Playfuldodger and all, I had to come back on as soon as I had some news.

Thankfully, once and for all managed to get this working. Obviously may be a different problem for you, but as the issues seemed so alike just wanted to share in case it works for you as well.

The carkit installer arrived today to fit the Parrot system. Fair play to him, when I explained the problems I had and that I had a full BMW BT system, he got to work on nailing down where the problem lay after about an hour checking everything including fuses etc. For me, the problem was all down to the center console. As I say may be totally different for you, but this was the issue with me.

Specifically, while it says elsewhere that you dont need the eject box (even if it has the blanking plate in it) it seems you do. I had mine removed and needed to put it back. Despite it saying elsewhere that the car should go into pairing mode itself when turned on, it didnt and you need to follow the ignition procedure to get it to pair.

What resolved the issue was, in the center console, we removed the plastic cover and one by one went through each of the wires (of the cable with the big black connector, not the antenna cable) to see which had a live current and where the current stopped. By removing the blanking plate/eject button the current circle of the circuit doesnt complete. We figured this out by passing that part in creating our own complete circuit. After plenty of trial and error, once the circuit at the center console wiring was tested and confirmed had a live current, turning the ignition off, holding down the centre console talking head button for 3 secs, then turning the key to ignition 1, immediately showed the 3 LEDs on the nav screen. I released the button after 3 secs, it came up on my phone firstly as "Handsfree", then I put in the BT key, then it paired showing "BMW12345". Job done.

Suffice it to say that guy got a big tip, and saved me from having to get the Parrot system. I dont seem to have any voice recognition, so I may also invest in the NavCoder to see if that will allow that functionality.

But for the moment I am chuffed to bits. As I say, may not be the solution to your problem, but definitely worth the time to double check the wiring in the center console thoroughly and perhaps have a carkit installer or auto electrian help out in getting it working.

Certainly beats the crazy prices BMW were talking about for a TCU replacement!

Best of luck and Ill keep an eye on this post to see if you have had any success.

Cheers to everyone for their help up here, hope I was able to give something small back in return.

Gib