Experience with BMW's Bluetooth Communication System.

[guest2360]

Nope.  I just like hassle free comms with high quality music I can hear at any speed. And that in my experience is not what you get with Bluetooth. 


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[richardbd]

Me thinks your a dinosaur 

He might be - but he's still right!


I have both the BMW BT unit and an Autocom on the same bike (don't ask why!).  Generally, Autocom is more relabel, less hassle and better sound quality...

[Casbar]

Can't talk for auto com, but had star com on a previous bike and my new Scala PacTalk out performs it be a long way. Plus no wires as discussed before, I suffered from a passenger managing to get their extension cable from the unit to the helmet release when I was on the motorway and it ended up wrapped around my rear sprocket. That was 7 years ago, been cable less since then and it works really well. I also like being able to easily swap to different bikes, talk to my mates when on a ride out and be able to speak to my good lady whilst she is off the bike. But hey ho, each to their own 

[timminator]

Can't talk for auto com, but had star com on a previous bike and my new Scala PacTalk out performs it be a long way. Plus no wires as discussed before, I suffered from a passenger managing to get their extension cable from the unit to the helmet release when I was on the motorway and it ended up wrapped around my rear sprocket. That was 7 years ago, been cable less since then and it works really well. I also like being able to easily swap to different bikes, talk to my mates when on a ride out and be able to speak to my good lady whilst she is off the bike. But hey ho, each to their own 

There's an antique store in town that carries these...and then if I haul a trailer with a couple miles of cable on it...boom!

[timminator]

One final bit of trivia on this thread.  I was introduced to my brother's new Triumph Trophy today.  Nice bike, but a little heavier than the RT and the electronics are not quite as sophisticated in my opinion.  As an experiment, I paired my Scala rider Q3 to his radio, and the sound quality was flawless.  Absolutely crystal clear, with no distortion or tinny overtones. Sounds 10 times better than the exact same BT kit when paired with my 2016 RT radio.


<My opinion only>
I am more convinced than ever that BMW is using some kind of intentional noise signal in their bluetooth that only their BT kit knows how to decode.&nbsp; I couldn't prove it in a court of law, but I've had dozens of bluetooth devices over the years, and have never experienced this.
</My opinion only>

[beemerboy9]

<My opinion only>
I am more convinced than ever that BMW is using some kind of intentional noise signal in their bluetooth that only their BT kit knows how to decode.&nbsp; I couldn't prove it in a court of law, but I've had dozens of bluetooth devices over the years, and have never experienced this.
</My opinion only>

A conspiracy theory - excellent.


In this one Alpine - one of the largest radio manufacturers in the world - collude with BMW and the manufacturers of the BMW BT comms gear (Cardo, I believe?) to introduce some noise in the system that no-one else can decode.


The world needs someone with the credentials of Donald Trump (or maybe 007) to root out this evil.

[Casbar]

My scala is crystal clear, until I start moving, then the radio is ok, but not hi fi

[timminator]

A conspiracy theory - excellent.


In this one Alpine - one of the largest radio manufacturers in the world - collude with BMW and the manufacturers of the BMW BT comms gear (Cardo, I believe?) to introduce some noise in the system that no-one else can decode.


The world needs someone with the credentials of Donald Trump (or maybe 007) to root out this evil.

Yes, certainly unlike BMW to require something expensive and proprietary to fully work with their bike.&nbsp; Same logic that made them decide you can't stream music from the Garmin Nav V built special for BMW.&nbsp; (Another conspiracy!)&nbsp;


Two nearly identical bikes, side-by-side, identical Scala kit. One sounds perfect and the other sounds crappy.&nbsp; You explain it.&nbsp; :beee:

[beemerboy9]

Yes, certainly unlike BMW to require something expensive and proprietary to fully work with their bike.&nbsp; Same logic that made them decide you can't stream music from the Garmin Nav V built special for BMW.&nbsp; (Another conspiracy!)&nbsp;


Two nearly identical bikes, side-by-side, identical Scala kit. One sounds perfect and the other sounds crappy.&nbsp; You explain it.&nbsp; :beee:

I can't explain it. As I see it, you have 4 choices.
a) Find out which pins on the Nav V teil it that it's mounted on a bike with audio, blank those pins off and stream music form the Nav V.
b) While the bike is in warranty, buy the BMW BT headset and ask the dealer to get it working to your satisfaction. BMW dealers will not try to make the BT audio work with a non-BT headset
c) Go for a wired solution - Autocom.
d) Buy a Triumph Trophy!


As you probably realize by now, I went for option c). It can be installed as do-it-yourself job, but I have it installed by an Autocom dealer

[timminator]

I can't explain it. As I see it, you have 4 choices.
a) Find out which pins on the Nav V teil it that it's mounted on a bike with audio, blank those pins off and stream music form the Nav V.
b) While the bike is in warranty, buy the BMW BT headset and ask the dealer to get it working to your satisfaction. BMW dealers will not try to make the BT audio work with a non-BT headset
c) Go for a wired solution - Autocom.
d) Buy a Triumph Trophy!


As you probably realize by now, I went for option c). It can be installed as do-it-yourself job, but I have it installed by an Autocom dealer

Thanks for the suggestions.&nbsp; What I often do on long trips is just stream music directly from my iPhone to the Scala, which sounds great (option #5). Certainly not as convenient as using the builtin radio and wonder wheel, but the sound is so much better, at least in my opinion.


Don't get me wrong, I love, love, LOVE my RT and would not trade it for any bike on the road.&nbsp; My only gripe with the whole bike is the radio.&nbsp; It just baffles me that with all the brilliant engineering that went into that bike, that the radio connectivity would be such a dud.&nbsp; Nothing is perfect I guess.


Cheers!&nbsp;

[guest2826]

Don't get me wrong, I love, love, LOVE my RT and would not trade it for any bike on the road. My only gripe with the whole bike is the radio. It just baffles me that with all the brilliant engineering that went into that bike, that the radio connectivity would be such a dud. Nothing is perfect I guess.
Cheers!

It isn't a dud. Just use the BM Bluetooth kit and it all works fine. Does for me anyway and other users here. And if it doesn't, you should have good recourse to the dealer.

But if you insist on using aftermarket makes like LaLa or Autocon or whatever they are called, then they may not work properly or offer full functionality with all the bike's controls. Nearly all the problems people raise on comms stem from using non BMW kit.

And I'm not one of those who believes that only BM kit should be used for every extra item added to a bike, but in the case of comms, especially if you're not an electronics wizard and want it all to work without hassle or having to rewire the bike, and personally I lack any kind of skill whatsoever for that, go BM.

Some will no doubt disagree

[guest2360]

+1 on that.&nbsp; All the problems people find is always because they dont want to use the&nbsp; kit designed for the audio unit.&nbsp; I personally dont like Bluetooth and have always used a wired system that does no more than pick up the audio from the speakers .&nbsp; The Alpine is&nbsp; therefore working as it should which is why for me it worked perfectly.

[Cleverbee]

I've got a C3 Pro fitted with the Bluetooth collar specific to the helmet, no issues with sound quality at all, then again, it's made by Cardo for Schuberth...

[richardbd]

I've got a C3 Pro fitted with the Bluetooth collar specific to the helmet, no issues with sound quality at all, then again, it's made by Cardo for Schuberth...

My Schuberth comms system wouldn't work properly at all with my audio-equipped RT...
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[Casbar]

Mr Schuberth kit is made by Cardo. My Cardo kit works fine with the bike, including radio, and yes I know you can't pair helmet two. But as discussed before, my Cardo allows me to pass through the music to my passenger if they wish to listen to the radio.&nbsp;