We have one more day to make a potential change to our order and I was wondering what exactly Mini Connect is/does. I haven't really looked into it, what does it do exactly?

As far as the Bluetooth/iPod package... I believe that you have to have your iPhone physically plugged into the car with a cable to listen to music, correct? And then do you control it via the car's stereo controls, or by the iPhone itself like a regular auxiliary input? On my Hyundai it doesn't need to be plugged in, it's streams wirelessly via the car's Bluetooth and can be controlled from the phone, the car's touchscreen display, or by the steering wheel buttons... I don't think the Mini streams audio (only phone calls) via Bluetooth, correct? We selected this $500 Bluetooth/iPod package but I didn't get a chance to try it at the dealer. So is this package actually just Bluetooth with a regular aux input?

So what is Mini Connect then? What does it do that the $500 Bluetooth/iPod option doesn't do? It's double the cost so it must do something magnificent, but I can't think of what it could be. My salesperson briefly talked about it during the test drive but I guess I was more concentrated on the drive and didn't really absorb what she was saying about the Connect. Could someone give me a quick rundown on what it is and does? Thanks, Greg.

 

If you choose mini connected on miniusa.com, the bluetooth/ipod package will be included by default. With technology package ( mini connected) I can stream music on any phones through bluetooth, and can controll it with steering wheel buttons. And if I plug in the ipod/iphone, I can controll it through mini connected as I do it on the phone and they have a mini connected app which does a lot of extra cool functions.

 

I have the ipod/bluetooth package (no MINI connect). While you do have to connect the ipod via the provided connector to the USB port at the base of the shifter--you control it via the car's stereo controls after selecting "ipod" for your input. It works the same for an iphone as a friend used hers in my car recently. As for the bluetooth, it interrupts (turns down) the music source when you receive an incoming call so I have to assume it means you can receive calls normally on your iPhone even when using it as a music source.

 

Thank you for the info. I actually went by the dealer today and asked a salesperson about it... Yet I'm still confused about Mini Connect, I've heard a lot of vague comments about how it "does all kinds of stuff" but I've yet to find out exactly what that means. So, I guess we'll skip it and just get the Bluetooth.

 

I actually highly recommend MINI Connected... I use it every day and here is a quick run down of what it is.

First, selecting the MINI Connected option puts a screen in the middle of the speedometer and adds a little joystick with some buttons directly behind the shifter. The whole system is divided into apps, just to name a few there is "Connected" - This is where all the integration with the iPhone kicks in.... You can post to FB, Twitter, Listen to web radio from around the world, do a local google search and have it navigate you to the location (with the optional nav system) you also get Mission Control which is the car basically turning into Kit from Night Rider.... It talks to you! When you put the heated seat on it says something etc... (YouTube MNI Mission control and you will see what it is, I love it) there are a few other things "Connected" does but these are the notable ones (I think)

The next apps are "Radio" and "C/D Multimedia" - Radio is where you can choose between different radio sources all the usual including SIRIUS and FM / AM.... But there are some more sources! If you launch MOG or Pandora (and there are some others) on your iPhone you can listen to that through the MINI Connected system.... I usually listen to Pandora when I drive. In the "CD Multimedia" app you can plug in your iPhone through the aux and USB port, use the armrest mount (that's what I use most) and you CAN Bluetooth stream to the stereo.... You can tell its not as good of quality as plugging it in, but it does serve a purpose and it gets the job done.

The last set of apps I want to talk about are the ones that are more for reference.... You have a "Phone" app where you can do all the usual things.... Voice commands for calling etc. Then you have "Office" where you can store contacts and addresses in your car (it's very similar to "Phone" except for the fact that the data is saved in the car rather than being bluetooth streamed). The "Settings" app is a nice thing to have in MINI Connected... Rather than changing the settings of the car through the somewhat combersome tachometer display you can change most of the settings right from the big screen in the speedometer. Then there is the app titled "Vehicle" (I believe, I'm not in my car now) in this app you can you can see tire pressures, trip information, all that good stuff.

OPTIONAL: "Navigation"
I really only have great things to say about this system. When there is traffic Deb (the guidance lady in my car) routes me around it before I even get to it (SIRIUS Traffic) and really the nav system does everything you want it to do.... One thing to note on is how crisp the screen is.... It really is a stunning display when you look at it and when zoomed in on the map the arrow that most navigations have turns into a little MINI.. It's a nice touch.

The best feature by far of the whole system is the fact that it will never become outdated.... The reason why MINI went with using a smartphone integration so heavily is that if there is an update or another feature MINI wants to add, all they do is send it through the iPhone, rather than every few years updating the system in their new cars, so that yours would be outdated. It's really a great idea if you think about it.

Anyways I hope this explains MINI Connected fully for you.. If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.

Kyle

 

Has anyone subscribed to an RSS feed via MINI connected? If so, how did it work?! Pretty excited about this feature.
Well, about all Connected features really!
I say go for it!!

 

Wow. That is the flat out best overview of the MINI connected I have ever read. I still probably wouldn't have ordered it--but it would have been a lot more tempting.

 

Thanks very much!

And yes I have subscribed to a few rss feads in my car... It's kind of fun to listen to them on long trips, but it is a little clumsy. Still with that in mind, it's nicer to have that feature than to not! They hopefully will update it so you can read the whole post, rather than just having the car read it to you... I think that's my only issue.

Kyle

 

Wow Kyle, thank you very much for talking the time to write all that out. Hopefully many others will find it useful as well in the future when they do a search and find your post.

I like how you can go on Apple's website and watch videos that show all their products in action. Even one product may have a dozen different videos available that give you a "virtual hands on" tour of all the product's various features. Seems like car makers could benefit from emulating that rather than just listing an option with a one sentence description.

 

How does one go about doing this!!?? I have my phone (HTC EVO 4G) paired but, I can not get it to play the music stored on my phone via Bluetooth!!??

 

I'll post a video on YouTube this evening explaining how to Bluetooth stream the audio

Kyle

 

Thanks! No problem... It would be nice if they layed this out better... If you go on YouTube and search for the MINI5025 channel, they have some good tutorials right from MINI themselves

Kyle

 

MINI ought to hire you to write up the descriptions of their different connected/audio options!

 

That would be a cool job! And thank you!

Kyle

 

Excellent description of MINI Connected,and my i add that the "web radio" feature allows you to listen to stations from all over the world in real time.

 

Here's a little "how to" on how to set up bluetooth audio streaming with MINI Connected... I know it is with an iPhone but if you can get to the step where you pair it with the car, you should be golden with the rest of the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMtDSWUrU80

If anyone wants me to make any others just let me know!

Kyle

 

that pointed me in the right direction!! Thank you sir!

 

Anytime!

Kyle

 

You made that video!

Thank you sir. Worked perfectly and I'm now happily listening to my iPhone music thru blutooth.

 

I bought my car off the lot and it has bluetooth but no mini connect. I would have purchased the mini connect just for the fact that you can't listen to streaming audio without it so no pandora for me :(

Andyone know if it can be added and if so what the cost would be ?

 

No problem! Glad it helped you... Also I don't see a reason why bluetooth streaming doesn't work without MINI Connected... I'll try and take a trip to my MINI dealer this week and make a video of a car without MINI Connected and try out the Bluetooth streaming

Kyle

 

No luck so far for me and everything I have read so far says it won't but I would be gratefull if you found a way

 

Ok so I did some testing and you can stream without mini connect somewhat. My dealer said you can't so I haven't done much testing. First you need to connect the y cable to get it to work at all. Then in mode select the phone and it will start the the stored music on the phone. Next you stop the itunesmusic and start pandora and it Works. Well some of the time, sometimes when the song ends it either stops playing all together or it starts iTunes again. Sometimes it keeps playing so it does work it just seems to be a bit buggy. Also the arrows on the steering wheel won't advance to the next song it just shuts off the music all together but the volume works.

 

hi when you dont have the nav can you still send address to your mini? Thanks

 

No. Weather or not you do have MINI Connected or not there is no way for the car to guide you to the address using Google send to car. It will only work with navigation.