Bluetooth Options For 2008 Silverado

fivenite · September 23, 2009

25984445 is NOT bluetooth

Brewboy · September 23, 2009

25984445 is NOT bluetooth

Interesting.....Thanks

Iowa Rick · September 23, 2009

I got interested in this option when this thread first started. I was disappointed when I found GM put restrictions on the purchase of the VCIM. I did a search on Ebay for 20783877 and found nothing. I did save the e=search and about 2 weeks ago got a email saying it found a 20783877 for sale. It was a buy it now for $139. for a 33,000 mile box out of an Enclave. I took a chance and bought the box. I ordered the antenna from my dealer and waited for the parts. It all came together today. The hardest part was figuring out how to remove the lower dash plastic cover. Once the cover is off the box is right there in a plastic spring loaded retainer. I disconnected the battery and swapped out the box. I then reinstalled the dash panels and reconnected the battery. I got 2 green lights on my rear view Onstar mirror and everything including BLUETOOTH works. Thanks to all the contributors who made this possible.

Magnaflo cat back dual exhaust goes on Friday then..................................................A Blackbear Tune Rick

I think an update to my install is due.

During the time period I did this install Onstar contacted me about my upcoming 1 year renewal. I told the rep that I didn't use it enough to justify the $18.95 a month the renewal would cost and I'd just like to cancel. Well I was connected to this fast talking dude who convinced me to stay on for $13 a month and with me agreeing to a month by month contract. He also gave me 100 free additional Onstar minutes of calling time.

I just got an email letting me know that $19.41 was going to be put on my Discover card on file for my first months renewal and it would continue at $19.41 monthly.

I also did not receive my monthly diagnostic report for September although we got one for my wife's Pontiac G6. I called Onstar from the truck and they ran the diagnostics live and reported no problems found. OK

The more I thought about the events the more it pissed me off so I just went out to my 2008 Sierra and pushed the Onstar button. I told the droid I wanted to cancel my Onstar. He asked if I was trading my 2009 Enclave or did I just want to cancel.

Well I see why I didn't get my diagnostic report. They think my Sierra is someone elses 2009 Enclave. I told the guy the box was swapped out because I wanted Bluetooth and he said thats interesting. The short version is I have to talk to the supervisory staff during business hours to cancel. I'll update yall after I talk to them but I found it interesting that they apparently can't see the box is not in the vehicle it was originally installed.

So you guys that have used boxes they still have the original data in them unless you have had them reprogrammed. So my Sonoma Red 2008 Sierra is a 33,000 mile brown 2009 Buick Enclave as far as Onstar knows......................... Rick

rcpd34 · September 23, 2009

You don't need to reprogram the VCIM, just write down the ECM off the label and call On-Star with the info and they can update your account.

Iowa Rick · September 23, 2009

You don't need to reprogram the VCIM, just write down the ECM off the label and call On-Star with the info and they can update your account.

I just finished talking with Onstar and the end result is we canceled my account. I spoke to both technical support and customer service and they were like dealing with customer support in India. They have a standard script they follow and don't seem to be able to deviate. The told me they would not/could not update my account to reflect the fact that a 2009 Buick Enclave box was in my 08 Sierra. My feeling is the safety/convenience of hands free Bluetooth fully integrated into my vehicle electronics surpasses the remote opening and accident reporting feature that Onstar offers.

I am a visual type person and prefer my GPS directions include a map so the verbal directions offered by Onstar dont satisfy my needs for a GPS. I have a nice wide screen Garmin which fits my needs and goes in my pocket when I'm hiking or walking in a unfamiliar city like Boston.

For those coming up on renewal, Onstar will reduce the monthly charge to $12.95 a month to retain you if you tell them it is too expensive and you want to cancel.

The end result is I LOVE my hands free Bluetooth and would do it over again. I am looking to see if this is a doable option on my wife's 2009 Pontiac G6 since it didn't have the Bluetooth option when we bought it. If anyone has done this to a 11bit system please let me know. Thanks Rick

Turbo4V · September 23, 2009

So I'm definitely liking the idea of this mod, but have had zero success in locating a module. Tried ebay and a few local scrap yards. Any ideas for other places to check out??? I've been using the Scosche Blue Fusion module for about a year now, and after switching phones, and dealing with some icompatibility issues, I'm ready to try something else!

Thanks!

Justin

Hawk · September 23, 2009

For those of you that want your Onstar, there is a guy on one of the G8 forums that can "virginize" your VCIM and then program your VIN number. So then when you call Onstar, you just tell them your module was changed out and they will update the new module. It will come up as being for your vehicle and not the previous vehicle, as Iowa Rick just had. I just sent mine off for both my truck and my G8, and I will let you know the results, but others have already done it and have had no problems. My Onstar is still active on the G8, but I did it for the truck as well, in case I sell it, or decide to reactivate the Onstar on the truck. He charges $100. PM me if interested, or if the mods don't mind, I can post a link to his site. Its set up for the G8 right now, but email him and he can do it for your truck.

Brewboy · September 23, 2009

The fact that we GM Truck owners have to go to these lengths to get a basic feature thats offered as standard in almost all other vehicles is absurd. Compare the GM radio options to what Ford SYNC offers.

GM wants us to upgrade hardware to get a very basic hands free Bluetooth feature thats now becoming the law in most of North America.

Its not a "nice to have" its now a "must have"

Ford says "Why would we make the customer pay twice for something they already have" SYNC makes hands free phones calls using the drivers cell-phone. It doesn't assign another number to the vehicle and then demand a monthly fee to maintain it. SYNC downloads your entire address book into the radio and you can access every contact from the vehicles touchscreen.

When the SYNC application adds new features they are all firmware upgradable and the dealership simply flashes the radio at the next regular service appointment.

All Ford SYNC GPS map data is upgraded at the dealership, no $200 Navigation Disc upgrade fee.

The GM Radio has to be replaced, if you want XM Nav Traffic you need new hardware, if you want Bluetooth you need new hardware.

GM in cooperation with OnStar needs to seriously think about customer relations here and consider whats happening around them with other manufacturers. Its not unreasonable to offer an OnStar upgrade package the same as they did for the switch from analog VCIM to digital VCIM. Sure we may have to sign up for 1-2 yrs OnStar but at least its a solution many can live with.

Just look at what others are doing in the market place and then look at what GM is doing to its loyal customers.........is this the new GM?

Iowa Rick · September 23, 2009

The fact that we GM Truck owners have to go to these lengths to get a basic feature thats offered as standard in almost all other vehicles is absurd. Compare the GM radio options to what Ford SYNC offers.

GM wants us to upgrade hardware to get a very basic hands free Bluetooth feature thats now becoming the law in most of North America.

Its not a "nice to have" its now a "must have"

Ford says "Why would we make the customer pay twice for something they already have" SYNC makes hands free phones calls using the drivers cell-phone. It doesn't assign another number to the vehicle and then demand a monthly fee to maintain it. SYNC downloads your entire address book into the radio and you can access every contact from the vehicles touchscreen.

When the SYNC application adds new features they are all firmware upgradable and the dealership simply flashes the radio at the next regular service appointment.

All Ford SYNC GPS map data is upgraded at the dealership, no $200 Navigation Disc upgrade fee.

The GM Radio has to be replaced, if you want XM Nav Traffic you need new hardware, if you want Bluetooth you need new hardware.

GM in cooperation with OnStar needs to seriously think about customer relations here and consider whats happening around them with other manufacturers. Its not unreasonable to offer an OnStar upgrade package the same as they did for the switch from analog VCIM to digital VCIM. Sure we may have to sign up for 1-2 yrs OnStar but at least its a solution many can live with.

Just look at what others are doing in the market place and then look at what GM is doing to its loyal customers.........is this the new GM?

I was raised in a Ford family. My dad would not own any other brand. My first car was a Pontiac, It broke his heart. I don't really have any brand loyalty. If a certain brand is good to me and I like their products I stick with them until something else comes along that interests me. I have gone from Nissan to Ford to Dodge and here recently to GMC.

I base my purchase decisions partially on the relationship with the dealership. I left Dodge, not because I no longer liked the product but rather the dealership changed hands. Lithia is not customer oriented.

The General manager bought into a GMC/Pontiac/Buick Dealership so I went to him when I was ready to get my new wheels. I bought my Sierra from him 1 year ago and bought my wife a Pontiac G6 a few months ago. We traded in a Ram and a Neon R/T, they were both trouble free and probably would have been replaced by new Dodges if the dealership had not been sold.

I like our current vehicles but based on my experience with GM/Onstar/XM I'll probably consider a Ford next time. Our local Ford dealership has improved over the years since the owners son took over and is pushing customer satisfaction.

The point I'm making here is the service or lack of service a customer receives can have long term financial impact on a manufacturer. I don't feel a need to stick with a particular brand nor do my kids. My oldest daughter is considering the purchase of a new Terrain based on, in part, my suggestion. But if I change brands because of poor service or being unable to get features I want will she buy into GMC, possibly not. Will she relate this attitude to people she works with? Probably will.

The New GM needs all the good will and repeat customers it can to get to survive. It dosen't look like management has gotten the word. Rick

Brewboy · September 23, 2009

The fact that we GM Truck owners have to go to these lengths to get a basic feature thats offered as standard in almost all other vehicles is absurd. Compare the GM radio options to what Ford SYNC offers.

GM wants us to upgrade hardware to get a very basic hands free Bluetooth feature thats now becoming the law in most of North America.

Its not a "nice to have" its now a "must have"

Ford says "Why would we make the customer pay twice for something they already have" SYNC makes hands free phones calls using the drivers cell-phone. It doesn't assign another number to the vehicle and then demand a monthly fee to maintain it. SYNC downloads your entire address book into the radio and you can access every contact from the vehicles touchscreen.

When the SYNC application adds new features they are all firmware upgradable and the dealership simply flashes the radio at the next regular service appointment.

All Ford SYNC GPS map data is upgraded at the dealership, no $200 Navigation Disc upgrade fee.

The GM Radio has to be replaced, if you want XM Nav Traffic you need new hardware, if you want Bluetooth you need new hardware.

GM in cooperation with OnStar needs to seriously think about customer relations here and consider whats happening around them with other manufacturers. Its not unreasonable to offer an OnStar upgrade package the same as they did for the switch from analog VCIM to digital VCIM. Sure we may have to sign up for 1-2 yrs OnStar but at least its a solution many can live with.

Just look at what others are doing in the market place and then look at what GM is doing to its loyal customers.........is this the new GM?

I was raised in a Ford family. My dad would not own any other brand. My first car was a Pontiac, It broke his heart. I don't really have any brand loyalty. If a certain brand is good to me and I like their products I stick with them until something else comes along that interests me. I have gone from Nissan to Ford to Dodge and here recently to GMC.

I base my purchase decisions partially on the relationship with the dealership. I left Dodge, not because I no longer liked the product but rather the dealership changed hands. Lithia is not customer oriented.

The General manager bought into a GMC/Pontiac/Buick Dealership so I went to him when I was ready to get my new wheels. I bought my Sierra from him 1 year ago and bought my wife a Pontiac G6 a few months ago. We traded in a Ram and a Neon R/T, they were both trouble free and probably would have been replaced by new Dodges if the dealership had not been sold.

I like our current vehicles but based on my experience with GM/Onstar/XM I'll probably consider a Ford next time. Our local Ford dealership has improved over the years since the owners son took over and is pushing customer satisfaction.

The point I'm making here is the service or lack of service a customer receives can have long term financial impact on a manufacturer. I don't feel a need to stick with a particular brand nor do my kids. My oldest daughter is considering the purchase of a new Terrain based on, in part, my suggestion. But if I change brands because of poor service or being unable to get features I want will she buy into GMC, possibly not. Will she relate this attitude to people she works with? Probably will.

The New GM needs all the good will and repeat customers it can to get to survive. It dosen't look like management has gotten the word. Rick

Well said.....I couldn't agree more.

fivenite · September 24, 2009

Well said.....I couldn't agree more , i own 18 GMC trucks , FORD here i come ......

aesalazar · September 25, 2009

25984445 is NOT bluetooth

Interesting.....Thanks

Yes, thanks for that, would have hated to buy it to find out it doesnt work. So then where did 20783878 come from? Can anyone confirm that it will work? I am wondering because it and 25984445 can be ordered from gmparts direct while the other two which have been confirm to work cannot be. Is the bluetooth the reason some VICMs are not orderable or is it simply demand?

Thanks

Ernie

Grungir · September 30, 2009

I just cancelled my OnStar last week. They also tried to get me to accept the 12.95/mo for a year. I told them no and then they offered me 3 months free on top of that. I still told them no.... and didnt get any more incentives. When they asked why I told them it was price and lack of bluetooth. Hopefully enough people do that so they at least think about giving us the option to upgrade.

08mckinley · October 11, 2009

Hey folks, I've been following this thread for about 4 months now, and finally got my bluetooth installed. Just wanted to share some thoughts...

I have a 2008 Denali XL with factory nav and Bose system. I ordered these parts: vcim # 20783877

antenna # 15938939. I called a service tech that I deal with regularly. I gave him the part numbers above and a VIN from an 09 Denali XL I found for sale on autotrader, telling him only that he would need a VIN to order the part. He called back later to get the mileage of the vehicle and to ask if I was going to install it myself and if there was going to be a core return. I made up the mileage and told him yes on install and no on core. He was able to order the parts and they arrived yesterday. Total cost for VCIM and antenna was (gulp) $412 after taxes. Pricey, but I have factory bluetooth.

Install notes: For the Denali, you have to take off the stereo bezel, in my case the faux wood trim. It was a pain in the ass. I used 4 very thin butter knives in between the bezel and the stereo/ climate control. The clips pop out but ut takes a little prying. I thought I would break it several times, but it held together. There are 4 clips on each side and one on the bottom in the middle. Once the bezel was off it was pretty much cake.

You have to remove the 2 climate control pieces (2 screws apiece) and the stereo (4 screws total). It is easiest to completely remove the plugs just to give some more working room. The VCIM is on the bottom behind the climate stuff. It is held in by a plastic bracket. There are two screw in the front holding the bracket down. Take them out, and then manipulate the bracket and vcim over the lip of the whole stereo/climate panel. The VCIM needs to be worked out of the bracket. I was able to get a hand in behind it from the drivers side and push/ pull to get it out. The wife helped...

Once is slides out of the bracket, you simply disconnect the three large plugs and 2 small wires and pull the unit out. The new unit is labeled BT for the bluetooth antenna, and the 2 original wires are color coded blue and purple with the new unit. Plug everything back in, use a little english to cajole the new unit back to the original space in the bracket (it gets tough with all those wires, be patient), and put the stereo/ climate/ bezel back together.

The bluetooth paired with my wifes Blackberry Storm in minutes based off the GM bluetooth directions. The short is: Once paired, to use voice dial from phone, you hold the speaker button on the wheel, when it beeps, say "onstar", it connects, when prompted, say "bluetooth", it will announce your device and connect, then "call Joe Blow" and it dials. Caller ID is displayed in the on-board computer screen by the speedometer.

All in all, it works great. We are going to try and make call tags (you can set 30) so we can voice dial easier, but it was a fairly simple install and we are very happy.

Sorry to be so long winded, but I just wanted to post some information I wish I had when I was doing this. Good luck to everyone.

rcpd34 · October 11, 2009

Hey folks, I've been following this thread for about 4 months now, and finally got my bluetooth installed. Just wanted to share some thoughts...

I have a 2008 Denali XL with factory nav and Bose system. I ordered these parts: vcim # 20783877

antenna # 15938939. I called a service tech that I deal with regularly. I gave him the part numbers above and a VIN from an 09 Denali XL I found for sale on autotrader, telling him only that he would need a VIN to order the part. He called back later to get the mileage of the vehicle and to ask if I was going to install it myself and if there was going to be a core return. I made up the mileage and told him yes on install and no on core. He was able to order the parts and they arrived yesterday. Total cost for VCIM and antenna was (gulp) $412 after taxes. Pricey, but I have factory bluetooth.

Install notes: For the Denali, you have to take off the stereo bezel, in my case the faux wood trim. It was a pain in the ass. I used 4 very thin butter knives in between the bezel and the stereo/ climate control. The clips pop out but ut takes a little prying. I thought I would break it several times, but it held together. There are 4 clips on each side and one on the bottom in the middle. Once the bezel was off it was pretty much cake.

You have to remove the 2 climate control pieces (2 screws apiece) and the stereo (4 screws total). It is easiest to completely remove the plugs just to give some more working room. The VCIM is on the bottom behind the climate stuff. It is held in by a plastic bracket. There are two screw in the front holding the bracket down. Take them out, and then manipulate the bracket and vcim over the lip of the whole stereo/climate panel. The VCIM needs to be worked out of the bracket. I was able to get a hand in behind it from the drivers side and push/ pull to get it out. The wife helped...

Once is slides out of the bracket, you simply disconnect the three large plugs and 2 small wires and pull the unit out. The new unit is labeled BT for the bluetooth antenna, and the 2 original wires are color coded blue and purple with the new unit. Plug everything back in, use a little english to cajole the new unit back to the original space in the bracket (it gets tough with all those wires, be patient), and put the stereo/ climate/ bezel back together.

The bluetooth paired with my wifes Blackberry Storm in minutes based off the GM bluetooth directions. The short is: Once paired, to use voice dial from phone, you hold the speaker button on the wheel, when it beeps, say "onstar", it connects, when prompted, say "bluetooth", it will announce your device and connect, then "call Joe Blow" and it dials. Caller ID is displayed in the on-board computer screen by the speedometer.

All in all, it works great. We are going to try and make call tags (you can set 30) so we can voice dial easier, but it was a fairly simple install and we are very happy.

Sorry to be so long winded, but I just wanted to post some information I wish I had when I was doing this. Good luck to everyone.

I'm very glad you are pleased; I love mine. QUESTION. Does your On Star work? Do you get the little red light? Were you able to fix it? A buddy of mine was able to get his working, but I cannot get mine to work. The Blue button does not work, but the red one does. When I push it, they answerusing my name, so the account info shows up. Their tech spent about an hour but was unable to "complete the set up" and told me to go to the dealer. I had to go there anyway to have them Tech2 my Nav to allow the backup cam I added to work but they could not get the On Star to work either. On the bright side, the backup cam is awesome! Let me know how yours works.