# Which bluetooth BMW 7/5 series compatible phones work in Europe?



## neurom (Jan 16, 2005)

BillKach said:


> Since this post is in the ED forum, I'm guessing you might have been thinking of trying to use your pair your GSM phone with your new car during your ED trip...
> In my experience, the Bluetooth module isn't activated until the car gets to the VDC. When I inquired at the Delivery Center about this, they told me this was the case for all models...
> But maybe that wasn't what you were looking to do...
> 
> p.s. my Motorola V600 works great in Europe and in my 6er, just not both at the same time!


I just want to have a phone for emergencies during my ED trip, and since I will be buying one before the trip, I need one that I can eventually activate, preferably one with the snap kit, such as the V551. My problem now is that since I live in a relatively rural area, most of the signal I get here is CDMA and I am not sure about GSM signal where I live. My understanding is that a CDMA phone would not work in Europe, but I may be wrong.


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## PittBMW (Dec 20, 2004)

neurom said:


> I just want to have a phone for emergencies during my ED trip, and since I will be buying one before the trip, I need one that I can eventually activate, preferably one with the snap kit, such as the V551. My problem now is that since I live in a relatively rural area, most of the signal I get here is CDMA and I am not sure about GSM signal where I live. My understanding is that a CDMA phone would not work in Europe, but I may be wrong.


Europe only has GSM. Here is an inexpensive alternative....something that I did. 
Borrowed an old GSM unlocked phone from a buddy(You could get it for about $25 on ebay.
Bought a SIM card for E 25 in Europe with E 15 included as free credit for calls. This now became my emergency phone. Incoming calls are free if you are in the country that you bought it in. There is a roaming charge outside of the country that you buy the SIM card. If you plan to use the phone a little more extensively get a new SIM card in country 2. Although there are more than one telephone cos, I would recommend Vodafone.


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## neurom (Jan 16, 2005)

PittBMW said:


> Europe only has GSM. Here is an inexpensive alternative....something that I did.
> Borrowed an old GSM unlocked phone from a buddy(You could get it for about $25 on ebay.
> Bought a SIM card for E 25 in Europe with E 15 included as free credit for calls. This now became my emergency phone. Incoming calls are free if you are in the country that you bought it in. There is a roaming charge outside of the country that you buy the SIM card. If you plan to use the phone a little more extensively get a new SIM card in country 2. Although there are more than one telephone cos, I would recommend Vodafone.


After researching my area, I have found out that GSM coverage is poor, so I will get a CDMA phone with bluetooth for my car. I did find out also that Verizon has a rental program. You can rent a dual or tri band (900/1800 or 900/1800/1900) phone. You pay $3.99/day rental fee and $1.49/minute for calls. They deliver the phone to your home. You can have calls from your verizon phone forwarded. Since it is for essential calls and verizon has CDMA coverage in my area, this is what I will be doing.


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