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View Full Version : Mini Gen 1 & IPhone 3gS - My Super easy £16.50 In car solution



G17RDY
19th January 2010, 10:27 PM
MINI Gen 1 Cooper & IPhone 3gs - Super easy, very effective, Inexpensive in car solution.

Total Cost: £16.50
Install Time: 3 mins

Note: Results may vary, depending on your area & stereo etc

**Sorry for the poor quality pics - I will take better ones this weekend!!!**

Ok so something that i read about all the time on various forums and researched myself is the age old, 'How do i hook up my ipod / iphone to my in car stereo.
Well due to the fact i have a Gen 1 cooper with MFSW and Harmon Kardon, it proves a little more difficult i felt than just buying a nice head unit with an ipod / iphone connection, as you need all these adapters and enablers.
Then there is the option of buying a kit at a cost of £130ish just to hook it to the existing stereo, money i didn't have.

And then there are FM transmitters, which i have to admit did not have a lot of faith in, as i have tried a kensington unit some time ago, and was very very dissapointed with the results.

Ok, so to the nitty gritty......

I found an FM transmitter on Amazon (non brand - Tecknet) for the princely sum of £10.00
Now normally i would pass this off as an inferior product, however the reviews of previous buyers proved that this was a great bit of kit.
I decided to give it a shot, if it didn't work i was out by a tenner.

I also decided to get a windscreen mount, that can be moved around - Again this had great reviews and cost a total of £6.50

So the items arrived and i tried them out, i have been super impressed with the results.

Screen mount
A fairly solid piece of kit. Strong suction cup and flexible (although very rigid) neck. Mounting plate also houses the 3gS very well and doesn't take anything away from the screen.
The screen mount was fitted in about 2 mins, and although not the prettiest mount in the world, it does the job very very well. The neck is just about the perfect length for the Ipod / Iphone to be flush with the edge of the dash - providing easy access for making song selections etc.
Also you have the option to flip the mount around a full 360' - Meaning if your iphone has sat na it can be flipped around on it's side.

Another plus point is this comes with an in car charger

The only downside is, due to the length and flexible neck & of course the state of the roads, the Ipod / Iphone can tend to bounce up and down whenever you hit a bump. I've not completely cured the problem yet, some careful positioning is required, to get the cradle to rest on the dash to support it - Also don't have the ipod / iphone on shake to shuffle - I skipped through 15 songs in about 2 mins the other day!!!

I also tested out the 'Hands Free' element of the Iphone on the cradle mount - and it worked surprisingly well. The wife called whilst driving - with the position of the iphone i could see who was calling and i simply pressed answer - and then speaker / I could hear the wife fairly well and she could hear me - so bonus - another problem solved - Who needs bluetooth!!!!

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg283/G17RDY/IMG_1834.jpg

Tecknet FM Transmitter
Out of the box comes the transmitter & another charger
The transmitter simply plugs into the bottom of the ipod / iphone - and can run from the ipod / iphone battery.

It defaults to 87.5 - And do you know, i left it there, turned on the stereo, tuned it in and bang - Clear Music. It was a WOW moment.

Its not as perfect as a direct connection would be, but honestly it is like listening to the radio or a cd - It is that good.
However - There is a very slight hiss underlying which does get drowned out with any song playing. If for example you are inbetween tracks, you do notice a slight hiss, and on a quiet vocally song, if you listen close, again the hiss is present.
Occasionally, there can be a ever so slight crackle, however seriously it is very seldom and like one singular crackle!!!

One small point to note, the transmitter does not fit flush with the bottom of the ipod, due to the way the windsreen mount holds the ipod at the bottom corner - which you may be able to see in the picture below - However a small mod with a file will cure this problem.

Overall it's not an absolute perfect setup - but all things considered i have to give it 9.5 / 10

Now if you want to be even fancier - download a HUD app form the app store and with some adjustment of the screen mount you could have your very own HUD!!!!


I do hope this has helped out at least one person - If anything it is a great inexpensive stop gap until you can afford a proper set up.

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg283/G17RDY/IMG_1837.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg283/G17RDY/IMG_1843.jpg

GCA3N
19th January 2010, 10:35 PM
Excellent. I bought an fm transmitter about 4 years ago and although it was ok was never truly happy with the sound. Recently bought another one a belkin cost me £40. The sound is perfect what a difference from the one 4 years ago. I think this technology has come on alot so probs why you have found it so good. Great find though for a Tenner.

stoney
20th January 2010, 12:44 AM
Have u used your wipers with it on yet ? I know some one who has one of the and every time there wipers go it interfere with it

AndyP & Lenore
20th January 2010, 12:48 AM
Have u used your wipers with it on yet ? I know some one who has one of the and every time there wipers go it interfere with it

Hmmmmmm.... We bought one off ebay for about a fiver delivered from Hong Kong. Haven't tried it yet, but when we do, I'm gonna plug out nano in first as I really don;t want to blow up my iPhone or iPod Touch.

At that price I bet we get wiper interference lol.:laugh:

A.:D

G17RDY
20th January 2010, 09:35 AM
No Interference so far..!!!!!

Sheilz
20th January 2010, 03:40 PM
That looks pretty good and no trailing wires. I got connecting wires from halfords which were relatively cheap to connect the ipod to aux input. Dont seem to have a usb connector. It works fine but also had to get a wire for in car charging. Bummer now is trailing wires. Have the wire from a triple socket, wire from sat nav, occasionally one for phone and now two for ipod. Makes for a really messy jumble of wires. Its not pretty at all.

ianking
20th January 2010, 03:42 PM
Sheilz, when was your car made?
I thought you would have the USB socket.

Sheilz
20th January 2010, 10:13 PM
Sheilz, when was your car made?
I thought you would have the USB socket.

Was first registered end of March 09. I found the aux in relatively easy but can't see a usb port anywhere. Have chilli pack too but maybe that's not part of cooper CP

ianking
21st January 2010, 09:23 AM
My mate has a 59 cooper with chili and it came with the usb and basic b/tooth as part of the chili.
The usb is right next to the aux behind a wee sliding cover.

Maybe you have just missed out on that as part of the chili.

Sheilz
21st January 2010, 06:41 PM
My mate has a 59 cooper with chili and it came with the usb and basic b/tooth as part of the chili.
The usb is right next to the aux behind a wee sliding cover.

Maybe you have just missed out on that as part of the chili.

I'll have another look but got funny feeling that Dougall's missed out on that bit of equipement. Thanks again