Thanks for the interior compliments. I love it-- it is the reason I bought the car, actually. I had a 1998 740iL for 6 years, and I developed a serious Jones for the Highline. So, I sold it and bought the 2000 750iL a couple years ago. Unfortunately, I do not have any good pictures handy. Also, the Bluetooth antenna plug is called a "Fakra" plug, but I do not have any handy pictures of that either.
Yes, I have a ULF, and I have installed a TCU in my Dad's 2002 E46 and helped my friend install a TCU in his 2001 750iL.
Here is a list of the major differences we have identified so far between the two:
- ULF has voice recognition enabled in the factory default coding
- TCU has voice recognition disabled in the factory default coding
- NavCoder can enable and disable voice recognition in both TCU and ULF modules
- ULF has the complete VR instruction set that includes navigation commands
- TCU only has the telephone-related Vr instruction set
- ULF requires a pairing button (typically with an eject box and and adapter wiring)
- TCU does not require a pairing button
- ULF 13th generation discounted "official" retail price is $455 (Tischer BMW as of June 2009), but unavailable through US dealers
- ULF 13th gen typically costs >$600 from eBay and other non-BMW sellers
- TCU costs $328 + $50 core (Tischer as of June 2009), and is easily available through all US dealers
- ULF 13th prices used on eBay are typically around $500
- TCU used prices on ebay are typically arond $250 for the newest version
- TCU seems to have better in-car volume than the ULF (my own personal experience comparing my ULF to two other TCU installations).
- TCU shows signal strength on the navigation screen telephone menu.
- TCU has a slightly cooler ring sound (my own personal preference)