There's a lengthy thread about which phones pair with the Mini BT option that many of us have. The info regarding that topic via the web is very outdated. The only way to know is to try and pair your phone and see. I have a BB Pearl and my MA paired it when I got my car in April, works fine address book and all. I thought I should start a thread about the possible use of adapter sleeves to use in the armrest to charge the phone and use the car antenna to improve reception, which would be good for many users. Here is a list from BMW USA of phones that have a BMW adapter sleeve which should work (hopefully) in the Mini's armrest.
http://www.bimmernav.com/store/catal...products_id=96

They cost between $75 and $120 depending on the phone. My phone now has one as of October.
RAMSES II has pointed out that not all phones will be able to use the Mini's external antenna even with the expensive sleeve. I was naive and thought that if I got one my reception would improve as well as charging my phone. This is from my owner's manual for the mobile phone package after you insert the purchased adapter sleeve into the armrest: "Depending on the type of mobile phone, remove the protective cap of the mobile phone antenna so that the mobile phone can snap into place in the snap-in adapter." This means that if your phone does not have a port on the back for an external antenna (mine does not) then the adapter merely charges your phone in the purchased armrest sleeve. In other words it would be a $120 charger for my Pearl (pass on that!). RAMSES' older Nokia has an antenna port so his will both charge and connect to his Mini antenna. So before you buy such a sleeve you should check your phone for an external antenna connection first so you know what you're buying. I think that point should be made because I was confused about it and almost bought one.

 

really.. you don't say!

 

What... No love for me???

 

I just checked my Razr. It has an external antenna connection on the back under a rubber cover. Searching the web, I've found 2 kinds of external antennas for it. Ones that will plug into that port on the phone and one that is more "passive" that velcros over that port on the phone. The ones that plug in give it about twice the gain of the one that simply velcros.

On the Razr phone cradle, there is one connection, the USB. The cradle does have a lot of circuitry inside. It's not just a hollow plastic sleeve with a connector. Not sure what all the stuff on the circuit board does but maybe it has some kind of antenna connection either passive or through the USB port.

The cradle will be returned if it's not doing the 2 things Mini said it would. Hey this sounds like the POI Nav problem...doesn't work as advertised.

 

Yep, these are two things that **** me off on this car. BOTH are VERY expensive items ($2,100 for nav, $650 for Bluetooth prep, plus another $120 for a non-existent sleeve). Niether do what they are supposed to do. If mini would simply make us a generic pigtail to connect in the armrest, then most of us would be happy/ok with it.

Kinda kills a great little car. The finer points are always what ruin a good thing.

 

Well this is interesting. The German manual that came with the sleeve says this,

"Das Mobiltelefon Motorola V3 verfugt bauartbedingt nicht uber einen Anschluss fur eine externe Antenne. Dieses Mobiltelefon wird uber eine drahtlose, im Snap-In-Adapter integrierte Kopplungsantenne mit der AuBenantenne des Fahrzeugs verbunden."

Alta Babel fish translation is rough but basically says this,

"This mobile telephone is connected with a wireless, coupling antenna integrated in the snap in adapter with the external antenna of the vehicle"

So whatever a "wireless coupling antenna" is must mean it is a passive connection. There is a metal U shape bar in the cradle near the bottom edge of the phone, where the phone's internal antenna is. This must be the "wireless antenna connection" since it sits so close to the base of the phone housing.

Wish I could read German and figure out this manual that came with it.

So this indicates even if your phone doesn't have an external antenna connection, it may still be connected through the cradle to the car's antenna.

 

Send me a copy, I work for a German company. Plenty of folks around to translate it for ya! ;-)

 

Really think they'd want to write out 18 pages of translation? I guess I could scan it into a PDF...

 

That's what I thought it said.

In the English version, it says "The original BMW series snap-in adapter ensures that the battery charges and that the network connections via the external aerial is optimized. If not used, poor reception may occur when using the phone and interference when using the hands-free kit."

I found that at:
http://www.bimmernav.com/pdf/razr_man.pdf

 

Thanks for the link. That manual looks just like the German version.

 

Call me skeptical, OK? Birdman remembers those antennas the you shut in the window in the old days that were said to boost the signal of your phone in the car connecting to it "wirelessly". The sold them in the catalogues for like $60 and I bought one (and sent it back promptly). This sounds like the same mumbo jumbo to me. I prefer it snapping into a direct input on the back of the phone and connecting with the wire that runs down the back of the armrest myself. For my Pearl (the battery lasts for days anyway), I'll just leave it in my pocket thanks.

 

Also, this is from the link that Sowellman posted about the BMW RZR snap-in adapter.

 

So someone has to do the scientific work for us: With a sleeve and phone that has no antenna hole in the back go to where you have a low signal on the phone, then put it in the sleeve and see if you get more bars, or if your data signal (Tmobile) goes from GMS or edge to EDGE on the phone. I'd even like to see it done if there is an antenna hole in the back of the phone too.

 

The Razr does have an antenna connection on the back, but the cradle doesn't. It would have been easy to have one on the cradle so I'm not sure why they didn't. It could have connected as you pivot the phone down flat into the armrest.

In the manual for my car it shows the signal strength on the Nav's status line. In my car, I only see a little antenna symbol when the phone has a signal, but no strength indicator. I wonder which phones show the strength as well. That's one big drawback to having the phone inside the armrest. You can't tell if you have full signal or 1 bar.

 

Everyone,

I bought the one for the Razor. It has a USB - Mini port and I was really hope to get it to work for my Moto Q. Since my Radio Shack Frequent Shoppers Club Card expired a few years ago, I have since decided to scrap the idea.

Also of note, it only works on the Gen 3 Razor, I think. Because Gen 2 had the port upside down. Anyway, my friend who has a Razor with Cingular has been able to charge it.

Another thing that's cool about it, is when the ignition is off, the power to the arm rest remains on so it will charge the phone with the car off. Nice because the cig lighter doesn't do that.

 

Can't you flip it open with it connected in the armrest and see the signal bars?

 

I'd put that post into the for sale section. I'm sure someone will jump at it. That's a good deal. Especially since Razr 3s can be had for free from many of the cell places. I got mine for $0.

If I slide the armrest top back all the way there is enough room. Would have been more convenient to have it displayed on the Nav screen like it shows in the manual though. Maybe that only works when there is a hardwire connection to the phones antenna port.

 

Get to a place where your phone (not in sleeve) gets a marginal signal then put 'er in the sleeve and see if it gets any stronger with the "mystery wireless antenna connection".

 

Before I can do that I have to get up to my dealer and have them check the sleeve. My phone is not charging in it. Either the power leads aren't hooked up in the armrest or the cradle itself is dead. So mine wouldn't be a good test at the moment. I'll give it a shot next time I'm out in the car though.

 

Bignewt, Are you asking me a question, or stating that I remember those antenna's....?

Anywhooozle, I think you guys are mis-interpreting the read in the manual. It's not saying that it is a "wireless connection between the phone and the external antenna". It is saying that when you connect the phone to the snap in adapter, you are connecting directly (via hardwire) to an external cellular (aka wireless) antenna.

It's not written the best in the 1st place (in German), and then it's being made worse thru a bad translation to english. That's my take anyway.

I do know for sure that there is an antenna lead in the armrest, that goes down into the car and into a black box. I've seen that wireing diagram. If I recall (and I'll look for that diagram again..link to it somwhwere...), the antenna is the body of the car.

 

The antenna likely works via "induction" (wireless) to the cellphone (whatever kind) and then extends the range via the lead to the antenna in the "sharkfin" on the roof/

 

If that is the case, then the Razr has no connection to the outside antenna as it only has the USB connection on the cradle, and not a connection to the phones external antenna port. Even though the english version of the manual that was posted above says the Razr uses a wireless connection to the cradle's antenna connection.

 

This should help.... see attachment

 

I don't know what it means. I see the box on the bottom with wiring for cradle, hf button, mike, antenna. The antenna line does not go inside the box. What do you make of this Birdman? I don't see why wiring needs to go to the mike with BT on either.

 

I thought in one of the bluetooth threads on here there was talk about a phone cradles which used multiple connection points on the phone cradle to the phone. Using one for power and one for antenna. I would guess if that is the case, the phone cradle itself would have that wiring connection. I don't think that wiring diagram has the cradle wiring shown.