iPhone/iPod cradle tip

[madsb]

Just wanted to share my experience with connecting an iPhone to the Boost radio in my Countryman.

I ordered the "official" Countryman phone cradle to place in the rail, but I was thoroughly disappointed when I tried to install it. With the minijack and USB cables in place, there is not enough room for the handbrake AND the cradle. What were the engineers at MINI thinking?

What was even more disappointing: The massively overpriced Y-cable I got resulted in a white screen on the iPhone, which let me navigate my large music collection only via the one-line display on the radio. Horrible. Got returned to the dealer after all of five minutes.

So I googled around for another solution and found the Cravenspeed MINI Smartphone Mounting Kit. It is absolutely brilliant. It attaches to the back of the tachometer. Installation is a breeze. The only complaint I have is that I can't seem to tighten the screw enough to keep the phone from resting against the tachometer, but it might be my installation that is botched. I'll redo it one of these days and use the other bolt that came with the kit. I'm using the finger-adjustable bolt at the moment.

The other thing I did was order a regular Y-cable (dock connector -> USB/Minijack) for a fraction of the price of the "official" cable. The only downside to this is that the iPhone can't be controlled from the buttons on the steering wheel.

I ran the cable from the connectors by the rail up to the cradle by attaching some inexpensive adhesive "holders".

I'm very happy with the setup. Just thought I'd post my experiences, since I've spent a considerate amount of time googling for alternatives to the official crappy iPhone cradle.

[urv]

she didn't get the phone cradle, but, make sure you get the correct cable for the correct car !!
when my wife took delivery of her Cooper D 4x4 she asked the Parts Dept to supply an ipod connection cable - ie the correct BMW cable, which they did; but the ipod would only play on the aux setting and not the ipod connection. Turned out that the Parts Dept had supplied and fitted a BMW cable but for a Mini 4x4 which is fitted with Sat Nav. This cable is no use for a non Sat Nav car; correct cable now fitted and the ipod and her iphone both work perfectly - and via the multi function steering wheel too.