Ive had my F56 a few weeks now, I purchased it used, its a 2015. No NAV but it does have the extended blue tooth radio with HK speakers. Please forgive me if this has been answered before, I did search the forum but got so many hits, it would take me a year to get through all the threads ( maybe im not searching correctly, newbness)

The whole Mini Connected thing baffles me. I am able to plug my Android phone in via usb and also setup my account using the Mini Connected App. it connects, reads my calendar, contacts and picked up my email ( when I view my Office). However the app on my phone only has one function, trip recording and destination listings, fuel, etc. Is that all this app does? I was under the impression that Mini Connected did more. Are there additional apps I need to put on my phone?

The manual is vague and even MINI's website is confusing on the matter. Please keep in mind that I am very green when it comes to MINI. This is my first MINI and my first experience with one.

I come from having a RAM Truck as my daily driver until I switched to the MINI My RAM had U-Connect, which is a powerful system. It can read your texts, send texts and also has an array of applications, like YELP, etc. U-connect can do remote things to your truck from the phone app, like remote start, flash lights, lock or unlock remotely. You can even setup a wireless access point and get internet in your vehicle. Of course all of this comes at a price, U-connect was 16 bucks a month for the subscription and the Wifi was more.

I kind of expected MINI Connected to at least be somewhat like U-connect but im learning its no where near. Ive tried to understand MINI Connected better but im at a loss. Is there more to it than my pea brain is reckoning?

Any help is appreciated.

John

 

I briefly looked at that app, I don't think it does much. Also I think the MINI is better suited to Iphones.

MINI in car entertainment is far behind other car companies. When my wife rents cars she always complains how much better those cheap cars perform with navigation and other connected chores.

However for me personally, the less connectivity beyond music the better. I'm dinosaur in the car and less is better. At home I'm ok with tech.

 

I had a Jeep before this MINI, and now also have MINI Connected with an Android. My Jeep's UConnect was slow and not as graphically pleasing as in the MINI. I see the same issue with the Connected app.; it doesn't do a whole lot.

 

My Wife's U-connect in her Patriot is sub par and not at all as good as what I had in my RAM. It worked great. I do think the tone of the voice in the Mini is more pleasing. My wife even teases me that she ( MINI Voice) sounds sensual.. LOL. I wish the MINI had better features that you didnt have to go so many menus down just to have it read you a text. Thanks!

John

 

Yep--shocked me, too. It does nothing. The only thing I find advantageous about plugging in via USB is that the music shows artwork and playlists properly, every time. Bluetooth has improved with the latest iOS 11 version for sure, but if you haven't updated to even 11, you probably experience issues once in a while.

...My phone's pretty good. I rarely plug it in via USB lol

If the app had some cool stuff, I would.

 

I use it mainly for Pandora.

 

Im glad to see that im not dumb, lol Thank you for all of your replies. Ill just shrug my shoulders with a sigh of " oh well" and move on. IMO the lack of Mini Connected functionality is small compared to the absolute fun and quality this car offers. Having my phone totally sync with my vehicle is a feature that Ill miss coming from my RAM, however there are just too many other things that are cool about my MINI to disappoint me. I have never had a car excite me every single time I sit in the driver's seat. This is a great new experience. Im just sorry I did not buy a MINI sooner!

John

 

Nobody said you're not dumb! I mean, you did buy a Mini. If I had read any of the reviews or forums before I bought my '07MCS I would have never bought a Mini. Now I'm on my second one and couldn't be happier. And all this time I thought my Corvette and Harley were expensive to maintain/mod. Little did I know. Enjoy your car. I know I do mine, even though it gets harder every day to get in and out of it. Of course some of that's my fault for installing the Sparco racing seats.

 

Not certain this helps, but its kind of on topic. But here goes.

My dealer has a program that I think was called "First Date". After you had your car for a few weeks, you schedule a complimentary session w/ a very savvy young techie. He had actually attended training in Germany. It was free form and he answered my complete list of questions as we sat in my car. He was able to get text messages to display on the screen.

I have a 2017 F57 S convertible w/ Nav, Connected XL and the larger display. The mini connected app on my iPhone 6 is just a trip logger w/ mpg, avg speed, times, distance, etc. The Mini XL JourneyMate app allows me to bypass entering destinations into Nav via iDrive ****. The app interface works much like google or apple maps. You then send the destination from the phone to the car.

I told the techie that the Mini XL JourneyMate was a work around to the awful user interface that most in-car nav systems have. He smiled broadly.

In summary, Mini technology is just not what it should be for a car from BMW that cost what they do.

Enjoy your new mini.

 

It's more than that. It's how phone apps can be displayed and controlled via iDrive, e.g. internet radio apps.

 

Don't worry, MINI Connected is useles, i can only recommend to save the money for a own system such as NAVDY, it replaces US 3.000,-- worth of MINI extras, and you have a free HUD which would come to another 700 extra.

Instead of waiting for hours to load music, connect the system again and again, you just enjoy text messages, navigation, full iTunes, highend dashboard ( which reveals that the car drives 12 km/h slower than the
digital MINI gauge joke)


The initial Connected had some nice features, such as the driving analyser monitoring your "driving skills" , your could even collect badges, it was fun.

They replaced that 2.8 version two years ago, with that latest APP.

You simply have to know that they look only for their own fun, if you are aware of alternative possibilities, you can easily plug out that connected antenna out of your a.....

 

+1 on the NAVDY.

 

Navdy also shows that, the MINI digital speedometer, is part of the Hipster show, MINI has establish around the F Series. What they use the analog speedo
for is completely unknown.

The Car is obvious much slower than the indicated 248 Km/h ex factory. This fact is certainly for 90% of the JCW users unknown as they never gor over 55 Miles, however a good reason to give the car back !