[pt86]

Hi All, thought there might be others who could benefit from this. I almost exclusively use my iphone 5 for playing music and thought there might be some who'd appreciate knowing what I've found out so far as music is always a key consideration when buying a car for me.

Firstly, the iPhone 5 works perfectly whether it is Bluetooth or USB connection in terms of audio quality. It takes up to 30 seconds to start streaming though which isn't perfect and for some reason it can take a very long time to be able to browse for music via BT, instant on USB. Think this might be because I have a lot of music and it downloads the whole library info to the car every time is connects...


On USB, you also get the album art showing and the charging does work with the lightning USB cable (get spare cable for £15 from Apple).


I have pulled up the transmission tunnel trim and drilled a small hole next to the cigarette charger and run the cable from the USB socket. It's nice and neat, and I fitted a circular grommit at the end of the charger so it doesn't slip back into the tunnel and looks really neat. Can't remember what size drill bit I used, will post the info if people find it useful. Basically means when I'm not using it, there is no cables lying around, and the iPhone 5 sits very nicely in the slot in the cup holder.


Lastly, but no means least, I was considering the JBL upgrade because I was underwhelmed by the sound level. The Quality is good, but I find at speed road noise was easily drowning the stereo out even at Max volume. I listened to the Radio today for the first time and noticed that it was actually more than loud enough and thought maybe there was something I could change on the iPhone. Going into General->Music I saw a headphone level at max already and my heart sank. However.. I changed the 'Sound Check' option to OFF and 'Hey Presto', volume massively increased!!! Yay, no need to £1,100 upgrade for me now. Quite happy to stereo as is - never going to match a really top end system but it's decent quality and I will put the money towards the exhaust instead

Hope this is of interest to some of you. Peter
Edited by: pt86

 

[Guest]

Que?

 

[pt86]

One other thing I forgot to say.. If you have a big music library and it's downloading your library info as per the above, if you also happen to have a phone call come in shortly after starting the car, the person at the far end will get very poor phone quality as the library download doesn't stop and greatly reduces the bluetooth bandwidth...

 

[FRODO]

Great info Pete thanks especially the volume setting as I have not tried turing that off.

Personally I use an ipod touch but bought a short 15cm charging cable off ebay last week.
This saves drilling and using a long cable. Not sure if this one fits the iphone though of course.
What it does mean is that I can leave the cable in the ipod when I take it out as it is not too cumbersome and then it's a lot quicker fitting the usb cable rather than the ipod end.

Hope this helps someone.

 

[ITGeekLondon]

Would really love some pics of how you have moved the Iphone to where the cigarette lighter is! It really frustrates me that it is where it is, because id like to leave my ipod touch in the car, but its on show if i leave it in the little cubby area

 

[pt86]

Hi Frodo, unfortunately there is no after market cable for an iPhone 5 and unlikely there will be for a while as Apple has put an authentication chip in it to stop that

With the nature of the iPhone, it will always be removed from the car every time I get out, so I needed something that I could lave permanently plugged into the USB slot - I personally don't like cables on show when I'm driving the car, like to keep the area around the gear stick clear just in case of a tangle at a bad moment!! When not in use, literally all you can see is the tiny end of the lightening cable protruding about 1cm next to the 12v socket.
cheers, Peter

 

[pt86]

Hi ITGeekLondon, sorry for not being clear. I've not moved the socket (although if you want to get the head unit out, this could be done...) Just hidden the wire itself so the only thing you can see is it coming out the USB socket, then it goes into the transmission tunnel and the other end pops out next to the 12v adapter.

If I pull it, it has plenty of play (probably 20cm or more from memory), but after use it then pushes back into the trim so just seeing the end. I only plug the phone in when on a longer journey and want to get charge. I will pop some pictures up later if you look back. cheers

 

[FRODO]

Hi Frodo, unfortunately there is no after market cable for an iPhone 5 and unlikely there will be for a while as Apple has put an authentication chip in it to stop that

With the nature of the iPhone, it will always be removed from the car every time I get out, so I needed something that I could lave permanently plugged into the USB slot - I personally don't like cables on show when I'm driving the car, like to keep the area around the gear stick clear just in case of a tangle at a bad moment!! When not in use, literally all you can see is the tiny end of the lightening cable protruding about 1cm next to the 12v socket.
cheers, Peter

Typical Apple Pete

And understand not wanting to leave anything on show.
It's just a shame that cubby hole isn't a little deeper with a cover AND the sockets on the inside.

 

[ITGeekLondon]

Would still love to see a few pics of this!

Does anyone know if there is any USB connection at the back of the touch and go? Id really like to move my IPod somewhere and looking at different options of how to do this!

 

[Quixote]

Interesting, I haven't updated to iOS6 yet with the iPhone4, but I can't browse music over BT, only over the USB cable (which to be honest is better for me anyway, as it means I have no worries about flat battery). Anyone else noticed the slot in the cup holder thingy, is perfectly shaped to slot an iPhone into?

The only challenge is I have to keep reminding the phone to play music over the dock connector and not BT.

The iPhone can connect to both dock and BT at the same time, which means music and library sync over USB and voice calls over BT work fine.

On an unrelated point, with iPhone 5 if you're on Orange (specifically Orange part of EE) or 3 and you call another iPhone 5 user (on the same network), you *should* be able to get High Definition voice calls. Unfortunately HD Voice is not enabled cross-network yet... which is daft considering both EE & 3 use the same Radio (MBNL).

 

[pt86]

OK... slight correction on my first post, just had a chance to play at lunch and make sure.... Bluetooth doesn't allow you to chose music from the car, only USB does that. With BT, you chose from the phone.. sorry!

That over, please find below for those who are interested a literally 5 minute job to tidily put your iPhone / A.N.Other phone cable into your car a little more nicely.


1. Lift the gearbox plastic surround. If you start from the point shown on the photo, this should be an easy job and the whole thing just pops out. Pull up and leave clear, you can disconnect the cable to the VSC buttons if you want to make access easier.

2. The surround will pop up like the below, and you can see that if you have small hands or long fingers like me you don't need to remove any more of the plastic at all. Pull the plastic panel on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel (comes off easiest from the footwell end ) and then put your phone cable underneath it so it is running cleanly from the USB port. Tuck it under the plastic of the transmission tunnel and you can grab it from under the gear lever.

3. I cable tied the phone cable to one of the existing cables running under there. Probably no need, but it means when I push the excess cable back into the surround, there is no chance of it entering the gear level area. Then take a 10MM bit, a drill bit would work fine, but I used this wood bit for creating holes which took all of 3 seconds to drill through the 1mm of plastic! You can safely go under the 12v socket if you want it more (I checked the clearance), but I wanted mine above.

4. Feed your cable through the hole. You'll need chassis grommets from Maplins or similar. Maplins do a a 10 pack for 3.50 or so (code QT94C) which are perfect for phone leads. The small iPhone 5 connector will actually push through this if squeezed, most phone connectors will be too big. In that case, simply use a pair of scissors to cut the grommet and slip it around the cable. It will still be totally secure when in the hole. Push the grommet into your 10MM hole and fit the gearlever cable back down (not forgetting to reconnect the VSC cable if you unclipped this. Sounds like loads of work, it really is 5-10 minutes max!!

Here it is all looking neat and tidy You could of course put one in the top end next to the USB socket, but I didn't want to drill there. or even better connect it to the rear of the USB socket so there is absolutely no cable, but I wanted a neat and quick fix, not a half day job!

Lastly, for those that don't have small hands or long fingers, you can easily take the transmission cover off. You'll find two cross head screws under the gear level, and two under the storage bay if you pull up the flimsy plastic mat at the bottom.

 

[malcolmgt86]

Nice and simple. Though I did just have to go out to my car because could not work out what the empty area in the middle of the transmission tunnel was. Doh! That's where the heated seat switches are (not seen car without them!).

 

[pt86]

ahh, you must have alacantra then?? I was never offered them as an option and yet saw them over the weekend on the dealer car.. couldn't bring myself to pay that money for part leather alacantra!! Shame, as I really do like heated seats in the winter... thinking I might have a crack at fitting my own, not exactly difficult to put a wire element under the seat!! Not one you'd want to get wrong though, lol!!!

Had more chance at lunch to listen to iphone with 'Sound Check' set to off. Got kicking ass sound and bass coming out of basic stereo now... very happy!!

 

[pt86]

hmm, I'm quite liking the idea of fitting seat heaters before the winter to my cloth trim seats....

First step is to buyWaeco MSH50 seat heaters which only costs around £60.l Then I mount my missile style rocker button I've had kicking around for a while looking for a good use... Go nicely in the space where the seat heater buttons are supposed to go. Not a big job at all I reckon what with the 12v socket easily accessible in the in the transmission tunnel!!


BTW - the pic is the best I could find on Maplins, it's red not pink in real life and looks awesome!! Go well in my flight deck

Will let you all know if I do it..

 

[Guest]

OK... slight correction on my first post, just had a chance to play at lunch and make sure.... Bluetooth doesn't allow you to chose music from the car, only USB does that. With BT, you chose from the phone.. sorry!

Not sure I'm with you... I only use bluetooth and can select music by album, artist, etc. on the T&G screen...

 

[pt86]

lorgrover - how do you do it? On the music screen, I go to options and then where there is 'Browse for music' listed, when connected via Bluetooth is it greyed out (works fine on USB). I'm confused, because I'm quite sure when test driving the thing around I connected my iPhone 5 via BT (didn't have a cable) and I definitely recall being able to choose music over BT too. What am I doing wrong??!

I've tried clicking everything else on the T&G screen or so I thought. Idiots guide please!


What phone are you using? I also cannot connect to the Internet on iPhone 5 - says connection failed.... might be worth deleting pairing and trying again, do get some funny things with BT sometimes..

Edited by: pt86

 

[Guest]

Apologies... I may be lying.I typically connect USB flash drive for music and phone for t'internets and calls. I'll check when I get home later. Sorry if I've led you down the garden path.

 

[Quixote]

BTW - the pic is the best I could find on Maplins, it's red not pink in real life and looks awesome!! Go well in my flight deck

Will let you all know if I do it..

That needs to be attached to an ejector seat rather than heaters...if the nagging to "slow down" gets too much, pull the lever and suddenly all you can hear is the roar of the engine and the squeal of the tyres again

 

[pt86]

I know what you mean, certainly would be nice to use it for something more than seat heaters... but it will look cool!!


BTW - I said above in my little guide that if you couldn't reach to poke the end of your phone cable through the hole it's easy to take the transmission cover off.. Not quite so, there are two more bolts I had missed that is under the front trim (under the stereo). As it's a decent size space, I would suggest it would be easier to get the dainty hands of your other half to pass that cable through!!


Diagram attached for reference..

 

[malcolmgt86]

Ejector seats would give an instant weight reduction and performance boost too. LOL, reminds me of an old friend who worked for British Aerospace and fittedthecontrol console from an old de-commissioned missile system to his Honda Civic