I have been been dealing with the BT vs. cell phone war for a week with Verizon, this is what I've learned..

The Treo works (my daughters), the Samsung SCH-u140 works (my husbands), the Samsung a870 is not compatible (mine).
After a polite conversation with the Verizon store manager I upgraded to the LG VX8350 which paired but did not download the address book as the others had.

At this point I'm just relieved it to have the phone calls..

 

I've been dealing with Verizon for the past week trying to get a phone that works, let me share what I've learned:

The Treo pairs/downloads phone book, the Samsung SCH-u410 pairs/downloads phone book, the LG VX8350 pairs but does not download phone book, and the Samsung a870 is not compatible.

 

I thought the same thing, but I have learned that the MINI Bluetooth ULF is totally different than those deployed in BMW's. As an example, my Treo 755p works flawlessly with my X5, but it rendered the MINI's Bluetooth ULF inoperable. The ULF in the MINI had to be replaced, after much delay and head scratching on the part of MINI USA.

 

Are you sure about that??? I've always heard that they were the same (other than branding that is). My guess is that you are just seeing differences between the different versions of the ULF module. I believe that there has been 11 or 12 versions/variants of it since its incarnation.

 

where's Birdman???

 

My Palm Treo worked fine, dealer helped me set it up.
Like others have posted here, it is a cool voice activated system but I have not fallen in love with it. I still prefer my own ear bud....

 

Yes, 100% sure. The MINI ULF is basically a dumbed down version of the BMW ULF. This explains why the BMW approved phone list is much larger than the MINI approved phone list.

 

Interesting...

 

Has anyone tried retrofitting the BMW ULF to the MINI harness? I'm assuming they're the same connectors.

 

I paired my Verizon Treo 700p with my Mini. According to the person on the other end of the call, the sound quality was better than when I use my actual phone. On the negative side, my phone book did not transfer over. I tried pushing it and that didn't work either. I guess I'm going to have to manually enter my primary numbers in there.

 

My RAZR V3m works fine except for the voice dialing which has to be programmed separately.

 

My V551 will not dial out (phone continues to dial but the Mini's Nav says called ended as soon as the dialing is completed).

Calling Ask Mini, they gave me another phone number who only deals with bluetooth troubles. The support people there wouldn't help at all unless the phone is on the list, which they said it wasn't.

It will voice dial any address book entry, even without it setup on the phone, but doesn't do me any good since dialing out doesn't work.

 

My V3m works flawlessly, I switched from an LG 8600 to the V3m about a month ago so I could use the BMW insert for the RAZR.

 

Standards are made to be broken. MINI's bluetooth is not compatible with all bluetooth cell phones. I replaced my old Verizon motorola (v35?) with an LG that was nice and sleek, great features, etc. While my old motorola worked perfectly with the MINI, I could not get the LG to consistently recognize and sync with the MINI. And, if I was able to, I would get cut off mid-call because the bluetooth sync between the LG and my car would just drop. My MINI service guy had to refer the problem to his BMW counterpart who said that's a typical problem. My carrier is Verizon and the choices for compatible phones (re: "tested" and compatible phones) are few.

 

IIRC, in order for a phone to fully work with MINI & BMW Bluetooth, it has to have the full Object Push Profile (OPP) in order for the phone book to transfer over properly. Some phones only have partial OPP.

 

I have this same problem with my v555 (Motorola). I can answer fine but when the phone dials it will not keep the bluetooth connection. The only solution I have found is to get a new phone. I got a RAZR loaner and it works fine.

 

I just tested my gal's V557 and it works fine. I will probably end up getting a Razr since it also has a cradle available for the armrest.

 

If you enter some numbers under thew favorite buttons they will appear in the phone book when your phone pairs with the mini. Did you get an adapter so you could plug your 700p into the arm rest?

 

No. The Treo is being replaced by a Razr. I may get the insert for that.

 

I have Sprint and my Sanyo Katana works great.

 

I have verizon service with the LG EnV VX9900 (orange). Phone worked right away. It took 2 days but all of a sudden, the address book synced up. Since then, she works fine. We will see how long

 

My Cingular razor worked in my BMW with bluetooth. I have tried my Blackberry Pearl (Cingular/AT&T) in the MINI and it works perfectly, including phone book entries (and I have alot of them).

 

Although my Verizon LG 8700 pairs flawlessly and consistently, the call quality is atrocious. Overwhelming amount of static noise prevents me from being able to clearly hear or be heard during a call. The phone book didn't transfer, but no surprise since it's not on the approved phone list. After using it on a couple of calls, I stopped using it ... much better quality call from the phone directly.

I guess I might want to revisit it. Sounds like some users are able to rely on the system once their phone pairs reliably.

 

The razr I got works fine. Call quality is equal to most any speaker phone. It's plenty loud enough since the stereo's volume controls it. Even though it's on the "list" the software version on the list is not the same as I'm using. As far as I can tell, you can't find that software anymore. Seems like Mini tests phones and then stops, never checking that phone again even as new software comes out for the phone.

 

Coffeeman, this is a rather odd first post as it relates to such a narrow topic but the subject is of some interest to me since I have a Treo 700p (with the MR which essentially makes it equivalent to a 755p). After reading your posts I'm really hesitant to use my phone in my R56 once it arrives. I've had my fair share of bluetooth issues with the 700p in the past (like all Treo users) and have no problem believing that the crappy bluetooth implementation on this phone could in fact kill off the ULF in the car.

I'm just wondering though, how well informed were the people who told you about the overflow issue with the phonebook corrupting the ULF. Is there any chance that this was just a defective ULF to begin with? What phone are you using with your replacement bluetooth module?

As far as this 700p goes this is the last straw for me and I would gladly run it over with my Mini rather than risk the car's bluetooth module, I'm strongly considering not using the bluetooth for the time being and just getting an iPhone next year. The big issue with the 700p/755p is that it seems that there are very few people using it with the R56's and so I haven't really found any other info on the web one way or the other after long term use. At least with the iPhone I figure that it's on the approved list, and there will be "safety in numbers" as far as support is concerned considering the popularity of the phone.