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Re: Car phone



I too had the same question bout a year ago. I have a 2000 323iT and already
had a mobile phone. Asked at the dealer what it would take (parts & $$ wise)
to hook up my phone to take advantage of the BMW in-car system. Didn't get
much help from them, other than, these models are too new and we don't know
about the phone kit or how it works. Granted, I didn't have the Motorola
Star-Tac phone that BMW uses, but thought they could at least shed some
light on it. They did tell me the mobile phone dealer could install it, and
they would "repair" whatever damage was done. Not real confidence inspiring.

So, I decided to DIY with the kit I had purchased with the phone. BTW, phone
in question is a Nokia 7160 series and the kit works with all 5100, 6100 &
7100 series phones. I used some of the cars pre-wiring, mostly the antenna
lead, and mounted the hands-free mic in the factory location above the
rear-view mirror. The control box fits nicely under the passenger seat, the
external speaker up under the passenger footwell, just behind the glovebox
and finally the cradle itself along the center console. There's still enough
room for full travel of both the passenger seat and glovebox opening.
Although the phone doesnt't use the BMW sound system or steering wheel
controls, sound clarity on both ends and reception is quite good. Have had
no complaints.

All in all, I think it turned out quite professional, but I may be biased.
Cost me a total of $199.95 and couple of hours on a Saturday. So if your
comfortable with doing the work yourself it beats spending $1200. If you
have a Star-Tac phone already, you can probably buy the kit and install it
yourself of have your service provider do it at a much reduced cost.


Stuart
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Warren Lin" <wlin@domain.elided>
To: <bmw-digest@domain.elided>
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2001 10:58 AM
Subject: Car phone


> Hi, Folks,
>
> I acquired a 2000 323Ci a few months ago and checked with the dealer to
put
> in a BMW car-phone.  The quoted price is well over $1200 with the parts
and
> labor.  My question is, can a non-BMW mobile phone be installed to work
its
> pre-wired system, i.e., the speakerphone and the button on the steering?
>
> Thanks,
> Warren
>
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