Hi All,

I am awating my '04 MCS. When I test drove the car, the saleswoman showed me a port near the rearview mirror for a Bluetooth system. According to her, this is standard equipment, and it will pair my Bluetooth phone to the car. From what I read around, I am not sure what is true. I have a Bluetooth compatible phone, and to me this was a major perk about the car. I ordered the Navigation and the HK stereo.

Does anyone know what the scoop is? Does anyone have any expereience with this? How does the kit work? I want to get some background before I call the salewoman, and figure out what the deal is.

Many thanks,
Nando

 

Wow, this is news to me. Anyone else care to comment? I haven't received my MCS yet, but this would be a great perk as well! :smile:

 

No bluetooth that I'm aware of on my 2004 MCS.

 

My 03 has it as well....the bad news....my company "does not yet support blue tooth technology"

 

My 03 has it as well....the bad news....my company "does not yet support blue tooth technology"

 

Nope, you have to get it installed @ a dealer. The unit cost is $450 + labor. Figure closer to $600 out the door installed I seriously considered it for my Sony Erricson T610, but the cost and poor implementation (requires a module on the dash, the MFSW isn't functional for it either)... Check outMotoring File for more details, with photos.

I was disappointed, so I am going to pass and continue with the old-fashioned wired headset...

 

I have investigated this recently as I really want to add it to my '04 MCS. It is a dealer add on kit and not standard equipment. There is one for 9/2002 (I think) on up without HK and another for 9/2003 on up with HK. Unlike a simple Bluetooth headset paired to a BT phone, which will only support the voice commands on the phone, the MINI Bluetooth kit offers many additional voice commands. For example, you can speak individual digits of a phone number and then tell it to dial....complete hands free operation. I have a voice command in my phone to dial voice mail but then I have to press 1 to get messages so it's not really a handsfree operation when using my BT headset. But I think the MINI kit will allow complete voice control in cases like this. Even most phone manufacturers car kits (like the Sony Ericsson HCB-30) don't have the voice command capability of the MINI kit.

The little control head is a bit cheesy and has green illumination instead of matching most of the rest of the dash's red (although my fog light switch also uses a green LED).

One big problem is that there are two Bluetooth Profiles for these devices. One is called Headset (HSP), the other Hands Free (HFP). Some car kits support both, some phones support both but not all. The MINI car kit supports Hands Free.

I have a Sony Ericsson P900, one of the most advanced phones on the planet and it DOES NOT support the Hands Free Profile so it won't work with the MINI kit.

I am seriously bummed about this as are others who have SE P800's and 900's and drive BMW's and Acura's with BT (most factory car kits are HFP).

So if you want the MINI kit be sure your phone supports the Hands Free Bluetooth Profile.

Jon

 

I called the dealer and she confirmed that the bluetooth kit is a separate order, and that it does NOT work with the HK. The kit installed is probably another $600. I think this is too rich for me. The alternative is to give up the HK stereo for the handsfree.

I assume the HK is considerably better than the stock stereo (opinions??). I guess I would probably listen to music more that to talk on the phone.

I have started looking at the Sony Ericsson HCB-30. I think I would want to get the complete kit, that mutes the music when a call comes. Does anyone know who sells this kit cheap? Will it work the HK? How to install it (I would probably take it to some car stereo installation shop)? and more importantly, how does it function) ie. a call comes, in stereo mutes, then what. or how do I place a call on either my Sony Ericsson t68i or T610?

Lots of questions I know, but I think this may be useful to many.

Thanks,
Nando

 

Nando, that dealer is wrong. I just read the MINI bulletin on the bluetooth kit at my dealer. It is a newer bulletin about a revised kit that is now available (my dealer has it in stock). The new kit fits MC's and MCS's from 3/2002 build without HK and MC's and MCS's from 9/2003 build WITH HK (I had the non HK build date wrong in my earlier post). If they quoted you ANOTHER $600 to install it they are WAY out of line. My dealer quoted two hours ($172). I'm familiar enough with taking apart the MINI's interior that I'll probably do it myself. I also love my HK system and wouldn't give it up but with the revised kit it's not a problem anyway.

Others have told me that the T68i and T610 both support the Hands Free Profile so, from what I've read, you will like the functions in the MINI kit much better than the HCB-30. A poster in a discussion about the MINI kit on Motoringfile.com described the SE kit as "pathetic" compared to the MINI kit. I think the HCB-30 has an external speaker and only partly integrates into the car stereo. Mike at New Mini Stuff has done some connection kits for the HCB-30 and others so that you don't have to cut and splice wiring. Check out:

http://www.newministuff.co.uk/new_mini_phone_kits.htm

He's in the UK but sounds like an easy guy to deal with. I haven't installed either the SE kit or the MINI kit yet so I'm just going on what I've read from others though.

I'm searching for a replacement for my SE P900 that supports the Hands Free Profile now and then it will be the MINI kit for me.

Jon

 

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the info. I meant $600 for the kit and installation. It's quite a chunk of change for what you actually get. For that money, I don't mind using my wired handsfree.

I am glad that my phone support the full feature Thanks for finding this out.

Unless I can seriously justify this expense, I think I will have to skip the kit.

Thanks again,
Nando

 

Nando,

I can confirm what Jon said about the Bluetooth kit. From what I can tell, I probably have one of the first '04s with HK and Bluetooth. For some reason, the kit for the stock HU came out several months earlier than the HK kit. But I have it on my '04 MCS with HK, so I know it is available.

It is an expensive option (all things considered) but I wouldn't trade it in. I walk around with my phone in my pocket pretty much all the time, and I never have to think about it or do anything when I get in the car. I'm just motoring along when suddenly the volume on the HU drops and I get a ringing sound. I just press the button on the console, and I've got my complete handsfree kit working.

That said, I am disappointed with several aspects of the kit. First, it is clearly an installed option that is not as integrated into the car as it should be. For example, I was originally told that the button to activate the system would be the center-left button on the back of the MFSW. I assumed that you could also use the MFSW volume switches to control volume. Instead, as implemented, you must use both the activation and volume buttons on the small Bluetooth console installed in the car. I was also told that the system would display incoming phone numbers on the HK HU, but this was not implemented.

In short, I am extremely happy with the performance of the kit, but I believe they could have done a much better job on the integration.

 

>>Nando,
>>
>>I can confirm what Jon said about the Bluetooth kit. From what I can tell, I probably have one of the first '04s with HK and Bluetooth. For some reason, the kit for the stock HU came out several months earlier than the HK kit. But I have it on my '04 MCS with HK, so I know it is available.
>>
>>It is an expensive option (all things considered) but I wouldn't trade it in. I walk around with my phone in my pocket pretty much all the time, and I never have to think about it or do anything when I get in the car. I'm just motoring along when suddenly the volume on the HU drops and I get a ringing sound. I just press the button on the console, and I've got my complete handsfree kit working.
>>
>>That said, I am disappointed with several aspects of the kit. First, it is clearly an installed option that is not as integrated into the car as it should be. For example, I was originally told that the button to activate the system would be the center-left button on the back of the MFSW. I assumed that you could also use the MFSW volume switches to control volume. Instead, as implemented, you must use both the activation and volume buttons on the small Bluetooth console installed in the car. I was also told that the system would display incoming phone numbers on the HK HU, but this was not implemented.
>>
>>In short, I am extremely happy with the performance of the kit, but I believe they could have done a much better job on the integration.
>>
>>
>>

Thanks a bunch for the info. I would really love to have the kit. It's still 2 more months until I get mi Mini. I may get inspired somewhere along the way and buy the thing.