Okay, I can more or less deal with no Chili Red. Now I've got a new problem--no CD player! I listen exclusively to audiobooks on CD--no music, no ipod this or that. I already have the audiobooks (I sell them on Ebay).

Yes, I know I can pay a ridiculous sum to get a 6 CD player, but it requires a mandatory package I don't want. Together, the cost would be over $2500 by the time tax is added in. That sucks, big time.

What alternatives do I have? Is it possible to mount a dash, or under dash-mounted cd player? Any suggestions? Bear in mind, I'm not the "MINI Connected" type of buyer. I know nothing, and care less, about the usual audio wonders this car is supposed to have. I just want to listen to my audiobooks.

 

You could probably buy any portable CD player to use, I haven't looked at such things for a long time, but Amazon has them still and they all have very long anti-skip protection so they should work in a car, then you could just connect from the headphones to the Aux in on the stero (does it have an Aux in??).
As for mounting it, that'll probably be more difficult. I know such things existed in the 90s, I remember my parents having a portable CD player on a movable mount that went into the center armrest area, but those solutions aren't often needed these days.
They make some dash mount phone holders that are essentially open sticky pads, maybe one of those would work?

Edit to add links:
Something like this for a CD Player: Comes with car charger, promises no-skips, also has a useless to you CD->car cassette adapter. You'd need to get a headphone<->headphone cord to connect it to the car Aux-In.

For 'mounting' something like this:
Far from ideal, but it'd get the job done, assuming there is an Aux-In port on the non-Connected audio system.

 

Yes, I have a portable CD player (Disc Man) for indoors, but I was hoping for something that would go through the speakers. I'm reluctant to use headphones or ear buds in the car. Sound quality isn't particularly important to me, since it's not music, but I do need something I can quickly reach, to change discs or move forward or backwards easily, WITHOUT taking my eyes off the road. I can do it in my R56, but MINI to think that's obsolete. I don't.

Still looking for options...

 

No solution for you, Deb. I just wanted to LYK you're not alone in expecting a CD player to be part of a $750 sound system.

 

You wouldn't need to use your headphones in the car, you would simply plug an audio cable from the headphone port to the aux port (assuming it has one which I think it does) and the sound would play through the car's speakers.

You may want to explore the world of the newer technologies as Mini is not alone in moving away from having CD players as part of the standard set up. This is just like many years ago when cars all came with a cassette deck and no longer do. There are a number of videos on You Tube about how to easily convert CD's to MP3 and all at the same time put them on a USB flash drive or ipod which could then be easily played in a modern car.

 

I would think you could copy your CD on to your computer, then thru iTunes or comparable program down load it to a USB drive.

 

Sorry, this is Greek to me, Russ. By USB drive, do you mean the kind of thing I do backups on my computer? What would I do with it then? How would I actually play it, and how would I move from one part of the book to another, repeat the last few lines, etc? And wouldn't I still have to buy the other package, that is essentially useless for me otherwise?

Motor--you're saying that I could use my Disc Man, or a similar player, and get a cable to plug it in somewhere (where??) to play out of the speakers? What about MP3 discs, which I get occasionally, but can't play on a Disc Man?

Thanks, QBear. You're right, it's ridiculous. And if order a 6-CD player, why am I roped into $1800 worth of additional stuff??? Again,

 

Daffodildeb, yes, the Aux-In allows you to run a cord from the headphone out of the CD player into the car's stero system, and then the sound comes out through the car's speakers. The where is what looks like another headphone jack on the stero system somewhere, pretty much every car made in the last 6 - 7 years has an aux in.

For Mp3 discs, you'd need to buy a new CD player that plays MP3 Discs. The player I linked to earlier does not play MP3 discs either.

 

By USB I mean a thumb drive. It plugs into the USB port in your car. They are cheap and would be worth trying before you buy a portable CD player.

 

What do I have to buy to get a USB port? Will it be standard equipment?

But again, how would I actually play it? Does it require the same expensive package I'm trying to avoid buying?

 

As others are saying, really your best option is to move away from CDs. I know you won't want to hear it, but Audiobooks work great on MP3s these days.

If you have an iPod or even just MP3 files of the audiobook on a USB Drive as others have mentioned, you can directly control that with the steering wheel controls on the mini. It is pretty easy to get CDs converted to MP3 files. A single iPod or decent sized USB thumb drive would be able to hold dozens or 100s of CDs worth of audiobooks.

 

It sounds like this would be cheaper, albeit inconvenient, and certainly not a eyes-on-the-road option. More like a pull-over-and-change-the-disc option.

 

USB comes standard I believe. Its under the Start/Stop switch from looking in the manual, right on the center console. You'd need to buy nothing except the USB thumbdrive.

 

The car comes standard with a USB port. Oops, SeppTB beat me to it.

 

An MP3 disc can hold probably 24 CDs worth of stuff, maybe more. You could start and Florida and have to change the disc when you hit California

 

I'm getting a headache from all this "convenient" technology.

I'm old enough to remember the learning curve on our Commodore 128, which you young bucks probably never even heard of. Yes, I've had plenty of computers since then, but most of them seemed to be a step forward, making allowances for better or worse operating systems over the years. This doesn't.

Hubby pays more attention to this than I do. Personally, I just want to slip something into a slot and listen to it.

 

The cable you would use to connect your discman via it's headphoe jack would be one like this (click here). The "AUX" or auxiliary port would be in the center console below the radio. If you had a MP3 disk, this is something you could put in your computer as Russ mentioned and copy to a USB stick.

 

I am getting old too. And learned Basic on an Apple II.
I too listen to many audio books and podcasts a week. Your best solution is either something like an iPod or a Smartphone. Initially I was reluctant to leave the CD (and ahem Cassettes) as well.

A few years ago a friend introduced me to Audible(.com). Since then I have never looked back. The ultimate convenience of having all my books, and my podcasts, and my music, and Pandora, on one device is an awesome way to live. Right now I have over 12 books on my phone, along with a dozen Podcasts, that sync automatically, daily, as soon as I get home. After a year of using Audible's service, and doing quick Math, and I believe I am doing better financially using Audible, then when I purchased CD's. Of course, borrowing CD's from the library or trading them is ultimately cheaper. But moreso Audible is just much more convenient. You can even make bookmarks and notations of special paragraphs. Pretty neat. Also I have yet to find an Audio library as deep and diverse as Audible.

Don't fear the change. You'll love it.

-Tej

 

I hope you're right. As for the Audible.com info, I already have the CDs--I sell them on Ebay, and buy them wholesale. I have about 100 or so books on my "next" shelf (all nonfiction), not to mention another couple of thousand in the warehouse that still have to be processed and listed. I'm sure there are some more I'll want to hear in that group, too. (I have about 2500 currently listed on Ebay, so you can see why I'm so serious about this.)

I will admit, there are some titles that aren't currently available on CD, but are in an audible format. They're probably available on this site, albeit for more than the buck a book I currently pay for mixed titles. Again, I buy wholesale--generally 100 or more at a time.

 

I hear ya Deb. I'm a lot more tech saavy than most, but what I'd do is rip your CD audiobooks to your hard drive using iTunes for instance, and just drag them to a thumb drive, which will hold a ton of books. You use the thumb drive exactly like an MP3 CD.

 

Yeah, I know CDs are considered old now, but I still use them too. This is one of the (many) things making me shop around other cars right now while considering a 2014. 2013's are hard to find now too. I don't really get why they got rid of it even with the advent of the digital music age.

 

What are the chances a USB CD player will work?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/LG-Externa...ilver/26840271

 

You know, there's a division within the MINI-owning population between the older post-kiddies folks like us, and the younger pre-kiddies owners. I go to my MINI club meetings in Little Rock and Hot Springs, and most of the members are 60 or above. Kind of ironic, because I think the members of the British Car Club--which is primarily for vintage cars--is a little younger.

Although we have plenty of disposable income (we're in our second childhoods, ready for sports cars), some companies seem to ignore us. I really don't want another marque, but it IS making me think twice about ordering a 2014. If my kids hadn't given such glowing reviews (they won the MINI USA "Final Test Drive" contest), I'd be pretty set on a 2013 R56.

Ironically, at the other end of the spectrum from the F56, there's a 50 year old Porsche 356 in our garage. Yeah, it has the original radio (AM/FM/Shortwave), but we never listen to it. There are NO electronic devices of any kind on it, unless you count the Pertronix ignition we installed for reliability. We still carry a set of points, though...just in case.

 

There are portable CD players that can play MP3 discs. Search on Google. Use a stereo cable from the headphone jack to the aux input.

Here's an example: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/portable...6002&cp=1&lp=2

 

Does anyone know if you order the 6-disc changer where it goes? Does it go in the little mini glove box on the top part of the passenger side? Or somewhere else?

One other question that probably no one knows that answer too.... if you get the CD Player, does it rip MP3's to the hard drive? Acura's system does this automatically and just adds it to the on-board library. Then you don't need the CD in the car any longer.