Nokia e61 BMW bluetooth pairing

This post will be to try to gather information to resolve bluetooth pairing problem many people are having with BMW hands-free voice activated bluetooh system. There has been many attempts to pair the e61 nokia with various models of bmw cars, usually the newer models (post 2003) which have the bluetooth system. A few instances of success exist so we’ll try to see if their success can be replicated in the other 99% of cases who can’t seem to successfully connect their nokia e61 with their bmw.

i have found a few resources and threads online and i will try to post them here:

Nokia Forum

X5 World

Bluetooth BMW
please post any discussions or solutions or resources you find regarding this specific issue here…

29 Responses to Nokia e61 BMW bluetooth pairing

  1. That’s a major bummer…

    I’ve found the bluetooth connectivity with this and actually all Nokia phones and my Land Rover to be excellent. In fact it’s a bit too good at times. If you happen to be on a call when you unlock the car, the car picks the call up before you even start it!

    Jonathan Greene | 6:23 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  2. appearently there are cases of e61 working on BMWs with the electronic systems known as MOST and CAN-Bus implementation. These are BMW series e60 and e90 cars. The older electronics systems known as i-Bus which are present in the e86 and e40 BMWs have no documented case of successful nokia e61 bluetooth pairing. this does not necessarily mean that it won’t pair with the i-Bus system.

    bmw body codes:
    e60 -> new 5 series
    e90 -> new 3 series
    e46 -> last 3 series
    e86 -> new Z coupe seires

    bro | 2:38 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  3. correctoin: in last comment e40 should be corrected to e46!

    bro | 2:40 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  4. The Nokia e61 pairs perfectly with the e90-series BMW. It works quite well: the BMW will pause your music and route the phone call through to the internal speaker microphones.

    Unfortunately, the e90 can’t read the e61 phonebook, so caller names will not appear in iDrive, and you won’t be able to use voice commands to dial.

    If anyone has any information to the contrary, i’d love to know!

    Pauld | 12:52 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  5. All iDrive modles should pair and work flawlessly in BT headset mode. I have never heard of or had a single series 60 phone (beit 2nd/3rd ed) that transfers the phonebook. It won’t change any time in the next century.

    Ben | 10:59 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  6. Pauld or Ben do u know which component/sofware or whatever within the MOST CAN-BUs system of e90 bmw’s is responsible for the bluetooth pairing? can we update our i-Bus system to accomplish this nokia e61 pairing with the same ease as the MOST equipped BMW’s ?

    sara | 11:38 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  7. technical specs for CAN-bus in BMW e90/e60 series:
    http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_Connector_CAN.html

    specs for MOST:
    http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_Connector_Automotive.html#a
    http://www.telos.de/most/

    bmwfan | 2:03 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  8. if nokia e61 works with the latest OEM ULF we may be in luck, anyone know this?
    This site http://www.bimmernav.com makes it possible to purchase a kit that retrofits the MOST Bluetooth with the current ULF modules for I-Bus cars. but it’s about a $550 investment plus install!! ouch. still though, anyone know if the OEM ULF thing works to the latest specs on e61?

    bro | 10:18 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  9. another excellent and informative thread on the topic here:

    http://www.x5world.com/bluetooth/20999-bluetooth-most-can-bus-ibus-systems.html

    bro | 9:57 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  10. Is it a s/w problem….. MIne did work (Mercedes) but now doesn’t after Nokia code upgrade on E61…..

    I had an E61 pair perfectly with Mercedes bluetooth system. I updated the phones firmware through the Nokia supplied upgrade tool, but the latest version refuses to work despite reinstallation.

    Frustrating as it was working perfectly with full access to phonebook etc on old code.

    John G | 10:29 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  11. My E91 does NOT work with my Nokia E61 phone. Paring will work, but after this my BMW tells my that there is no connection to my phone.
    My BMW 320d E90 is the newest from 12/2006

    Tobias | 12:05 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  12. I have the new 328xi and My phone does the pairing successful and wat looks like a connection, except it doesn’t connect. At this point, if i can even make calls on the bluetooth i’d be happy…

    any suggestions?

    I have the nokia e61 - unlocked!

    Thanks

    amy | 6:48 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  13. I have the X5-2006 and my E61 Nokia does pair up with my Bluetooth but doesn’t connect. anyone have any ideal on what maybe the reason why is happening

    Wood56 | 1:27 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  14. I have the same problems with 328i and E62 as well as N80. Any leads?

    Vivek Agrawal | 6:01 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  15. Never mind - sounds like “sell your phone” is the only option if you have E62 or N80. This sucks!!!!!!

    Vivek Agrawal | 6:24 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  16. I have an E61i and pairs with my 2007 328xi coupe without problem. No phone book and the signal strength meter on the display of the car doesn’t work (as it does with my wifes razor) however when a call comes in the car rings, turns off the radio sound and connects for the call. making calls using the phone key pad or the numeric function on the car also works.

    jon | 3:48 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  17. Gents
    I’m a X5 user with E61. Everything (Car sync, bluetooth calls and address book sync) works perfectly fine with this application downloaded to my handset:
    http://europe.nokia.com/A4164022?url=http://nds1.nokia.com/phones/files/software/Nokia_810_Contacts_Sync.sisx
    Install, get into the app and follow the simple steps.
    Hope it helps
    Carlos

    Carlos | 2:13 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  18. I’ve a BMW71264 car kit but I can’t use my E61 or E61i. It pairs succesfully but then it doesn’t connect to the phone, so I can’t use it.
    Is there anyone that is using such a car kit with a Nokia phone ?

    Thanks to all in advance

    achiarve | 9:51 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  19. If you change your phone firmware you *MUST* remove all paired devices from the car and re-pair the phone from scratch….

    NickP | 12:59 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  20. For who’m is interested in solving de BMW Bluetooth and Nokia Symbian S60 3d problems, I solved it with my Nokia E61 and my new BMW 3 convertible. I’ve got the BMW Navigation Prof. and BMW Bluetooth. Just download, from the nokia site. the “Nokia 810 Contacts Sync” install it on your symbian phone and run it. Re-Paire the phone with your car, and restart your phone. Now you will see your contacts in your Nav system.

    Hakan | 2:40 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  21. you can download that software here (810 sync)
    http://europe.nokia.com/A4143881

    bill | 9:19 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  22. Has there been anything new on connecting an E61i to a BMW. I have a 2007 330 and I can only make it pair. It won’t connect.

    Chris | 6:32 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  23. BTW, I tried the Version 3 load of the 810 Contacts Sync software without success. Thanks in advance for any help.

    Chris | 6:34 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  24. I have a 2007 BMW 318 touring with the business nav and bluetooth option together with a nokia e61 with latest firmware.

    - Pairing works perfectly
    - I am able to receive/make calls.
    - I cannot browse the phonebook of my nokia e61 :(((

    I tried 810 sync tool, but it doesn’t help a thing. I followed the steps exactly … any other ideas ?

    thx

    Tom | 11:33 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  25. carlos can you tell us again what exactly you did to get the contacts installed ? how old is your x5 ?

    matthew | 5:29 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  26. Thank You guys… I had a same kind of problem with my Citroen’s bluetooth handsfree. The pairing itself worked, but I couldn’t access my E61i’s phonebook. After installing 810 sync software from Nokia, it started to work.

    laril | 12:10 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  27. I have the latest 13th gen ULF from bimmernav.com and this does not resolve the issue of no phonebook using my E61, also tried a friends N95 and this did not work either.

    I have a BMW X5 2005.

    Chubby | 12:49 pm on the 3rd of October, 2006

  28. I tried to connect the Nokia E61i to the 7 series BMW, 740i. However I was unable to do so. I went to the BMW showroom with mine and a friends phone. BMW engineers could connect but not successfully use either the E61i, 6110c, N82, N95 or N73. They connected the sony K850, M600 P1, Iphone and Blackberry 8800 successfully. I called Nokia Banglore and was with them for 2 hours and 45 minutes. None of the options they gave worked. We could not use any Nokia phone successfully with any of the BMW cars.

    Prateek Doshi | 11:45 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

  29. […] Das neue Handy meiner Frau ist sehr schön. Das Auto meiner Frau auch. Die Konnektivität zwischen der Bluetooth Freisprecheinrichtung des BMW und dem E51 von Nokia lässt allerdings zu wünschen übrig. Das ist bedauerlich, da Nokia schöne Handys und BMW ganz schöne Autos macht. Man sollte denken, dass es passt. Ich habe allerdings Hilfe gefunden und werde jetzt weiter ausprobieren, ob das klappt: Tolle Tipps für Nokia E-Serien Handys und BMW Freisprecheinrichtungen […]

    Kleine Lommelei » Blog Archive » Neues braucht immer mehr Energie | 5:51 am on the 3rd of October, 2006

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