i've had my 03 R50 about a month and love it. really in great shape- low miles. but, now i'm digging into it a little more and there are these 2 things that the previous owner had (bought from a used car lot dealer had no clue) that are driving me nuts. sorry in advance if my question gets too "wordy".

1: pics 1-4 appear to be some sort of cell phone adapter that is hard wired to the back of the stereo (non HK). no markings on it to identify the brand etc. i have searched exhaustedly to either find a way to adapt it to my cell (samsung) or just remove it. but it looks like it runs to the back of the stereo and i cannot figure a way, without pulling the stereo to unplug it and remove. any info on what the heck it is and where i could possibly adapt it to my cell would be great. seems like it is intergrated into th stereo and could be nice. or if not how to remove it- preferrably without pulling the stereo if that is even a possibility.

2: pics 5-6 are a toll pass. easy enough i suppose? the first pic is the unit itself. i live in L.A. and have no use for it but, it seems to be really stuck on there. i'm afraid to use too much force and crack the windshield. any tips? and the last pic appears to be some sort of mic running from the toll pass under the rim of the headliner and to the rear view. also thought that it might be for the cell phone thing?

thanks in advance and excuse the pics i took and resized them quickly:

 

Actually all of the pics are part of a handsfree cell phone kit. Unless you phone plugs right in to it there is no use in keeping it in the car as it will not work for you. As for removing it you will need to pull the radio out as I would take bets that they hae tapped in to the wiring behind the radio for power and possible muting of the radio when the phone is in use. Once you pull the radio you should easily be able to cut the lines and tape them off then you can remove the whole kit. The antenna on the windshield will pry off but be very careful as the MINI windshield is not the stongest glass out there. After removing it most loikely you'll need to clean off the remains of the sticky pad with a razor blade.

 

cool. thanks for the info. i thought 5 and 6 were some type of toll pass. but, was confused as to why a toll pass would have a mic. that clears it up. i guess there is no way to adapt my phone or a future phone to the kit then huh? seems like a waste to remove if it is already wired in. the plugs look like they would work with a motorola maybe. i wish i could find out more about it... the brand etc.

 

I think this is a motorola s6965 for the timeport/startac. I looked around for info online on it and have found nothing. I used to put a lot of these in around 2002-2003, If you run by your local car audio shop, they'll probably pull it out for ~$30, there is really nothing to it. You could possibly use the speaker and mic for a bluetooth kit, but finding one that work will be a hassle and all your new ones will come with better stuff than that anyway. If you decide to tackle it your self, you can cut and cap each wire individually (making sure you never cut 2 at once) the antenna will come out with some tooth floss and a little cussing (use the tooth floss to cut through the double stick tape) then a sharp flat razor blade to get the excess left on the window.

There will be a control unit behind the radio (maybe underneath, maybe behind the glovebox) make sure you unplug everything from it.

Hope it helps

Paul

 

thanks for all the input. i thought that the plugs looked like an old motorola type. guess i'll either have it removed or get around to removing it myself. i had hoped they made an adapter for it. the plugs look swappable as they are held on by a philips head screw so it seemed adaptable to whatever type cell you own. but, not worth the hassle. much easier to get a garmin or something and use my aux input and bluetooth as i'm not a huge drive and talk guy. thanks for the floss idea too- never thought of that one. could also use fishing line or maybe even thin weed eater line too i suppose. anyhow thanks much.

 

This one is easy. It is the cradle for a Motorola StarTac phone. I have one installed in Artoo and won’t give up the StarTac for a while as it simply works for me in the car and on the occasions when I have to carry a phone it is charged and ready to go.

That is the external cellular antenna and the microphone.

This kit used to be about $400 from Motorola but now they are available new on eBay for a couple of bucks. Mine occasionally has broken so having new parts around is a good thing.

You should be able to take it all out easily as it does not hook to your radio. In fact I bet there is a small speaker tucked in the foot area of the passenger side up high in the well. The only connection to the car is a hot somewhere which has a fuse in it so it should be easy to identify.

As for getting the antenna off the window that may be tricky. You can try cutting it off with a wire. Or you can just wait till your windscreen gets cracked or pitted and pitch it with the old glass. If I were brave a heat gun on the outside might release it but I would not recommend anyone do that without experience.

So no mystery there. The StarTac was one of the best phones ever made with great easy to use intuitive software. We’ve gone downhill since then.

Rich