Retro-fitting Bluetooth into 2002-2004 L322

This has been a great read. Thanks for putting in the effort.

I recently removed the phone and spring cradle from my Vogue as I have a constant red light on in the top right corner of my head unit. Been there for a while as the previous owner had covered it with a bit of silver tape to hide it. Removing the cradle didnt work though. Red light is still there and now I also have a hole in the console that needs a plastic tray for coins and stuff. I had a feeling that a 'lesser' model would have a different console but certainly didnt expect $230 for a plastic tray.

Rob, thanks for the comments. I wasn't sure if anyone was finding it useful. :D I wonder if it's worth re-writing to remove all the false starts and to repost it - sort of like a definitive article?

Re the phone, when I bought my L322, it was the same, the red light was on and I put a small disc of black tape over it. But later.....

Here's what I wrote in March 2016 (It's not found if you search the forum, it's in an archived version. I think there may have been a glitch and stuff was lost from the forum).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by p38arover

I wondered about the in-built carphone in my L322. At first I thought it used a special SIM holder but, looking further it seemed it might just use a standard full size SIM card.

As it's a GSM phone (aka 2G) I grabbed an Aldi SIM I use in my GPS tracker, taped it back into a full size SIM holder that I had lying around and out that into the SIM holder under the phone.

It took a few minutes until the screen came up displaying Telstra and I was able to make calls. So, a $15, 365-day expiry Aldi SIM card and I have a car phone and won't have to worry about Bluetoothing it until Telstra close the 2G network later this year.

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In the end, I moved to Vodafone to keep the GSM phone going until this month.

I think a trip to a BMW wrecker might be in order to find the centre section of the tray to replace the eject box.

Actually that's a great idea. Is that what the red light means, no SIM?

For a $10 pre paid SIM to make a few calls from the car as required it would be worth it to get rid of that damn light. I have the phone but the cradle appears to have been previously damaged. There is no way to clip the phone in, or slide it in or whatever, something is missing and all I see is the cradle base and the exposed contact gold ribbons. Hence I decided to pull it out and try a and locate a cubby box tray instead. Wonder if I remove the phone unit from under the DVD NAV if the light will go out?

Red means no network.

The curved plastic cover has broken off where the phone slides in. Mine did the same a few weeks back. I think it will work without the phone handset but you need the handset to save phone numbers to the system.

You could buy a $2 Vodafone 2G SIM but it will only work for another week. If it worked for a bit longer I'd post you my SIM, it has about $20 left on it.

But the SIM would have to go into the phone itself correct? And my phone wont mount in the car?

No, the SIM slides into the slot (with white lip) under the phone. You'll need a full sized SIM, about the size of a credit card. Don't push the SIM out of the card, slide the whole thing in. The SIM goes in gold contact side up with the SIM at the lower end, i.e., that end goes in first.

You don't need the SIM holder when you have a full size SIM.

Attachment 129916

I looked at the phone eject box and decided to mod it rather than replace it. As noted earlier, I incorporated the switch in the box to become the pairing button.

Firstly, I cut up a broken CD case to make a new bottom for the eject box rear. I also cut a couple of pieces to cover the holes where the little gear wheels were located. I superglued these into the box but, on reflection, epoxy might have made a neater job in the corners. The CD cases are probably polystyrene and they break easily. I scored both sides with a Stanley knife then snapped the pieces in half.

The eject box, stripped of electronics and the pieces glued in. The dark area is where the superglue has spread.

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I masked off the box and sprayed the inside with satin black enamel.

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I cut some thin (3mm) foam I had left over from doing the vent flaps in the 110 County and laid it in the tray.

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I mentioned the pairing button. Here it is in the eject box. That's not it's original use. It switched the handset on and off.

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That slide switch operates the switch in the very centre of a circuit board mounted below the box. Note how I've cut all the unused wires. We only need the brown and brown/green which go to the switch contacts.

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At the plug end of the PC board cable, again I've cut most of the wires and I've moved the two remaining wires to pins 2 and 6 so that they mate up with the pairing wires that go back to the rear compartment. The outer cover of the plug is removed to do this, it is refitted when complete.

Attachment 130308

All finished and reinstalled in the car. No longer a phone eject box but another cubby hole.

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To use the pairing switch, with the ignition off, slide the switch to the O position. Wait for at least a second, and then turn the ignition switch to I or II. Wait for 3 seconds and slide the switch back to I. The screen with now say Phone Pairing. Enter the ULF pairing code into your phone and you are done. Leave the eject box switch in position.