20s for 2014/15 BMW R1200RT with BMW Navigator 5 and iPhone

Comments

19 comments

  • Guy LaRochelle
    Guy LaRochelle
    I'm with you on this one Thomas. I've got a 2014 BMW 1200RT and in the market for a bt system. From all I've seen and read that's a bit of a challenge. Hopefully someone will give us an answer. That would be great!
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  • Kamp
    Kamp

    A real good instruction to pair the 20-S to the BMW AP and NAV V will be welcome.
    Please Sena wake up...

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  • Will Adams
    Will Adams

    Check out the Forum section at BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (www.bmwmoa.com) under the section 'Wetheads' and the thread called 'Sena S20 w/ 1200RT'.  There is a very good set of instructions on pairing the S20 with the 1200 RT, Nav V, and iPhone.  I also did a lengthy product review specifically discussing my experiences with the S20 and the 2014 BMW 1200RT at Revzilla.com under the Dual Pack S20 product reviews.  I bought the S20 last year and have been pretty satisfied; however, the 1.3 firmware that was recently released seems to have caused some issues with my units.  I will likely roll back my firmware to 1.2 until Sena comes out with a new release.

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  • Kamp
    Kamp

    Thanks Wil, that's very helpfull. I give it a tray.

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  • Kamp
    Kamp

    Wil, how do you switch off the NAV V on the RT1200?
    The button is behind the cradle and there is also no software switch off. Curious?

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  • Will Adams
    Will Adams

    Kamp, I have never tried to shut off the Nav V with the bike on.  Why do you want to do that anyway?

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  • Faustino
    Faustino

    Hello, I have a Navigator V and SMH5 not link correctly, the call comes to the browser and not transferred to the intercom.

    Also I can not find how to update the firmware of SMH5.

    It would be important to provide solution to provide answers to many questions that arise in the BMW forums

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  • Kamp
    Kamp

    Will, in the instruction you wrote about pairing the 20S to the motorbike radiosystem see in the 7th alinea "Once you have, etc... Turn off the radio. Turn on the GPS.."I was thinking that the GPS was fitted in de cradle. That's why? On that, this misunderstanding took place.

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  • Will Adams
    Will Adams

    Kamp,  Ignore the part about turning on your GPS, because it's already on.  Someone else wrote those instructions and they worked for me.  I first unpaired everything and made sure that the GPS and the bluetooth that is built into the 1200RT didn't have the devices listed.  I mean start from scratch.  You can also post a question on the bmwmoa site as they are a very helpful group of people and if you join and love BMW MCs, their magazine rocks.

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  • Kamp
    Kamp

    I did so and it works. Thanks.

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  • Faustino
    Faustino

    hi, i also did it from scratch with my SMH5 and navigator v does not work. Tlfno I link to Browser and SMH5 a browser, but do not let me attend calls or relaizarlas.

    regards

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  • Faustino
    Faustino
    Sorry but no works, updated and reset to factory, does not match v navigator for calls, messages gps if
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  • Pfiedler
    Pfiedler

    Just found this video on YouTube posted by RKA (Richard Battles) which might solve your problem/question:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nB3JiPEqpQ

    I own a K1600GT and have used a similar approach which has been working.

    Good luck and safe riding.

    Peter

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  • Greg Friedman
    Greg Friedman

    A question about the approach to pairing referenced on the BMW MOA forum : When paired as described, there is no access to Siri on the iPhone or to music on the iPhone. Is that correct? In other words, I don't have the ability to hit the Phone button on the 20S and say "Shuffle all music" or other Siri commands.

    The only way that I can figure out to maintain this capability is to connect the headset to the Phone, then the headset to the Nav unit as a GPS. Then i don't have access to the bike's audio, but nav instructions will interrupt music coming from the iPhone.

    Is that accurate?

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  • Kenny - Sena Support
    Kenny - Sena Support
    FYI: A2DP, BMW Bluetooth, and Phones
    Yes, all Bluetooth headsets has only one A2DP channel.
    Below is the right way to pair your A2DP devices.
    First: Pair your phone to your Bluetooth headset (ex. 20S), using the Mobile phone pairing method. The phone will pair with the HFP and A2DP channel on the 20S.
    Second: Pair the BMW Bluetooth system to the 20s using the Mobile phone pairing method - YES you are reading this correctly. The BMW will only pair with the A2DP channel on the 20S.
    Power on sequence (very important):
    If you want to use the BMW audio to connect to the 20s, power on the BMW audio system first before your power on the 20S. When the 20S powers on, it will search for the last device it was paired with (which is the BMW). If the BMW is OFF, it will search for the Phone.
    If you want to use the phone as your A2DP device, make sure that the BMW is powered OFF before you power on the 20S.
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  • Alain Joubert
    Alain Joubert

    Using a SMH10R, and trying to pair it to an iPhone and to my BMW RT 2014

    Will the method above work, i.e. should I pair both the phone and the bike as Mobile Phone ?

    Thanks a lot 

     

     

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  • Greg Friedman
    Greg Friedman

    After playing with this a bunch, I've come to the conclusion that there's very little value in connecting a 20S directly to the audio system on an R1200RT.

    The write-ups and videos people have created on how to connect up an iPhone + 20S + BMW Radio + Nav 5 all end up with the following connections:

    BMW --> 20S <-- Nav 5 <-- iPhone

    This config routes the BMW's radio to the 20S (FM and Sirius) and allows you to manage phone calls with the Nav 5. It does not allow you to use your iPhone as a music source at all, and provides no access to Siri voice control. If you have an old iPhone (iPhone 4 or earlier), you can presumably by the BMW iPhone cable, stick it in your glove box, and use the BMW user interface to control music. Having done the equivalent with a USB thumb drive in the glove box, it's fair to say that the music controls are miserable.

    The alternative 20S set up is simply this;

    Phone -> 20S (as primary phone)

    Nav 5 -> 20S (as GPS)

    This approach ignores the BMW's music system completely. You can still play the BMW radio out of the speakers on the bike, but you can't use it over bluetooth. What you CAN do, is your iPhone for music via voice control ("Shuffle all songs", "Play the White Stripes", or whatever). You can make and receive phone calls using voice commands. You can ask Siri to read your text messages and use voice to compose responses. If you ride multiple motorcycles, this works well, too, because assuming you have your phone with you, you can continue to do this on your other bike(s).

    You don't give up much with this configuration. You give up the ability to control FM radio on the bike (but the 20S has FM, too) and you do give up Sirius if that's an issue. You also have the nagging sensation that you aren't fully taking advantage of the expensive functionality you paid for on your bike. Overall, though, it's simple and works well.

     

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  • Don Tujaka
    Don Tujaka

    It is a shame that in this day and age of processing power, bluetooth, near field communication, DSP and downloadable software updates AND bluetooth speakers being available for $20 that BMW, Garmin, Sena, Schubert, Apple et al can't seem to get systems with a combined price of $1,300 to $2,500 to work together.  These posts have been here for over a year.  Come on...... GPS + Phone + Communication+ Intercom + Radar/laser detector + MP3 + SiriusXM...... all reasonable.   Sell modules if need be for additional $$$.  Plug it into a laptop for configuration.  Out in multiple bluetooth receivers, put in a DSP based mixer with selectable ducking..... these things are all no problem and already exist in devices for 1/4 the price.  You can get a complete tablet, with bluetooth and 802.11n and a sound system and GPS and, and and for under $600.  I am astounded this stuff isn't working better.

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  • Simon Charron
    Simon Charron
    Hello, you all seem much more knowledgeable than I am on this, so I have a question: With v1.6 that just came out, with it's 2 AD2P channels, would this procedure change, would there be a better way now that this new feature is available?
    Thanks
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