The Parrot kit is very cool and very cost effective. I helped a friend install one in his car, but he decided to pull it out for a number of reasons and go with a totally different solution.

These are some of the trade-offs:

• If you have DSP, the Parrot kit can not mute the CD audio. The reason is that the CD player feeds its audio signal directly to the DSP amp and bypasses the radio entirely. So, if you get a call while listening to the radio, you must switch the radio to Tape or AM/FM to hear the call.
  
• The BMW system integrates with the vehicle's display (either the MID or Nav), so you can see the phone's address book and dial directly from the address book. You would have to get the Parrot CK3100 or 3200 to get this capability, and then you would have to have the aftermarket display somewhere mounted visibly inside the car.
  
• When a call comes in, the BMW will show the name and number on the instrument cluster too. This is very cool, and no way to match that with the aftermarket kit.
  
• My friend had significant alternator whine with his Parrot. Who knows if it was a one-off, but we could not get rid of it.
  
• It is hard to hide the Parrot microphone so that it looks totally factory.
  
• The noise cancellation technology in the BMW microphone is superior to the Parrot. Therefore your callers will hear more ambient noise (road, wind, etc.) with the Parrot.

To be fair, the Parrot CK3000 ($118) with a steering wheel interface kit ($175) would cost about $290 total. However, it would only be comparable in features and performance to the Acura BT system, where you can only voice dial and pre-record number tags. The CK3000 (and Acura) systems do not sync with a phone's address book. To more closely match the BMW system, you would have to get the CK3100 but deal with the negative aesthetics.

For me, the decision to get the BMW kit was easy. First, the BMW Bluetooth system is the best that I have seen in any car at any price. Second, I like the totally hidden and totally integrated installation of the BMW system. Third, the car is the best there is, why cheapen it with an aftermarket solution when something better is available.

I would choose the Parrot in a second for any car that does not have the BMW Bluetooth system available for it. But, the BMW system is just too good to let the Parrot in.

__________________
SOLD
2000 E38 750iL Highline Edition, Upgraded with the lastest 2006 X5 Electronics
MKIV Navigation, 16:9 Display, Bluetooth, TV/Video with Backup Camera, Sirius, and Aux Input

Brian pretty much hit the nail on the head. Our Bluetooth kits (OEM BMW pieces) support the following functions:

- Voice Activated Dialing
- Phonebook Synchronization
- SMS Text Message Display (depending on carrier)
- Name Recognition
- Voice Activated Navigation (vehicles equipped with NAV)
- Digital Notepad

And most importantly - does not void factory warranty, since we are using only Genuine BMW parts. We are now using a 10th Generation BMW ULF module, which was just released last month.

More information can be found on our site:

BMW Bluetooth Retrofit Kit for e53 X5
http://www.europeanautosource.com/pr...roducts_id=301

__________________
Tom G. | european auto source (eas)
email: [email protected] web: www.europeanautosource.com
tel 866.669.0705 | ca: 714.369.8524 x22 | fax: 714.908.1796

Twitter | Flikr | Facebook | YouTube

Brian - thanks for the very thorough explanation. Seema like a no brainer to go with the BMW sysytem.
Appreciate it...

The Parrot kits are excellent and can use the steering wheel buttons for a factory-like install. See this article by an X5 owner who has the NAV (NAV models have the Parrot installed in the trunk where the radio tuner is and just have the microphone brought to the front): see HERE

This is a good solution. However, it will not work well if you have DSP with an old gen radio (all DSP systems prior to 2003), and it lacks most of the BMW features. This equates to a basic Bluetooth implementation.

It is only factory-like in that it uses the steering wheel button to initiate and answer a call. It will not integrate with the instrument cluster, nav screen, or MID. Plus, it does not sync the phone book to enable direct calling from the steering wheel or MID, nor will it give any caller ID information.

__________________
SOLD
2000 E38 750iL Highline Edition, Upgraded with the lastest 2006 X5 Electronics
MKIV Navigation, 16:9 Display, Bluetooth, TV/Video with Backup Camera, Sirius, and Aux Input

Parrot 3000 Evolution announces the name of the caller and is totally voice recognition based. It syncs the phone book. You obviously don't know your Parrots

I am pretty familiar with the Parrots-- see my review above. I am also pretty confident that the CTK3000 Evolution does not sync with the phone book. (It has some funky features for some SonyEricsson phones, but not many folks use those phones in the US.) It is voice recognition driven-- it has to be, since it does not have any kind of visual interface. However, its voice control for dialing depends on pre-recorded voice tags (same as the BMW and most other systems). Also note that if you install the BMW integration kit with the CTK3000 Evolution, you will lose some of the other functions on the CTK3000's controller.

You are probably thinking about the CTK3100 or 3200, which have LCD screens and do sync with the phone's phonebook. The down sides to those two models is that there is no BMW integration kit available (as far as I know), and you have to mount the screen some place that you can access it on the dash area. If you have navigation in the car, none of the Parrot systems will integrate with BMW's cool navigation features.

Don't get me wrong-- I think that the Parrot kits are fantastic. If I were installing BT in any other car, the Parrot would be first on my list. However, the Parrot does have issues in a BMW with DSP, and it does fall far short of the integrated BMW system in terms of features and total integration.

__________________
SOLD
2000 E38 750iL Highline Edition, Upgraded with the lastest 2006 X5 Electronics
MKIV Navigation, 16:9 Display, Bluetooth, TV/Video with Backup Camera, Sirius, and Aux Input

I recently completed the install of the Parrot CK3000 Evolution and the SW100C. In fact, I am the author of the installation guide referenced earlier. Firstly, let me give thanks to Brian-bmw for his insight during this install. I had a hard time locating the radio controls, but Brian-bmw pointed them out to me. Thanks a bunch!

Now on to the install and comments thereafter:
I found that the wiring harness and steering wheel control provided by Quick Connect (http://www.parrotkits.com) made the install a snap. I did have some issues with deciding which mute wires to use and which to tie up and put away. Hopefully my guide will eliminate these issues for anyone else who decides to do this install.

After about 3 weeks of use, I am moderately satisfied.

• My major complaint is volume level. I have to tune the volume on the radio waaaay up to hear anything from the Parrot unit. This could be due a fault in my installation, but for now I am uncertain what the problem is. I’d appreciate any insight from anyone who knows.
• Regarding voice dials: I think the CK3000 Evo supports limited voice dialing (it needs to be “trained”), but I haven’t been able to get it to work with the steering wheel control. Fortunately my phones both have voice recognition; I use them to initiate my calls and the kit picks up immediately upon connect.
• I had to use the Parrot “keypad” to pair my phones prior to installing the sw100C, but that was no big deal. There may be a way to access the Parrot menu using the steering wheel control, but I haven’t been able to do it.
• Folks I call sometime complain about there being static on the call. I think this is due to the fact that my Siemens SX66 (PDA phone) uses an older version of Bluetooth. I don’t get those same complaints when using my Nokia N73.
• I really like the fact that it’s easy to switch between speaker and privacy mode.

Overall I would recommend this for anyone that wants a factory-like install that will work with most any phone. The native BMW Bluetooth kit (manufactured by Motorola) does not support either of my phones. Feel free to ask any additional questions… or make any comments…I know there are a ton out there.

I have had a parrot kit and ck3000 in my audi a3 since october. I love it. I did change out the microphone because the one supplied was uni-directional and would have to point at me in order for someone to hear me. So I picked up a sony lapel mic. Sounded much better and with the location that i have put it... (in dome light where mic should be mounted) i had minimal complaints. Biggest complaint was that it was still hard to hear me. I had a sony ericsson s710a and it had the ability to sync to the ck3000, i tried using that first and programming in the voice tags but i switched soon after that to using the voice tags on my phone already. Recently i upgraded my phone and picked up a blackberry pearl. Great phone by the way. But not only do i not have to program voice tags into the phone due to a voice recognition program but people say how crisp i sound on the ck3000 even to the point where they cant tell the difference between me being on the phone or in the car. Now I have begun to piece together the install for my fiance's x3 and for my dads dodge ram. I am going to be picking up the parrotkit harnesses next week and the sony mic should be in the mail. Are the radio controls in the back location for the x3 as well or behind the radio? THere is only a business cd setup in the truck.
I think what the ck3000 offers is a really good basic bluetooth kit which is all anyone needs. The bells and whistles of being able to read text messages are nice but for those who dont have NAV and just the regular radio setup will find the ck3000 up to par. The ability to use the steering wheel functionality is an added bonus with the parrot kit harness and of course the no cut guarantee.