Should i have voice recognition??

[MSPORTBMW]

Hi there.....New to this site, but looks very informative indeed.

Ive just purchased a March 2004 X5 3.0d Sport in sapphire black.

My question is....Should i have voice recognition via the talking head button on the steering wheel?
My car has the mk 4 widescreen nav and also has bluetooth(although that keeps disconnecting from my HTC phone) 
When i press and hold the talking face button, nothing happens !!!
Or is it something that can be enabled by BMW or Indy??
Or am i doing something wrong???......Or maybe my car didnt come with the voice recognition.

Please help

[huck]

I think the face is standard on the multifunction steering wheel but that doesn't necessarily mean you've got voice control.  That was certainly the case with my E46 330d and on my current X6, it only works (badly) for phone functions, nothing else.


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Huck (iPhone mode!)

[Horizon]

I press it to answer the phone when driving

[Benstan]

You're missing nothing.  I have it and for the life of me can't get it to understand me (and I speak pretty clearly and without accent).  I don't need another female voice questioning and doubting everything I say, so I tend to avoid it.

[Horizon]

[quote="Benstan"]
You're missing nothing.  I have it and for the life of me can't get it to understand me (and I speak pretty clearly and without accent).  I don't need another female voice questioning and doubting everything I say, so I tend to avoid it.
[/quote]

Funny that, I can't understand people from Essex either ) ) )

I'm from Lancashire, no one can understand me either, especially  the wife !!!!

[mikem]

Voice recognition was a seperate option. I miss it, my M3 and Z4M had it and it was much easier than rafting about trying to key in a telephone number or search the phone book.

The earlier X5s with a Bluetooth ULF can have VR activated with nav coder I believe but don't think its possible if you have the newer style TCU.

Strange thing is I replaced my faulty TCU with a used one from an E53 that did have VR as a factory option and it still doesn't work, so either there's a seperate unit for it or there's a coding option on the car itself.

[MSPORTBMW]

Thanks For all your answers. 
@Mikem.....so you think it may be able to be coded???  It's just that I'm taking the car to a garage to have the Aux heating coded, so will try and get the voice thing sorted as well if possible. 
Also do you know what year the new TCU would have come in.....Like I said earlier...mine is a march 04.....will it have the old or new type TCU?

[mikem]

Being an 04, I`m pretty sure the navcoder will do it for yours. lift the boot floor out and the corner panel that covers the nav computer. if the BT module is a rectangle its the old one (ULF), if its a kind of oval rectangle its the newer TCU.

Quick ebay search will show you the differences in how they look, you cant get it wrong.

[MSPORTBMW]

Hi mike.....To be honest after looking behind the side panel where the cd changer etc is....i can see the module but as its at an angle i can only see 1/3 of it. But it looks to me to be just plain rectangle so im hoping it can be coded to work.  Do you know why my bluetooth disconnects and reconnects all the time?  Would there be a software update for the bluetooth module ???  I read somewhere else that pre-oct 04, bluetooth wasnt even available......but obviously i do have it as i can pair my phone, albeit cant really use it......it also says phone book empty.

Any clues

Thanks by the way for your help !!

Cheers

[mikem]

Not sure mate, some phones are more compatiable than others. Try deleting all the paired devices in the car (follow pairing instructions but hold down the button for 10s and you'll hear a tripple beep) then re-pair it. Does your phone have any settings under the Bluetooth function ?

[MSPORTBMW]

Hi mike....I've already done the delete paired phones....still the same.
The things I have under Bluetooth on my phone are....search for devices....rename phone...advanced...visibility timeout....and show received files.
I've got a feeling I've got gen 1,2 or ,3 Bluetooth module in my car.....and apparently....those versions are troublesome.

[Don Coffey]

Hi and Welcome Msportbmw.  Looking forward to some pictures. 

Don