Trying to pair an iPhone to my car. Unfortunately I've had no joy, have been to bmw today and they want £700 for the cradle that goes in the armrest! Is there another way apart from putting a parrot kit in. It's an e53 2006 x5 3.0d sport HELP PLEASE :)

Sorry Lee but BMW answered the question for you, I phones wont pair on Bluetooth alone.

Regards

Steve

Mine does. Its a 4S though. I also have an armrest adaptor but you still need the Bluetooth to work on mine as it is only a link up to the roof aerial. I bought the adaptor used from eBay for £20. These were £179 new so have a look on eBay for a used one.

You have an E90 though Bruce, my I phone 4s would not pair on any E39 E46 or E53, I bought a new Samsung and it pairs with anything not sure why this is though.

Regards

Steve

I had a Ford with a similar issue. I downloaded an update from a Ford website and uploaded it via the USB port. Shame you cant do the same with yours.

We have 4 different phones paired, my wife's HTC my Padfone and Nokia and one of my sons has an Iphone 5, The padfone and the Iphone were a pain in the proverbial's. I have read that quite a few new phones have reduced Bluetooth power to save battery power, Asus advised turning off Wifi and tethering the phone, Both phones connect with my wife's Subaru and my sons Nissan pickup after a little investigation the Bluetooth receiver in the Subaru and Nissan are in the dash/centre console area. The BMW its in the boot and the antenna is there too so it seems distance was the issue?

I read that they would only work with later BMW ULF/TCU units mine is late 2003, so I tried pairing with the Padfone in the boot near the antenna it worked, but when moved to the front dropped the signal when I tried a call. So I moved the bluetooth antenna up behind the back seat so far so good.

The big problem with the cradle fore the Iphone is which one do you have? Plus if you change/upgrade you may need a new cradle

After an hour of going through forums, whilst sat in the car I have managed to get myen and the wife's phone paired! We both have iPhones, all our contacts are also synced with the car aswell so can make calls via the head unit. Thanks for your help everyone :)

:)

Someone messaged me privately on this subject can't reply for some reason. If you still need help message me on here 😄

i've just bought an e53 x5 3.0d and was wondering why i cant pair or even find the cars bluetooth. could it even be fitted? are all e53 3.0d fitted with a bluetooth function? how did you get yours to work lee? i also have an iphone 5

1st Does your Nav screen show the Telephone function

2nd Check the upper lid on the arm rest inside you will either a release box for a phone or a release box with a voice button.

2 is good if you have the voice button you have bluetooth. Press the voice button and hold it for a few seconds with ignition off turn on the ignition release the button then press again the screen will go to pairing mode. You will need the pass key to enter into your phone if it isn't with your hand books it will be on the unit buried in the left side of the boot.

If you have a code reader (BMW 1.4.0) you can start pairing from the reader

Unfortunately I haven't got the satnav, i have the business single cd player. And I haven't got the button or relase box for a phone. The only voice button is on the steering wheel.

I will try that when i get into the car later see if anything flashes up,

Thanks greydog