VR not activating on 6th Gen ULF.
 

Evening all,
After managing to blow the ULF on my 2004 E53 last year (don’t ask… I managed to get pins 17 and 19 confused and supplied 12v to god knows where), I’ve since picked up a nice 6th Gen unit on Ebay.
A million thanks again to John (CCFJ1) that hosted me over Christmas at his while we checked his custom loom with the new ULF and repaired (by Baris) BM54 unit.
BTW the repair by Baris was spot-on too and not only repaired but also improved the sound quality greatly.
Anyway, it all connected perfectly on the workbench at Johns, but for whatever reason the VR setting wouldn’t stick when we tried to code the ULF using Carsoft. To be honest I recalled the same when I coded the original ULF, but it dida actually work, so perhaps the software just wasn’t reading the ULF and displaying it correctly?
After hooking everything up on the car last weekend, it was perfect, much better compatibility with the iphone, but I found that VR still wasn’t working (the control on the wheel just activated last-number redial).
Ok, out with the Resler USB iBus interface, and tapped into the CD changer plug. Luckily the colours matched exactly as decribed on reslers site for an X5, ie. Red-red (+12v) Brown-brown (GND), stripey-white-white (iBuS). With a tester I found 11-12v on red, and 8-9v on white. So should be ok?
The interface connected ok, showed up on Windows 7 (32bit) as COM10 so changed it to COM2 as Carsoft only recognized COM1-4.
Trouble is, no matter what ‘perform diagnostics’ option I select I get a ‘cable bad communication error’, same when trying ‘special functions > coding’
Now I start to question my own memory on whether it was Carsoft or not that I used before as I don’t see the ULF option in the coding section.
Any suggestions on how to get the VR enabled without a trip to the main dealer (I don’t have any indie close by).
Thanks for any advice.
Cheers, Kev.

Hi,

I dont think the ibus cable will work with Carsoft, you have to use Navcoder. :)

I have a 03 E39, it has (factory mounted) bluetooth ULF, i didnt have the VR, but after i bought Navcoder and saw it was "unchecked" in settings on the ULF module, i checked it, saved it, tested it and it works! :)

So Navcoder should be able to fix it. :)

I just bought a 13. gen ULF, hoping it has better sound then my 1. gen. :P

Regards
Fredrik

Thanks I'll try that.

Seems I can also update the voice language by myself for the Navigator :) ...

just wondering about why the Resler device didn't pick up my car in iSoft. Maybe will work better in navcoder.

Is there anything special I need to do in Windows for the device (eg. FIFO buffers / UART 16550 compatibility)? Also does it matter if the key is in off/I or II position?

Thanks again for your advice.

Kevin

Hi,

Without knowing this 100%, im pretty sure it will only work with Navcoder. :)
And i think you need to buy a licens to code with Navcoder, i cant remember.
But there are limitations on the free version. :) Its cheap tough, just 20-25 euro. :)

I cant remember what i did, but probably installed some drivers if windows didnt find them. I did not change anything in the COM settings.

The key has to be in second position, right before you start the engine.
There will be messages/telegrams showing in 1 position, as a few of the components on the ibus is active, but im not sure everything will work.

Just use 2. position, and you should be safe. :)

Spot on with Navcoder ;) Thanks.

Well... at least it reads and recognises by iBus and ULF so looks promising. But of course the free version can only view - so it's more a navreader than a navcoder :)

Hopefully Jochen will see the payment I made a few hours ago and enable my license today so that I can see if it really works.

Was hopiing that I could just post in the registration code from the paypal receipt but it fails to register each time :(

Thanks again for the advice.

Kev

Hi,
Just a quick update and 'all-play' question for anyone following this thread....

I managed to get Navcoder to code the ULF, or at least it reported that it had. Only thing is that the VR button still doesn't respond :( I think, or I hope, I know why.

At the moment the MK4 Nav unit is away being repaired so there's no Nav installed in the car. I imagine that that's why when I tick the (enable VR) box, the Language drop-down is greyed out.

Now in theory, the VR shouldn't need the MK4 installed. After all, many of the VR commands are not NAV related, but does it sound plausible that the option only works with the NAV option installed? Does it grab the voices from the Nav 1.32 software, or MK4 flash RAM?

After the code-telephone option completes Navcoder asks for the ignition to be turned off for 15 seconds, but then after the wait, the button is still unresponsive and I find the VR 'unticked' when I open Navcoder again :(

The ULF is 2005 Gen 5 or 6, and has the MIT-SES stamped on the side so it should work? Without VR, the Telephone option from the Menu controls is a real pain to use unless you keep your phone.

Any suggestions guys (apart from wait till the MK4 is back in the car)? Thanks in advance.

Kev