Adding bluetooth audio to my 2009 MCCS
 

What's the best way to add bluetooth audio to my 2009 MCCS. My car does not have nav but it does have the ipod/usb/aux port below the center console. I also already have the ability to pair my phone via bluetooth. I'm just looking for a way to use my phone to play music wirelessly.

Thanks for any responses!

Belkin Aircast. Easy to install/use, sounds great, no issues. Pairs with any BT audio device, connects to the aux-in port and powers with a 12v outlet plug (that has a USB charge port also).

I looked into this as well, and posted my findings about a month ago. Here's what I found. The Griffin BlueTrip and Belkin Aircast are similar devices.
Griffin BlueTrip This just plugs into your 3.5mm aux in jack and is powered by your cigarette lighter plug. It has its own mic. It's the cheapest option I've seen, but based on the price, I can't imagine the call quality will be good, and you have to have your stereo on aux to answer a call.
ViseeO Tune2air This one looks really sleek and integrated, but appears to only work with iPhones.
Parrot MKi family This one looks promising as it will hard-wire into your stereo, and there is an add-on module to use the factory wheel buttons. You can get one with a large display, small display, or no display (reads commands to you through the stereo). Most likely not much integration with the factory stereo, and will most likely render your factory bluetooth connection & mic redundant.
DICE Electronics MediaBridge This one seems to offer the most factory integration - steering wheel buttons, displaying music info on the stereo, etc. But, doesn't appear to be compatible with all MINI stereos...yet. I emailed DICE and asked about compatibility for 2nd gen. They said to stay tuned.

I have the belkin kit, I got it on Black Friday for 30 dollars, best mod I've purchased. Very easy to use, pairs with my iPhone and note 2 easily.

If you use the belkin aircast to stream music over blue tooth can you still use the cars blue tooth connection to answer the phone over the cars built in microphone?

I got beewi bba100 for bt music. As an audiophile, i have to say sound quality is flawless. I dunno about belkin and parrot but i think you have to take a look to this product too.

But, I don't have bt option installed in my mini, so i tried to use mic on it couple of times, but my voice was inaudible, so bear in mind, if you wanna use mic too, it's useless.

I have the Belkin now. The Aircast isn't bad. Decent audio quality.

I've tried the Griffin BlueTrip Aux... horrible audio quality. Absolutely no low end at all.

I've tried the New Potato TuneLink. I like that it was A2DP only. I have my windows down most of the time. I have no desire to carry on a conversation from the car itself. That's what I use a quality headset for.


Recently, I ordered to Kinivo BTC450. This is similar in style to the Belkin. It supports better audio transmissions. This weekend, I plan on hard wiring the 12V to the existing cigarette lighter, and hiding all wire in the dash. I'm not sure where, but I will be hard mounting the Kinivo as well. I will likely tuck it in the cubby in front of the cup holders and shifter. I want to get back to the full factory look.

I'll post pictures when it's done. If anyone has any great ideas on parts available in the US, I'm open to suggestions. I looked at a Power Take Off from newminitstuff.com. I can't find a US source for this part.

XC

ViseeO for the win
 

I wound up switching to the Bluetooth unit and am using it with my Galaxy Note 3 and it works flawlessly and sounds great.
The greatest part is that my steering wheel controls for next and previous song works as well as compared to using the Kinivo or the Belkin unit.
It has an old style iphone connector on it so it works with the Y Cable from mini.
ViseeO makes a special Y cable for the mini that allows the song names to be passed to the radio as well and I have that on order. Right now it just says next where the song name would be. LOVE LOVE LOVE this unit. It even works in my other car with a Dension PCM Adapter although there is no song name support in that scenario.

Question though:

How does this provide better sound quality than a straight up aux cable?

You're still connecting to the aux right?

It is technically not as good quality.
 

Because your are transmitting over Bluetooth radio waves so there has to be some signal loss but I can't really hear the difference myself.

I like this solution because it allows me to use the steering wheel controls for volume and to advance and rewind songs with my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 while being recognized as an iPod by the stereo.

I don't spend a lot of time in the car so I don't connect it to power often so being wireless is nice compared to having to plug in an iPHone per se into the Y Cable.

The only downside for me is that there is no name display on the radio. It just says Next most of the time or Prev.

ViseeO makes a cable for iPhones that retain the names on the stock radio display. It doesn't work for Android.

I actually tried the special ViseoO cable with my iPod nano and it didn't work so I don't have much faith in it. I bought it on ebay. They were good enough to take it back for a full refund. I'm not sure if it works with iPhone because I don't have one anymore. Don't miss it either. Tiny screen just doesn't cut it anymore. :razz:

So, which Y-cable do I need. The only iPod cable I can find on MINI's site is the iPhone charger cable which is $100. That' puts the whole setup at $200. Kind of steep for this.

This one from a few posts up . ViseeO Cable.

Let us know if it works with your iPhone

No, not that one. The MINI one. I have a Galaxy S4.

I have the 2012 mini cooper S and use the standard mini cable that is iPod 30 pin on one side and usb and 3.5mm stereo on the other. It think it was pretty expensive but don't remember the price anymore. maybe 35 bucks or so from the dealer.

Hmm. I've got a '09 clubman s.

I can't seem to find a y-cord on MINI's site. Just $100 iPhone charging cable that has three ends.

That's probably it. 100 dollars seems steep though. I think mine cost around 35 or 40 dollars at the local mini dealer.