Has anyone found a cable that will go from the armrest connector to an iPhone 4S rather than getting the MINI armrest cradle for a MINI with the Visual Boost enhanced blutooth.


Apart from connecting to the cars aerial, does the cradle do anything more than a cable plugged into the USB port.


Finally, if you have a memory stick with music plugged into the USB port and an iPhone in the armrest cradle, can you choose which one to listen to.


Sorry for all the questions at once.

 

I didn't buy the cradle when I saw what they wanted for it. You can pick music from your phone through Bluetooth, or load the tunes from your stick into the car's memory and play them from there. The media player lets you choose the source. You can't plug the iPhone into the USB port (it buzzes oddly). But you can charge the phone through the lighter 12v port with a charger cable. I'd like to find some kind of adapter that plugs into the armrest just because I prefer a neater cabin. If anyone knows of something...

 

At the moment I plug my iPhone into the USB port and it works fine (no buzzing) and it also works fine via Bluetooth. I also put a memory stick into the USB port when the iPhone is not connected.


The reason I would like a cable is so that I can run it from inside the armrest, out to my iPhone which is in a docking station up near the steering wheel. That way I would not have to remove the memory stick if I want to plug the iPhone in.

 

No all it does is charge the phone. It doesn't even connect the phone to the system, you have to use BT. It's an expensive charger. And I think the USB/docking wire charges the phone. The using the car's aerial thing is worthless.

 

I know it connects the phone to the system as it is one of the options under connections

 

Yeah you're right. I think the original ones were different. It still doesn't do anything the other connection doesn't do. I think they both charge it.

 

Does the cradle connect an iTouch to the system in the same manner as the usb/mini cable connection does? In other words, can you play music through the cradle (album art, videos, etc) and NOT have to use Bluetooth?

 

The cradle should do everything a USB cable does (charges, audio), plus connects to the car's antenna system to boost signal, though I've never seen an improvement, and in the F56, there's a cooling fan as well.

Personally, I think there's better things to spend ~$200 on...

You can have the phone in the cradle AND a USB stick in the USB port and switch between the two in External Devices.

 

I've had the cradle in my last(current) MINI, a CMS, and I didn't use it, even when I had a phone that fit it. It shipped as a 4S compliant cradle and I very soon after got a 5/5S and then a 6+. But what I don't like about the cradle is that it's positioned such that you can't easily get at or see the phone when driving. The concept is based on the idea that you would do all of your interfacing through the MINI Connected system, but sometimes (read: often) it's handier to have access to the device directly. Plus for people like me who didn't bite for Nav, you want to be able to see the device for that purpose as well.

On the other hand, I have a friend who swears by the cradle.

 

This is incorrect. Once you have something connected via the cradle it acts just like any other electronic device connected. You can choose it under External Devices and play from it. I have an old iPhone 4 connected on which I keep audio books. Works great. For music, I MUCH prefer uploading onto the hard drive.

 

Yes

 

It was sorta like the original iPod connections in the secret compartment: pretty expensive and pretty useless. I don't think too many people ever tried it.