I have mini on order. When it arrives I'll need to find a spot for ipod and Garmin. I usually use Proclipusa mounts, but I only see a single mount location and its not that good for GPS. Now I'm thinking Craven Flexpod Fixie for GPS and the proclip for the ipod. I see Craven also has a "R" mount, but perhaps the swivel arm is more trouble than its worth?

I also have an iphone (will be bluetooth to car), so I need to find a spot for that too. But someplace where siri will still work and I can charge the phone, perhaps thats anywhere as this is a small car. Looking for ideas.

thanks

 

The "R" mount with swivel arm is definitely more trouble. My experience was that it was really difficult to tighten the bolt to keep the swivel arm in position. It required another removal of the Tachometer if you changed your mind and wanted a different arm position, because the swivel points are completely behind the Tach.

I ended up with the "W" bracket that has two fixed mounting points, and have a Scangauge II module on the left side and a Garmin module on the right.

 

unibus_driver does the bolt between the fixed "W" bracket and the device holder, come lose over time, my understanding is that these are held tight with the pressure of that bolt, vs. having teeth or grooves to hold in place. Mounting area seems good and I guess I could just figure where I like them and have it welded or tapped with a small screw. Perhaps its not an issue at all, but strange that they would make something that depends on constant pressure.

I'm thinking the Garmin GPS and iPhone would be good in these spots.

 

You can get some parts from ProClip that might allow you to use two device holders at once. Not sure if there is enough room though. I like having the ProClip on the right side of the dash and use the audio prompts most of the time. But I also don't like having a big GPS screen in my face at night.

 

I just went out to look and confirm my memory.
There is a compressible plastic washer on the bolt between the "W" bracket and the device holder, to maintain the pressure. The head of the bolt is accessible on the side you can see from the driver's seat, so it can be tightened with an allen wrench without disassembling anything to get at it.
In some 5 months of usage it has not come loose at all.

 

I'm not sure about the Garmin since I do not have one. Considering one though and don't wish to mount it. Saw a really cool cupholder filler that held the garmin on a flexible post. Looked cool to me.

As far as the phone, I plug it into the charger and leave it in the cupholder or the coin holder, both right next to the charger. I do not yet have Siri so now sure how that works but I believe there are quite a few posts about Siri and the Bluetooth.

For iPod, if you got the USB connect, I plug it in and put it in the mesh pocket on the passenger's side of the console.

Enjoy your MINI!