars and switched to Cingular to get a bluetooth phone. It seems to work well with all the BT stuff I've thrown at it so far...

[SharkD]

Just so you know, Verizon currently offers the E815, LG VX6600, Samsung SCH-i730 and the forthcoming (next week) LG VX8100, all of which feature full Bluetooth support. The bluetooth-enabled CDMA RAZR V3 is due for Verizon in October, if not sooner.

Cingular is planning to restrict Bluetooth functionality in phones sold from Q4 onwards, according to the rumors.

[David Hicks]

Cingular is planning to restrict Bluetooth functionality in phones sold from Q4 onwards, according to the rumors.

Ah yes, but I plan on unlocking my phone as soon as my contract is up.

[Cathleen]

The E815 is on vzw's site now. But, I guess I should call their customer svc (why didn't I think of that?) to make sure they haven't disabled bluetooth on that.

Dave - is there someone in Towson you'd recommend I talk to? You can email me directly if you like. I visit my family up there often enough and I'd rather deal with someone who's already looked into this a bit.

Thanks again guys - great info!

[Jed]

The E815 is on vzw's site now. But, I guess I should call their customer svc (why didn't I think of that?) to make sure they haven't disabled bluetooth on that.

Dave - is there someone in Towson you'd recommend I talk to? You can email me directly if you like. I visit my family up there often enough and I'd rather deal with someone who's already looked into this a bit.

Thanks again guys - great info!

Talk to Bill Schofield in the parts department at Towson. GREAT guy-totally on the ball and an active member of the NCC Chapter. He knows his stuff and even if he doesn't he'll find out really fast.

I only go to him when I need things for my car-I won't trust anyone else to get things for my car. Top notch service.

[schosports]

Jed, thanks for the kind words.
Cathleen, it was really nice to speak to you and I hope I answered you questions. If you have any more, please feel free to call me.

I guess I need to stop being so busy here and pay attention to NCC forums more often :P

[1996 328ti]

The bluetooth-enabled CDMA RAZR V3 is due for Verizon in October, if not sooner.

That's good to hear. I lost my cell phone at VIR. and am using a cheap ass phone that I had around the house.