Interest in a fully integrated A2DP Bluetooth solution?

[krossfyah]

I know the website gave an ETA of April 2019, any updates on that?

We are into April now. Is this available and whats the pricing looking like?

[Thresher]

I prefer a factory TCU for hands-free calling because it's a completely independent system that doesn't need to be turned ON or switched. The drawback of course is its inability to stream BT audio. But having this new device installed could provide the best of both worlds.

I had the same thought; last fall when I did my research on my options, I followed your DIY writeup and installed the latest Continental I-bus TCU version 1.5 from 2008 in my car. I love the seamless integration with the car. For streaming audio, I was hesitant about the grom solution and went cheap -- picked up a Bluetooth FM transmitter that plugs in to the cigarette lighter. I really don't stream audio that much, but would love a replacement for the CD changer w/DSP support.

I would love to see a version of the BlueBus device that can take on multiple roles: seamless telephone integration with the car AND act as a replacement for the CD changer via USB memory stick support (plus w/DSP support) AND allow bluetooth streaming.

My Samsung S10 can connect to the BMW TCU and other Bluetooth devices simultaneously; I have not tried testing how well handling a phone call functions while I am streaming audio; but if that works then the BlueBus could be a good incremental step toward eliminating the CD changer.

BlueBus seems pretty cool; I will have to keep an eye on its development.

[t3ddftw]

Pete,

Frankie is 100% correct. You can perform the conversion to IBus and as long as you run the wiring from the radio to somewhere in the cabin, then it will work.

The only "gotcha" is that the radio you get must support the updated IBus protocol -- early vehicles with IBus, such as the E31/E32 had radios that implemented a completely different protocol than what "modern" IBus-era vehicles had.

Not only does my board support digital DSPs, I think it's better than analog DSPs. The rationale is that audio quality will be better since it's only converted to analog once, by the DSP, rather than being converted to analog by the BlueBus, then converted back to digital at the DSP for processing, then back to analog for playback.

Thanks!
-Ted

[t3ddftw]

We are into April now. Is this available and whats the pricing looking like?

I really should've put May on there -- I meant late April to begin with, but there are going to be some delays as I'm working through some hardware bugs (I need to keep the DAC alive). Pricing is still TBD, but around the ~$170 mark.

I had the same thought; last fall when I did my research on my options, I followed your DIY writeup and installed the latest Continental I-bus TCU version 1.5 from 2008 in my car. I love the seamless integration with the car. For streaming audio, I was hesitant about the grom solution and went cheap -- picked up a Bluetooth FM transmitter that plugs in to the cigarette lighter. I really don't stream audio that much, but would love a replacement for the CD changer w/DSP support.

I would love to see a version of the BlueBus device that can take on multiple roles: seamless telephone integration with the car AND act as a replacement for the CD changer via USB memory stick support (plus w/DSP support) AND allow bluetooth streaming.

My Samsung S10 can connect to the BMW TCU and other Bluetooth devices simultaneously; I have not tried testing how well handling a phone call functions while I am streaming audio; but if that works then the BlueBus could be a good incremental step toward eliminating the CD changer.

BlueBus seems pretty cool; I will have to keep an eye on its development.

I'm planning on adding the appropriate pins to the BlueBus so that I can eventually emulate the factory TCU UI and ability to receive calls while not in BT mode. However, I have no plans of supporting USB as a media source. It's simply too much effort for very little reward, IMO.

Thanks!
-Ted

[Thresher]

I'm planning on adding the appropriate pins to the BlueBus so that I can eventually emulate the factory TCU UI and ability to receive calls while not in BT mode. However, I have no plans of supporting USB as a media source. It's simply too much effort for very little reward, IMO.

Thanks!
-Ted

Fair enough! I am impressed with what is being put together.

I must admit, I need to do some self-educating on the various Bluetooth profiles. When I think of streaming, I tend to think of things like Pandora and how it streams via Bluetooth to a special Pandora mode of an Alpine radio in my E36. My interest in the USB memory stick support is simply due to how I operate in one of my cars -- 32 GB memory stick plugged into the Alpine radio and I can access all of my digitized music there w/o need of my phone; the Alpine radio lets me browse and select what I want to play. That works for me because here in California we are not supposed to be fiddling with our phones while driving.

With my limited understanding of the Bluetooth profiles, it seems like I would be able to place my MP3 files on my phone, launch a music application and then be able to stream via A2DP to the BlueBus device. BlueBus would support basic control (e.g, play/pause/etc) of the current audio stream. Is AVRCP support required to be able to browse/discover available audio files to play?

What is BlueBus using for a Bluetooth antennae? Am I correct in guessing that there is an integrated antennae on the device? The TCU in my E38 is connected to a separate Bluetooth antennae that sits in the left-side C-pillar. When BlueBus is able to replace my TCU, am I correct in thinking that the current antennae will be obsolete (I'm ok with that, but am wondering if the current Bluetooth antennae possibly offers better reception?).

Keep up the good work, it will be exciting to see how this evolves!

[BimmerFlyer]

For E31/E32, swap in an I-bus capable radio along with matching CD changer data cable (which runs from radio to trunk). You'll also need to swap CD changer power plug and run an I-bus wire from there into pin 7 of your radio wiring harness. For pre-9/98 E38, verify this wire is present (should be). For those with DSP, the CD changer data cable won't be necessary (since digital inputs are used and, apparently this device supports DSP out-of-the-box). For pre-9/98 E38 without DSP, you'll need the data cable.

These changes will update your audio system to "modern" BMW standards.

These details are outlined in my DIY dated from 2004: Factory-Look Audio Upgrades. (Written for E36 but applicable)

As a stupid question, is there any reason why one, in stead of tearing the whole interior apart for one wire, to find the 3 appropriate wares on the back of the radio ( power, ground and Ibus on pin 7) and mount the Bluebus or Grom behind the dashboard somewhere?
Obviously the in trunk CD player would not work,( but the CD43 dash one doeswork) but it would sure save a lot of work..
Pete...

[clivesay]

Not a stupid question at all. I am wondering the same thing with my 96 750il.

As a stupid question, is there any reason why one, in stead of tearing the whole interior apart for one wire, to find the 3 appropriate wares on the back of the radio ( power, ground and Ibus on pin 7) and mount the Bluebus or Grom behind the dashboard somewhere?
Obviously the in trunk CD player would not work,( but the CD43 dash one doeswork) but it would sure save a lot of work..
Pete...

[Frankie]

...and mount the Bluebus or Grom behind the dashboard somewhere?

I am wondering the same thing with my 96 750il.

Sure. But the power plug is co-located with the CD changer in the trunk. For a behind-the-dash mount, you'd have to tap power from the radio harness -- which isn't a big deal. However others (future owners of your car) may choose to use the car differently and, there is value in keeping the car factory-like. Installing updated wiring allows for that.

[clivesay]

My thing is, I don't understand a lot about this stuff but I would love to do this instead of going thru my interior. My 96 just has 70k miles and I have no intention of ever selling. Adding the bluetooth options would be huge for me.

In this scenario, I would need a cd43 and then just a shortened version of the ibus harness that would have to have the power wire tapped into the radio wire?

If so, I would be very VERY interested in doing this!

Sure. But the power plug is co-located with the CD changer in the trunk. For a behind-the-dash mount, you'd have to tap power from the radio harness -- which isn't a big deal. However others (future owners of your car) may choose to use the car differently and, there is value in keeping the car factory-like. Installing updated wiring allows for that.

[t3ddftw]

Fair enough! I am impressed with what is being put together.

I must admit, I need to do some self-educating on the various Bluetooth profiles. When I think of streaming, I tend to think of things like Pandora and how it streams via Bluetooth to a special Pandora mode of an Alpine radio in my E36. My interest in the USB memory stick support is simply due to how I operate in one of my cars -- 32 GB memory stick plugged into the Alpine radio and I can access all of my digitized music there w/o need of my phone; the Alpine radio lets me browse and select what I want to play. That works for me because here in California we are not supposed to be fiddling with our phones while driving.

With my limited understanding of the Bluetooth profiles, it seems like I would be able to place my MP3 files on my phone, launch a music application and then be able to stream via A2DP to the BlueBus device. BlueBus would support basic control (e.g, play/pause/etc) of the current audio stream. Is AVRCP support required to be able to browse/discover available audio files to play?

What is BlueBus using for a Bluetooth antennae? Am I correct in guessing that there is an integrated antennae on the device? The TCU in my E38 is connected to a separate Bluetooth antennae that sits in the left-side C-pillar. When BlueBus is able to replace my TCU, am I correct in thinking that the current antennae will be obsolete (I'm ok with that, but am wondering if the current Bluetooth antennae possibly offers better reception?).

Keep up the good work, it will be exciting to see how this evolves!

Thanks for the kind words!

Your understanding is correct. Unfortunately, the BC127 BT module that I use doesn't allow searching your media player for specific media.

The BC127 has an antenna on-board and no provisions for wiring in an external antenna. I haven't had any issues with reception unless I sit on my phone while driving. The BlueBus unit is in the trunk, on the TCU mount.

My thing is, I don't understand a lot about this stuff but I would love to do this instead of going thru my interior. My 96 just has 70k miles and I have no intention of ever selling. Adding the bluetooth options would be huge for me.

In this scenario, I would need a cd43 and then just a shortened version of the ibus harness that would have to have the power wire tapped into the radio wire?

If so, I would be very VERY interested in doing this!

As an alternative to Frankie's suggestion, you could also wire 12v from the Fuse Box at the CD Changer terminal to the BlueBus, you could wire the CD43's IBus pin directly to the BlueBus (since the rest of your car doesn't have IBus, right?), and you might be able to find a spare ground in a connector somewhere behind the dash that you could de-pin and re-purpose.

Thanks!
-Ted

[Brian1960]

Installed it the other day in my 2001 with DSP and Navigation.
Very simple to hook up and works excellent.
Pairs like a champ.
The Artist/Song info is all there.
I would say it's a bit of a stretch to say it sounds better than cd quality as it is Bluetooth streaming but it does the job well and plays nice with the stock Bluetooth system.

[Frankie]

The Artist/Song info is all there....it is Bluetooth streaming...

So this device displays ID3 tags on the nav screen when you stream mp3 music? If so, I assume it's textual ID3 only (no album art)? And what is displayed when you stream a music service such as Pandora?

[georgebest]

t3ddftw in another forum (maybe mentioned here as well):
"Good News: I've worked out how the factory TCU works in terms of integration and I'll be adding a connector to the boards that will allow you to hook it up to the car in a way that will allow you to take calls even if you're not in BT mode and even if the radio is off."

I'm buying one when this is done, would be much better than the crappy, used TCU modules!! Quite exciting.

[Brian1960]

It seems to work ok for Spotify and yes I have not encountered any album art

Attachment 650879

[Thresher]

For those not monitoring the M3 forum site, Ted recently mentioned:

Sorry for the lack of updates -- life has been super busy lately! In terms of the BlueBus, I am currently working on getting a prototype laid out for the newest revision which adds the following features:

1. Full emulation of the factory TCU from a hardware standpoint
2. A standard 3.5mm audio jack to use with a standard microphone (such as the GROM's).
3. Built-in circuitry to power the OE mic, to do away with the requirement for the "Microphone Adapter".

I expect to have this done by next week.

I think this is exciting! Ted, if you see this, am I correct in understanding that you intend to have your initial version of BlueBus contain these features (as opposed to releasing a TCU-enabled version at a later date)? If so, I think I am ready to sign up!

[georgebest]

Full emulation of the factory TCU from a hardware standpoint!

Imagine that! You just put in and can use the factory mic and speaker for the phone. Also, phone would ring even when radio is off. All for a price of a used TCU module (at least that is what is expected).

[tominizer]

Hmmmmm........ considering I have an E38, E46 and E85 that all lack this sort of functionality, I'm very interested in this.

[t3ddftw]

So this device displays ID3 tags on the nav screen when you stream mp3 music? If so, I assume it's textual ID3 only (no album art)? And what is displayed when you stream a music service such as Pandora?

Metadata / ID3 tags should be published by most phone applications these days, even YouTube.

t3ddftw in another forum (maybe mentioned here as well):
"Good News: I've worked out how the factory TCU works in terms of integration and I'll be adding a connector to the boards that will allow you to hook it up to the car in a way that will allow you to take calls even if you're not in BT mode and even if the radio is off."


I'm buying one when this is done, would be much better than the crappy, used TCU modules!! Quite exciting.

For those not monitoring the M3 forum site, Ted recently mentioned:


I think this is exciting! Ted, if you see this, am I correct in understanding that you intend to have your initial version of BlueBus contain these features (as opposed to releasing a TCU-enabled version at a later date)? If so, I think I am ready to sign up!

Yes, I do not plan on releasing multiple versions of the BlueBus. That's why I want to get it sorted out and feature-packed before I launch it

Imagine that! You just put in and can use the factory mic and speaker for the phone. Also, phone would ring even when radio is off. All for a price of a used TCU module (at least that is what is expected).

Thanks, guys! One thing to note: for digital DSP cars only, the TCU emulation isn't going to work just yet.


The reason is that when I switch the digital audio configuration on the Bluetooth module (BC127), the unit doesn't change its configuration until it reboots.


This seems to be a bug, and I've pinged the manufacturer about it, since it should be able to switch on the fly according to their documentation.


For context, the digital DSP expects an SPDIF data stream where the audio circuit on my board uses I2S.


This should all be addressable via software, but I have no idea when that fix will come, since it's outside my realm of control.


I may be able to find another work around, but for now, I would count on only being able to make / receive calls while in Bluetooth mode.


This is definitely something you digital DSP guys should keep in mind before considering a pre-order.

Hmmmmm........ considering I have an E38, E46 and E85 that all lack this sort of functionality, I'm very interested in this.

Awesome!

[Thresher]

Thanks, guys! One thing to note: for digital DSP cars only, the TCU emulation isn't going to work just yet.

The reason is that when I switch the digital audio configuration on the Bluetooth module (BC127), the unit doesn't change its configuration until it reboots.

This seems to be a bug, and I've pinged the manufacturer about it, since it should be able to switch on the fly according to their documentation.

Thanks for the update and heads up! I have DSP; so I will keep my fingers crossed that this can be resolved.

[t3ddftw]

Thanks for the update and heads up! I have DSP; so I will keep my fingers crossed that this can be resolved.

Keep in mind that if you have the analog DSP (the 6 pin CD Changer connector, rather than the coax), it will still work fine. I think all E38 models had the digital DSP, though. Most 2000+ E39 models with DSP seem to have the analog DSP connector.

[georgebest]

for digital DSP cars only, the TCU emulation isn't going to work just yet.

Last time I was this disappointed when I learnt about Santa

I will wait then, maybe you will find a workaround.

[t3ddftw]

Last time I was this disappointed when I learnt about Santa

I will wait then, maybe you will find a workaround.

Definitely wait, but I think I might have a workaround that will work better than my initial fix. I think I'm going to tap the lines that feed the digital audio converter (I2S DAC) over to a Cirrus Logic WM8804 (https://www.cirrus.com/products/wm8804/) which would take in the I2S data and convert it to the S/PDIF that the digital DSP expects (44.1khz sample rate, for those wondering). This would also get rid of the need to configure the module for digital or analog audio, as both would always be available.

This is of course going to add cost to the BOM and going to require some more board space, but I think this is the best solution.

Thanks!
-Ted

[Brian1960]

I'm not sure where you get the "crappy used TCU modules" from as I'm quite happy what mine does for the price.
Just on the way home today from a trip and I simply said "Call name" and my ride asked me who I wanted to call.
I said who and next thing you know I'm speaking with my daughter in a crystal clear conversation.
If you read how much they used to want for these things and how cheap they are now...
Plus you haven't lived until you wire up one of those 25 to 54 pin adapters from scratch lol.

[georgebest]

I'm not sure where you get the "crappy used TCU modules" from as I'm quite happy what mine does for the price.
Just on the way home today from a trip and I simply said "Call name" and my ride asked me who I wanted to call.
I said who and next thing you know I'm speaking with my daughter in a crystal clear conversation.
If you read how much they used to want for these things and how cheap they are now...
Plus you haven't lived until you wire up one of those 25 to 54 pin adapters from scratch lol.

I'm on my second TCU module and neither of them were reliable, maybe just bad luck.

[t3ddftw]

I'm not sure where you get the "crappy used TCU modules" from as I'm quite happy what mine does for the price.
Just on the way home today from a trip and I simply said "Call name" and my ride asked me who I wanted to call.
I said who and next thing you know I'm speaking with my daughter in a crystal clear conversation.
If you read how much they used to want for these things and how cheap they are now...
Plus you haven't lived until you wire up one of those 25 to 54 pin adapters from scratch lol.

The BlueBus is capable of voice recognition, but I think it's much easier to just leave the task to your phones voice assistant (Siri / Google). As such, the "Long Press" event of the "Talking Head" button on the steering wheel will summon the assistant if HFP is enabled.

On that note, I have a ZCP E46 M3 and while I have Bluetooth, I have none of the steering wheel controls. What do the R/T and "Talking Head" buttons do?

I'm on my second TCU module and neither of them were reliable, maybe just bad luck.

My Everest TCU has been super reliable, but it's the later model Motorola unit and it was built in 2006.