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Navigation & AudioAudio upgrades, bluetooth, and navigation discussions surrounding the Clubman (R55), Cooper and Cooper S (R56), and Cabrio (R57) MINIs.
Did anyone ever figure out why they were getting poor FM reception? I am in the middle of my install and the FM is poor, I also have that blue wire that says something about Antenna amp boost, but not sure what I would wire it into. I have the Bentley Mini cooper manual, but it doesn't have a radio wiring diagram.
Also, My mini already had Bluetooth hands free calling. Does the new unit use the microphone in the headliner? Or is it using the mic in the face of the unit? If so, is there a way to force it to use the factory hands free mic?
I also have a USB port and a Aux in jack below my climate controls, those don't seem to be functional with the new unit just plugging the wiring harness in. I'm wondering if I have to bypass the wiring for the jacks and run a USB cable to the new head unit and an RCA to 3.5mm cable to use the aux in?
Did anyone ever figure out why they were getting poor FM reception? I am in the middle of my install and the FM is poor, I also have that blue wire that says something about Antenna amp boost, but not sure what I would wire it into. I have the Bentley Mini cooper manual, but it doesn't have a radio wiring diagram.
Also, My mini already had Bluetooth hands free calling. Does the new unit use the microphone in the headliner? Or is it using the mic in the face of the unit? If so, is there a way to force it to use the factory hands free mic?
I also have a USB port and a Aux in jack below my climate controls, those don't seem to be functional with the new unit just plugging the wiring harness in. I'm wondering if I have to bypass the wiring for the jacks and run a USB cable to the new head unit and an RCA to 3.5mm cable to use the aux in?
Anyone know?
The new unit does not use any of the car's stuff - no headliner mic. It will use the mic in the face of the unit. It's probably pretty crap, actually. I actually took my unit apart and desoldered the one in the face of the unit because it interfered with the different mic that mine came with. There are threads about this around (not on NAM) - search for "Hui Fei bluetooth microphone"
The USB port and Aux In jack won't work. If you want, you can get an adapter for the aux in, though. If I remember correctly, I traced the aux in cable and found whatever kind of connector it had, and made an adapter to connect the aux in to the system's video input. I select the Video input option, and the audio comes through just fine.
I gave up on FM entirely; it simply wasn't worth the effort for me.
Gotcha, so I pulled the plastic insert for the Aux In and USB from the mini front bezel. Any idea what connectors they are? I would like to find a cable that is USB male on one end and the mini male on the other. For the aux it would be great to have a cable with the mini end and Red and White RCA male on the other end.
you can use RealOEM to look up the part and possibly find a mating connector; like as a repair part for example. I could have sworn I found the other end of the audio cable in the car's harness and did something to adapt it to RCA jacks. I'd have to look in the schematic.
In case anyone else ends up in the same place as me on the issue with AUX and USB... after literally 5 hours of searching I found this... which can be be used with the OEM ports on my 2012 R56 to go straight into my aftermarket Seican head unit.
Do you have a stubby antenna? My units radio is spotty, but works, and I have a stubby antenna . But I do get a signal. My older unit before this one didn’t get any signal at all. Might be the electronics inside the unit being faulty....
I have an antenna protruding from the back of my shark fin, maybe 8"? Not sure as I'm not looking at it. However, I'm also a moron, and when I originally posted about the radio I didn't take into account that the car is in the garage for this operation and I have almost no radio reception in the garage. I'll have to report back after I move it out and test again :-)
I finally got the cable (link posted previously) from china. Swapped it into the mini factory housing, put everything together and can confirm that both the OEM USB and OEM Aux In ports are working great with my aftermarket head unit. I gave up on the radio antenna and just left it unplugged. I'll be putting in a HAM radio in the car which can pick up FM stations in an emergency.
Peregrine48, I know you've given up on FM radio, but I thought when I was poking around this weekend, I saw an option in Settings to enable or disable FM reception. I'll see if I can't find it again and let you know.
I also wanted to let folks know I installed Malaysk's ROM from XDA and it's pretty cool. It wasn't difficult, but make sure to follow the instructions so you can use MPH instead of KPH. I haven't found a way to map the MPH button to an actual speed widget yet, but he includes several launchers that have working speedometers you can actually use. Right now, CarWebGuru 2 is my favorite. I'll post up additional screenshot a little later.
Thanks Carpecervisi, I may yet plug the radio back in as I still have speaker crackle even without the radio antenna plugged in. It is present all the power is on to the unit, but noticeable when driving. I've thought about doing Malaysk's ROM, I've certainly flashed a lot of phones over the years, but it looked like there were still a few features not working under that ROM and I don't see a huge advantage to it over the stock ROM that came with the unit. I've got torque installed on my unit and have a permanent Bluetooth OBDII dongle that feeds info for gauges like MPH speedometer.
Hello Everyone, I am new here and just have a question:
Does anyone know why these aftermarket units usually aren't compatible with cars that have the Factory NAV screen? I want to get one of these for my car (2014 Mini Countryman All4). But most I have inquired about say they won't work if I have factory Navigation and screen. Thanks for any input you can give to a new R60 owner.
I believe its because they have different wiring harnesses and other compatibility issues. If you have the factory NAV though, why would you want one of these?
I believe its because they have different wiring harnesses and other compatibility issues. If you have the factory NAV though, why would you want one of these?
Largely because the Factory system is very slow to use and not very intuitive (inputting address with the turn dial/click is silly compared to a touch screen) same goes for controlling the rest of the system. I also want to integrate a Rear backup cam and a dash cam into the system and add apple car play with a car play adapter.
I'm interested in the Topnav unit, it looks very nice and would do everything I want but how bad is the sound quality? All the talk of humming and crackling make me worry. Also, are there any numbers on the output wattage on this thing? I'd be replacing a base audio system with no external amp.
I've had mine for a bit now, The hands free microphone audio is pretty bad when making a call, I can hear the other party fine, but they cannot hear me well. I may have to pull the unit out and desolder something as other's have had to do. I can also confirm that there is audio crackle all of the time, even when the stereo is theoretically off. It's not a deal breaker, I wouldn't hear it when the car is running, but when you first get in and before you fire up the engine it is definitely audible.
Would you all mind posting what versions you have... The MCU version and board ID etc? I'm trying to decide on which one if these to buy.... Leaning towards the Android 8 octa core px5 mtce_kgl version sold by seicane and erisin.
Also has anyone tried one of these with a MOST decoder to use the factory h/k amp?
XTRONS Optical Fiber Head Unit Replacement Decoder for Mercedes-Benz CL/CLS/E/S/SL/SLK https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y673ZRV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_jQ6QBbZ4C26VT
Also has anyone tried one of these with a MOST decoder to use the factory h/k amp?
Don't know if every model of MINI is the same on this but MOST isn't used for the head unit to amp connection on my F56/F55. AFAIK the MOST is BMW cars for the stereo. Could be wrong.
Sorry updates have been sporadic, but I finally buttoned up everything last night. First drive impression is that it's a very well made product and fits great in the MINI.
Second impression is that it was a super pain in the ***** to install. Thank god there are a few really good disassembly videos on YouTube.
To answer ECSTuning's question, you only see the speedometer screen when you press the MPH button. All other functions are available via that screen though so it's not like you're missing out. One issue that I haven't figured out yet with the stock ROM is how to change the speedometer from kph to mph. It has me completely stumped.
On the plus side, these units have pretty good developer support from XDA and they have theirs running in miles per hour. I just don't think the ROM is all that attractive.
Here's the final shot with the nav unit and LCI center stack. I'm really glad I changed out my old gross grey climate controls. It's a much better look.
This is the one I'm leaning towards, not the Seicane unit. Wonder what the sound quality is like on this one?
I prefer the look of that one as well since the Speedo ring in the seicane unit is by all accounts useless. Have you been able to find an Android 8 octa-core version of that one?
If you go into Settings -> About -> MCU you should see something that looks like MTCE_KGL_blah_blah where the thing after MTCE is the manufacturer of the motherboard essentially. If you scroll back you can see that @carpecervisi has an MTCE_HLA based unit.
I'm just trying to figure out based on experiences here if some of these are better than others or not, and that MCU version number is really the only way to tell these units apart.
Last edited by jiggersplat; Sep 27, 2018 at 06:24 PM.
I really like mine and think the sound quality is great...with the following caveat. Like others, I get serious feedback whine if my phone connects for a call via Bluetooth. I assume it’s the crap quality mic that is *somewhere*. It could be interfering with a factory mic, but I don’t think so. If my car had hands free prior to my upgrade, I never used it. And I just have the standard Boost stereo, not the HK with A-pillar speakers.
The stock ROM, as mentioned previously, doesn’t have the speedometer in MPH, but you can load other ones that take that negative away. I will post some screenshots later because I really like my current set up.
One ding I’ll give the unit is support. I’ve exchanged several emails with them asking for the factory ROM (I thought I made a backup but damned if I can find it) and they either don’t understand the request or are willfully not giving it to me. I can’t find it anywhere online and don’t want to brick it by loading an incompatible MCU.
A PX5 version of this head unit would be sweet, but I’ve never seen one. It performs very well, IMHO.
I really like mine and think the sound quality is great...with the following caveat. Like others, I get serious feedback whine if my phone connects for a call via Bluetooth. I assume it’s the crap quality mic that is *somewhere*. It could be interfering with a factory mic, but I don’t think so. If my car had hands free prior to my upgrade, I never used it. And I just have the standard Boost stereo, not the HK with A-pillar speakers.
The stock ROM, as mentioned previously, doesn’t have the speedometer in MPH, but you can load other ones that take that negative away. I will post some screenshots later because I really like my current set up.
One ding I’ll give the unit is support. I’ve exchanged several emails with them asking for the factory ROM (I thought I made a backup but damned if I can find it) and they either don’t understand the request or are willfully not giving it to me. I can’t find it anywhere online and don’t want to brick it by loading an incompatible MCU.
A PX5 version of this head unit would be sweet, but I’ve never seen one. It performs very well, IMHO.
Good luck!
would you go this route again and pick the TOPNAVI one? Also where did you get the ROM flash from you mentioned Malaysk is that a user name or... I have been looking at the Seicane option but I don't like the fact it's only in KPH and the reviews saying its basically useless from the drivers seat.
I really like mine and think the sound quality is great...with the following caveat. Like others, I get serious feedback whine if my phone connects for a call via Bluetooth. I assume it’s the crap quality mic that is *somewhere*. It could be interfering with a factory mic, but I don’t think so. If my car had hands free prior to my upgrade, I never used it. And I just have the standard Boost stereo, not the HK with A-pillar speakers.
The stock ROM, as mentioned previously, doesn’t have the speedometer in MPH, but you can load other ones that take that negative away. I will post some screenshots later because I really like my current set up.
One ding I’ll give the unit is support. I’ve exchanged several emails with them asking for the factory ROM (I thought I made a backup but damned if I can find it) and they either don’t understand the request or are willfully not giving it to me. I can’t find it anywhere online and don’t want to brick it by loading an incompatible MCU.
A PX5 version of this head unit would be sweet, but I’ve never seen one. It performs very well, IMHO.
Good luck!
would you go this route again and pick the TOPNAVI one? Also where did you get the ROM flash from you mentioned Malaysk is that a user name or... I have been looking at the Seicane option but I don't like the fact it's only in KPH and the reviews saying its basically useless from the drivers seat.
I’m also switching out all of my center console controls to LCI and installing a P3 gauge on the dash trim.
Did you have the factory Nav system before? I am curious what the LCI is and if that is what i could use to swap out my factory nav for something like this.
