After reading over on motoringfile about people trying to connect their iPhone to their MINI I decided to try it out myself. The specs:
- 2005 MCS (Pepper White) with the OEM BMW iPod Adapter
- 4gb iPhone
After turning on the car and fishing for the iPod adapter in the glovebox I’m greeted with a lovely warning from Apple stating that I’m not using a “made for iPhone” accessory and whether I would like to turn on “airplane mode” (which turns off phone functionality)- to which I chose “no” :
After that I didn’t touch the phone for a minute and I see the “battery charging” screen with the last track I had playing on the iPhone (bonus points for anyone who guesses the band name):
I turn on the adapter by changing the mode to “cd changer”:
After that it’s smooth sailing. The iPhone is now playing and currently showing the “accessory attached” screen:
Another plus is that while the music is playing you can push the “home” button and be able to navigate throughout the iPhone. This leaves the driver able to control the music via the steering wheel controls or by controlling the receiver. This is handy if your co-pilot might need to pull up the Google Maps application or phone a friend.
All in all, I’m happy that the OEM iPod adapter works as well as it does. I was prepared to only be able to use this as a charger for the iPhone but being able to listen to the music as well makes the money spent on the adapter even more worth it.
When did you have time to test this out and take pictures?
You’re sneaky. I think that’s pretty neat that the music from the iphone even works in the car! What does this thing not do? Can it make eggs in the morning?
Hey thanks I love the pics did the music play through your speakers or just through the phone??
Yep- played through the speakers just like a normal cd, ipod, radio, etc- sounded great!
Wow! I could not get it to play through the speakers I have an 06 mini with the interface ipod adapter in the glove box. I could change tracks I could stop and start it but it would only play through the phone. WHat am I doing wrong?? Chris you have been so helpful! Do you have any IDEAS??
wow, that’s odd…Couple questions:
1- Do you have the oem bmw (big white plug) adapter for iPod (where it connects at the bottom) or
2- The auxilary port (usually has a hole in the glove box where you can plug a cord from into your iPod/iPhone’s headphone jack)
Couple things to check:
- Make sure that the plug is fitting firmly inside the port (be it headphone jack or bottom dock of phone). If you’re using the headphone jack on the iPhone, I know it’s recessed so it’s rather hard to get normal headphones in there..I wouldn’t be surprised if you can’t put that cord all the way into the phone
- That you are in the correct ‘mode’- ie, that you’re car is set to “cd changer” mode
- That you see the “accessory attached” screen
- Not sure about the “airplane mode”- if it’s on, try turning that off.
- I would also try using an iPod as well to make sure that it’s not a problem with your connection (if it’s working with the iPod and not the iPhone something may be wrong with the connection)
- Do a hard reset of your iPhone (holding the top sleep button and the home button for 6 seconds), turning it back on, and then plugging it in.
Good luck- let me know if you get it to work!
Thanks again for all your help!! I have the adapter that fits in the bottom 30 prong, my ipod works perfectly, I have it in the cd changer mode, it says accessory attachted on the phone. I have not tried head phones, but, I am sure they would work since I can hear the music coming out of the phone. The only difference is I do not have a blue tooth device and my car is not set up for that. I will try putting airplane mode to yes??
I still cannot get it to work through the speakers! It must be the blue tooth part????
hmm.. No, don’t think it would be the Bluetooth part (are you trying to make or receive calls while the phone is connected via a wireless headset?). If so, I would try turning bluetooth off in the settings menu of the phone.
Did you try performing a hard reset of your phone?(see above) It sounds like you’ve tried just about everything. Let me try pairing mine again this weekend and see if i can recreate your issue (sound through phone not car speakers)- I’ll post an update later this weekend.
anita- version two out in three months will give you the option of poached, scrambled, or hard-boiled
I do not have blue tooth option in my mini or the assist?? I do not talk alot on my phone when I am driving , SO I do not have a headset either. May be expecting the Iphone to play like an IPOD in the car is expecting too much. Have a great weekend.
Now that I think about it I did not get the picture of the battery. I could tell though that it was charging.
Hey just curious is the IPHONE still working well in the car? Lucky you!! I still cannot get the tunes through the speakers? DO you think in a few months accessories will come put to make listening in the car happen? IPHONE BLUES Stacy
Yep, iPhone is working like a champ in the car..I truly feel bad that you’re having such problems! Did you download the latest iPhone update via itunes? (1.0.1)
My suggestion would be to maybe ask a tech at MINI to have a look at it and to keep searching the forums at NAM. If I think of a reason or tip that may help I’ll post it here- good luck and don’t give up!
I’ve been trying to find a skin/sleeve like yours - no luck so far… Can you tell me, where you got yours and what it’s called? Thanks!
@Thomas- check out the apple store online- it’s called the “Incase Protective Cover” for iPhone: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=72D9FC76&fnode=home/shop_iphone/iphone_accessories/cases&nplm=TQ136LL/A
I switched to the Incipio case during the summer, though, because the rubber on the Incase model was starting to flex and little bits of “crud” were starting to scratch the chrome. Here’s a link to the Incipio case:
http://www.amazon.com/Incipio-IPH-128-Sleeve-iPhone-Orange/dp/B000SQN1OI/ref=pd_bbs_8?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1199290997&sr=8-8
Thanks a lot, Chris! And happy new years!
I have a problem with my BMW OEM iPod Integration kit, I have an iphone 1.1.2 which does not work with my BMW Z4, I have the same accessory attached mode on the iphone but I am not able to control the ipod over my stereo(BMW1,BMW2,BMW3,.. etc). Please help.
Thank you
lui