Completed the retrofit of E39 parts into my 98 740iL (with navigation). The BT system works flawlessly with full steering wheel, voice, phone, and monitor screen control. :alright If anyone has questions, I would be happy to answer them.

I must again thank JTL for getting me started on this project.

BTW, I have decided to perform BT installations on E39's and E38's in the Austin, TX area. If nearby and interested, give me a call. I am going to charge $250.00 labor + parts for the service.

I will have pictures and a write-up someday soon (I hope) :cool:

:needpics

Damn, it took you long enough to post. I really thought you would be quicker :D

Give me a break, I just finished the install last night at about 11:15pm. The pictures are still in the camera at home.

to be honest, the pictures will not be worth much as wiring mods do not show up well in pictures. Plus, I only grabbed my camera every so often when I remembered...hey I am suppose to be taking pictures! :stickoutt

I'm very interested. I definitely want to do this, but I have a constant battle against time.

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.... :D

:needpics:
:needpics:

lol.

Seriously.. if you could put together an FAQ or something.. or a "Hey Bill, here's how to do it without causing an electrical fire you dummy" file that would be awesome.

Go here for pictures:

http://home.austin.rr.com/framefamily/BTxx.jpg

Replace the "xx" with a number from 01 to 23. 13 and 22 are missing. The photos are not numbered numerically with project progress.

My first impression when I saw the first pic was - Who got stabbed?

http://home.austin.rr.com/framefamily/BT01.jpg

Hehe, that is a piece of cardboard on my breakfast table that the kids use for art projects. My wife has the good camera and I get to use the 1 megapixel camera for garage work. Either the camera or I suck at focusing.

My first impression when I saw the first pic was - Who got stabbed?

http://home.austin.rr.com/framefamily/BT01.jpg


Let me explain the picture:

The two wires (with labels and pins attached) go to the X400 connector (white) that is existing in the trunk from the original phone power/speaker harness. You remove pins 9 and 10 and replace with same from new BT harness.

The two (unlabled) wires without any connectors, etc. get wired into the speaker input side of the ELK-800.

The other two wires (with labels) that are connected into the white (x400) connector are matched up to the same color wires in the connector. The factory ends are cut off first.

That is the extent of what has to be modified on the BT retrofit harness before you install it.

when can we expect a write up?

btw will it work with an mkII?

bump for an answer :D

Write-up: People are keeping me busy answering questions. I am also going to Atlanta (24th) to do an install and plan on taking additional photos to make the write-up a bit more complete.

MKII: Good question, but I would think that yes it would work fine since the MKII can display analog or digital BMW factory phones.

cant wait!! pac bmw sells everything for $616