[beej]

Here's me putting something back into MINI2 - an amalgamated installation and user guide to integrate the Sony Ericsson HCB-30 Bluetooth Kit with your MINI. This kit, when fully installed, outputs your mobile calls through your stereo and allows the use of an in-car microphone to make calls.

You need...

a. Sony Ericsson HCB-30 - I bought mine online from blueunplugged.com

...and if you want to wire it up to the stereo, you also need...

b. Phone Interface for Wave, Boost or HK from mikeythemini. Call him. Pay by debit or credit. Its better than a naff speaker!

c. Sony Ericsson HCE-16 - DON'T BUY THIS. The connectors are all wrong for the MINI HU and the instructions are dire. Having tried and failed to install this, you either need to be very familiar with in-car electrics (wire direct to the battery?! wtf?) or you need to pay for fitting.


Now for installation instructions. I've never done any car DIY before, so if I can do it, anyone with a basic grasp of a screwdriver can. Here we go:

1. Remove the dash downtubes to get access to the head unit. Unscrew it and get it out. You really should have turned off the ignition by now
   
2. Follow the instructions that mikeythemini provides with his Phone Interface. This is basic stuff - unplug x and plug it into y. There's no splicing or hard stuff, just some straightfoward work with a screwdriver. I won't paste it all here because - hey - the guy runs a business!
   
3. Check you haven't broken the car stereo - turn it on, listen to CD, check radio reception etc. Be careful of the aerial connector on the back of the HU - it has a small fiddly plastic locking connector that, ahem, is easy to damage.
   
4. Test bluetooth - do a Bluetooth search with your mobile and pair to the HCB-30 (as per the instructions you get with it). You're doing this now so that you don't have to take the car apart when you find you've got a faulty phone or faulty kit
   
5. Replace the head unit, feeding wiring into the void behind it. There isn't infinite space, so using the space inside the knee bolster feed some of the wiring through there.
   
6. Mount the HCB-30 Bluetooth unit onto the inside of the knee bolster using the supplied velcro pads:
   
   
   
   
   
7. If you don't have a sunroof, stick your microphone somewhere and then whip yourself for not buying a sunroof. Skip the next part
   
8. If you have a sunroof, pull the sunroof control unit towards the rear of the car so that it pulls away. You can now mount the microphone where it is supposed to go - in the oval bit which is a mirror of the sunroof switch. Remove screw covers on the driver sun visor and unscrew the three screws. Run the mic cable from the sunroof control past the holes in the sun visor to the roof at the top of the driver door frame. Get it past the ceiling lining and under the rubber door seal - you might need to push under the lining from the side. Nudge the mic cable under the door seal and downwards, as far as the knee bolster:
   
   
   
   Connect it to the HCB-30 unit. Now tidy up the roof, before screwing the sun visor back on and locking the plastic sunroof rim back into place.
   
9. Fasten the hand control unit wherever you want. Mine is between the steering column and the centre column:
   
   
   
10. Tidy up all cabling, using cable ties or masking tape wherever possible. Replace the knee bolster. If cabling isn't tidy at this point, you may find that it slides down behind the bolster and down to your feet near the pedals. You want to avoid this for obvious reasons
    
11. Turn the ignition on. If everything is working, the stereo will beep. There's a timeout on this, so if you turn it off and immediately on again it won't beep, presumably because the unit is already powered. Follow HCB-30 instructions to pair your mobile. Set the HCB-30 as your handsfree. Turn on voice activation and/or voice dialing.
    
12. If you're using a Sony Ericsson T610, record your voice samples for Home/Work/Mopbile/Other at Settings > Voice Control > Voice dialing > Number types. Use the Voice Dialing > Edit Names menu to add your voice to address book entries. This doesn't use the in-car mic but the handset. Follow HCB-30 instructions to try out voice dialing. using my T610, after the first beep you say the address book name (eg. "Dad") and after the second slightly different beep you say the choice of phone number to call (eg. "Home").

That's pretty much it. I now mute the phone when I get in my MCS so that it doesn't ring at the same time as the HU - but there might be a better way to do this in a profile. A handset bracket would still come in useful to make it easier to see callerid and incoming SMS messages.

People who I've called so far haven't had a major problem with the ambient noise from the car, even when doing fast motorway driving. Keep the sunny closed at speed though

[mikeythemini]

Glad it all went ok, I have done a DIY on the interface fit here; http://www.newministuff.co.uk/fittin...s_free_kit.htm
p.s. I now stock the HCB30 plus other bluetooth kits
mike

[Andyb-NW]

thanks for the install procedure. i popped over to mikeythemini's place and got myself a HCB-30 and one of the interfaces and had it installed in 30 minutes. Totally plug and play thanks to Mike !

cheers

[Nick-o]

Quote:

If you have a sunroof, pull the sunroof control unit towards the rear of the car so that it pulls away. You can now mount the microphone where it is supposed to go - in the oval bit which is a mirror of the sunroof switch.

Can the microphone be placed behind the oval grill thingy so its hidden, or is it to be stuck on the outside with velcro tape or something?

[beej]

Yes, there's a small plastic shelf behind that grill, and it is the perfect size to fix the mic to (so that it faces downward towards the driver, from behind the grill).

[Pikapin]

How did you fix the mic in the oval thing from the sunroof? I installed the kit, but I can´t figure out how to stick the mic there? Pics would also help.

thanks

[beej]

Which part of point #8 in the first post needs clarification? If you don't have a sunroof, I can't help you as I'm a sunroof-person.

[Pikapin]

I do have sunroof jeje

[beej]

Which part of point #8 in the first post needs clarification?