Just got my '16 mcs and it has the worst HU I've ever seen, from what I've been reading, doesn't look like much options and I'm stuck with it. Can anyone point me in the right direction to either swap with an aftermarket HU or swap it for one of the higher trim HU's?

Thanks in advance.

 

it's a catch-22 here. can you do the swap...yes...you'll have to have the radio bench-coded prior to install or you risk locking it (permanently?). secondly, and this was the deal breaker for me...the radio doesn't actually fit in the dash. unfortunately, mini made 2 dashboards. 1 for the base radio and 1 for the 6.5/8.8" radio. that being said, someone has put it in, but they used zip ties so the headunit itself isn't really mounted but floating in the dash...putting that aside the screen (either size) fits. i did not like the idea of ziptieing the nav/headunit so i stopped working on the project. ultimately, i got rid of my S and picked up a JCW that had a 6.5" screen so i'm all set.

 

After market h/u will lose a lot of the functions that you need. Oil level check, TPMS, etc. I've emailed several Asian vendors and they all dance around the issue because they want to sell product, but so far I've yet to find one that works. If you could find the space (not easy) to mount the OEM h/u you then could install an after market unit. You can probably find brackets now for mounting the better MINI h/u but it isn't worth the money IMO.

Currently I am playing my music with a DAP (digital audio player) via Bluetooth to other after market equipment. I'd like to mount a tablet computer for this function, but it isn't easy in this car.

Good luck, let us know if you find something. I'd still like a h/u.

 

I'm still beyond frustrated with this project. People can't seem to understand that you can't just rip out the factory head unit and replace it with an off the shelf product. It will be the thing that makes me sell this car eventually.

 

In the same boat with the same setup. I'm probably going to try one of the chinese android headunit for 600$. I'm sure there are certain menu functions I'll lose but I'll live. It seems like with this system and a bluetooth OBD conector you can see some of the diagnostic info and make changes anyway. I'm just waiting to hear back from the manufacturer if have the Harmon Kardon system will cause issues.

 

I see your question on the Seicane Website. Good luck with them. If you look down a bit you can see they answer the same thing to everyone. One guy posted the question and included a photo of a unit that is exactly what they show as being acceptable fit and yet they say it is in development.

 

I emailed them and got the same thing. I asked them if my HU is not compatible that which ones are?

 

I agree 100%

I love the car, but use Spotify pretty much exclusively, so not being able to easily do that, really takes away from the experience for me.

I do actually have it for sale at the moment, partially because of this.