I, like many others I've read so many posts from, am struggling to get a working setup with an iPhone 5s, MINI Connected, and the Snap In Adapter in my 2012 MINI Roadster.

I bought my Roadster in February, it seemed like there wasn't an answer then on what part to use, so I purchased a Snap In for the 4S and using some ingenuity, a Dremel, and some epoxy, I altered it to fit the iPhone 5s with the Apple Lightning Adapter and all was well. It worked like a charm, most of the ugliness of the alteration was hidden in the back of the armrest and it all worked perfectly. For about 6 months. Then I was putting the phone in one day and it broke, and it never worked properly again. So I again began the search for a part number for an official solution.

Now I have the 84 21 2 351 308. It will only charge the phone - no Connected functionality and it will appear to be playing music from the phone (you can see album art and the progress bar counting up) but no audio. But, I can pop out the adapter and reinsert it into the armrest and it will then work fine - Connected works, music plays. But the next time I start the car it will only charge again until removed and reinserted. I saw this issue on Apple's forums (where someone suggested the pop out and pop in method) and I know there are some who code the car to accept this part (changing analog to digital) but while I consider myself a tinkerer (and in fact have a cable on the way from China should nothing else pan out) I would really prefer not to have to enter the world of coding.

I attempted to order what appears to be the newer part - 84 21 2 289 718 - but received another 308 instead with the dealer saying that's what they received when they ordered the 718. None of the local dealers have any idea.

I understand from reading many posts that the 308 is 'Connect' and I would technically need the 'Media' version, but according to the parts list on etk the only iPhone 5/s adapters that support 'Media' are for MINIs built after July 2012 (my Roadster was built in Feb. 2012).

Is there anyone who is successfully using MINI Connected and music with an iPhone 5s in a MINI built before the July 2012 cutoff (my Roadster was built in Feb. 2012) and if so, what part number are you using?

 

I am having the same problem with my roadster that was built in jan/feb 2012. I can plug the phone into the hdmi port on the car and I can see the album cover on the phone and on the mini screen, but no sound comes out at all. did you ever find a solution?

 

One solution that worked for a time was to order the older MINI snap-in adapter that was made for the iPhone 4 and earlier and with some careful cutting with a Dremel I scooted the connector down enough to fit the Apple 30-pin to Lightning adapter on there and was able to use that to connect. Once I updated to an iPhone 6, the adapter stopped working - Mini Connected would say it was connecting on the phone, but the interface in the car would lose connection after a minute.

My final solution was to run an 1/8" cable and USB cable from the front ports under the radio area to the Apple 30-pin to Lightning adapter which I ran into the back of the armrest and into a custom made wood cradle. It was more work than buying something official, but the official snap-in adapter situation is a nightmare and MINI seems to have given up on it for older models so this is a semi-hidden (you can run the cables from the front to the armrest tucked under the plastic trim pretty easily) mostly clean installation that connects reliably and works every time with MINI Connected and all the accompanying apps (like Spotify and TuneIn, etc). I preferred the snap-in adapter route because there's no cables hanging out up front like there are now, but I would rather it actually worked, so this is a good solution for me.