OK, I've just been to the BMW dealer in the UK and they say the UK has never delivered a TCU although it is on the pricelist. I have a few questions with this, is the TCU 84.50.6.928.461 only a BMW assist unit for the US? Will it work as a bluetooth unit in the UK, (Obviously, I'm not interested in assist), and finaly do I need the adapter harness 84.11.0.302.181 as they don't show this as a valid part.

Cheers,

- Douglas

The USA gets a TDMA TCU.
For Europe you need the GSM TCU

However, the phone part is only for the assist function - so therefore if you ignore Assist you probably can use the TDMA one in Europe. I only say probably as I am not 100% sure...

what is the difference between TCU and ULF?

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I could show my BMW but I prefer to show my wife boobs...but, sorry, only by pic.

The ULF and TCU modules are two different components that can provide Bluetooth capabilities. The ULF is solely dedicated to Bluetooth. The TCU does a lot more, but only the newer modules have Bluetooth and Voice Recognition. Ironically, the TCU is about ½ the cost of a ULF.

Here is a high-level summary of the two. There may be more differences, because this is largely based on observation from the BMW community.

* All ULF modules provide Bluetooth
* Only the newer TCU modules have the Bluetooth feature

* Most ULF modules have built-in voice recognition
* ULF has voice recognition enabled in the factory default coding
* Only the newest TCU modules have the voice recognition feature.
* 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.

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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

Thx for your very clear informations, BTW I wonder if it is possible to mount (after market) a TCU unit on my european X3 with steering control.
Where can I find (if any available) a step-by-step procedure to do it yourself?
I know that the retrofitting with a ULF is relatively simple, is the same way with the TCU

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I could show my BMW but I prefer to show my wife boobs...but, sorry, only by pic.

I have not seen a step-by-step retrofit guide to install a TCU in a European X3. However, if you found instructions to install a ULF, you can follow those for the TCU. The installation is essentially identical, except you do not need to install the eject box for the TCU.

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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

well fact is that we have in the italian BMWpassion forum a guide to install the TCU and it is pretty simple. You need some cable, connectors and a TCU..off course. The you add some pins to the radio module connector and hopefully it will work... But I am not sure if the connection schematic is the same as for the TCU.

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I could show my BMW but I prefer to show my wife boobs...but, sorry, only by pic.

The late model Euro TCUs have different P/Ns from the US ones. Quite a few numbers in the ETK list.

Hope you guys can help me, I have been hunting around for hours trying to find a definite answer! I have an E46 2003 330d with sat nav, tv, cd changer, harmon Kardon and bluetooth. I have an N97 mini which refuses totally to pair with the cars bluetooth. It connects and then immediatley disconnects.

I understand that I will have an older generation ULF module which is present in the boot area above the CD changer. This is probably why my phone won't pair with it due to the age differences in the technology. I have done a bit of research and found out that Telephone TCU's are a cheaper alternaive to replacing the costly latest gen ULF.

If I remove my ULF and replace it with the latest TCU is it a simply plug and play swap over?

I have already removed the phone eject box from the console and replaced it with cup holders.

Thanks in advance.

Paul.