I thought it would be useful -- as those of us with Mini Connected have a chance to futz with it more -- to start a thread that lists the system's quirks in the hope that some of us may have found workarounds.

I'll start with this one:

I use Bluetooth audio streaming quite a bit. I like the fact that I can jump into the car with my iPhone in my pocket and the system automagically starts playing whatever I was last listening to...picking up right where I left off. The quirk comes in when I then plug in the phone for whatever reason. Up pops a message saying that Bluetooth audio would have to shut down, since the iPhone doesn't support USB audio with Bluetooth activated.

Okay, I assume that's an iPhone limitation. Fair enough. But the next time I get in the car and want to reactivate Bluetooth audio I have to go through a complex process involving several screens and a bunch of trial and error. Wonder if any of you have found a way to more easily reactive Bluetooth.

 

Don't suppose there's a workaround for this one, but how in the world did Mini design an interface where they didn't settle on turning the control clockwise or counterclockwise to move down a list on the screen. It varies, depending on which application you're in. At least it makes me smile still that with a 50/50 chance, I invariably guess wrong.

 

I have no tricks to circumvent this cumbersome process. This is why I don't use it. I'd love to know of a workaround though.

I did use the BT audio streaming in a focus (rental) I was driving several months ago. The BT audio streaming worked great but I had the same issue with conflicts after plugging the phone in. It seems it is a limitation of the phones OS. I did have issues quite often with the phone pairing once I got it the car. I haven't noticed any pairing issues in my MINI at all...at least not as far as the pairing for the phone functionality.

 

This may be a quirk with the digital clock. Sometimes it doesn't show up immediately. Happens in the 'master view' screen and in the navigation screen.

 

Ok...I gave up trying to figure it out, but how do you get BT Audio Streaming working to start with? I have an iPhone 3GS with latest up, the VisualBoost/MiniConnected (No NAV) and could not get it to work. I have also not yet seen the 'Plugin' option in Mini Connected like shown in all these promo videos. I dont see it on the iPhone app, nor on the console screen...is it not yet available in Canada? I assume that I cannot see 'album art' until that time, but please advise if I should be seeing it already....

Please note, that this is a 2011 (Nov 2010 build) MINI Clubman, I have the correct Y cable (have seen audio and movies play), but that this is a CANADIAN Mini....seems like some things come out in the US/UK/Canada under different releases....

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks!!!

 

My Mini Connect will reset the ipod in the iphone. This will make the ipod forget the position saved of music and books. So if you are 45 min into a book, it will revert to zero and start to play. It seems not to reset the book if you wait until the Connect has totally booted.

 

Anyone able to use Android phone to play music ie Pandora with connect?

 

I don't know if this is a quirk or not. Hopefully, it's not serious.
Driving down the freeway in my 2011 Clubman a few days ago and all of a sudden the navigation screen goes dark. It was probably just a few seconds but seemed longer. Then the screen goes red for an equal amount of time and then the Mini logo appears for a few seconds. After that the navigation screen reappeared and all functions worked again.

Seemed just like a computer reboot. Since it is a computer it doesn't seem unreasonable that this will happen from time to time.

Anyone else have this happen?

 

Okay, I sat down in my MINI in the driveway hoping to chronicle a step-by-step procedure for getting Bluetooth audio to work with MINI Connected and my iPhone 4. While I did get it to work eventually, the process was basically trial and error, with checkboxes mysteriously unchecking themselves and persistance ultimately winning out.

I can tell you that if you start in the CD/Multimedia section and then click on External Devices, you will see the Bluetooth section. From there, I just kept clicking until it finally surrendered and turned on BT audio.

 

poogle, I'm in the exact same situation as you. I'm in Canada, have a 2011 MINI Clubman built at the end of 2010, have MINI Connected w/o Nav and I use an iPhone 4. I have never seen the PlugIn option and I have never been able to use BT audio streaming with my iPhone (which I would love to be able to do!).

Even worse, I have lost the Web Radio option in the last month (don't know what triggered this loss, still trying to understand what happened!).

And even though I should have the Voice option in my MINI (speaking and reading), I don't. This is a problem that they identified and my dealer has been waiting for parts for more than 2 months now to correct this. Maybe when this option will be activated, I will get my PlugIn, album art and my Web Radio back.

Can you use voice control in your MINI? And can it read your Facebook or Twitter statuses back to you?

I'm really glad to have found someone who has the same problems as I have. Let's keep in touch! Paying $1200 for MINI Connected and being used as a beta-tester is not very nice...

Christian

 

blacter - I am only using a 3GS iPhone. But I have noted that when I pair it, I never see options for Bluetooth audio (in the telephone linking options) like I have seen in screenshots. Do you see those with your phone?

I am thinking that I with my model maybe, that I cannot even set up the initial pairing with audio, thus why I have never seen the option in the external devices options... :(

 

---------------------------------
Christian,
I am tempted to ask which dealer! I was told that the voice control options only came if you HAD the NAV, and not just the Mini Connected. I do not have voice readback or command of media like they mention in the manual for those with the Voice Control options. (Though I dont use it, I supposedly do have the voice control of the phone thing for placing calls etc) As I didnt order mine, took one of lot type of thing, I didnt specify the Voice Option, but I was under the impression that it is simply part of the NAV option, not part of the MINI Connected w/o NAV.

My dealer has claimed, and since you are in same boat I assume its correct, that we in Canada are waiting for an updated APP from MINI to support the 'PlugIn' option (which I hope comes soon as I had more features in my previous MINI related to iPod playback functionality then I have currently - like random shuffled playback!).

As for the Web Radio - I have not had issues (using a 3GS though), and am thinking you should double check the settings in the APP on the phone. I am thinking maybe you have switched, with an APP update possibly, to be set for use of Mission Control instead of Web Radio (can only use one or the other, not both - settings actually on phone though, not in the MINI). That could be the issue there....


Note on Video Playback - I too had experienced the audio not synched as others had commented on, when watching Videos from the iPhone on the MINI Connected screen. However, I have also seen that the synch is perfect with actual iPods (using older and newer iPod Classic models). It seems to be a bug in the iPhones (at least the 3GS anyway!) that shows the audio out of synch with the video playing back.

 

My MINI was bought in Trois-Rivières, in the province of Québec. For a moment, I thought that the voice control was part of the NAV option too but my dealer said that I should have voice control, at least for the phone. As of now, I don't have any voice control, recognition or playback at all. And MINI Connected should be able to read to me Facebook and Twitter statuses, which it doesn't do right now. They are currently waiting for parts from MINI to add Voice control to my car.

Interesting info concerning PlugIn. Why on Earth would Canada not get the PlugIn option and the rest of the world would? I don't really understand but I can't wait to use it. As for the random shuffled playback, you can get it without the PlugIn option. When a song is played, just flick your joystick to the right and you'll see the Shuffle option (in French, it's labeled «Aléatoire», don't know how it's be labeled in English).

As for Webradio, you are absolutely right! Thanks for this info. It's a little bit silly that we have to chosse between Mission Control and Webradio... My wife will be happy, she can't stand Mission Control!

Let's keep in touch, we're learning from each other as we go along!

Christian

 

I've been using the Apple USB cable with my iPhone4 to use the bulk of the basis MINI Connected features, and have also displayed album art while selected as an external audio device. After downloading a few new albums from iTunes I noticed that the album art was only being displayed for the original items, not the newly downloaded stuff. Weird.

I tried using the MINI-supplied Y-cable (the iPod compatible one) and the new art still wouldn't display (but the old stuff did). However, after trying the Y-cable and going back to the Apple USB cable, the new album art suddenly started to appear and everything is showing up perfectly now.

Any ideas why?

 

Somehow I lost my album art! I have been using Mini Connected without problems since I got my car. My album art was showing up with the plug in selected. But after trying the bluetooth music option I lost album art when going back to the plug in. I have been playing videos and some tv shows using the multi media without out any issues. I removed the iPhone option for bluetooth music but still have no album art with the plug in. I am not sure what I did wrong.