Does anyone have a MINI with factory bluetooth AND a Garmin Nuvi with bluetooth? How would you sort that out for most efficient use. Who has seen this combo?

 

The Nuvi's bluetooth is for connecting to a phone. The Mini's system is for connecting to a phone. The two won't talk to each other. The Mini won't see the Nuvi as a phone even if you have paired the phone to the Nuvi.

 

Also, if you were trying to pair the phone with both the Mini and the Nuvi, that won't work either- Bluetooth is a one-connection-at-a-time deal. Pairing up with one will disconnect the other.

 

Thanks for your response. I realize you can only pair one device at a time. I guess what I was really asking was: is there any advantage to using the Nuvi bluetooth over the MINI's system, or vice versa, or should I save money and get a Nuvi without bluetooth?

 

The Nuvi's bluetooth some advantages. Garmin updates firmware for their devices quite often. Which means it will be compatible with more of todays phones. The Mini's system seems to have a limited list of compatible phones, many being older models. Does the Mini's bluetooth function work for you? I would think the car's system would give you better sound quality. I wasn't impressed with my Nuvi 660's sound quality when using bluetooth.

 

Yeah I would say the MINI's bluetooth is superior to the Nuvi's. I don't have the OEM bluetooth, but I have the hardwired-in Parrot version from NewMiniStuff, and I tried the phone hooked up to the Parrot and hooked up to the Nuvi. On the Nuvi people complained they couldn't hear me, and having the sound come out of the Nuvi was not as good as it coming out of the stereo speakers.

So if you have built-in bluetooth and were only considering a particular Nuvi for the bluetooth, then yeah, I'd save the money.

 

Those were very useful and informative responses. I have a compatible phone already, so that is not an advantage. The sound quality issue is very compelling, so I probably will forgo bluetooth on the Nuvi. I am curious though. Sound quality aside, is the bluetooth user interface, display, etc. better with the Nuvi?

 

It looks pretty much like any phone bluetooth interface...you can put it in discover mode, and it will find everything around that has bluetooth (for me, this includes my Parrot, even though I can synch them, they don't do anything together...I tried this in an attempt to get the Nuvi directions to play over the stereo speakers but it didn't work). Then you just choose which device you want it to pair with and off it goes. I don't use the bluetooth on mine, so I just leave it disabled. On a whole, it's pretty easy to use (there's an entire dedicated bluetooth menu) compared with my Parrot, which I only have a voice-guided interface for (that's currently stuck in French, haha)...but in terms of day-to-day functionality, a built-in bluetooth solution that uses the car stereo and a dedicated microphone works a lot better. With the Parrot, I just hop in the car and within 15 seconds, it recognizes my phone and switches the call to the speakers - I don't have to do anything. I don't know how that compares with the OEM bluetooth, but you can't get much easier than that, once it's set up.

Just to add a little more info, this the kit I have: click. But it's for R50/R53.

For an R56 car, this is the one that would apply: click.

It sounds like you don't have a bluetooth phone or GPS situation sorted out yet...I can't speak for the ease of installation on an R56 but on my car I have the above interface for bluetooth and a Nuvi 680, and the combination works great for me. I know the OEM bluetooth is pricey - for the R53 it was something like $1200 and didn't even work with my phone at the time, so this was a better option AND it integrates the MFSW buttons. It really is hands-free and I use the MFSW buttons to answer and end calls.

 

I get my new MINI this weekend. My plan all along was to get a Nuvi, I just wasn't sure which model, but I think I'm OK with one that doesn't have bluetooth. I've been looking at the MINI Garmin nav bracket installation (without the nav). This forum has pointed me to Classic Auto for the part and I think (I hope) I can install it myself. There's a new Garmin model, the 800 series that has speech recognition, due out this quarter, and I may wait for that. Any comments or advice about the installation of the Nuvi GPS?

 

The new Garmin sounds good...voice recognition would be handy!

I can't comment a whole lot on the installation - I use the windshield mount, but I have it positioned way down in the lower driver's side corner of the windshield. I don't care for any of the mounts that are out there, and I like it way down and out of the way where it is now.

The only caveat with the model I have (680) is that it has the MSN Direct thing on it, and the receiver for the MSN is in the part of the cord that plugs into the cigarette lighter. So there was no way to hardwire it and keep the MSN stuff - not a huge ordeal, I don't use the MSN that often but it's nice for weather alerts. Anyway, so I had to discreetly tuck the cord in and zip-tie it under the dash, and then it's just plugged in to the front cigarette lighter. But for those who are dead-set on hardwiring it, it's not the best model for that.

 

You can add a 12v socket up behind the dash and then plug in the MSN direct antenna. I've read some other people here doing that. My 660 is the same way. It uses the power cord for the FM traffic function. It also has LEDs on it to show when it's picking up the signal.

 

Keep in mind that the MINI Garmin bracket won't fit any nuvi other than the 350/360. In addition to the electrical connections being different on the 600, 700, and 800 series, there's not enough space between the MINI nav bracket and the factory gauges to mount any nuvi wider than the 350/360.

 

Yeah that's on my list of things to do. But I don't use the socket for anything else (my iPhone charges via my OEM iPod adapter), so for now it's fine.

 

Hi,

I have this set up, I have a Garmin 360 with bluetooth, but I have the factory bluetooth in both my BMW and my Mini. I turn off the Garmin Bluetooth if I'm driving either of these cars, and I turn it on if I rent a car and bring the Garmin with me or if I'm driving my mom or sisters car.

The thing I do miss with using the Garmin in my Mini and not activating the bluetooth is when you want to make a call to a business that you searched for if bluetooth is turned on, you just push the screen and it will automatically dial the number for you. But since that function is turned off, you have to either dial the number from your Mini Panel or through the phone which is a pain if you are driving.

 

Whoa! That's a critical piece of information. Are you sure? There's no work-around? It's only an inch wider. If true, I'll have to have a completely different kind of installation. I'm not crazy about a windshield mount.

 

You can probably ask anyone here if they've done it, but I seem to recall that someone tried and it was a no-go. At the very least, you'll have to transfer the mounting bracket from your bigger nuvi to the MINI bracket, since the number/size of electrical connections are different between the 350/360 and the 600/700/800 series.

As for physically making it fit, here's a picture of the OEM setup with a nuvi 350:



I don't think there's an extra half-inch between the GPS and the tachometer, but you might be able to re-drill some of the mounting holes in the bracket, or possible offset the Garmin mount on the MINI bracket to make it work.