Fixing issue with no sound through speakers for Bluetooth OEM + Ipod on2004 e46
Bluetooth OEM DIY retrofit as described works GREAT, but I had a problem where the incoming calls didn't come through my speakers.
This 2 year old thread deserves a bump-- it's the most helpful I found on the interwebs for this project on an e46.
My 2004 330i had no nav, no BMW assist, and no microphone. It did have the OEM ipod, which turned out to be the issue.
IF you have OEM iPod, but no nav (as I did) you may experience the same problem I did- No sound from speakers, but everything else working perfectly. It was very, very hard to find info on this problem that was accurate, and not written in obscure jargon. It's kind of an edge case. But in case anyone else has the same problem, here's how to fix it. (without jargon)
The problem is NOT with your speaker. (probably) The problem is that the OEM ipod bluetooth wiring hardness (which is plugged into the back of your radio) does not presuppose that you might also want bluetooth. So it's missing two crucial wires. So you need to move them from the unused plug where they currently reside, into the plug that the ipod unit is using.
Here's what you need to do: Open up the dash to access the back of the radio. (plenty of vids available) It's not hard if you buy the right tools mentioned on this thread. Look at the big square plug in the back of your radio. At the bottom there will be a small square plug. Using a flathead screwdriver to lift the plastic tab on top, remove it (again, e46 radio removal videos are helpful and easy to find).
You'll note that this big plug actually contains a smaller plug on the bottom that is seperate, and once it's removed from the radio, this small plug can be removed from the big plug by pushing out a blue "U" shaped piece of plastic that holds it in place.
The plug looks like this:
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/...psa0e15431.gif
You'll notice that plug "A" is filled with a small square plug that leads to a "Y" wire junction and eventually to your ipod. On the the other arm of the "Y" is an identical small square plug. Many forums say one of these is white, but on my car both were black. Put a piece of tape on the one that is currently plugged in, to mark it as the one that will be replugged into the back of your radio in a few minutes.
Now what you need to do is remove the wires that are in positions 3 and 8 on plug "B", and put them into the same positions (3 and 8) on plug "A".
On my car these wires were yellow and black. Make sure you mark which one is in position #3 so you put them into the correct places on plug "A" once you getthem out of "B."
This will be hard. I used a couple of different thicknesses of paperclips, a micro-screwdriver, and a lot of force to push them out from the front towards the back, where the wires come in. The smallest paperclip fit best, but didn't provide enough force. (it bent) The micro-screwdriver was the one that finally provided the necessary force, but it kinda trashed the little metal tube things (Jargon: "leads") that go into the plug. In fact one split in half. I gather there is an official BMW tool for this, but of course there is. I did it the handyman way.
After smoothing them out a bit as best I could and deciding they would probably still provide electrical contact with the radio, I put them into the "A" plug, reassembled the big plug, re-attached it to the radio, and tested it. Success!
After putting everything back behind the trim, it looks as OEM as OEM should.
Incoming calls now came through through the speaker just as they should.
The beauty of the OEM setup is that there are no unsightly wires anywhere, the upgraded directional noise-cancelling microphone works brilliantly, and best of all, you can use all the fancy buttons on your steering wheel to answer calls, increase/decrease volume, and even dial out. Paging through contacts is lame on the small one-line display of the standard "business CD" so I made a "top 15" list of contacts and synced to that. For more obscure numbers I select them on my phone or use the phone's voice dialing commands. Fantastic!
Many thanks to OP Cricket and the other contributors to this thread for giving me the courage to try this project. I saved big bucks and am very happy with the results.
Total cost for Bluetooth retrofit: $200 (TCU and Bluetooth Antenna bought on Ebay for $100, which was a pretty good deal) plus the $60 updated microphone and ~$30 in misc parts from ECS as listed by OP.
PS: No programming was necessary.