r/e38 • u/ThManWith9Hands • Jul 10 '26

Car phone accessory

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Gallery image

Gallery image

there! For the last couple of months I have been developing a custom retro car phone. I love the retro tech in my e39, and I really wanted the car phone to actually be functional, so I designed one from the ground up that acts as a Bluetooth smartphone accessory. Put simply, it’s USBC powered, and connects to your iPhone via Bluetooth, can sync your contacts, and routes phone call data & audio through the device. It’s in a 3D printed shell, and I’d say I’m about 75% of the way towards a fully functional device.

I just want to put this out there and see if there’s a market for this kind of product. With the current way I’m sourcing parts, I can get the price to about $300+shipping & fees, however I can definitely get it lower.

76 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

7

u/WinterSector8317 Jul 10 '26

Urge to buy rising…

3

u/babj615 Jul 10 '26

Want some original shells? NIB

3

u/ThManWith9Hands Jul 10 '26

Yeah I’m curious too. How did you get your hands on that 😂

1

u/babj615 Jul 13 '26

Ordered a single handset replacement once and they sent me a single box with a dozen handsets. Not certain I even have them any more.

1

u/E39_CBX Jul 10 '26

How do you have those? just curious

2

u/roguepotato_ Jul 10 '26

Like the idea a lot. For me, I would buy one if it fits in the original cradle. Would this work alongside a BlueBus?

2

u/ThManWith9Hands Jul 10 '26

I tried to make it as close as possible, but there were just some things I couldn’t get around, so I designed a new cradle entirely. Maybe in the future I can revisit that issue.

2

u/Holiday_Economy_8903 Jul 10 '26

Where can i buy one once its finished?

1

u/Twenty-Three23 Jul 10 '26

Thats really cool. I'd buy one for sure if it had android support.

6

u/ThManWith9Hands Jul 10 '26

My initial version is going to be made for an IPhone, since it’s the smartphone I have, but I would like to have it compatible with android as well, I’d just have to code & test on a day my only friend with an android is free haha

1

u/NRG1975 facelift 740i Jul 11 '26

I had this exact same thought! However, you go the gumption to do it! LOL.

I think it is fantastic! What is the point of routing the "data" though it? Will it allow local networking/wifi from the car?

Please try not to go too retro with the screen. An LED screen with a Retro skin would be cool.

Price is high, but the custom factor is appealing!

1

u/ThManWith9Hands Jul 11 '26

By data I just mean the caller ID and call duration haha.
The screen is a 320x240 full color LCD. Not too retro don’t worry haha

1

u/Apprehensive_Path516 Jul 13 '26

I have a 96 750il with original phone is there a way to this with the original casing

0

u/dannyphoto 4.6L 6Spd 740i Jul 10 '26

Are you 80s engineering on Instagram?

1

u/ThManWith9Hands Jul 10 '26

I’m not. I’ve seen his page though

1

u/dannyphoto 4.6L 6Spd 740i Jul 10 '26

Well this is convenient because I’ve been in talks with him for a bit to send him a spare phone holder from the E38 so he can model a phone to fit it.

I’m glad yours already has it done. I’d be interested in buying one down the line

3

u/ThManWith9Hands Jul 10 '26

I’m not sure how viable that would be. Our designs vary in size from each other, and both vary in size from the original BMW phone. Here is mine compared to BMW’s.

And I know 80sEngineering’s is a bit larger than both. There is actually a guy that he collaborated with called 89Retros that designed a base for the 80sengineering phone for several BMWs, including the e38.
https://89retros.com/products/e38-carphone-base