Bluetooth only for specific phone???

[zavo]

Took my car to the dealership today because my new phone wouldn't connect to the car... They said i fried the computer because of the phone, and that they need to replace it or something like that. This time BMW will do it out of good will but next time it will cost about $1000.

They are telling me not all phones work with the BMW Bluetooth, Now i have a HTC Droid Eris (verizon) and this is not on their list of phones... Is there any software upgrades or anything i can do To make this work? I don't want to get a new phone. So either figure a way to get it to work or i just wont use it until my next upgrade

Thanks in advance for your help

-Zavo

[dekaliber]

Originally Posted by zavo

Took my car to the dealership today because my new phone wouldn't connect to the car... They said i fried the computer because of the phone, and that they need to replace it or something like that. This time BMW will do it out of good will but next time it will cost about $1000.

Sounds like a crock of shit to me. Your device will either be compatible or it wouldn't, but there's no way it could destroy the hardware.

Translation: your dealer will do nothing this time for free, and your dealer will do nothing next time and charge you $1000.

[zavo]

That is what i thought.. That's why i posted it up here, Anyone know anything about this?

[-c-]

i have the htc evo, and it works fine even thoug its not shown to be compatable. their full of it. it wont fry your system.

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by dekaliber

Sounds like a crock of shit to me. Your device will either be compatible or it wouldn't, but there's no way it could destroy the hardware.

Translation: your dealer will do nothing this time for free, and your dealer will do nothing next time and charge you $1000.

I would say its a steaming pile of pure fresh shit actually. They must think you were born yesterday. That is the most outrageous thing I've heard in ages.

[wildag]

Let us know which dealer said this.

[KevinC]

Let me guess - some McKenna-owned stealership?? That guy has been a crook for decades. Whichever joint it is, do let us know, so that it can be avoided. That's one of the most outrageous stealership lies I've ever heard.

[ShakyDog]

Oh and you are also low on turn signal fluid...

Steve

[zavo]

Just picked up the car, the dealer is pacific BMW... They had made a "mistake" when they called me, it didn't fry the computer but it fried the Bluetooth communications "TCU"... I still don't believe them, just wanted to pick up my car really..

Just put a bit of worry in my mind so I won't try to pair this phone with the car until I do some more research.

[gcochard]

There is NO WAY a bluetooth module can be fried by trying to pair it with something it is "not compatible" with.

Despite that fact, the droid eris should work with the car if the evo does, they run the same operating system, are made by the same manufacturer, and have the same bluetooth software.

check this thread on bimmerfest for more info on that phone with BMWs:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=412929

I would take it to a different dealership, or back to them and get a different service rep...tell them you have a supported phone and it's not working, and see what they say.

[zavo]

Originally Posted by cliffhopper

There is NO WAY a bluetooth module can be fried by trying to pair it with something it is "not compatible" with.

Despite that fact, the droid eris should work with the car if the evo does, they run the same operating system, are made by the same manufacturer, and have the same bluetooth software.

check this thread on bimmerfest for more info on that phone with BMWs:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=412929

I would take it to a different dealership, or back to them and get a different service rep...tell them you have a supported phone and it's not working, and see what they say.

That's Exactly what I told them... How can a phone not compatible fry the system, it just won't be compatible. But they insist it will damage it, and would need replacement again.

I will try another dealership. Anyone know of a good dealership in socal?

[007MCoupe]

bluetooth is bluetooth is bluetooth is bluetooth is bluetooth is bluetooth. it is simply a wireless network for mobile devices to connect to each other. it can't fry any computer. your computer was already fried when you tried it or on its way. your phone in no way caused any damage.

that would be like saying your Ethernet cable caused your power supply to fail on your PC.

[onebluemcm]

My Droid X is not on their list for the Z4, and it paired up just fine first try with no problems at all. Been using it with the car for several weeks now, no glitches.

I also do not get how a phone can "fry" the TCU. If their BT equipment is that outdated, they should fix it on principle....

[Huz-Z]

I'm no electronics expert but I can tell you that when you try to pair your phone to the module in the car, a process called "handshaking" happens. That means that the phone and the BT module exchange information. If they are compatible, then the two devices can work together. If they are not compatible, then they just won't work together.

Basically, the BT module checks the incoming data from the phone to see if it matches certain parameters that are set by the bluetooth standard. If they don't meet the BT module's requirements, the BT module won't talk to your phone.

It does not blow up. These devices were not designed by the same guys who designed the bridge of the Seaview on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Nothing blows up, no sparks or fireworks. The BT module remains intact; it just won't work with all phones.

To that point, my phone is a Samsung A920; its not on any aproved list. It works just fine with my car.

If your BT module packed it in, it is because it was faulty, not because of your phone. The dealer must replace it under waranty.

[Hawkeye]

lol.. I really wish some noob would try and pull that one on me sometime. I love calling people out for being idiots.

There is 0% chance of a phone being the cause of the problem if there is one like they say. That is like saying you putting a bluray into your dvd player broke the dvd player when in reality it just wont play.

[zavo]

Thanks for the help guys... i will try and pair it later on today, They replaced it under warranty. Just put a fear in me that it could "overload" the system and fry it. I didn't believe them but i'm no tech guy to know... Thank goodness for zpost and the wonderful community... Much thanks guys.

-Zavo

[zavo]

Originally Posted by onebluemcm

My Droid X is not on their list for the Z4, and it paired up just fine first try with no problems at all. Been using it with the car for several weeks now, no glitches.

I also do not get how a phone can "fry" the TCU. If their BT equipment is that outdated, they should fix it on principle....

Droid X is on the approved list by the way.

[sirmalloc]

I had a similar issue in my car, twice. The voice control button stopped responding to all inputs, and the phone failed to pair with the car. I resolved it the first time by removing the battery and reconnecting it. After it reappeared again, I checked with the dealer. They said it was due to too many devices having been paired with the module, they said there was a limit of 5 distinct devices, and for some reason it malfunctioned when I went above that limit. They performed some kind of reset and it hasn't occurred since. The service receipt shows the following:

"CAUSE: Multiple devices paired to TCU causing TCU inoperative state SIB 54 21 07"

[gcochard]

Their bluetooth module seems pretty retarded if it can't handle forgetting old phones...that's a HUGE programming oversight if it's true. I think the dealer was lying about that one too.

[zavo]

Originally Posted by sirmalloc

I had a similar issue in my car, twice. The voice control button stopped responding to all inputs, and the phone failed to pair with the car. I resolved it the first time by removing the battery and reconnecting it. After it reappeared again, I checked with the dealer. They said it was due to too many devices having been paired with the module, they said there was a limit of 5 distinct devices, and for some reason it malfunctioned when I went above that limit. They performed some kind of reset and it hasn't occurred since. The service receipt shows the following:

"CAUSE: Multiple devices paired to TCU causing TCU inoperative state SIB 54 21 07"

Here is mine...

Condition.... CLIENT STATES BLUE TOOTH INOP-REPORT
CLIENT IS USING HTC DROID

Cause
Correction.... VERIFIED. BLUETOOTH NOT CONNECTING.
CHECKED CLIENT PHONE (VERIZON HTC DROID) ON APPROVED
LIST. BMW SITE NOT SHOWING LIST PROPERLY.
TRIED KNOWN APPROVED PHONE (SAMSUNG BLACK JACK 2)
PHONE NOT CONNECTING.
RAN VEHICLE TEST. FOUND FAULT FOR TCU.
79 TCU CONTROL UNIT INTERNAL FAULT: BLUE TOOTH MODULE
FREQ. 2
PERFORMED TEST PLAN. DELETED AND RESET TCU. STILL SAME
ISSUE EXISTS.
SWAPPED KNOWN GOOD TCU. BLUE TOOTH OPERATING. TCU
FAULTY. REPLACED TCU AND ENCODED COMPLETE VEHICLE.
TESTED. BLUE TOOTH WORKING FINE.

NOTE: PLEASE ADVISE CLIENT TO NOT USE HTC DROID UNTIL BMW LIST APPEARS AND SHOWS APPROVED PHONES.

and then the service rep tells me it fried the TCU and BMW will Replace it on Good will this time only... I should not use a phone that is not approved because it will damage the TCU. Also stating that another client had the same exact issue with his unapproved blackberry... Fried his TCU aswell.

[007MCoupe]

*sniff sniff*

You smell that??

It smells like BS.

Seriously. At least you got it fixed, whether they wanted to or not

[Hawkeye]

The guy just wanted something to blame besides what the real problem was... a faulty TCU.