Sorry to hear that Ted. Glad to see you standing behind it though. How many units do you have to recall and how much time does it take to repair each one?

480ish still need to be dealt with. They will mostly be handled by my wire harness adapter guy in Maine, whom I've trained on the repair. I need to focus on getting the units in my living room out the door before my wife puts me (and the 380 units) out the door :)

-Ted

Hey guys,

If you are in the U.S., recall instructions are in your email.

Thanks!
-Ted
​​​​​

PalmSpringsE534.6 -- Your unit is not affected ;)

Thanks Tedd...I tried to delete that post before you were bothered with it...as I ..ACTUALLY read the prior posts and saw that I wasn't affected. OOPS. Thanks for getting back so quickly as I know it's a PITA for you right now...but know that all of us are in shock and awe at this awesome product you dreamt up.

Hey Guys,

Some quick updates:

1. I'm taking pre-orders again over on www.bluebus.dev

2. If you are waiting on your BlueBus from batch 2, they are currently shipping.

3. If you ordered from ECS Tuning BEFORE June 20th, then you should see them ship your unit in the next day or two.

Thanks!
-Ted

Thanks Ted! :thumbup:

Well guess what I got in the mail today from ECS-SantaClaus? I'll give you a hint, it's blue and an awesome guy named Ted invented it. :). Now I know what is going to happen to my E53 on Saturday morning! WOOHOOO....real Bluetooth and streaming! I have the jumper and the DSP Coax cable for it.

Ted,

Installed my BB this morning as it was nice and cool out. Found a little issue or potentially two you should know. PM me and let me know when you might have a moment this weekend for a chat.

Loving the audio. You weren't kidding that digital is bad ass. I'm glad I grabbed the coax as it's WAAAAAY better. I don't have the full TCU functionality at the moment as I have to pull up my cargo floor to get to the access panel for the connector. I'll do that this weekend but this is already a MAJOR addition to my E53. Wow.

-Mike in Palm Springs

I’m so sad and excited all at the same time! I have my BB installed for a couple months or so with the analog cable waiting for my digital cable to arrive.

As fate would have it, my digi cable arrived just 15 minutes after I pulled in the driveway from dropping my BB in the mail for the power supply repair ☹️

Now I’m totally in withdrawal and jonesing to get it back as quickly as possible.

MANY THANKS to Ted for standing behind these and taking care of the issue, as I said, I absolutely love mine and can’t wait to get it back [emoji106][emoji106]




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I was absolutely shocked at the difference between the analog and digital connections. I expected a difference but wow! I need to empty my cargo area so I can hook up the telephone interface. I was in a hurry this morning so I got the audio up only. If I remember correctly, I have to open the cargo cover and then there should be a black plastic housing that has the TCU cable in it....

Am I correct in that?

-Mike

Fully Integrated Bluetooth Solution
 

My TCU was mounted “in the open” directly in front of the amp, I could see the plug but wasn’t able to remove it until I removed the TCU. TCU has 2 10mm plastic nuts holding in place and is very easy to remove [emoji106]. And, since you don’t need it anymore, I stuck mine in the “removed” pile and got rid of a “cinder” blocks worth of weight... I don’t know about all of them, but mine weighed a ton for it’s size.

Ted told me it was night and day difference, hearing you confirm that, well, now I’m super anxious to get mine back 🤪


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In case anyone is looking to mount their BlueBus, I can show you what bracket I used, but highly bent it a bunch of times to suit my needs, and where I mounted it.

So in the rear left media corner, I do not have a NAV or Cd Changer system to worry about so I had plenty of room to hang my external sub's amp, Line Out Converter and now my BlueBus. I needed to take a bracket that the CD changer/NAV system use as a holding bracket and bent it a bunch of times to sit happily behind my external sub amp. It's very easy to bend if you have a table top vice.

Find something that works for you.
I used parts from a junked x5, so the bolt to hold the bracket and the bracket cost $5.
It holds the BlueBus perfect. Like the BLUEBUS WAS MADE FOR THIS BRACKET (mind blown).

Beats having it sitting loose in that cubby hole.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...44f36be2f6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cd29eb6445.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8c5bb650c4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a0a3bf704c.jpg

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Plug n'play! Jawohl!
 

Very happy with it. Connected to the car with the two connectors from the CD changer.and the coax DSP cable. Also easily hooked up by BT to my iPhone and sounds great. Settings easy to use. The comfort items are a great bonus.

Unfortunately I do not have the microphone but there is a flat 4 or 5 pin connector in dome light. So, I'm hunting for a mic online. In the back there is a blue connector with some factory loops on it. Is this the famous 54-pin connector I need to activate the phone feature? I'll post a pic tonight.

Can anyone confirm these is the correct plug for the microphone and also if the blue plug in the rear is the one needed to activate the OEM mic circuit?

Ted, do you have this pigtail adapter available?

Just received my Bluebus today!


Just unplugged the 2 connectors from the CD-Changer plugged them back into the bluebus device, paired my phone and voilà it works!

Sound quality is way better than the cheapo $15 chinese bluetooth interface I had until now.


MP3 Tags on my Nav-Display and skipping tracks from my steering wheel is so nice to have, seeing the currrent coolant temperature on the display is a very cool feature as well.


It was well worth the 3 months waiting from ordering until delivery.

I've never been jealous of you "Nav" guys until this device came out and I realized how much nicer the NAV display is (for BlueBus readout) as opposed to the MID :(

Just got my Bluebus! Analog is connected. Have to source a digital DSP cable and take my panel off to gain access to my TCU cable.

A while back, Ted showed a place to buy the Digital Cable and it was just $10 and the proper ohm value


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Thanks Clockwork! I'll see if I can't find that info in a search or two.

OK. Got the goods. I spoke with Ted. 2 items to note:


1. Digital audio cable
2. Settings adjustment on Bluebus and phone: a) set volume to -15dB, b) set phone volume to max.

This is the $10 cable, but it's super short: https://gromaudio.com/store/accessor...ble_-1-ft.html

The linked cable is a 50ohm impedance cable, whereas the S/PDIF output / input on the BlueBus / DSP is 75ohms. The impedance mismatch may create problems for the signal. I don't recommend you use this cable, but if it works, then it works :)

-Ted

Ah crap.
Ok well I was reading post 69 where you said the Grom cable to purchase was a 50 ohm cable so I just looked for a 50 ohm cable outside of Grom (because of shipping fees).


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Got my digital cable and installed it. Sounds Great!


Now I just need to locate my TCU cable. I've searched the left rear of my vehicle and can't find a blue TCU end. I do see a black connector plugged into my "BMW Everest ibus US" (P/N 8410696411402) and the other end has a purple connector and another black connector. According to the ebay link that is my TCU but the part number doesn't match anything I can find in RealOEM. But that black connector plugged into the BMW Everest ibus US does not fit the adapter I have from Ted to connect to the TCU cable. I definitely don't see this unit if this is supposed to be what the blue TCU cable would plug into.


What am I missing?

You need a 54 pin adapter :). All 2005+ vehicles lack the SES adapter and instead have a single 54 pin adapter (for the Everest TCU, as is noted).

Contact me to swap 'em out.

Thanks!
-Ted

Thanks Ted!

While I'm attempting to get up to speed on the BMW communication system does anyone have a link to any sort of reference that explains the comm system components and what they do? I've found a ULF guide and Frankie's e38 bluetooth retrofit but am still hoping to quench my thirst for a complete understanding.

Here you go. Courtesy of Quicksilver. Saved it a long time ago.

Attachment 78909

Just in case anyone wants latest upgrade.
https://www.bluebus.dev/software

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Everyone: I am accepting pre-orders for the next batch of BlueBus units due in May :).

Everyone who ordered before January will have theirs ship during this month.


Thanks!
-Ted

This literally has to be the easiest firmware upgrade I've ever done.

Update
 

Can you walk an "idiot" thru doing this? I am basically a MAC guy and have no clue as to how to do the upgrades that Ted puts out. I do have a PC laptop that I use exclusively for my BMW's/INPA/etc and my Audi/RossTech. But, I am pretty clueless when it comes to the more technical stuff like this. I can't be the only one so any help would be a huge help. Thanks

Glad to hear it!

Did you watch the video from E39Source?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X91typa7WYc

If the Windows laptop you have has Win7, Win8, or Win10, then that might be easier than your macOS box as I believe you're running an older version of macOS which isn't supported by the firmware upgrade tool.

If the laptop has WinXP, then that's not remotely supported.

Upgrading to macOS 10.15 or newer may also be an easy fix to the firmware tool woes.

Thanks!
-Ted

One little bit of advice I can give; Don't be an idiot like me and grab the USB to micro cable in your house that is a 'charge only' cable to start. Make sure you have a USB A to micro cable like this that is for data transfer.

Sent you a PM

What is the last year of the X5 where the BlueBus is an effective upgrade - 2006?

the e53 finished in 2006 yes and I don't THINK these are usable in the e70.

My Bluebus has shipped!

Yep, they all have :)

Just FYI everyone: I went to get ready to submit a batch for production and found many of the BlueBus components to be out of stock. While I was able to get alternates in place for the passives, there are several key components which are seemingly difficult to source right now. The biggest is the micro-controller, which cannot be swapped out (it's the core of the device, really):

https://octopart.com/pic24fj1024ga60...-66936763?r=sp

I ignore non-authorized distributors because god knows what truck that fell off of.

Anyways, I have enough to make 380 units, but after that it looks like I'm SOL until late this year unless Digi-Key gets some stock before Mouser.

There appears to be a huge shortage of components throughout the electronics industry right now. I assume it's because of COVID/COVID Vaccinations, but a distributor told me it was also because there's a huge ramp up in new vehicle manufacturing. :(

-Ted

I got the licenses for the latest production batch earlier this week and I've worked up a GUI tool to install it and enable cVc, but I'm still testing it.


For the technically savvy, you can follow this process: https://github.com/tedsalmon/BlueBus...g-the-Terminal


The run [ICODE]version[/ICODE] followed by enter. Note the serial number given.


If your serial number is 1261, 1340, 1354, 1362, 1368, 1371, 1378, 1400, 1424 or 1441 then use this command followed by enter:

Otherwise if your serial number is between 1192 and 1485, use this command followed by enter:
Then follow that up with these commands, each followed by enter:

Thanks!
-Ted

Hey Ted, I may have missed something but what licensing is involved and what is cVc?

Clear voice capture is a fancy Qualcomm-owned algorithm used by the BlueBus to clear up noise and echo. This last time around, they decided to take their sweet time getting my license keys to me, so the 2021 units shipped without it.

Cool. Thanks for that info!

Hey Ted,

Bummer about the parts supply. I placed an order for two units a few days ago. Will that still ship in May or might it be a longer wait now?

Everything for the May run is good to go. I have a hard stop of 380 units and I'm 100 shy of that so far.

Thanks!
-Ted

The Clear Voice Capture GUI Tool has been created: https://github.com/tedsalmon/BlueBus...-Voice-Capture



Thanks!

-Ted

All,

​​​​​​​Firmware 1.1.17 has been released, finally: https://www.bluebus.dev/software

Thanks!
-Ted

Beauty. I was wondering how updates were coming. Mine has been skipping again. So odd.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Try to keep your phone somewhere consistent. Anyone technical will tell you that RF works in mysterious ways :)

Please shoot me an email if the issue persists!

-Ted

Just to update you guys on the state of things, I'm officially having issues sourcing the core Bluetooth module that I use on the BlueBus -- the BC127 by Sierra Wireless. A month ago there were 7,000 in stock and now there are none. I managed to snag 320 for the October run, but if I want anymore BC127s I am going to have to order 1000 minimum at a whopping cost of $24,000.

Instead of making that big of an investment and continuing to be "married" to a module built by a company that has little interest in continuing its development, I'm going to switch to the ESP32 by Espressif. This will allow me to have granular control over the Bluetooth stack as all of that is left to the developer, which is awesome! The best part is the module cost less than $4 a pop, and it would allow me to remove other hardware from the BlueBus that would be duplicating effort. With that said, I'm announcing that I'm officially developing the BlueBus "2.0" -- before you grab your pitchforks, I want you all to know that software development will continue and the feature-set between the two units will be exactly the same. In fact, I am very likely going to roll everything under the same code base to make my life easier.

The other value of using the ESP32 is that it's used in many applications and has a lot support behind it. This means that I should not have issues with stock.

The one feature I'll probably add to the "2.0" that I can't add to all prior units is playback from microSD cards as the ESP32 natively supports FAT32 filesystems and .mp3, .flac, etc.

The other goal of the redesign is to lower my cost so I can make it more affordable for customers. My current target price is $189 or lower.

Comments, concerns, etc are always welcome :)
-Ted

Thanks for the update. I may be in the market for 1-2 when they become avail again.

I was just about to mention this to everyone about the Bluebus 2.0 :)
I love the idea of the micro SD card. Great work on finding a newer source and somehow making it more effective cost wise for you and the buyer. Thats stellar. I STILL Love my BlueBus and how nice phone calls are on the e53, and being able to use my Android Assistant to create emails/sms/Whatsapp and to read messages all while hands free. Oh the Bluetoothing music is pretty awesome too.
I may buy the 2.0 when supplies are available, next year and sell my Bluebus to a local :)

Subbed. I'm in! :thumbup:

If this will work in my 99' (9/98) E39 w/DSP I'm in as well.

Me too! Let me know when I can grab one! 2.0 with a 128GB SD card sounds nice, real nice!

Yes the BlueBus will work for E46, e39, e53 and even e36 of proper radio is installed.


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Hey guys,

It doesn't look like the ESP32 is going to work out. It does most of what I need it to, but on the calling side of things I can't get the software echo cancellation to work, and even then it's reported to be pretty poor. That means I would have to source and use a DSP to perform the software echo cancellation, and all the ones that would work are A: Expensive ($6+/unit at scale), B: impossible to buy in smaller quantities, and C: Not in stock for the next span of time.

I'm leaning towards the BM83 from Microchip, as it's still way cheaper than the BC127 I used before, and it has all the same bells and whistles (including a built-in DSP with acoustic echo cancellation).

That leads me to my current conundrum: microSD Card support. The BM83 does nothing to support it, so my wife actually suggested that I make an add-on module with an ESP32 and microSD card slot that will sit next to the BlueBus and stream your music files to the BlueBus. This means that I could bring microSD support to _all_ BlueBus units and I would also allow you to go through the directories using the HU so you can select your music files.

For those of you that want microSD card support, is this acceptable? The alternative would be a Rube Goldberg-esq setup where the BlueBus has an ESP32 and a BM83 but the ESP32 is only used for microSD support. This would increase the cost and complexity of the BlueBus, but you'd get negligibly better audio quality since the files wouldn't be transmitted over Bluetooth. Of course, it would only work for 2.x+ boards.

If you're wondering why I don't use an MP3 decoder, it's because they're $6.50/unit @ 250 units minimum -- no thanks.

Thanks!
-Ted

Ted, firstly, you have a smart wife there!! Great idea.

I LOVE the capabilities of my V1 BB device and YES the idea of a dedicated card reader is NEAT, as I would probably use it (like I used to use my GROM) but I wonder if most of your clients are only interested in bluetoothing, these days.
To me, an external add-on device is EXTREMELY acceptable (not to mention it opens your market base with those of us who already have the V1), as the BB is so small anyhow, there is usually plenty of room near it to mount another device.
Is it too late to add a "poll" to the first post to see how others would react to this add-on?
Keep up the great work, in your "spare" time.

Probably not worth adding a poll, but I can think of like 50 people who would buy one. The good thing for me is that it's relatively easy to implement it as an add-on, which means it'll be cheap to produce.

There are certainly a number of folks that have asked for it, so if it means I make a few more sales for a little effort, then I'm down.

Nothing set in stone in terms of pricing, but I'm think around $59 for the adapter.

-Ted

Ted, I don't need the BlueBus for hands-free telephony, the factory Bluetooth communication works fine. I would like just a A2DP protocol for streaming from my phone. The MicroSD for MP3 raises interest but I can do without if it is an issue.

Not gonna lie, that sounds like the American Dream. I'd say start making them :)

How would you connect/input the add-on box to the Blue Bus?

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This is going to be an add-on, 100%.

For the 1.x, I'm thinking the SD card will stream wirelessly to the BlueBus via A2DP (so the Add-on box will act as an A2DP Source device). You'd get a 3-pin Y-harness along with the unit so you can power both.

For 2.x, I'm thinking of having it all be wired through a short pigtail running to the BlueBus itself.

Thanks!
-Ted

Hey Ted,


I finally installed the bluebus into my car and it's working great! I notice a bit of whine that's tied to the RPMs whenever I press the gas and play, say a downloaded youtube video where the volume has to come up a bit. It's more noticeable when I use voice commands with Siri. I'm not using DSP, my car doesn't have a subwoofer and stuff. I'm okay with the noise because the full integration is loads better than the FM transmitter I was using, but is this a thing I can fix?

Ok if this works on an 04 e83 then I'm done for one! Paypal ready when you are!

Did you happen to shoot me an email? Sorry I missed this post.

Everyone:

Some announcements:
Firmware 1.1.18 is live: https://www.bluebus.dev/software

If you ordered from ECS Tuning before August 31st, your unit will ship Tuesday.

If you ordered from me before August 28th, your order will ship sometime next week, towards the beginning of the week.

Thanks!
-Ted

Ted, two questions


First, can I upgrade the firmware from the version shipped to the latest in one step or do I have to load the interim versions as well?


Second, my BlueBus occasionally "hangs" the LCM. Once the parking lights remained on despite the light switch being in the off position. Yesterday the Hazards switched on upon unlocking the doors and did not turn off until I disconnected the BB, locked and unlocked the doors. Any idea what is the cause?

You can go straight to the newest firmware.

Do you use the Parking Lights feature? That's a newer one, so maybe not.

The second issue is most likely fixed in the newest firmware as I did rate limit messages to the I/K-Bus on boot, which was causing other bugs on earlier LCMIII modules.

Thanks!
-Ted

Many Thanks for responding to this query.


My son loves to stream stuff and I really like the triple blink as two of my other cars have it. (I'm really annoyed Toyota omitted this on my 2016!) So, driving w/othe BB today reminded me with each lane change.... :)



Haven't had time to work on flashing the firmware but I found and downloaded it. I have to install the S/W on my laptop to do the fimrware update first.

Let me know if the issue(s) persist after you upgrade. I suspect they won't :)

-Ted

Feel like a Staples ad, "That was Easy!"
 

Thanks Ted,

So, the app to flash the BB is very simple and fires right up without any installation to speak of. The flash it self was less than 5 minutes and the whole process took 10 minutes I think.

Plugged it back in the car and the settings were still there, just had to turn the phone pairing back on.

Since the two incidents with the LCM "hanging" were quite far apart in time, it will be difficult to know whether this fixed it. At least now my son knows what to do if it happens to him as he is the one who drives the X5 the most.

Unfortunately still have to hook up the BMW OEM microphone I installed..... I got a 6 pin pigtail off Ebay long ago but have sort out the pin-outs and wire it up.

Doesn't look like this was ever addressed? I wonder if others are experiencing the whine.

The A/C whine is definitely the exception and not the rule when it comes to the BlueBus. See, the core issue is that the rectifier diodes in the voltage regulator of your alternator are not fully rectifying the A/C into D/C voltage. That A/C voltage then leaks onto the D/C electrical system and is then picked up by the BlueBus. The reason the frequency (audible pitch) of the whine goes up with RPM is because the alternator spins faster with more RPM.

Most people don't have issues with the voltage regulator, so it's a non-issue. If you use the digital interface on the amp, it's also a non-issue because the whine isn't being converted into the digital signal sent to the amp (since it's 1s and 0s instead of an analog waveform).

In any case, if the afflicted user doesn't have the DSP amplifier to make use of the digital audio interface, then a ground loop isolator will remove the A/C whine. When it comes down to it, I sell a plug and play harness for a standard Amazon-special 3.5mm isolator.

With the 2.0 revision I wired things so that power and ground coming into the BlueBus *must* go through a common mode (A/C) choke with the hope of finally riding the circuit of any possible A/C whine.

-Ted

As Ted wrote above, he recommended the ground loop isolator and it resolved my issue. Everything is working great!


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Same. The isolator Ted recommended and his cable worked for mine.

A quick update for the July 2022 batch: PCB assembly, programming and test is happening this week. It'll take them about a week to arrive, so I should be shipping late next week or early the following week. I'm hoping to get most of them shipped in a single day by taking time off my day job.

If you want to see "how BlueBus's are made", check out Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluebusbt/ -- Pictures and video are from yesterday (Australia time).

I'm STILL loving my BlueBus, but based on this or that, I'm still preferring to run 1.1.15 or 1.1.16 as it seems newer versions cause slight issues with my phone calls (ppl say they can't hear me as clearly/loudly) so I'm glad its an easy/quick process to load firmwares

Thanks for the updates.

just an FYI: firmware 1.3 was just released and has a bunch of new options in it for making calls louder, mic more sensitive, lower music volume automatically when reverse gear selected, etc... https://www.bluebus.dev/software

Would've never known....thanks for the heads up!

just an update, firmware 1.3.4 patch 22 apparently was released.
I'm not bothering to flash it to my Version 1 model (green LED) as I'm not having issues, but someone ppl may be.

Is anyone else still loving this device? Its so awesome to have in a 20+ year old vehicle and so stealthly installed.

I have it in my e86 Z4 and loves it. I haven't bothered with the X5 since it doesn't get driven much these days :(

Have one in two e46 convertibles and had one in my e39 M5 (sold). Works great. Still have one on the shelf, can’t decide whether to install in the ‘05 e53 4.8 or ‘00 e39 528, still using CD changers and aux jacks in those. Yes, I am old school.


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