I don't know if they have this in the US, but I was recently in London and one of the guys I was driving around with had a BMW 5 Series that had built into the car a system that automatically downloaded your cell phone phonebook and would receive all of you incoming and outgoing calls on an internal car speaker and microphone. Basically all you had to do was have you cell phone somewhere in the car and the system was enabled. Complete handsfree solution IMO. The system came with a screen similar to the Z's stock NAV screen.

Has anyone else heard about this or seen it? And do you know if it is possible to get in the US, and more specifically in the Z. I would be interested in using the Stock NAV screen for something like this if possible. This is a great solution considering all the laws that are popping up in the US regarding talking on your cell phone while driving.

N.

 

That is the iDrive system comes standard in 5 and 7 series. My seven has it and it is a part of the overall system. It doesnt store anything (no memory) it just reads your phone book when plugged in.

 

its bluetooth. some of the newer cars are coming out with it.

 

I dont know if its blue tooth, but it just has the number once you plug the phone in.

 

its bluetooth, and you need a bluetooth enabled phone. very few phones, but a cool option.

 

mofoz is right. You need a bluetooth enabled phone. i think sprint has one. most of the providers dont have them yet... but they will. The PDA/phones that have bluetooth will work too. A very cool feature and a technology that we will see a million uses for in the coming years. I think it will revolutionize the way we do things much like the internet did. The possibilities are endless.

i'm a networking dork... sorry

 

I am not sure if tis blue tooth or not the Motorola v60 is the phone and it is nothing propritary to BMW or carrier I could of went with Verizon, Alltell or Att. My friend has a V60 with Qwest as his carrier and he put his phone in my car and it worked just the same. The phone is free from BMW.

The phone slides into a craddle and then the cradle reads the phone and sends its info to the iDrive and then the iDrive is the heart of the system, stereo, dvd, nav, climate, and service are all operated by iDrive (they each have there own controls outside of iDrive

 

if the v60 is in a craddle, then its not using bluetooth, and having owned a motorola v60 i know its not bluetooth enabled. From cingular, Siemens offers 2 bluetooth enabled phones. The benefit is any bluetooth phone will work without wires, or cradles.

 

From Nothing's description
So it has to be bluetooth, no plugs just inside the car. Also, he said it was from London, so it had to be bluetooth (seeing how only our cellphones suck here in the US) We are the only ones just getting into bluetooth phones. Motorola is a US based cell phone maker and they're like way @$$ behind everyone else (they just started making camera phones) Everyone other cellphone makers already have camera and/or bluetooth enabled already.
So, if it was in London, in a new BMW, then it had to be bluetooth.

 

BMW has started with the bluetooth systems in the US. Some people are allready looking into retrofitting older BMWs with the kit. The old setup used a Moto Timeport, which would dock into its cradle, and would link to the headunit with its dialing and phonebook. This is not only true for BMWs with I-Drive however. There were other models that used this type of cradle setup.

Slowly bluetooth is making its way to the states. We just have to wait it out a bit longer for it to really become commonplace.

 

I have a 2003 745li and it is not Bluetooth, my friend is the GM of a BMW dealership and in Euorpe it may be but the new 5 series that he is talking about and it is also cradle dependent, he has been in the German version. Trust me my car is pretty complicated and I have a X5 also not bluetooth. My friend just got an 2004 7 series (flagship) and it is not bluetooth. It would be nice to have but my car is a V60.

 

Ok, just check the US BMW site and found this out

5 series

Thats the online catalog for the 5 series (in the US). And in the Options it list Bluetooth interface for it's telephones

heres pic from the catalog (pg 16):

 

And this is from BMW UK site for their 5 series

UK BMW

Under About the Car > Equipment > Interior

There what they had as option for their telephone.

Surprise, Surprise! Bluetooth!

 

Euro cars often feature items that are not available. My 2000 S Class was analog cell and two months later same year and same car has digital. My 2000 S500 now has a cell that doesnt work and a 2000 S class a few months older has digital. I cant get service. I am not sayiing as a spokesperson for BMW they dont I am just saying if they do and they will sell a 89,000 car and not give all the same tech then they are as s w ipes. I dont know all I can say is my 2003 745li Sport loaded soes not have bluetooth but does give me the ability to download my phonebook from my V60 to my car screen. But as for everyother car possible they may be bluetooth active.

 

The first one was BMW USA (second post was UK). True 7 series might not have bluetooth, but the topic was the 5 series. Kinda hard to believe that Euro cars lacks features offered in the US (seeing how BMW central is there) Well the info is there and I believe that Nothing's question has be answered.

 

no I got ya I am just saying the 7 series is the car they modeled the new 5 series after. My knowledge is as a owner of a 5 series

 

Okay, I think we've determined that it's bluetooth, and that it's a cool feature. Now... can we get this to work in the Z!!!

N.

 

I have blue tooth in my 2004 Acura TL, completely hands free and routed through the sound system, which is DVD-Audio as well. I have to buy a new cell phone with the BT technology and just dial it in.

 

I'll tell you exactly how you can get this to work in the Z.

Pick up a Sony Ericcson T610/T616 and the accessory BlueTooth transciever (~$250). That is a pretty slick option for making and recieving calls in your car. The only downside currently is that you can't see caller ID info etc on any display (but you can set up the phone to announce the numbers over audio.)

 

Interesting... well, I'm the market for a new phone, so maybe I'll check that out.
N.