Interest in a fully integrated A2DP Bluetooth solution?

[t3ddftw]

Hi Ted,

I have reviewed the TCU harness information and I am not clear if one harness is better than another (I don't understand if there is a benefit or not between the available wires on the DB-25 vs SES...).

Assuming all harness options are functionally the same, then it seems in my case I could select any of the TCU harness options and be fine (others here may have a similar configuration, especially if they followed Frankie's Factory Bluetooth Retrofit DIY procedures like I did).


My car is a 2001 model year 740iL (production 4/2000).

The car came pre-wired for SES and I installed a SES module.

The car has a newer TCU installed (# 84-10-9-181-864), which had required me to purchase the DB-25 to 54-pin connector (# 84-12-0-308-375)



It seems the simplest configuration for me would be to purchase the DB-25 harness provided that I do the following:



Remove the SES module

Re-install the SES cap

Remove the DB-25 to 54-pin adapter cable.

The next alternative would be to order the TCU adapter harness for the SES and simply let the existing DB-25 connector go unused. Finally, I guess I could go with the 54-pin connector, but then I would still need to cap the SES and continue to use the existing adapter cable, which just seems like a less stream-lined solution.


I am leaning toward the DB-25 harness for simplicity. Am I missing anything about the various harness adapters that would make me want to get the SES adapter instead?

thanks!

Hey!

All good points. For starters, all harnesses are functionally the same. The only reason there are options are to support the plethora of different connectors that BMW used for telephony over the years.

In your case, I would actually recommend the SES adapter rather than the DB25. The reason is that I have been unable to find a DB25 end which mates with the screw terminals on the harness side of the DB25. As such, friction is the only thing holding them together which is less than ideal.

There's nothing wrong with leaving the DB25 tucked away in the harness, unused.

Thanks!
-Ted

[t3ddftw]

Hey guys,


BlueBus units were supposed to ship overnight to me today, but instead I got this update from the Fab house:

Ted,


The PCB's have been through the Pick N Place line and QC. We had some LED orientation issues which are being fixed and the QA manager was not happy with the board edges. The boards are being reworked and sanded. The boards will ship 3/6. I am sorry for the additional delay however, quality is something we do take seriously and while I know you want these as soon as possible, the additional delay will ensure higher quality.


Regards,


Jerry

I asked for pictures of a production board to verify that everything was correctly oriented (it is). Here are the pictures I got back:








-Ted

[Frankie]

Hi Ted,

It's nice to see things coming together for you!

Question: I see 4 connection points: 1) CD changer audio (6-pin), 2) CD changer power (3-pin), 3) digital audio out (for DSP amps), 4) unknown (?).

I thought an SES 24-pin or TCU 54-pin was going to be present as well. Is this not the case?

[t3ddftw]

Hi Ted,

It's nice to see things coming together for you!

Question: I see 4 connection points: 1) CD changer audio (6-pin), 2) CD changer power (3-pin), 3) digital audio out (for DSP amps), 4) unknown (?).

I thought an SES 24-pin or TCU 54-pin was going to be present as well. Is this not the case?

Hey Frankie,

Thanks!

Believe it or not, it was one of your comments earlier on in this thread that pushed me to add support for the "factory" telephony features

To answer your question, the unknown six pin is the input from the "adapter" that's required for the 26 pin SES, DB25 or 54 pin adapters. I went this route rather than adding the connectors directly because the 54 pin connector is NLA in its "header" form, so I wouldn't have been able to have that on the BlueBus itself.

The adapters themselves look a lot like the factory DB25 to 54 pin connector adapters.

Thanks!
-Ted

[t3ddftw]

So, anyone of you guys get your units yet?

[kouks]

Patiently waiting for the May order. Every time I have to make a phone call I wish I had the BlueBus.

[t3ddftw]

Patiently waiting for the May order. Every time I have to make a phone call I wish I had the BlueBus.

I hate to bring bad news to the party, but May will likely be June with all the delays in the manufacturing pipelines that COVID-19 is throwing at us.

[TheAngryBear]

Is there a way to see where you are in the queue? Or add the TCU cable?


2001 750iL DD74441
E65 fan & clutch, E65 headrests, Front First Aid Kit, Ultimate Cup holder

2005 X5 4.8is LE82680
Stock

RIP: 2003 540iA Sport GS56111
H&R front springs, Ultimate Cup Holder, Euro Dash & Armrest, Grom, BavSound Stage1

[t3ddftw]

Is there a way to see where you are in the queue? Or add the TCU cable?


2001 750iL DD74441
E65 fan & clutch, E65 headrests, Front First Aid Kit, Ultimate Cup holder

2005 X5 4.8is LE82680
Stock

RIP: 2003 540iA Sport GS56111
H&R front springs, Ultimate Cup Holder, Euro Dash & Armrest, Grom, BavSound Stage1

I can help with both if you PM me your Email address or shoot me an email at support@bluebus.dev

Thanks!
-Ted

[sdb999]

Does this unit come with a housing or case for mounting? Might be interested in working up some packaging if you haven’t already.

[t3ddftw]

Does this unit come with a housing or case for mounting? Might be interested in working up some packaging if you haven’t already.

Indeed it does

[sdb999]

Sweet, I’m an ME and currently work for an engineering software company. I’ve done some pro-bono work through our charitable foundation on plastic pcb housing. Enjoyed it, but you look set up. Hard to tell from image, are they 3D printed?

[t3ddftw]

Sweet, I’m an ME and currently work for an engineering software company. I’ve done some pro-bono work through our charitable foundation on plastic pcb housing. Enjoyed it, but you look set up. Hard to tell from image, are they 3D printed?

Ah, that's awesome!

They are 3D printed. They were supposed to be urethane cast, but that manufacturer fell through...

I'm going to redo the design a bit -- right now I'm using 25mm screws to secure the top to the bottom and they go through the PCB at the same time. The problem is that you have to torque down each screw progressively or the PCB starts to go off center.

-Ted

[kouks]

I hate to bring bad news to the party, but May will likely be June with all the delays in the manufacturing pipelines that COVID-19 is throwing at us.

I’ll wait for sure. I’m thinking you’re actually going to be caught up in July.

[t3ddftw]

I’ll wait for sure. I’m thinking you’re actually going to be caught up in July.

Maybe! I have interest for over 900 units for this next run. We'll see how many turn into sales, because that will also impact lead times.

[Thresher]

So, anyone of you guys get your units yet?

Not yet, but I wanted to wait for the case and the TCU adapter cable. Looks like you some cases now. If the adapter cables are available then I suspect my order will be arriving soon. When it arrives I will start the installation work...

[t3ddftw]

FYI, I've started taking more orders. I've also started getting cases, so I should be able to get through my order backlog soon.

[absolutezero273]

I just placed an order for 2 BlueBus and 2 SES adapter cables Ted. Thanks!! Can't wait to get these installed.

[t3ddftw]

Thanks for the support!

[Stillife]

OK gentlemen I think I've had the BlueBus long enough now to write a legitimate review of its performance. I was one of the early pre-orders last year so I've had it a few weeks now. For reference I installed the board into an 01 740il with MKIV nav, 6 disk change,r DSP and the widescreen display. I also have done a full stage I&II Bavsound speaker install.

First of all I want to say communicating with Ted on this project has been great. It's a complex thing to bring to market and even with all the Covid chaos units are shipping. Kudos man. That's not to say it hasn't been a bit complicated. When I first received the unit I deleted the CD changer and Telecom hardware as instructed and installed the Bluebus to my digital DSP and CD changer power/data cable. Simple install. (I haven't received the TCU adapter yet so no info yet on its capabilities) Unit powered up and paired with my phone. After powering down the car however the car wouldn't start with out a digit immobilizer code. 0000 didn't work. I removed the board and car allowed default code to work. I email Ted and he troubleshooted with me for a week and released a firmware update. Apparently the e38 nav freaks out if you send it more than 32 bytes per frame. I installed the firmware (with a few hiccups) and now the system works flawlessly.

The interface is as OE as it gets. CD changer now reads Bluetooth and the metadata for song info is readable and has zero lag on song changes. With auto pair and play enabled it only takes a few seconds from startup to hear music. All steering controls work as advertised and there are several comfort options that are really cool. Setting turn signal blink duration and metadata display options are a nice bonus. Bluetooth connectivity is great even with a Samgung S8 that supposedly has range issues.

The sound quality of the Bluetooth 5.0 chip is astonishing. It is waaaay more dynamic than the old CD changer. I did A B testing from the CD changer at 320kbs and Bluebus (Spotify set to extreme quality) and i got MUCH more response below 40zh and a flatter curve overall. Plus with modern app based equalizers you can tune the sound with more precision than the stock DSP EQ. Instrument separation and clarity are way up and with the right EDM/Rap track you can feel the bass in your chest in the 45-25hz range much more. Listening to Dvorak's Cello Concerto you can actually hear the breath of the musicians in between movements and the small bow scratches that a live performance offers. With uncompressed flac files it's incredible. I plan to add a skipass 10" sub and i'm sure that will only elevate this even more.

Overall I'm impressed. This is cheaper than most current competitors and offers more functionality. Ted is really doing a great job supporting the community here and I am sure he is gonna sell a ton of these.

[t3ddftw]

OK gentlemen I think I've had the BlueBus long enough now to write a legitimate review of its performance. I was one of the early pre-orders last year so I've had it a few weeks now. For reference I installed the board into an 01 740il with MKIV nav, 6 disk change,r DSP and the widescreen display. I also have done a full stage I&II Bavsound speaker install.

First of all I want to say communicating with Ted on this project has been great. It's a complex thing to bring to market and even with all the Covid chaos units are shipping. Kudos man. That's not to say it hasn't been a bit complicated. When I first received the unit I deleted the CD changer and Telecom hardware as instructed and installed the Bluebus to my digital DSP and CD changer power/data cable. Simple install. (I haven't received the TCU adapter yet so no info yet on its capabilities) Unit powered up and paired with my phone. After powering down the car however the car wouldn't start with out a digit immobilizer code. 0000 didn't work. I removed the board and car allowed default code to work. I email Ted and he troubleshooted with me for a week and released a firmware update. Apparently the e38 nav freaks out if you send it more than 32 bytes per frame. I installed the firmware (with a few hiccups) and now the system works flawlessly.

The interface is as OE as it gets. CD changer now reads Bluetooth and the metadata for song info is readable and has zero lag on song changes. With auto pair and play enabled it only takes a few seconds from startup to hear music. All steering controls work as advertised and there are several comfort options that are really cool. Setting turn signal blink duration and metadata display options are a nice bonus. Bluetooth connectivity is great even with a Samgung S8 that supposedly has range issues.

The sound quality of the Bluetooth 5.0 chip is astonishing. It is waaaay more dynamic than the old CD changer. I did A B testing from the CD changer at 320kbs and Bluebus (Spotify set to extreme quality) and i got MUCH more response below 40zh and a flatter curve overall. Plus with modern app based equalizers you can tune the sound with more precision than the stock DSP EQ. Instrument separation and clarity are way up and with the right EDM/Rap track you can feel the bass in your chest in the 45-25hz range much more. Listening to Dvorak's Cello Concerto you can actually hear the breath of the musicians in between movements and the small bow scratches that a live performance offers. With uncompressed flac files it's incredible. I plan to add a skipass 10" sub and i'm sure that will only elevate this even more.

Overall I'm impressed. This is cheaper than most current competitors and offers more functionality. Ted is really doing a great job supporting the community here and I am sure he is gonna sell a ton of these.

Thanks for the kind words and the review!

On the "CODE" issue experienced, it wasn't caught earlier because of the fact that the only "mode" that can possibly display enough characters to fill a 32 byte frame is only available on the MKIV nav, which the E38 was never equipped with from the factory. It also seems that the E38 was the only chassis that took any mind to the Nav freaking out and telling the cluster that a code had been set (which is ironic as its the IKE that is supposed to tell the Nav that a "CODE" is set).

Anyways, I'm just glad we got it figured out and I can't thank you enough for all your patience testing different software revisions.


On music quality: The DSP is really an incredible amplifier that shines when fed a digital signal. For whatever reason, BMW decided that the DSP should only ingest digital audio from the CD Changer, so no other audio modes ever got to take advantage of it.

The Bluetooth audio gets passed to a Wolfson WM8804 (https://www.cirrus.com/products/wm8804/) which does an incredible job of removing jitter and passing that S/PDIF line back out to the DSP. Since the signal is all digital into the DSP, the DSPs DAC(s) have a chance to shine and can drive the amplifier chips at peak performance.

If your car has a DSP, and you have a six pin analog audio input, I highly recommend you pick up a coax cable for use with the BlueBus -- you will not be disappointed.

-Ted

[Frankie]

Just to confirm:

• When CD mode is selected from the nav, the display reads "Bluetooth" instead of "CD", correct?
• When streaming music, will ID3 tags display from mp3 music files located on your phone too, or just when streaming music from a data source such as Pandora or Spotify?

[t3ddftw]

Just to confirm:

• When CD mode is selected from the nav, the display reads "Bluetooth" instead of "CD", correct?
• When streaming music, will ID3 tags display from mp3 music files located on your phone too, or just when streaming music from a data source such as Pandora or Spotify?

* Correct. You'll briefly see it say CD until the BlueBus has a chance to rewrite the UI
* ID3 tags will show from any app that displays them, so the stock music app will work fine.

P.S. I finally got my hands on an SES. I'll do some checking and see if it destroys the bluebus or not.

-Ted

[Stillife]

Just to confirm:
When CD mode is selected from the nav, the display reads "Bluetooth" instead of "CD", correct?
When streaming music, will ID3 tags display from mp3 music files located on your phone too, or just when streaming music from a data source such as Pandora or Spotify?

Additionally when running the nav voice instructions auto pause/play bluetooth music seamlessly. Its just like the old CD changer. Also call answering from the steering works in FM and Nav.

One question Ted. i saw in the e39 video on your website there was siri support from the long press of mic button. Is this an option for android and google assistant?

[tabora]

Yes, holding the talking head button activates the Android Google Assistant just like Siri. You can ask for directions, dial a number, call a contact, etc.
@Stillife, you may need to make a settings change in your phone. On my OnePlus3 in the button settings, I have the Home Button set to Long Press Action = Voice Search.