Another simple 1990's BMW owner here who was attracted to the active discussion here. I recently bought the DAB+ head unit from a local supplier, https://vdo-webshop.nl/en/dab-radio-...backlight.html (they do however ship internationally).

The unit was plug and play with a standard BMW-to-ISO adapter, so no installation problems. Bluetooth hands free and music audio work fine. However, I cannot get bluetooth to connect to my phone's phone book / contact directory. According to the Continental's user manual it should be able to integrate and I should be able to scroll through received/missed calls etc. from the head unit. Nothing whatsoever. (Phone is a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge).
When I receive a phone call from a known contact listed in my phone directory, the head unit only displays the actual phone number, not the name. This is a bit of a problem for me as I do not know all my contacts phone numbers by heart, and I still need to check my phone display for the caller ID.

Now where it gets strange: I contacted the local (trading) office of VDO/Continental about this as I was a bit confused by the manual-vs-reality issue. The gentleman was very helpful, did some internal inquiring and called me back the same day. He told me that the head unit does NOT support phone book / recent calls integration whatsoever. I mentioned once again that the manual clearly states that it does, but as the gentleman was helpful and just delivering the message I thought it would be a waste of time to enter a discussion.

So I called Conti HQ in Hannover, Germany. They told me that I called the wrong number for technical queries about radios, and that should call VDO. I called a VDO number in Germany that I found online and there they gave me another number in Frankfurt. Again, a very helpful gentleman did some internal inquiring, but all he could see was what was in the manual. He advised me to look for the actual manufacturer in the manual, as Continental does not actually produce the units. I checked the manual but nothing there. So... I am kind of stuck here. Did anybody manage to get this working? And if so... What phone are you using?

Many thanks in advance!

 

On my Samsung Galaxy, I had to confirm that the head unit could access the phone book. This was security message on my phone.

Maybe you oversaw this message when you paired the phone and radio?
You could try to remove the pairing, and re-pair to see if you get the access grant prompt.
Cheers,
Tore

 

Thank you for your response. My phone is also a Galaxy (S7). I've tried un- & re-pairing, but no prompt. The prompt does show up when I connect to my girlfriend's 2017 Peugeot, and I am able to access contacts through the Peugeot multimedia/nav system so the issue doesn't seem to be with the phone.
Now I remember a Continental representative telling me that the models with CD player DO support phone book access. Is it correct that you have the 7418? That could be an explanation.

 

I do have a 7418. However, I have seen no differences in any of the Continental head units with respect to bluetooth capabilities.
Cheers,
Tore

 

got mine installed, piece of cake with one exception, at night only the central display lights up, no back light for buttons.......what did I miss or how do I connect that?

thanks

 

You have to connect the iluumination input, preferrably to the dashboard illumination circuit. See the user manual for details on the power connections.
Cheers,
Tore

 

nasa ser,

See posts 24 and 26 in this thread.

 

 

The Continental head units needs permanent 12V (Terminal 30) on ISO A pin 7, and switched 12V on ISO A pin 4. These are reversed in the original Porsche car harness. You can either modify the wire positions original A connector, or buy an ISO power harness for this purpose to avoid any changes of the original harness. The Continental user manual show all details on the head unit connectors.
If the above is swapped, the unit will not turn on when switching on the ignition, and it will shut off automatically after 20 minutes of operation.
If connected properly, you shall see a row of <<<< characters in the radio LCD when turning off the ignition.
Cheers,
Tore

 

 

Hi Guys... sorry for the thread resurrection, but there seems to be some knowledge in here and I'm hoping someone can help.

I tried to install the Continental CDD7418UB-OR in my 996 last night. Car is a 2000 996, and I have option code 490.

Wiring looks like this...



I bought this from Bergvill to connect it all up...



I couldn't work out where the speakers connect... checked the Begvill website, and has this picture on the harness page...



I split the speaker block, and connected yellow to yellow, but I couldn't get any sound... plus yellow to yellow only uses 1 of the 3 speaker blocks.

Am I missing something?

Thanks!

 

 

Stotty, thanks for the reference. I am happy to see that you were successful in the installation.

Your 996 is equipped with an option code 490 external amplifier, and the original head unit speaker outputs are not used. The line inputs to the amp are located in the yellow C1 Mini-ISO connector, and as far as I remember are the green and blue connectors the original CD-changer and telephone. Our Porsche 996 M490 harness contains a LOC device, taking the speaker outputs from the Continental head unit down to the required line levels to the amp.
By the way, the Continental head units are not compatible with the original CD player/telephone.
Cheers,
Tore

 

It's your harness I used, Tore. I found a wiring diagram for the 490 option on the web, that showed the other 2 blocks were for phone/CD changer etc, so I then narrowed it down to the yellow block being the issue... and in daylight I could see one of the pins was very slightly out of line - so when I pushed the block in, it was pushing the pin out, rather than making a contact. Once I'd straightened it up, it went in OK, and I immediately got sound.

Rest of the install was simple enough.

Really impressed with the head unit - it's much, much better quality than the Pioneer thing I had previously, and it looks pretty much factory.

 

So i am about to order one of the Continental radios from Tore, Either the TRD7412UB or the TR7412UB. I think the only difference is the DAB. I know it has something to do with digital broadcasting but really don't know anything about it. Do i need it? If not i will save myself a little money and get the one without it. Thanks.