mObridge Bluetooth and iPOD integration kit
 

I purchased a new 2008 X5 last year (without premium package and iPOD kit). Every time I looked at the telephone controls on the steering wheel or every time I received a phone call while driving, I craved for a Bluetooth kit in my car. I looked at several options in the market, from $20 bluetooth handfree to the costlier integration kits from Dension, etc. After some exhaustive research, I found the mObridge Bluetooth kit that integrates seamlessly with BMW's radio, iDrive and steering wheel controls for a factory-fitted effect. I am providing some details and pictures below, so that all you proud BMW owners can decide for yourself whether you should buy mObridge or any other brand.

Features
- Full hands-free phone capabilities. Dial and make calls from your car's display. Browse and make calls from your phonebook. Read and send SMS.
- Also supports iPod! mObridge Bluetooth includes an iPod cable for seamless integration of your iPod into your vehicle.
- Stream audio from your phone or Bluetooth mp3 player into your vehicle, all from your steering wheel controls.
- Fully software upgradeable over Bluetooth or memory card, to provide support for new phones, iPods, and vehicles.
- Using Parrot® technology, we are able to support a wide range of bluetooth phones.

Bluetooth Phone control
- Supports up to 5 paired phones
- Dial, Accept, Hangup, Answer calls
- Multi-Party call support (phone dependent)
- Phonebook browsing and dialing from phonebook
- Last dialed, received, missed calls lists
- SMS support. Browse and read your SMS messages (vehicle dependent)
- Notification of signal strength, network name, call duration to the radio display

Bluetooth Audio support
- Support for A2DP and AVRCP bluetooth profiles - Your bluetooth audio device appears as a special track in your CD changer menu.

iPod integration!
- Features the same level of iPod integration as mObridge iPod integration kit. USB-compliant charging supports current lineup of iPods, including iPhone 3G.

Auxiliary Audio input
- Features an auxiliary audio input to connect an additional audio device (mp3 player, satellite radio etc) to your vehicle
- High quality audio, with 24-bit digitizer

Although the mObridge website doesn't mention specifically that the kit can be installed in E70, I have not experienced any compatibility issues. Moreover, if you have an iPhone 3G like me, it can be easily connected to the iPOD cable and you can listen to music stored on your iPhone from your car's speakers. At the same time, if you receive a phone call, the music pauses and you can answer the phone call over Bluetooth. Once the call ends, the music resumes automatically. Pretty neat!

Some pictures

http://shashankmittal.50webs.com/mobridge/3.JPG http://shashankmittal.50webs.com/mobridge/2.JPG

http://shashankmittal.50webs.com/mobridge/4.JPG http://shashankmittal.50webs.com/mobridge/5.JPG

http://shashankmittal.50webs.com/mobridge/1.JPG http://shashankmittal.50webs.com/mobridge/6.JPG
Phonebook gets synchronized whenever a paired Bluetooth phone is in range. *Some dummy phone numbers shown above.

http://shashankmittal.50webs.com/mobridge/7.JPG http://shashankmittal.50webs.com/mobridge/8.JPG
A call in progress. You can pair upto 5 Bluetooth phones. The cellphone signal strength is displayed at the bottom.

http://shashankmittal.50webs.com/mobridge/10.JPG http://shashankmittal.50webs.com/mobridge/11.JPG
iPhone connected to the iPOD cable. This cable can be installed in the center console or where ever you like. The dual microphone is installed behind the rear view mirrow.

Pricing
The Bluetooth kit costs less than $900 (some dealers may charge more). Installation is about 2hrs labor and the Autologic coding should be 1hr labor. Compared to what BMW charges for the Bluetooth and iPOD kit, the mObridge kit is definitely a bargain.

Few things to remember
1. Before installing mObridge, the car needs to be retrofit coded for CD Changer (CDC) and Bluetooth. CDC retrofit is required only if you don't have a CD Changer installed in your car.
2. Find an Autologic shop that can do this for you. The easiest way to do this is find your area representative at www.autologic.us and ask them. BMW dealership will not be able to get this working. If you already have the mObridge kit installed, retrofitting cannot be done. You would need to remove mObridge from the MOST bus before retrofitting.
3. The Autologic shop would need an 'optical head' to be able to code the car and would also need the latest software+CIP updates installed (which typically they all have).
4. The Autologic programmer should use the iPOD->mObridge CIP instructions and not CDC instructions to retrofit. This allows retrofitting to be done without a physical CD Changer being present. The retrofit coding should not take more than 1hr.
5. Once the retrofit is successfully done, you should be able to see CD1-6 and Phone/Bluetooth options grayed out in iDrive (for BMW).
6. Install mObridge kit. The mObridge dealer can typically install in less than 2hrs.
7. If the kit starts working right away, you are all set. If it doesn't, let the car sleep for at least 70 minutes (all windows rolled up, doors locked, ignition off) and during this time dont even look at the car. I was told to do this by Autologic since apparently the MOST bus needs to recognize an alien device on the fiber optic network once it 'wakes' up after sleeping for 70 mins.
8. BMW iDrive will always show CD2-6 grayed out. All mObridge functions will appear under CD1 *only*.

Useful links:
Bluetooth Phone Compatibility Matrix
mObridge Bluetooth Manual
BMW General Installation Notes
BMW Application Reference for Bluetooth and iPod
Wiring MOST bypass switch

Thats very impressive. If you owned a new iphone 3g s you could take advantage of the bluetooth audio streaming ??

Does SMS text messaging show up. I dont think the iPhone supports that over bluetooth.

You don't need 3GS...with 3.0 software installed, you can stream music over Bluetooth from your current iPhone/iPhone3G. Its the 3.0 software that supports the A2DP Bluetooth profile which allows stereo audio streaming. But in this case you will not be able to take advantage of steering wheels audio controls.
SMS over Bluetooth is not supported by iPhone. Maybe a software upgrade for iPhone might allow you to do that in future. You can check out the Bluetooth compatibility chart in my first post and find more details.

Hi,

Did you sucessfully stream song over Bluetooth from 3G to X5? If you did, Did you have to do anyting on the X5? I have premium package and going to test it tonight..

Thanks.

I was successfully able to stream music oVer Bluetooth from my iPhone 3G. I had to change a small setting in mObridge to switch from iPOD to A2DP Bluetooth. Not sure where the corresponding setting for that is in premium package.

In that case... I doubt there is a way to change to A2DP from X5 itself. U

Frankly, there are two problem with A2DP streaming:
1. You cannot make use of steering wheel controls for music.
2. You'll need to use a car charger to power your phone since Bluetooth streaming will drain your battery real fast.

To all iPhone/iPhone3G users:
Does anyone know if an active phone call over car's bluetooth automatically switches to the phone, when you turn off the engine and take the keys out?

Anyone using this kit? Please share your experiences...

I got that kit (E92 2007)
 

It works almost fine.
The only problem in my car is the phonebook. Only one number for each name is displayed. I got for example three numbers for some names but I can choose only one.
Does anyone have this problem? Mobrigde support suck I can't get real help they don't know anything and claim it my car's fault.

What brand/model phone are you using? Does similar activity appear with a different phone?

Its not a problem with Mobridge, its a limitation of iDrive. I am using mine for over a year now.

I am able to do A2DP Bluetooth Audio streaming using my standard Aux-In.

I bought this:

Amazon.com: Blackberry A2DP Stereo BT Music Gateway: Electronics

Works great with my Droid and iPad

And You also have only one number per name on display?

I've try nokia phones E66 anc X6

shashankmittal's correct - each name will be listed as a separate entry if multiple numbers are entered.

Look at photos on my first post. Grzegorz Czechowski has three entries in my phone (for nokia - work, home and cell phone) and is listed only once (work). So something is not right.

Tom, you misunderstood me. Only one phone number per contact is displayed.

You are correct, that's how it works for me.

Two more questions
 

First:
When I enter to received/dialled/missed calls I always have date 01-01-70. What to do with that?

Second:
Top 8 - how does it work -mine is empty.

iPod integration problem
 

I have a X5 e70 2009 3.0d in India. The car has xDrive and DVD Changer and rear DVD package. I brought the mObridge A2010 unit from EAS and tried installing it in place of the DVD changer. I interacted with David @ EAS and thereafter with Greg Mitchell @ ACAP NZ. but no luck. The unit is not recognized by the system at all. From what i read and understood was that u primarily need a CD changer installed and then in it's place one can install the iPod kit. Am i right? If so, then would i have to remove my DVD changer and install/recode the car for a CD Changer:confused: and then use the kit for the iPod!!!! I have to go to a BMW official dealer in India to recode and BMW India WILL wash their hands of for the warranty in case there is an aftermarket product installed in the car.:(

1. Yes, the mObridge kit replaces the CD changer (CDC), which means that it needs the CDC to be active in iDrive software.
2. If you do not have a CDC, you'll need to get it activated by - the BMW dealer or an authorized Autologic shop. I seriously doubt there would be any competent Autologic shops in Mumbai.
3. Once CDC is activated, you can install the mObridge kit.
4. Warranty...it depends upon the country and dealer. You can always disconnect the unit (take less than 15minutes) before you get your car serviced at the dealership.

Quick question - did the iPod display the mObridge logo when plugged in? The most common step missed when installing is swapping the Power/Ground terminal pins in the MOST connector (BMW is reversed from mObridge) causing the fuse to immediately pop if not swapped beforehand.

Otherwise, there are a number of overseas BMWs using the mObridge systems.

Since you are already equipped with the CD/DVD Changer in the dash - you will not require coding.