# E60 & E90 Cell phone Cradles



## glenmal (Jan 17, 2005)

BMW service refuses a good answer. Does anyone know what cradles are being developed. I know what is a vailable and it is quite limited. We have purchased Motorola V551 & V3 RAZOR. Both are BMW supported (Cingular) but only the V551 has a cradle. BMW service says they have no idea what is being developed. I am dubios about their answer. 

Any help would be appreciated. We are Cingular committed. :dunno:


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

glenmal said:


> BMW service refuses a good answer. Does anyone know what cradles are being developed. I know what is a vailable and it is quite limited. We have purchased Motorola V551 & V3 RAZOR. Both are BMW supported (Cingular) but only the V551 has a cradle. BMW service says they have no idea what is being developed. I am dubios about their answer.
> 
> Any help would be appreciated. We are Cingular committed. :dunno:


This should really be in the electronics forum, but I'm not at all sure what group within BMW NA is meant by "BMW service". If you mean customer service, they won't know.

But since you have Bluetooth, you really don't need a cradle anyway. It kinda defeats the purpose of Bluetooth to begin with.


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## Liverman (Jun 14, 2005)

A cradle for the V3 Razr is not really feasible. The power is delivered through the USB connector, not through a multi-pin connector on the bottom of the phone like with the V551 or the Nokias.

I bought a V3 and realized that a cradle would not be forthcoming (unless it is some sort of Rube Goldberg thing with cables snaking out of it that you have to plug into the USB port and antenna port). So I sold the V3 (I never could get right with the Moto menus either, being a long time Nokia owner) and got a Nokia 6230.

There is a cradle available for the 6230 (same as the 6230i that is sold in Europe). Now the bad news is that Cingular is no longer selling the 6230.

Check out these sources for better info - slanted towards European phone models:

BMW UK Bluetooth website - http://www.bmw.co.uk/bluetooth/ (more specific information about phone-car compatibility...this is a good English translation of the following document)
_Produktinformation Bluetooth: Empfohlene Mobiltelefone, __BMW Kundenbetreuung 09.08.2005_ - [url="http://www.bmw.com/generic/de/de/products/automobiles/download/pdf/kompatible_handys.pdf"]http://www.bmw.com/generic/de/de/products/automobiles/download/pdf/kompatible_handys.pdf[/url]
Jonathan - I think the advantage of using a cradle is that it powers your phone (without wires dangling from the power port) and it uses the car's cellular antenna (much better signal). My opinion is that it is a cleaner, classier setup. Now I gotta save my money to buy one - my X3 needs three parts (one eject box, one oddments tray replacement and one cradle) to do this!!


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

Liverman said:


> Jonathan - I think the advantage of using a cradle is that it powers your phone (without wires dangling from the power port) and it uses the car's cellular antenna (much better signal). My opinion is that it is a cleaner, classier setup. Now I gotta save my money to buy one - my X3 needs three parts (one eject box, one oddments tray replacement and one cradle) to do this!!


Greg, I haven't really found the need to power my mobile in the car, with very rare exceptions. I guess I like the convenience of keeping the mobile in my pocket, jacket, bag, etc.

I had a snap-in adapter originally (for my T39) and almost never used it (although I used it as a "prop" for doing photograph for one of my early BMW Bluetooth articles). I never felt the need to buy one for any of my newer mobiles.


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## glenmal (Jan 17, 2005)

*Sorta, but not quite*

This should really be in the electronics forum, but I'm not at all sure what My wife carries her phone with her. Mine sits in the car except when I am traveling. I tend to forget it with me. Parking it in the car is helpful for me.

:dunno: group within BMW NA is meant by "BMW service". If you mean customer service, they won't know.

But since you have Bluetooth, you really don't need a cradle anyway. It kinda defeats the purpose of Bluetooth to begin with.[/QUOTE]


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## glenmal (Jan 17, 2005)

*Excellent*

I understand and appreciate your response. I should of :thumbup: seen the obvious that you pointed out. Thanks again.



Liverman said:


> A cradle for the V3 Razr is not really feasible. The power is delivered through the USB connector, not through a multi-pin connector on the bottom of the phone like with the V551 or the Nokias.
> 
> I bought a V3 and realized that a cradle would not be forthcoming (unless it is some sort of Rube Goldberg thing with cables snaking out of it that you have to plug into the USB port and antenna port). So I sold the V3 (I never could get right with the Moto menus either, being a long time Nokia owner) and got a Nokia 6230.
> 
> ...


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## glenmal (Jan 17, 2005)

*Mercs*

I have a history of parking my phones in the Mercs we owned. Problem became unavailable phones that were outdated and MB charging $600 per phone.


Jspira said:


> Greg, I haven't really found the need to power my mobile in the car, with very rare exceptions. I guess I like the convenience of keeping the mobile in my pocket, jacket, bag, etc.
> 
> I had a snap-in adapter originally (for my T39) and almost never used it (although I used it as a "prop" for doing photograph for one of my early BMW Bluetooth articles). I never felt the need to buy one for any of my newer mobiles.


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## Liverman (Jun 14, 2005)

Jspira said:


> Greg, I haven't really found the need to power my mobile in the car, with very rare exceptions. I guess I like the convenience of keeping the mobile in my pocket, jacket, bag, etc.


It must be nice to live where cell towers are on every street corner and signals dense! 

If I leave my phone in my pocket in my X3 the connection is usually crappy. The cell towers in my area are about 15 miles apart! I have to drive 10 miles from my home before I can get a reliable signal. Even in the "big city" (Colorado Springs) the signals are poor.

I get the best reception by holding the phone up against the windshield or a window or out of the sunroof while I talk. I think I'm gonna duct tape the sucker to the windshield until I get the cradle!  Bluetooth comes in handy because my arm is longer than my wired earbud cord. :rofl:

I was in Geneva a couple of weeks ago - what a difference in cell phone reception! Very clean signal. Very strong signal wherever I went. My hat's off to the Europeans.


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## cobradav (May 2, 2004)

My cellular service is not so hot in my area as well so by going to cradle I got almost a 2 bar increase in usable signal. Made unusable areas usable and marginal areas very good. Plus I generally leave Cell in car all the time so for me the cradle was a no brainer. I can understand the reluctance to go to a cradle though on the part of those who are heavy users or business users and it must be ON them at all times.


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## glenmal (Jan 17, 2005)

*Jspira?*

My understanding is besides power, the cradle connects the phone into BMW diversity antenna. Am I incorrect?


Jspira said:


> This should really be in the electronics forum, but I'm not at all sure what group within BMW NA is meant by "BMW service". If you mean customer service, they won't know.
> 
> But since you have Bluetooth, you really don't need a cradle anyway. It kinda defeats the purpose of Bluetooth to begin with.


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

glenmal said:


> My understanding is besides power, the cradle connects the phone into BMW diversity antenna. Am I incorrect?


The diversity aerial is for FM only.

The snap-in adapter provides a lead to an aerial for mobile phones that is integrated in the sharkfin.


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