I love this car !!! I enjoy every second I get to drive it

I got order my TOMTOM adapter from this company called Craven Speed. It cost about 80 bucks shipped. I live in Los Angeles and the only place that was willing to do the install and wiring was a AWESOME mini cooper shop called Motoring Magic in Twin Oaks. The Staff was friendly and their shop was a really cool place to hang out at. They even had one of those toy racing tracks with mini coopers. Anyway, the install took about 3 hours because he had to remove all of the bottom parts of the car and run longer wires etc etc. The end product is perfect and seamless. Hope you guys enjoy the pics of the install !

Jon

 

Looks great!!

 

Looks very cool. I heard Craven Speed sells good. One question not related to the GPS install. How you come you ordered your CMS with All4 and the Cold Weather Package while you live in CA? Just curious

 

I didnt order it that way, it came with it when I picked it up from the dealership. The Tush warmers do come in handy because we can go as low as 40 Degrees during the night. And my trips to San fran and Vegas usually involve colder weather.

 

Thanks for the pictures of the mount. Do you know if it can be mounted on the right side of the steering wheel?

 

Yes, it can. I have a TomTom also, and the same Craven Speed mount, and I have it on the right (as my wingman wants to be able to see it also).

 

He doesn't own a countryman anymore... He probably doesn't use this forum any longer.

 

Thanks Neitherfanboy. I know it's capable of installing on the right, but will it actaully fit on the right in a Countryman? If you look at the first picture you can see the vent is really close to the steering wheel, so I'm not sure if it would be in the way of the arm/device.

Have you installed the mount on the right of the steering wheel in a Countryman?

 

Nice clean look!

 

I just ordered one of these, to try and install on the right in my CM - I'll post next week after I get it installed.

 

I don't have a CM, have the MCS, but the vent is very close to the right hand side of the tach ... I just angled my Craven speed bracket up so that the GPS would hang right above the vent and not block it. Is the CM vent closer than the MCS?

 

kgelner - looking forward to your update.

Neitherfanboy - I'm not sure. Looking at pictures of the MCS it looks like the vent is about the same distance from the tach, but it looks to be significantly higher on the Countryman and sticks out more.

 

Early report - it mounts fine on the right side, the vent is pretty close but it fits the iPhone with plenty of room... I can also turn it sideways.

I bought the "X" adaptor instead of a snap-in. It seems to hold things pretty well.

I'll post pictures sometime tomorrow.

My only complaint is that the adjustable **** was plastic, the rest of the thing is really nice metal - I couldn't get the adjustable **** tight enough so I ended up using the (also included) metal screw to hold it down in one position instead.

 

Very sanitary installation. Just pray it isn't an attraction for thieves. It might be a thought to get some sort of black cover made to hide from prying eyes.

The Tom Tom app I have on my iPhone is pretty good. I like to hear the female UK voice. I no longer use it since I ordered navigation and Mini Connected.

 

Does the phone sit above the vent or to the side of the vent? One of my concerns is that it may be distracting if it sits up high.

 

I just installed this on the right. My experience with the adjustable **** was the same, so I've got the screw in there. With the universal phone mount, in portrait mode, my phone sits beside the vent,more above the tach in landscape. Neither seems to be high enough to be distracting.

 

For those that have installed...pictures are appreciated. Are you running power to the mount to be able to charge your device? Where are you tapping into power. Thanks!

 

Mine looks pretty similar to the picture on the website
http://www.cravenspeed.com/products/...nting-Kit.html

With the universal mount you can move the phone up and down a bit within the arms.

I did the right mount so it would be close to the power outlet, and I just run the cord up there.

The OP's left mount is hardwired, with 3 hours of labor to remove dash etc. I assume.

 

Yeah, the thumb **** is crap. Seems like a good idea to be able to loosen and tighten on the fly when you need to, but it sits so close to the tach housing that you can't get a good grip and consequently it doesn't hold the arm up when the iPhone's seated. I put in the metal hex screw like you did -- guess I won't be adjusting the angle much without a tool handy. Thought about inverting the inner arm but I don't think it'll do anything more than change the clock position of the pivot point.

I got the iPhone 4 cradle and I wish it had a ball joint on the back so I could adjust the viewing angle. Not too much to ask for considering what they charge for of a couple machined aluminum sticks, a plastic cradle and a few screws!

Does the universal-x work well with the iPhone 4? I was worried about it slipping out and blocking or activating the side buttons. I'm sure it's infinitely more case-friendly, of which the native iPhone 4 mount is decidedly NOT.

 

I bought the X in part to future-proof myself against whatever is coming with the iPhone 5 - but I have found it holds the iPhone 4 really well.

I mostly use it with a case, where it would sort of have the same issue about hitting the side volume control buttons. What I do is just have the iPhone "riding high", with the X gripping it below the buttons - in case or out.

The X is also nice in one other regard. Like you I found the default angle a little too shallow, and wanted the iPhone tilted back more - with the X you can shift out the bottom of the phone a little and tilt it back slightly without it interfering with grip on the device.

If you think you might prefer the X, you may be able to get just the X holder at a discount since you already have the arm...

I think the grip on the X is really good, I feel like even on an iPhone4 without a case it's not going to slip loose even under spirited driving. Now autocrossing or other extreme driving, there I might tie it in a bit more.

 

I just purchased a Garmin mounting kit from Cravenspeed which included the fixed mount, Garmin arm and additional outlet. The replacement screws for the tach don't fit. I got my CM last week. I don't know if the screws they're using at the factory have changed. Or maybe people are just forcing them in? (I was using a hand screwdriver, and it wasn't going to happen - didn't really want to 'break' my brand new car either).

I've picked up a few replacement screws at a hardware store that look like they should work. $3 for 2 different sizes to try. I emailed Cravenspeed, but haven't heard anything from them yet.

I'm also having an issue that I had wanted to mount the GPS on the left and the arm is connected to the mount by an impossibly tight bolt. I didn't really have the right tools at home, I may try a few things at work where we have a few more tools (we have a model shop) - but I may be stuck mounting the thing on the right.

I must say I'm a little disappointed, since this is almost $100 spent - and in all honesty that amount of money should be for the convenience as it's just a few pieces of machined metal.

(And to get even more picky, they don't even print the instructions and put them in the box. Sure they're 1) not complicated and 2) easily available online. But you charged me $100 for a stick of metal. Go the extra mile!!!)

 

Well, I was able to get my side reversed at least. We'll see how my replacement screws work tonight!

 

So how did the install go? What screws did you end up using? I just got my Countryman a week ago and am like you, not wanting to screw up my amazing new car.

Thanks for any info.

 

In the end the replacement screws didn't work (can't remember 100% why, it was a while ago!) so I called CravenSpeed and they explained that the screws they provide are a little bigger than the hole because they need to create threads in the plastic so it can hold. I decided to just be a little more bold and less scared about 'breaking' my car and got it installed without much fuss after that.

It's held up well over the past year, and it's great. I ended up finding a Y cable (randomly at Target) for the outlet that has a USB charger on top and two outlets. The two outlets fit in the space under the dash that can't really be used for anything else. I plugged the charger for my Garmin (which has a charging dock) into one of those outlets and it turns out you can't see any of the wiring, so it looks great and I didn't have to do any electrical work to do it.

I'd definitely recommend it.

 

Thanks for the info! I love the look of that mount, but it sure seems like a lot to pay for a single piece of aluminum and a few screws. None the less, thanks for the advice!