Need BT-TCU help!!!
 

Hey guys,

My BT module broke down (for the second time). The dealer had replaced my original one (first gen) with a module that had voice. Now, they want to replace it back with a first gen module (no voice)!!!!!

I told my service rep that was not acceptable; certainly not after two years of having a module with voice. I just got a call from the service rep telling me that they were leaving the BT module in (firs gen) and ordering a voice activation kit for it. If you guys can provide any feedback on this weird run-around? I'd appreciate it...

I also remember reading something about BMWNA being stuck with a bunch of first generation TCU's and trying to unload them onto customers. Does anyone remember the post?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Jose

When I had some probs with the TCU I was told BMW had reached an agreement with Moto to refurbish the 1st gen units and send them back out to dealers as otherwise they were out nearly $2 Million on the replaced units.

Hi, The module you had with the Voice Recognition... did the voice input system speak back to you in a Male or Female voice? Has BMW done anything for your situation, let me know! Thanks.

jobaker4, funny you should ask...

I picked up my truck today. They retrofitted the voice activation to the non-voice TCU model. It has a female voice and it sounds HORRIBLE! The voice has background noice on it and she sonds very metallic.

The BT is now plagged with problems; the phonebook won't download and the keypad doesn't work among others.

According to my service advisor, the voice retrofit is a BMW part. He mentioned the number (CR22something...). BUYER BEWARE, this retrofit part does not recognize the * and # keys! So if you want to save or dial a number with one of these two keys (my voicemail is *98), you are SOL.

My truck is going back to the shop next week. I am simply not accepting this "arrangement" as a fix. I am planning to demand they install the latest generation TCU in my car. Period.

Jose

P.S. On a brighter note, the female-voice retrofit has a "Notepad" function. Just say "record note" and the system starts recording you. Hit the voice button on the steering wheel to stop recording. I don't think the regular TCU has this function... Can somebody check?

josejb, thanks for the reply! You are right, the female voice does sound HORRIBLE, that is why for some time now I have been desperatley trying to determine at what point they switched to the male. I have driven one of the new 3 series and it has the male which sounds so much better.

I have bought a TCU for about 500 bucks that ends with part number 711... unfortunatley I have to take it to the dealer to code it to work so I don't even know if it has the better voice recognition. The thing that struck me was that it costs 500 dollars for the voice input module to add to the existing TCU... WTF?? Seemed silly to go that direction if I could get the newest generation TCU for the same price.

jobaker, determining at what point they switched to male voice should be easy to determine. From what I've learned, the female voice is only for retrofits of BT modules w/o voice. "She" is a separate component that gets plugged into the BT module to add voice to it.

Any BT module with voice integrated in it will have the male voice.

It's just a matter of determining which generation of the BT TCU started to have voice integrated in it. There's a ton of very knowledgeable guys and gals here. I am sure someone has the answer to that question.

Jose

Thanks Jose! Anybody else care to chime in... thoughts?

The male voice commands (for phone only) were incorporated into BT/Assist TCUs around March/April of 2005 on the x5. It was a mid-life update, although poorly communicated and documented to BMW centers.

Hey jobaker! I think I found the answer to your question!!!

http://www.europeanautosource.com/pr...roducts_id=304

Read the text under "Item Description." By the way, one of the partners (I think) at European Auto Source is a member of this forum. He's very knowleagable and his posts are always very informative. I think his name is Tom.

Regards,

Jose

Wow, Jose! Great Find... thanks for posting that Info!!
My dealer is unfortunatley booked up until after thanksgiving, but I'm taking it in with my latest generation TCU which actually ends in part #711. Will let you know once it is up and going just how well it works. -Josh