MULF dead, upgrade to MULF2 and USB?

[Free_Willy]

Hello All,

I'm new to this forum and BMW. But I have been doing a lot of reading here and on babybmw.net. I'm in Brisbane.

I have a 2006 130i that I picked up very cheaply. The seller told me that the radio occasionally cuts out. Which it did when I test drove it. But now it's driving me insane.

My car has iDrive and when I try to connect to my phone via BT I receive a large red error saying I need to contact BMW service.

So my research tells me that the MULF is stuffed, which apparently is quite common.

I rang bmwbluetooth.com.au and I can get my MULF repaired for $400 plus postage. which seems reasonable to get rid of the annoying problem of all the idrive system cutting in and out. Especially with 12 months warranty.

But my question is (and I've been doing lots of research), can I upgrade to a MULF2, which I can buy a 2nd hand one for $250 and retrofit USB with the appropriate cables etc under the arm rest like the later model cars?

My research seems to say that I can, but I don't know anything about coding and I'm also not sure if this works with iDrive because everyone who has done it successfully, does not have iDrive.

is there anyone in Brisbane that knows either about coding this stuff or has done any retrofitting?

any help appreciated.

[reisf]

Originally Posted by Free_Willy

Hello All,

I'm new to this forum and BMW. But I have been doing a lot of reading here and on babybmw.net. I'm in Brisbane.

I have a 2006 130i that I picked up very cheaply. The seller told me that the radio occasionally cuts out. Which it did when I test drove it. But now it's driving me insane.

My car has iDrive and when I try to connect to my phone via BT I receive a large red error saying I need to contact BMW service.

So my research tells me that the MULF is stuffed, which apparently is quite common.

I rang bmwbluetooth.com.au and I can get my MULF repaired for $400 plus postage. which seems reasonable to get rid of the annoying problem of all the idrive system cutting in and out. Especially with 12 months warranty.

But my question is (and I've been doing lots of research), can I upgrade to a MULF2, which I can buy a 2nd hand one for $250 and retrofit USB with the appropriate cables etc under the arm rest like the later model cars?

My research seems to say that I can, but I don't know anything about coding and I'm also not sure if this works with iDrive because everyone who has done it successfully, does not have iDrive.

is there anyone in Brisbane that knows either about coding this stuff or has done any retrofitting?

any help appreciated.

This one is tricky.

Quick question, does the radio work on a normal radio station? Or even a CD?

If it doesn't, this doesn't have anything to do with the MULF.

Do you know what type of sound system you have?

The bluetooth error is most likely the MULF.

However, just given that your radio isn't working and your bluetooth is also not working leads me to think that there could be something else going on.

Yes you can upgrade to the MULF2, but i'm not too sure what is going to happen in terms of wiring. It won't be a direct replacement, run some extra wires and yay everything is working, type of situation.

But i think there are better options in terms of repair.

Given you have an '06, you will have the First generation "CCC" iDrive - it's functional, but thats about it.

Since you just bought this car and i think you might keep it for a while, you might want to think about upgrading to the second generation CIC iDrive.
It's a completely different system and a thousand times better. It has a better user interface, is easier to use, and you can do more things with it. And you get a "combox" with it (this is similar to the MULF but will allow bluetooth audio streaming and internet connectivity among other things)

[Free_Willy]

Thanks for the reply. The radio works fine. It just cuts out intermittently. When the sound goes out, everything stops working. The iDrive wheels spins free, there are no voice directions from the nav and voice input doesn't wor.

I'm assuming that if I unplug the MULF, the iDrive will still work, but with no Bluetooth. But if the radio still works without dropping out, that would confirm my assumption that the MULF is fried?

[The Wind Breezes]

Just curious...do you guys have MILFs? If so, how can you call it that?

[blingers]

I have a non-idrive professional HU and when my old mulf was dying the radio would stop temporarily like you described. I am sure that the faulty mulf was causing it and it was fixed when I replaced the mulf with the newer mulf2 unit.

I read that some dead mulf units can be revived by reflow the solder connections. That involves putting the unit in a hot toaster oven. Ive not tried and do this at your own risk!

[reisf]

Originally Posted by blingers

I have a non-idrive professional HU and when my old mulf was dying the radio would stop temporarily like you described. I am sure that the faulty mulf was causing it and it was fixed when I replaced the mulf with the newer mulf2 unit.

I read that some dead mulf units can be revived by reflow the solder connections. That involves putting the unit in a hot toaster oven. Ive not tried and do this at your own risk!

Ok cool so should be an easy test - unplug the MULF and see what happens?

[Giveway74]

I have non i drive and a faulty MULF causing bluetooth issues.
I taken my MULF and CD stacker out of the Car (Because Racecar) and have had no issues with the radio

[Free_Willy]

Originally Posted by blingers

I have a non-idrive professional HU and when my old mulf was dying the radio would stop temporarily like you described. I am sure that the faulty mulf was causing it and it was fixed when I replaced the mulf with the newer mulf2 unit.

I read that some dead mulf units can be revived by reflow the solder connections. That involves putting the unit in a hot toaster oven. Ive not tried and do this at your own risk!

So Blingers, can you tell me more about the MULF2 replacement? Why did you go to MULF2? I'm assuming it needed coding.

I'm just about to pull the trigger on getting my current MULF repaired, but for the same cost I can purchase a MULF2 from the wreckers and in theory buy the cabling for USB.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281880011965

I just don't know whether this is going to work with iDrive? and then I'd need someone to code or work it out myself....

[chris82]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

Just curious...do you guys have MILFs? If so, how can you call it that?

should I upgrade to a MILF too?

[blingers]

Originally Posted by Free_Willy

So Blingers, can you tell me more about the MULF2 replacement? Why did you go to MULF2? I'm assuming it needed coding.

I'm just about to pull the trigger on getting my current MULF repaired, but for the same cost I can purchase a MULF2 from the wreckers and in theory buy the cabling for USB.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281880011965

I just don't know whether this is going to work with iDrive? and then I'd need someone to code or work it out myself....

I went with the mulf2 with usb to retrofit usb aswell. I never got around to installing USB but what i did was:

-remove the old ulf,
-remove the white cover cap on the car ulf wire harness to plug in the new mulf
-remove the BT antenna cover cap on the ulf wiring side to plug in the new mulf
-plug in the MOST cables to the mulf
-used my kcan usb obd cable for coding in ncsexpert
-because my car is pre 03/07 build, ncsexpert will not associate the new mulf (post 03/07) module to my car. To trick ncsexpert to detect the mulf module, you need to change the build date in your VO to a date on or after 03/07. DO NOT fa_write(code) this new VO to the CAS. This build dat change is to only fool ncsexpert to allow mulf coding. Your car would already have the BT option $644 and if you want USB then add $6FL to the VO too. sg_codieren the rad2(pro-hu) and mulf to the new VO and you should have bt and usb working.

I am not sure if you can use this procedure for your CCC module but it works for rad2(professional radio) units

[reisf]

Originally Posted by blingers

I am not sure if you can use this procedure for your CCC module but it works for rad2(professional radio) units

Yeah it will be the same except you choose the "MASK" module instead of "Rad2" Module to recode in NCSExpert

[Free_Willy]

Thanks for your replies. All good info. I'm now leaning towards replacing with a 2nd hand MULF 2.

is there anyone in Brisbane who could help me code it? The VW forums I used to be part of had a register of people who knew how to code cars and were willing to help others. Is there anything like that here? I'm willing to learn, but that would take some time.

anyone? I can provide beer....or even payment?

[gcbm]

Originally Posted by Free_Willy

Thanks for your replies. All good info. I'm now leaning towards replacing with a 2nd hand MULF 2.

is there anyone in Brisbane who could help me code it? The VW forums I used to be part of had a register of people who knew how to code cars and were willing to help others. Is there anything like that here? I'm willing to learn, but that would take some time.

anyone? I can provide beer....or even payment?

I had a similar issue with with my e90 which required a MULF replacement. I sourced a new unit which was a superseded version of the old part. Problem was that the software / firmware version on the replacement MULF was so new I had to get the whole car recoded by the dealer. You need to distinguish the need for updating firmware in one or many modules to the more simple DIY NCSEXPERT type coding. Sorry if I'm confusing the issue but if you go with a replacement unit (MULF or MULF2) get something that forums messages confirm as compatible or you may be up for $500+ dealer coding as well.

There was another suggestion to maybe look at a CIC retrofit. These are pretty well documented with units available on eBay etc at pretty reasonable prices. I swapped the CCC over in my 2008 135i with a CIC + combox and am very happy with the results.

[pmenadue]

Hi there - I have an E90 pre-LCI with the Visteon unit - I have replace it twice with second hand ones - so clearly they arent very reliable.

I replaced it with a MULF2 unit - and it works like a charm. Def worth doing.