I'm getting ready to place my order for an '08 MCS without nav, but with bluetooth and MFSW. My questions are about the functionality of the bluetooth. Here are my assumptions based upon what I've read and how I think it works. Please correct me if I'm wrong, or let me know if I'm right.

First I setup my phone to pair with my MINI. It downloads my contacts to the MINI's contact list that is maintained in the car.

When I get in, assuming that I have bluetooth enabled on my phone, it will allow me to flip through my contact list using the MFSW. Once I've found the contact, I press another button to call them.

When someone calls, again, assuming I have bluetooth enabled on my phone, the stereo volume will turn down and I will hear some type of ring or other audible tone that will let me know someone is calling. Their name as it appears in my contacts will show on the radio. I can then press a button on the MFSW to answer and another to hang up.

Like I said, most of this is based upon assumption, so I may be way off. Any explanation will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Only if your phone is one of the very few supported. Otherwise your contact list will be empty.

My phone isn't supported but no, I don't think you can flip trough your contacts with the MFSW. I think you need to use the function **** on the stereo. You can hit the voice commands button on the MFSW and tell the car to dial a contact and if the voice recognition works it will.

Based on my understanding above you would tell the car to call but not hit a button.

Yes, except it is the same button to answer and hang-up. The button has a phone on it.

Editing to add some clarification from personal experience. The MINI bluetooth profile that my phone found was that of a hands free profile. So according to my phone the MINI is no different then a bluetooth headset. This works like a any other bluetooth headset including sending the Calling Party name and number to the headset when an incoming call comes in. Since my phone isn't supported then the MINI will not retrieve my contact list from the phone. I believe that the standard bluetooth hands free profile has no way to push a contact list which is why the MINI must support the phone for this to work. I still get calling name and number on the display even with no contacts on the MINI which is why I say the phone sends this to the MINI during an incoming call.

Hope that helps.

 

I have an iPhone and I'm pretty sure it's supported. I seem to remember reading a post from someone who had it work flawlessly. Also, I thought that the voice commands were only if I had nav. Is this wrong?

 

I have no nav and am able to dial calls with voice command. So unless the car came with the "Phone Dialing Monkey"(tm) package (which does not show up on the sticker) I'm pretty sure voice commands work.

 

+1 for the Phone Dialing Monkey"(tm) package

If only it were a factory option!

 

Awesome! I thought mine wasn't going to have that!

 

I have the R56 with BT and no NAV. My phone is the iPhone.

The contact list downloads to the car when you first pair the phone. It is stored in the car, and you can dial from the stereo or using voice prompts. I am also able to dial directly from the phone (which is sometimes easier) and it still functions over the BT.

The voice dialing works fine. You can push a button on the MFSW and say "dial number" then speak the number when prompted. You can also push the button and say "dial name" then speak the person's name when prompted, provided that you have programmed that name into the MINI. You do have to program them into the car individually so that It recognizes the voice prompt. I only set it up for frequently called numbers. Some things sound very much alike and I often found myself calling "Tim" instead of "Kim"

As far as scrolling through a list of contacts from the MFSW. This is not something that I have found yet, so I would be inclined to say that it is probably a NAV only feature.

The stereo does fade out when the phone rings. Intrestingly enough, it also fades out and back in quickly when the iPhone gets new e-mail or a text message.

The BT is a nice thing to have, and if you look at it as a safety feature that allows you to keep both hands on the wheel (people tend to call me alot when I am driving), then I don't see how you can pass it up.

 

Awesome. Thanks. Good to hear from someone who has an iPhone.
I noticed that the phone will do the same thing if you are listening to a song in "iPod mode" and you get an email or text message, so this is not surprising, but I can see how it might be annoying. All in all it sounds like a very cool thing to have.

 

This must be something specifically with the iPhone. My Razr doesn't make the Mini's system do anything when it receives a text message or email. The phone still makes the normal noise, but the Mini's system doesn't indicate anything.

 

I've got an iPhone, but no mini yet. To stop this from happening you''d need to diable the notification for these operations under general -> Sounds.

It will stop it from making any sound when you receive these messages. I do this sometimes when working out or at night.

 

I have both the iPhone and a 2007 MCooperS with bluetooth. Coop310's advice helped me a lot and I agree that the system works very well... I have NOT manually entered the contacts list yet, so I have to remember phone numbers.

The question I had, though, was the bluetooth manual stating that the phone should be attached to the car by CRADLE so that it can connect to the car's antenna.... it states in the manual that running the phone without the hard connection will interfere with the car electronics....

Others on this site have stated that it should not be a problem... but I am left wondering what is the best... the CRADLE, by the way, is NOT available for the mini, at least, when I last checked.

Hands free is important (at least in the states where cellphone use while driving is still legal) for any car with manual transmission, no?

 

oh. and just for the record.... at&t cellphone service basically... uh... sucks.

 

There is no iPhone cradle for the MINI. I was told that the cradles were only for select older phones which did not have bluetooth. Since the iPhone is a MINI approved device, I take this to mean that it will not interfere with the vehicles electronics.

But whose service is good? Sprint/Nextel is always going down in my area, T-Mobile leases their network from AT&T, and Verizon... well... they are the least flexible most overcharging of any of them. I guess you just have to deal with whoever you have.

 

I have BT, no Nav, and a BB 8100 Pearl. I can flip down my contact list (starting with A) with the MFSW and select a contact, then dial with the phone button. Of course you gotta select the phone first from the stereo control. What I can't do is start with the letter S contacts. For that I have to use the stereo control. Then I can flip down from there with the MFSW. My contact list isn't stored in the car, it's stored on the phone and transfers to the car when I pair it. I have to train the car to dial by name using my voice. Then I hit the face button, say "dial name". A man's voice says "Say name". I say Joe. He says "do you want to dial..Joe (in my voice)? I say Yes and it dials.
One tip: to change the volume of the Man you do it quickly while he is talking. Same thing with the ring volume of incoming. Do it while it's ringing and it'll remember that volume. So when my iPod's cranked up the ring volume isn't too loud when a call comes in. Works great.

 

Cool. This was helpful. Thanks!

 

Does it really repeat the name "Joe" in your own voice? Mine works slightly different in that when it asks back "do you want to dial... Joe," Joe is in a very computer-ish, speak and spell quality voice. The first part is clear in the man's computer voice, but the part where it reads back the phone book entry name is very 1970s computer-ish. With the Razr no training was necessary for voice dialing.

 

The question I had, though, was the bluetooth manual stating that the phone should be attached to the car by CRADLE so that it can connect to the car's antenna.... it states in the manual that running the phone without the hard connection will interfere with the car electronics....

The way I interpreted this was that you weren't supposed to use the key pad on the phone while it was bluetooth connected to the car. I think you can use the phone with out the cradle, but they want you to use it through the car controls. Not sure why it matters.

Check with a BMW dealer for a cradle for your phone. They are the same as the mini. I picked one up for my Razr at the BMW dealer, and the parts guy said if it didn't work that I could return it. It worked fine.

 

Hmm. How are you getting that grey box around the quotes from another post?

 

I think the RAZR models are ideal for the Mini BT system. Many say that they don't have to train the car's BT to use name dialing like I did (it took me awhile to figure it out). They say you can just pair the phone and namedial away. I can't, so I have to use my voice and the car records the names that I say and repeats the name back when I use it. I only need a few names in mine so it's fine, but if I needed like 50 it would be a pain.
One other point for the OP: the sleeve that goes in the armrest doesn't come for very many phones, and it costs $120-150. Most of them merely charge the phone in the armrest. Very very few of them will connect to the car's antenna. The phone most have an external antenna port on its back and the sleeve must have a connection for that port as well.

 

Just click the quote button in the bottom right corner of the post you want to quote.

 

Thanks. I wasn't planning on getting the cradle. Hopefully it will work ok without it. Seems that others with iPhones haven't been having problems, so I think I'll be ok.

 

I double checked yesterday and you can scroll through the phone book with the iPone by holding the phone button on the MFSW and then using the left/right arrows (which seem to function backwards).

 

Just an FYI-I have a LG VX8300-it is not on the approved list but it psynched right away with the bluetooth and automatically down loaded my contact list-I have had absolutely no problems making it work, however I have not tried to use the voice prompts yet.

The only thing when I use it I have to turn the volume down or the OP tells me it is to loud. But when an incoming call comes in or I make a call the radio automatically turns off ( the volume that is)

 

Cool. Good to know!

 

I have a Treo 680 and Mike's Parrot Evo MFSW kit on its way. Does anyone know if voice tags/dialing work for Treo's and this kit? Specifically for the 680? I just bought my first MC 2 weeks ago, and am learning manual driving on the fly, hoping to avoid having to dial myself.

BTW this is my first post here!! 2nd post will be in the "1st time stick driving" thread