Nav V or TFT for phone & headset connection?

SilentG

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I am trading in my 1200RS for a shiny new 1250GS, and moving my old Nav V to the new bike. Since the new bike has the fancy TFT display, which can also connect via bluetooth to my phone and headset, is there any advantage to re-pairing both of those devices to the TFT rather than the Nav V?

I use my Nav V mainly for navigation (surprise, surprise...) but also to play music from a memory card installed in it and also for very occasional telephone use. I also run the Garmin companion app on my iPhone so that the Nav 5 gets live traffic info and camera updates. Regarding the phone usage, I'd be perfectly happy just to get an indication that there is a call coming in, and who it is from, if they are in my contacts list, so I can decide whether to pull in and call them back straight away or when I get to my destination.

I'm using an iPhone and a Sena 10 headset in my Schuberth C3 Pro with the Sena handlebar remote, all currently connected to the Nav V. This works fine, but would I gain any advantage by switching the phone and Sena to talk to the TFT instead?

Cheers,

Paul
 
Last edited:
Hi PAUL, there’s a dedicated Facebook forum called BMW Motorrad TFT Connectivity which deals with the topic. It’s useful but a lot of trawling. I found the BMW dealer couldn’t set things up which was probably due to lack of knowledge (they should know more by now) and an old intercom. The TFT takes a different approach to previous. First thing to check is if your intercom is BT 4 or above or it’s unlikely to connect reliably. I’ve noted below the advice I was given which works. Also make sure you have the BMW Motorrad Connected app loaded to your phone, also ensure this is switched on along with the intercom before switching the bike on or it will occasionally fail. I gave up with my Scala and bought a Sena 20S which seems ok. I play music from my iPhone using either Apple Music or the library on the phone. You can also use services such as Spotify.
When this is working you can switch between the Nav/Garmin and the TFT for navigation. Be prepared for a bit of head scratching. If you have a large address book on your phone it may not load properly so it’s worth sifting it first. I can’t manage favourites still but isn’t a problem.

TFT Pairing Bluetooth

This topic has been discussed to death on another forum.

1. Pair phone to TFT.
2. Pair helmet to TFT.
3. Pair helmet 2nd BT Channel to nav gps.
4. Pair 2nd helmet to TFT (to receive music)
5. Pair pillion to rider via the pillion BT pairing

This means both helmets will hear music, gps voice and each other.

Any Sena above model 10 should work with TFT.

Hope this helps.

PS: reset all BT devices will clear the BT internal addresses which may be used up. This could mean factory reset your phone if it has had many BT devices paired before. This is not fault of BMW or TFT but inherently a BT connection limitation for any device.
 
I have mine set up as in brianmaslen's post, steps 1 to 3 (as I don't carry a pillion). This set-up works really well with my Sena SRL.
The advantage (for me) having the phone paired via the TFT rather than the Nav V is that if I wish to make a call the telephone directory is much easier to use on the TFT than the Nav V.
However, whilst the music quality is still good from the Nav V, I've noticed that the alerts and directions are not quite as good quality than when my SRL is only paired with the Nav V, but it is not a problem for me.

With this set up I believe it may also be possible to pair your phone to your Nav V as well (initiate pairing from the phone), but you set it not to make phonecalls (it is explained in the Facebook page mentioned above). I suppose whether this works will depend on your phones ability to support this additional connection and whether the Nav V also supports it (the Nav VI does). If it will connect in this way then you to still be able use your Garmin Companion App with your Nav V.
 


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