E90 CIC Aux problem - please help

[Hazazzel]

Hello everybody, recently i bought used bmw e90 from 2006 which has CIC (i suppose retrofitted because i could't find any bmw from 2006 e90 that had cic from factory).

So what is the problem: in the glovebox i have USB and AUX, and in the armrest i have AUX port, NONE of the aux ports seems to work, i plug a phone (i tried with iphone XS Max, iphone 5s, ipad mini, huawei). The usb port in the glovebox can play music (and when i try to import the songs in the "music collection" i get the message "no usb detected in the glovebox")

I've searched online everywhere and i found some terms like "combox, mulf, mulf2, tcu" etc. and based on some videos online, in the trunk of the car, i removed the floor cover and there is nothing (no combox no mulf nothing, just empty space) so i suppose i don't have one or maybe it is on some other place (dunno where)

I have bluetooth option, but only for calls, no audio streaming.

One small detail that i don't like is when i press the "CD" button on my idrive contoller i'm diverted to "external devices" menu instead of CD (maybe someone has solution to this also)

However, long story short: i've explained that my aux is not working, what i'm trying to do is to plug my phone and listen to some radio from my phone (from tunein for example, previosly i had Opel Astra H and all it took was to connect the aux from my phone and turn on tunein app on my phone, worked like a charm, it was like connecting speakers to your phone).

For the Opel Astra i bought this : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...archweb201603_

I never used it, it might work on the bmw, i've posted this also in order to ask if this is good enough to code my bmw if that is what is required for the aux to work.

Thank you all in advance and apologies for the long post.

[JDStrickland]

I'm going to guess here, but if you have a retrofitted radio, then you won''t have the features that you are expecting to find. I have an E93, and I just plug my phone into the aux port in the armrest and it's all good. Your car should be the same, select aux input and plug in your phone. I use Pandora on my phone and play it through my radio.

First things first, does your headphone jack on your phone work? Does the aux cable work on other audio systems? What I'm getting at, is the first Rule of Electricity is to make sure the light bulb works.

Given your iDrive goes to the wrong audio source when you select CD makes my think you have a radio that does not work with the iDrive.

[Hazazzel]

I used old nad new cables, my phone phone and all the other phones work perfectly.

I dont undestand, how could my radio not work with the idrive, i suppose it all goes together, i have the factory radio in my car.

Could it be that the AUX wire is not connected where it should, or it is coding problem? And i don’t understand how the glovebox USB port workes like a charm, yet the AUX doesn’t

I’m afraid to tear it apart in order to find the cable, yet a mechanic could charge me a lot (i think) for this...

Thank you for the answer

[JDStrickland]

I have to ask the Stupid Question because I'm stupid, but what is CIC?

You said have CIC and that you think it's retrofitted, and then go into sound system issues with the Aux. I was keyed in on "retrofitted." If something is retrofitted, then by definition it is non-standard, and if non-standard then it does not play well with the other stuff that is standard.

My USB and Aux ports both live in the arm rest, there is nothing in the glove box. I have the E93.

[Hazazzel]

No matter if it is retrofitted, aux is aux, it should work, not that it is some advanced feature that the car had not had it before

[JDStrickland]

No matter if it is retrofitted, aux is aux, it should work, not that it is some advanced feature that the car had not had it before

Yes, but it did not have Aux in the glove box, so you need to investigate the wiring. Something matters somewhere, and the retrofit can be the source of your trouble that nobody else has.

[Hazazzel]

The aux/usb port in the glovebox is glued, i have to break it if i want to inspect wiring


Is it possible for CIC to work with bluetooth (for calls only) and voice controls without mulf/combox?

[JDStrickland]

What is "CIC"? I feel like I should know, but I'm drawing a blank.

Somebody changed the aux and usb location from the center armrest to the glove box, then they sold the car.

What do you suppose would happen if the aux and usb in the glovebox was connected to a device that was also in the glovebox, but now is removed? This would give you an inoperative aux/usb in the glovebox and in the center console. They added something that obviously worked, then removed whatever they installed but didn't bother to correct the mess that they made, now you have aux and usb ports that don't work.

Your challenge is to make Frankenstein come back to life. You have to find where the factory stuff ends and connect it again.

[Hazazzel]

Friend, i explained everything in detail in my firs post, the usb is working, i can listen to songs from it (bur can’t import) the aux is not working