Yes he does :-)

But not this week, huge workload in my day job :-(

I hear you there...

That's great news!

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.

Contrary to my previous comment, I got curious and started writing code.

Reading ID, determining telephone type (ULR or Everest), Reading emergency phone number, reading and coding VR on new TCU now work.

I'll add the SDV and then see if I can squeeze in the other phone numbers... and then I need testers to verify for me

Jochen