[Anthony Pike]

What is the purpose of the fin on the roof of the BMW's.? Someone told me the radio aerial is in the glass of the rear window. Is the fin to do with the radio or the bluetooth or both?
Also I have noticed the phone works really well in the car....better than with portable bluetooth devices (like the supertooth ) in other cars. Does the bluetooth connect the phone to the outside aerial or does the phone use it's own aerial??

[E90Fleet]

Multiple uses

1) Phone antenna when you put a phone in a phone cradle in the armrest
2) GPS antenna for Navigation
3) In USA, Sirius Satelite radio reciever

[smeff]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

Multiple uses

1) Phone antenna when you put a phone in a phone cradle in the armrest
2) GPS antenna for Navigation
3) In USA, Sirius Satelite radio reciever

Is the phone cradle a dealer install or DIY?

[BMW320i]

what E90Fleet said, and it has somthing to do with the bluetooth i think..

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by smeff

Is the phone cradle a dealer install or DIY?

Here, and I belive in Europe aswell, if you choose the bluetooth option your car comes with the "docking cradle" already installed in the armrest (it has a small plastic cover over it)

You then just need to buy the phone cradle that fits you phone and press it into the docking cradle

As far as I know in the USA the dealer still has to install the docking cradle



Phone cradles are a bit limited to a few models of phone. This is because most new phones have no way to be connected to external antennas.
BMW also doesnt make the cradles, they are made for them by the phone manufacturers.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by BMW320i

what E90Fleet said, and it has somthing to do with the bluetooth i think..

No, the bluetooth connection has its own antenna under the dashboard

[SoYank]

Originally Posted by smeff

Is the phone cradle a dealer install or DIY?

Facetious answer, yes.

More elaborate answer, the phone cradle (in the US) is a dealer installation requiring two parts, the cradle itself and the trim piece. In addition to the cradle and trim you need the adapter that is phone model specific and simply snaps into the cradle. If you have the Bluetooth option and all of these parts, AND your phone has an external antena port, when in the cradle the cell phone is connected to the fin.

The installation can be a DIY if you're inclined to do that. It takes about 30 minutes and is in two parts. The first requires removing the handbrake boot on the console to access the wiring and cable and the second requires unwrapping and plugging together two cables on the left side of the trunk.

The advantages to having the cradle/trim/adapter is the phone doesn't flop about in the center console, the phone battery gets charged, and the external antenna is connected. The disadvantage is, you lose quite a lot of volume in the center console, almost 50%, of which there isn't much to begin with.