They should have just designed it so one mic will cover both sides.

 

You must be referring to the guy named "Neuman" on the old Seinfeld show, he was hard of hearing!!

 

do you think the dealers would take care of this before i took home my mini?

 

Hard to say. You might be able to persuade them, you might not. They might want to charge you their outrageous labor fee. MINI of Mountain View charges $150 per hour for labor. Other dealers are a little lower. I guess it depends on how well you negotiate and how willing your dealer is to please you.

This swap is a fairly easy DIY job.

 

Actually, Neumann is the manufacturer of very high end German condenser microphones. Even the Beatles used em.

 

I just got around to checking my microphone placement and it is on the passenger side as well. I went to perform this mod but I'm having difficulties getting the wiring harness out of the microphone so that I can reroute the cable.

Just to make sure I'm inserting my small screwdriver into the correct slot, is this the correct one? I didn't think the arrow was going to be so small, it looked bigger in my software. You'll need to click on the thumbnail to see the spot I'm referring to.




Thanks!

 

I got it, I couldn't pull it out of the socket with just my fingers. I ended up using a small pair of curved nose vice grips to get a better grip on it. I was then able to remove the connector so I could re-route the wiring.

 

Just checked mine - I have the bluetooth microphone on the driver side (left). Odd that some are on the wrong side. It could be an issue of something missed during PDI.

Also, on the heated seats and PFMs - I have them and you can put them on the configurator - you just have to select the PFMs first and select the heated seats as a standalone option. Try it out and you'll see.

 

You can select them in any order, you just have to select them as stand alone options versus the cold weather package.

 

I just finished this mod. The jury is still out regarding any improvement in voice quality.

The easiest way to do this mod is to pull off cover, then with a T20 torx remove the 2 screws holding the overhead console. After these 2 screws are removed, simply release the 6 clips holding the console. You will end up with it in your hand. Swap the position of the mic to the driver's side, re-install everything in reverse order and you're done.

Thanks much for the tip!

 

Thanks indeed for the tip. I checked mine tonight, and the microphone is on the passenger side. When I get a spare 10 minutes, I'll have to take the overhead console off to move the wire and mic to the drivers side.

 

I checked mine and it was on the passenger side too. Thanks to all the great instructions. It took me only about 10 minutes to move it to the other side. The simple way was to remove the 2 screws and lower the whole unit. Made it much easier to reroute the wire. Now I want to see if anyone notices the difference in mic quality.

 

I really think that this thread needs pictures of the relocation of the microphone.

 

It's not that hard, the difficult part for me was getting the connector out of the microphone so that I could reroute the wiring. Once you pop off the panel you'll see the microphone on either the right or left side. If it is on the left (driver's) side, pop the panel back in place. If it is one the right (passenger's) side, follow the directions to remove the panel that is held in place with the 2 torx screws and a the clips. You'll want to do this to make it easier to reroute the wiring behind the panel. It really is self explanatory once you get started on it.

 

Ok, I got part way through doing this and then remembered this post, so I grabbed my camera. Unfortunately, some of the pictures I took to guide you from the start include the wire after it's already been moved

Hopefully, they are still illustrative

1) Dig your fingers into the headliner where the arrow is, and carefully snap out the center console cover.




2) It should pop off easily, and you will see the microphone attached to this cover (yellow and black wires). This photo was taken at the end on reassembly, when I'd already moved the mic. YOU should see it on the OTHER side, and there should be more exposed wire and it should come down lower. The microphone sits in a little 'box' in this cover, and you just need to press down on the tab at the back of this box to release the microphone from the cover. You can do step 6) next, if you prefer.



3) Unscrew the two Torx 20 screws shown below (again, this was taken AFTER I had moved the wiring to the other side)



4) The center console should now pop out. Guide it out carefully; you can squeeze on the 6 tabs (one is arrowed in the picture) to help it out



5) You should now be where I am below (finally, a photo taken pre-move!). In the photo, I have indicated the mic and a piece of masking tape I removed, to give me the extra wire length needed.



6) Here is a close up of the mic. To remove the wire plug, push in on the tab indicated and pull the plug out.



7) Now, re-route the wire through the same hole on the opposite side, then re-seat the center console in the roof and ensure no wires are trapped or located where the screws go.

8) Screw back in the two Torx 20 screws, reattach the wire to the microphone, re-seat / snap-in the microphone in the center console cover (with the long arrow pointing to the front of your car), and snap the center console cover back in place! Done!

 

Of course mine was installed on the wrong side oh well. I moved mine today. The job could have been even easier if I had just used a pull wire to get the mic wire moved. There really was no need to remove the 2 torx screws.

 

Just did this to mine. However the easiest part is not going back on. The cover you pry down won't sit flat on the headliner any more. Passenger side front corner is in the little metal clip but it doesn't hold tight enough. There's a 1/8" gap roughly 1.5" both directions from that corner keeping me from driving today.

Anyone else have this trouble? It was definitely flush when I took it apart. No tabs are broken and it is aligned properly. The metal clip that grabs it has the same gap as the 3 others that hold. I can get the front edge flush but that corner pops loose once I push the rear edge up into the clips. With the whole thing out of the ceiling it snaps on just like it should. Obviously something is not right...

 

Put this mod off 'til now because only recently have I had the "You sound like you're in a tin can" comment. Hopefully I will get positive feedback on the other end of my calls. I'll report back.

Useful tip. Thanks.

12/7/07: Seems to work better now. Comments have been positive.

 

Not to kill the DIY spirit, but shouldn't a MINI dealer do this for me? If the mic is on the "wrong" side for a US car, shouldn't they be willing to move it as a waranty/satisfaction issue?

 

Online manuals. this is the first that I heard that you can get them. how do you download them?

 

Go to the Owners Lounge on the Mini website. After you sign in, click on the "Your Mini" link. One of the choices for the menu that will come up on the left side of the screen is for "owners manuals." Just click on the one you need.

 

You can always try. Tell them about complaints from callers and they might do it. They might also tell you that having it on the right is right.

 

That might not even get them to do it. It's even shown in the owners manual on the right side.

 

And truthfully - does the location actually seem to impact sound quality to the end recipient? Mine is on the right and I've not noticed any differnce from this car and the last car that had it on the left.

 

I haven't had anyone mention sound quality on a call, but I have noticed the voice recognition seems to be more accurate with it moved.