Calling @dsio and @Archer and any other Bimmer gurus.
(Sorry, I'm all VW and BMW stuff just confuses me)

I was cleaning my mate's car and the centre console has a phone snap-in button that had come apart.

I kept the outer bit and the rectangular button but the spring and plunger in the guts got sucked up in my vacuum cleaner.

What does the little button with the triangle sort of shape do? (See yellow arrow in pic below)

Is it important if they don't use the snap-in system?

Do I have to dig through the vac bag to recover the bits?

 

This thread: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97873 suggests it is the "eject" button for the phone cradle. See post #20.

 

Thanks mate .

I saw that post but couldn't get a sensible answer from it .

If I press the large section of button, it undoes the latches that hold the phone cradle (all mechanical links). The smaller rectangle button in the centre had a spring loaded plunger that operates a switch down in the bowels.

I need to know what it does so I can either fix it or ignore it.

 

I think that button swaps a mobile call to a hands free call on some old phones. Most new phones pick up the hand free signal automatically these days so probably not required anymore.

 

Makes sense. I might clean out the vac bag and fix it anyway even if it's no longer used.

 

I thought it was a mute your passenger/ significant other button, but since it looks like you drive on the wrong side of the car who knows?

 

the snap in phone system is so 1980 (even though they installed these as late as 2016)...BMW was always behind on tech, and this was a complete mess.
BMW failed to recognize that most people upgrade phones frequently and this was not a good idea...not to mention it had significant limitations. I think I still have two of these units in a box somewhere. The first thing I did was remove mine...it wasted 1/2 the real-estate in the center console of my X5's

 

Looks like it's been answered, but I can contribute my best friend's 335 and my M3

 

Sorry, my wife's 2015 335i doesn't have this button at all, so no idea here...

 

Hard to tell, but is that Boston or Fern Green?

 

There was no telephone in my old 320i E30. But It had a 6 cylinders of charm that always made me smile.

 

Although we have had many BMW's since, I think my wife's favourite is still her old E30...



1989 325ix and it was fantastic in the snow...

 

The E24 is such a classic.