Fact is...the iPhone has an "inductive coupling connection" to the antenna through the cradle...it is a pretty sophisticated design and hence the price. So, in fact if you buy the audio/video enabled adapter...you get charging and increased reception from the external antenna.

 

I know the theory behind inductive coupling, in practice it simply doesn't work with the iPhones. I consistantly got 2-3 bars LESS reception in my M3 while using two different cradles. On the Bimmerpost most people see less or the same reception in the cradle. Very, very few people saw increases in reception. I got better reception with my phone on the passenger seat than in the cradles. And I own two cradles, one with audio output capabilities, and one without. Same results.

Could the iPhone 4 be better in this regard? Absolutely. Will I pay $180 to find out? Nope.

Also, the price isn't because of this coupling. The BlackBerry cradles are the same price and they have a direct connection to the antenna connector on the phone.

 

Here's the answer from Tischer/Getbmwparts on the iphone 4 snap in cradle availability even though their website shows that they have it:

Hey Kenny, thanks for your interest - unfortunately, that item isn't yet available for us to order from BMW. BMW hasn't yet issued an ETA for availability of these for ordering, either.

So, for now, we do not have any stock of these.


Thanks again for keeping us in mind, let me know if you need anything else -[/FONT]

 

I looked up the mentioned information and dropped them a email because they don't have a Bussiness phone. So just like every one else they don't have the adapter and they have no idea when it's going to be available.
Thanks for the find, but were still in the same boat.

SORRY FOR THE REPOST

 

So, without the adapter, there is no way to connect the phone in the armrest? Isn't there some kind of plug in the armrest that the adapter connects to?

 

Yep, a proprietary connector exclusively used for their cradles.

 

You were right the video and audio DO NOT sync

Also with the arm rest the itouch does NOT fit in the track the cables are too long. So I set it on the side, when the car hits a bump I loose the itouch connection

 

Worst Nav so far ! ( no speech to text ) " make right 400' etc Live traffic ? Not even close to Live, more like delay. I was sitting in dead traffic on the belt pkwy and the Nav showed cleared road. I have to keep looking at the Nav to see where its taking me . Hope they a fix soon.

 

Does anyone have a traffic system that works? I've not used the MINI Nav, but I have the TomTom app for my iPhone and bought the traffic update for that - every time I've tried to use it, things seemed to go wrong. It seems like they are always dealing with traffic as it was a half hour ago, or utterly not taking special conditions into account.

I'm ordering a car with connected but without nav, as I've always though in-car nav systems seemed pretty clunky compared to dedicated navigation devices or apps.

 

I didn't get connected or Nav. My Droid has an app for Houston Traffic which works great. Also the traffic component on Maps works as well. Since I had all this on the phone I figured I didn't need to pay for it on the CM. I have the bluetooth on this Mini and am very sorry it did not come on the previous R56 I purchased off the lot.

Bill

 

So what exactly can be controlled by the steering wheel controls? Can you navigate the menus? Can you navigate through the artists on an iPod or iPhone? Or does it just control volume and track skipping?

 

The volume and tracks

 

Hey all--
Forgive me if this has been posted elsewhere, but I didn't find anything on my limited search. I have a couple of questions regarding use of Connected, and I thought that a thread like this could become a "sticky" for us to post questions and answers regarding its use.

For starters, how do I turn up the navigation voice direction volume? The stereo volume is fine, but when the lady speaks to give me her directions, I can barely hear her.

Also, I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about techy things, but I'm having trouble sending destinations from Google Maps to the MINI. Any advice?

Thanks--

 

One answer from me. If it is set up like most BMWs - when the nice lady is telling you where to go, turn up the volume (while she is talking). This should correct it and become the default.

 

Right about the volume. You have to turn up the volume while getting a spoken direction. (Wish I had the british version). Anyway, I can't get any Google Searches to work, nor can I get Send to Car to work either.

 

Also, where is everyone placing their iPhone? The included Y cable which you MUST use for Connected functionality is so short, the only place I can put the phone is with the cable sort of folded and the phone on its side in the rail or on the passenger seat.

You can run the cable under the base of the cell phone holder, but it is a really tight squeeze for the cable, and the holder is a real pain to use to put the phone in with a case on it.

 

I hate to be a nuisance and I'm certainly not a moderator, but there is already a very long thread established for precisely these sorts of discussions. As these topics get fragmented due to creation of multiple threads, we lose a great deal of knowledge along with efficiency in finding answers.

Please post threads related to Connected, NAV and telepony in this aptly named thread:

Connected/Nav: Audio,Video,Telephony

If I were the moderator, I would make this thread sticky at the top along with several others (like how to track your MINI order).

 

Agree, we need a sticky on this.

 

Agreed on the sticky. So where is everyone putting their iPhone? No snap in adapter yet, and the cable is too short to put it in the cupholder. I can only sort of put the phone in the rail right now. Also the cable is acting a little flakey.

 

Just an FYI....I just talked to the mini parts dept at our local dealer and he told me they are hearing mid-March on the iphone 4 armrest insert. But he did say, "At first we were told by the end of January, then told by the end of February, now we were told mid-March but until we see it who knows."

 

My friend has an R56 and [this] cable seems to work okay (Amazon link). He doesn't have Connected, so I'm not sure how it'll work with that... For $3 though, it's worth a try. I ordered one and I'm anxiously awaiting the opportunity to test it with my CM when it comes...

 

Anyone having trouble with their Y cable constantly disconnecting from their iPhone? It seems loose, although not. Possibly a flakey cable, but wanted to see if others have the issue.

 

Simply doesn't work. Or I'm too stupid to figur it out. On the other hand he google search on connected worked for me.

Any ideas on the "send to car" function?

 

The interface continues to baffle. I'd keep getting no BlueTooth connectivity with the car not responding. But the worst was trying to use the nav today. The nav would NOT find the street I was looking for. When I used Google and set the destination that way, it literally created a route it couldn't finish. I got "You have now reached the end of the driveable route." Wow. Finally I put in the zip code and found the street, but not using a city name.

 

this is a little contrived, but cool.

go to Google Maps from your desktop/laptop.
search for your destination.
click on it and select the "more" dropdown.
click "send".
another window pops up, select "Car", then MINI.
now type in your Connected user name, then click send.

now, run out to your car, plug in the iPhone, goto Connected and select the google send to car link (or whatever it's called)