[Soon ExAudi Guy]

Originally Posted by Tony Brentwood

I know there has already been a lot of talk about compatibilty between the Combox and phones but as I have waded through lots of posts without really getting far, plus there might be updates since some of the early Combox posts, I thought I'd resurrect the question.

I have a 5 series, post-Sept 2010, with Combox, I currently use an 8310, which connects and I can see the address book but no other Combox functions like email, text or Calendar.

I am now changing my work phone and it is the Calendar I really want, though email would be useful too.

I called my dealer who sent me to the website, alas I did not find this very helpful.

What I want to know, and I suspect a lot of Combox BMW owners want to know is:

(1) What currently available phones do what with Combox.

(2) Are any restrictions down to BMW or the phone manufacturers and what measures will be taken by either to give existing phones greater functionality.

(3) What phones are in the pipeline that give greater functionality.

(4) What software upgrages are currently available to car or phone to improve matters.

I am amazed that this is not all a LOT clearer. Both BMW and phone manufactirers must have spent a lot of money on bringing this functionality, yet information on what does what seems opaque.

I have also heard that it is not the phone that matters but the OS (BB OS6 has been mentioned) and also Message Access Profile (MAP), whatever that is. Question is, are these once and for all embedded in phones or can they be upgraded retrospectively. And indeed whether these have any relevance at all.

I would very much appreciate any comments by those who have got Combox functionality working... ideally those with BlackBerry as my new phone must be one due to work server compatibility.

Thanks
Tony Brentwood.

I got my 5 series in October and might have been one of the first to get their vehicle with the Combox working with the Blackberry Torch. Here's the nuts and bolts of it:

1) MAP is what matters. At the moment, only OS6 Bberry phones have MAP as part of its Bluetooth functionality

2) Calendar, notes, etc. is all dependent on BMW's software onboard. I understand that this year, another update is coming that should open up more functionality.

This all said, I actually don't use the e-mail function that much. It's annoying that it has to read all of the header information (there should be an option to have the software skip the reading of header information), the reading occurs too slowly, and the pronounciations are quirky. Hopefully that part of the system will get better in the future as well.