In November 2004 MINI announced a new OEM Bluetooth that worked with the official armrest and steering wheel controls. Yet for some reason the kit was never been offered in the US. So for the past year those little phone buttons on the multi-function steering wheel have done nothing more than tauntUS MINI owners with their potential.
However we’re proud to announce (after a year of waiting) MINI USA is finally offering the new OEM bluetooth kit integrated into the armrest in the US. This kit is meant to replace the old bluetooth kit (that worked via a small remote control attached to the downtube) and will be the first truly integrated OEM system.
While the new kit is quite an improvement, there are a couple of notable drawbacks. The biggest issue for most will be the lack of official phone options. MINI only lists the six different phones:
* Motorola E815: Verizon / US Cellular
* Motorola V710: Alltel / Qwest Wireless / U.S. Cellular
* Nokia 6230/6230i: Any GSM Provider (Cingular / Tmobile)
* Nokia 6310/6310i: this is way too old to even worry about
* Siemens S55/S65: Any GSM Provider (Cingular / Tmobile)
* Sony Ericsson T610/T616/T630/T637: Any GSM Provider (Cingular / Tmobile)
The main issue with most the phones is that they’re generally out of date at this point. The Nokia 6230/6230i is probably the best choice there (with the two year old SonyEricsson coming in a close second). Yet other, newer phones may still work with the system. The handsets listed are the only ones that MINI makes snap in docks for. But the only benefit with the dock is charging and connecting the phone to the external phone attenna. One would expect the phone to still work not snapped into the dock. We’ll hopefully have more info on this possibility down the road.
The other big issue some may have with the kit is the overall cost. The MSRP for the base bluetooth handsfree kit is $1250 (not including around $125 for the phone). That makes the current bluetooth kit look like a steal at $450.
You can read more (including install times) in the official product sheet below:
[ Official Armrest Bluetooth Kit ] Official MINI USA Release
If anybody out there spends $1250.00 on a bluetooth kit for their MINI, will you please use it to give me a call? I have some lovely real estate near a levy in Louisiana that I’d like to talk to you about.
Wow!!! And people think the JCW stuff is expensive…
I can’t wait for MikeyTheMini to bring us an updated Parrot kit that works with the MFSW.
Mike, if you’re reading this, if you make it, we will buy it!
1250 is stupidly expensive… that’s just lame.
This is one instance where Mini has really dropped the ball.
1250 for a phone kit is stupid. Just stupid.
OK, well… I guess I resign to other options
Cheers all
Jono
Yikes! If I read this right, you still need the armrest, snap in and console parts, so my set up would be $1693 plus 3.0 hours labor!
And as far as the phones being outdated, the Moto E815 is about the newest bluetooth phone on Verizon, it only came out this summer, and I like mine so far.
MikeyTheMini has already worked out a wiring loom that works with the newer 2005 MFSW, I’ve been looking longingly at his website for a while now.
Does anyone else find it absurd to have plug your Bluetooth phone in to the car, when the whole point is wireless communication? I don’t want or need an armrest and I don’t want to plug my wireless phone in the car when I get in and out.
I want to not be thinking about my phone and just have it happily nestled in my pocket, if it rings, I push a button on the steering wheel, that’s all. Why is the armrest needed at all?
-charlie
“Thank you MINI, may I have another?”
BMW option pricing strikes again. Pitiful. I hope no more than two people buy this overpriced, outdated, underfeatured heap.
I agree with CPatisaul, Where exactly is the bluetooth part?
$1,250!?! Good lord, is it made of platnium and encrusted in diamonds or something?
Wow, what a let down.
1. The price is insane! Its bluetooth! I could go out and buy an ibook for that price.
2. I don’t have an armrest, I don’t want one either. I wanna keep using my proclip with my phone.
3. As another user said, I don’t want to “dock” my phone. Thats the whole point of bluetooth.
4. That phone list is small and outdated. I have an Audiovox SMT5600 smartphone which I love.
I guess MINI dropped the ball on this one. Too bad, was really looking forward to this feature.
Ill stick with my Plantronics BT Headset.
twelve-hundred dollars?! Holy crap! That makes the eighty bucks I spent on a Bluetooth headset look like pocket change!
Holy KAAACHING$$$$$
Does MINI even realize how stupid that pricing is? I know we’re dealing with pounds versus dollar/euro exchange rates but jeeezz!!!
it must come with a personal secretary, right?
As I read the .pdf, I gathered that you only dock the phone if you want to charge it or use an external antenna.
My car is an ’04 with a 2-spoke wheel, so it wouldn’t work in my car. Oh yeah, and the $1,250 price tag pretty much relieves me of any temptation.
IMO, MINI just doesn’t have a clue about reasonable pricing.
Oh yeah, one other thing. Don’t forget the suggested installation time of 3 hours. This could easily become a $2,000 “solution” if your car doesn’t have the armrest.
How is it that MINI continually manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?
Great car! Lots of innovation & tech… well thought out… Yet, when it’s come to accessories for the car one’s left with the distinct impression that MINI could care less.
– Stereo options – no stock MP3 player option or compatibility – on a car that was SO web marketed… Yet we do have the option of a cassette deck. WTF?!!
Now… the phone/Bluetooth. Overpriced, under-integrated, released just in time to be obsolete for most new phones. Duh!
The irony is that if MINI got these DETAILS (and that’s all they really are) right the car would be darn near perfect!
I guess this is what happens when you have an overwhelming success… It inspires self-congratulation, laziness & greed 🙁
Rant over.
Is the comment above: That the Bluetooth won’t work with the old 2-spoke MFSW correct? What do Euro-folks do (who can still order the 2-spoke) and want Bluetooth compatibility?
<blockquote>Is the comment above: That the Bluetooth won’t work with the old 2-spoke MFSW correct? What do Euro-folks do (who can still order the 2-spoke) and want Bluetooth compatibility?
</blockquote>
If you want bluetooth you have to have the three spoke steering wheel.
In the UK it is available as a factory option and costs £415 (as long as you have the 3 spoke steering wheel, Multi Function Steering wheel and armrest) is it not a factory option the the USA?
<blockquote>it must come with a personal secretary, right?</blockquote>
And complementary happy endings….
I want the job of the marketing and sales guy who approved this for sale in the US. I would be very curious of one of these sold. And if so, does it come with a free MRI to examine your head!
Does anyone realize that if you bought a base Cooper, that the cost of this item with the armrest, and labour could exceed 10% of the cost of the vehicle. For a phone kit, that espouses bluetooth (no wires) and the car is already partly pre-wired.
I have seen Mini make some mistakes (i.e MC40 et al), but this one tops the cake.
If you think that is bad try the new “Digital Power Sound Modul” audio upgrade that is in the 2006 accessories brochure. Which retails for a whopping $1,650.00 on the hardtop and (ghasp) $1,939.00 on the convertible.
I’ve got the integrated kit on my Sept.’05 Cooper S Automatic – works really well, receives texts and all numbers etc. show up on the radio and sat. nav. display. I’ve also got voice activation, but haven’t figured out how to use it yet – perhaps it doesn’t recognise a Scottish accent.
Expensive – but great around London where I do most of my driving .
1250 U.S. dollars? Are you sure that’s not the price in Pesos? Very cool, but that’s way too much money for me.
The real question is, will they be willing to “part it out” a bit?
If we can get the actual bluetooth pieces, and COMPLETELY forgo the armrest, plug-in charger and external antenna feature, then we’d have the bluetooth kit we really wanted in the first place.
I’ll be curious to see the actual break-out of the handsfree phone kit. In other words, what individual parts go into making it?
If we can get our hands on those, we can then possibly only order the bits we WANT, and maybe come in much cheaper than this.
I’m going to have to hope!
Holy crap! $1250… It’s nice to see that MINI cares about drivers being safe on the road by offering a reasonably-priced handsfree phone kit.
Gabe, you’re right about the phone selection in that anyone who will fork out $1250 for this thing will also probably be using a Smartphone such as a Treo 650. However, I’d disagree in your assessment that the selection is outdated — the e815 is Verizon’s flagship flip phone right now, and it’s a pretty solid phone.
I think they forgot to put on the JCW badge. I was patiently waiting for it but at this price, I’m gonna do the MikeTheMini kit.
So, I was exited as I was reading of the new bluetooth kit for the MINI’s MF steering wheel, then I saw my phone (V710, Verizon carries it as well as Altel btw) on the list and was even happier, then I saw the price and would’ve ruined my laptop had I a mouthful of coffee.
$1250!!!!! Plus the armrest!!! Plus install!
I have the Motorola HS850. While it may look dorky to some, for $70 or $80 I got a lot better deal than this, and it also works in the Saturn, or at my desk, or in the mall!
<blockquote>Gabe, you’re right about the phone selection in that anyone who will fork out $1250 for this thing will also probably be using a Smartphone such as a Treo 650. However, I’d disagree in your assessment that the selection is outdated — the e815 is Verizon’s flagship flip phone right now, and it’s a pretty solid phone.</blockquote>
Sorry… it’s just hard for me to look at any non-GSM phone as current. The e815 does have some nice features though.
Edge, I swear, if you buy this ‘as-is’, I’m coming over to your house and back-handing you!!
:-p
Anyhoo, you shouldn’t need the armrest, charger, ext. antenna, and whatever other useless crap that MINI put in this package. If you can get a part number for just the needed individual parts, you should be able to have a much cheaper and functional OEM bluetooth kit.
Also, as others and Gabe stated above, these shouldn’t be the only phones that work with this kit. I’d bet a whole dollar that any SonyEricsson phone since the T68i will work just fine with this kit.
-Paul!
Paul, you have NO IDEA how much I want the perfect OEM bluetooth kit with full integration to my factory nav… even at this ridiculous price, I am tempted, but I really hate the armrest in the MINI (gets in the way), so I definitely want to hold out a while longer to see if there’s a way to do “just the good bits”.
Gabe, I don’t know how it is up in Chicago, but down here in the DC area, Verizon’s CDMA network is WAY more reliable (on average) than all of the GSM networks. It’s no contest. Sure, they nickel and dime you to death, and charge the most, and have the lamest “primetime” hours (ends at 9pm!), but if you want the best signal here (again, on average… there will always be exceptions in some areas), you get Verizon. Period. I don’t regret using CDMA one bit.
GSM coverage by Cingular/ATT in throughout Chicago (and anywhere I’ve travelled recently) is excellent so I guess I’ve never given any thought to anything else.
Does this mean that the original kit will no longer be offered. and if not, when is it being discontinued? I plan on ordering a new MINI in about a month, and want the current Bluetooth system I have in my 2004 in my 2006.
It just makes no sense. First, the Mot V600/550 pair I’m pretty sure have the same connector as a V710, and they’re not listed either.
I spent $50 on a bluetooth headseet, the Motorola HS805, (Handy, because it uses AAA batteries, and I only occasionally use it, so instead of worrying about recharging it, I just replace the battery every month or two). Btw, it sells for like $30 now.
As far as charging, since I installed my Sirius kit, (which was $70, instead of three to 4 times the price for the ‘official’ MINI one) Its currently plugged into the front cigarette lighter. I realized my phone charger actually can be plugged in the rear outlet, and still is long enough to store the phone while charging in back cupholder, since the rear seats are rarely up.
Oh, and MP3 playing headunits have been standard since the ’04 (iirc) model year.
And GSM is questionable compared to Verizon/CDMA. If you get the slightest out of a a metro area, you can end up on some networks with mediocre service. I don’t consider the drive from Cleveland to Erie on I-90 much of a rural route, but its patchy enough to have problems with GSM. The phones are way better though. Its a tossup.
Gabe — yeah, the GSM services (T-Mobile/Cingular) are pretty spotty here in Los Angeles. I actually just made the move to Verizon this past weekend because I couldn’t put up with T-Mobile’s dropped calls any longer. It’s a shame because I do actually like GSM better, but T-Mobile and Cingular gave me no recourse.
Hopefully they will soon announce this as a factory option. Just think, Bluetooth & a JCW 40hp boost for the mere price of $8000.
What a joke. BMW is really blowing it lately.
Jeffro
I had BMW bluetooth in my last car, and installed it myself using BMW components. The system works with most any bluetooth phone, not just the few models they list. Those limited models are the phones for which they sell bays to slip the phone into for recharging only. Those bays don’t do the connection to/from the car stereo and other hardware. The wireless bluetooth connection does that. Whether or not one will be forced to install the armrest stuff should depend on one simple question: is there another way to “pair” the phone with the car’s bluetooth system? If no other way, then the pairing button shown on the armrest stuff will be necessary. I guess we’ll all know more once we learn more details of the new components and whether they can be purchased individually or just as part of a large system.
Too bad, I was gunna get this. Like the NAV display option…but this is too expensive.
Cool…my Moto e815 will work! That is fantastic…oh, yet ANOTHER option to add to my list. I guess my quest to get the ‘perfect’ Mini will absolutely push the $35k threshold…bummer. Oh well, what’s money for, anyway (and $1250 over 5 years is only a couple of bucks a month, right?)?
Quite pleased with that price 😉
I will be releasing my new parrot EVO bluetooth integration kit late next week
Finally it comes out, i have been waiting for this and now the price…. parts are making some good money with this plus the dealer markup….This is alot…what about the old one that came out in Nov 04′, i thinks its gone, whats the diff. with the new one??
Does the voice work better now?
Does it speak to you?
Where is the display?
Can it work in a convertible?? Or is it just a high price add on that does not work, it worked in europe??
I think the Bluetooth for the New Rolls is the same price and for the 7 series…lol..
Mikey what do you have?
I don’t think i can afford this mod, heck i should have went with the NAV for that amount.
I don’t know whats up with marketing, they do this to BMW, understandable, but MINI???
Final, Gabe do the dealers have info?
MINIUSA did not know anything a while back?
Group Buy???? lol
Since this new OEM is now available how about a kit for retrofit for the old OEM bluetooth to make use of the MFSW in USA? Also, what about getting British female voice instead of American female voice fo rthe bluetooth voice commands, currently American english, French, and Spanish.
yep, it kind of sucks when you have a brand new phone and it won’t work with the bluetooth. My wife would love to have it but she has a Treo which is a phone/palm combo and it probably won’t work. The Dealership said well we can install it and see if it will work. Um, not for 1300 bucks you aren’t.
Tim
Thanks Gabe, I am feeling much better about replacing my current Alpine head unit with a new one with blue-tooth capabilities. I can get an new head unit with blue-tooth module & ready for ipod for about 800 bucks.
Bonz
PS. My Jeep factory aftermarket blue tooth module for my 05 Larado was about $350.
Wow. With the intellect and techno-savy of our Mini community, you’d THINK that someone would have a Bluetooth solution for people that don’t want a phone stuck to the car. Someone has had to figure out how to keep your phone on your belt, and integrate it nicely with the factory head, without excess pieces disrupting the dash and console. I guess I’ll head over to “Car Toys” and see how bad I want bluetooth in my Mini.