iPhone 5 Media Y Cable summary

So I managed to get hold of one of these, despite being told by 2 separate dealers that they were still on hold, a tip off & call to Lloyd Blackpool meant that I was able to trace one.

And so far I'm rather disappointed. The two functions I couldn't use via the old lead & lightning adapter were video & 'PlugIn'. This still doesn't work but I understand that this is because the iPhone 5, or more importantly the lightning port does not support Video Out or 'ipod Out', so these functions may never work.

Sound quality is an improvement, but still not as good as via bluetooth, which I'm tempted to keep using despite losing album art.

The only plus I can see is that MINI Connected hasn't lost it's connection yet, so hopefully that'll work better at least.

It doesn't look that great either, all in all, disappointing considering how long it's taken to show up.

iPhone 5 Media Y Cable summary 2014-013

I can't believe that when you spec media etc that it doesn't include some sort of either snap in or at least the cable is hidden within the secret glovebox. What is perceived as a top quality car has a dangling cable that makes it all look Micky Mouse, just my view Smile

Join date : 2011-07-10 Posts : 2222

Davyboy wrote:: I can't believe that when you spec media etc that it doesn't include some sort of either snap in or at least the cable is hidden within the secret glovebox. What is perceived as a top quality car has a dangling cable that makes it all look Micky Mouse, just my view

+1. I'm not sure why they don't still do it, but you used to be able to get a wire that went into the compartment in the early R56. What they should do is what VW do (and have done since the mk5 golf) whereby you can slide your ipod/phone in to a part in the arm rest...

They do, it's called a snap-in adapter. Except they havent developed the one for an iPhone 5 yet.....

PhilK wrote:: They do, it's called a snap-in adapter. Except they havent developed the one for an iPhone 5 yet.....

I was told they had but it only works on the iPhone 5 not 5c+ & it does very little extra & £100+ more than the cable!! When I got mine on mon Phil

I agree I preferred the older style cable but they've had to do that way as apparently the y part was snapping/breaking internally & needing replacing hence the new style. I don't use the other parts so not fused. I can't comment for sure on sound quality as have balance speaker issue at the moment Sad

Join date : 2011-07-10 Posts : 2222

PhilK wrote:: They do, it's called a snap-in adapter. Except they havent developed the one for an iPhone 5 yet.....

You can't fit an ipod in it. And the full media adapter is stupidly priced! The price from VW was about £100 on top of the arm rest... I don't think it'd be too much to move the location of the port 2 feet, it'd be about 85p in wire, and wouldn't render the 'storage tray' completely useless!

PhilK wrote:: They do, it's called a snap-in adapter. Except they havent developed the one for an iPhone 5 yet.....

I know but it's extra and at the price of the media it should be included....

Yes you get the cable with media although some dealers try charging for it ..

Resurrecting this thread. With the new iPhone imminent, I thought I might use my old iPhone 5 in the car. So mainly for music, but also MINI connected which I currently never use due to the faff of plugging in the extra connector as I have the old 30 pin cable and also as I don't use my phone for music. Thought I could use a personal hotspot to get any addresses sent to MINI Connected etc. Does anyone use theirs like this now or have any views on whether it is worth doing?

How do you mean addresses sent to MINI Connected?

I used to use a personal hotspot to run Mini Connected, but when MINI removed google send to car I pretty much stopped with the hassle of using t al together.

Ah right! So google send to car is no longer there?? That's what I meant. If that's not there then I will just stick with my iPod and old cable. Happy with that and have not really been fussed with any of the apps within MINI connected.

vickietots wrote:: Ah right! So google send to car is no longer there?? That's what I meant. If that's not there then I will just stick with my iPod and old cable. Happy with that and have not really been fussed with any of the apps within MINI connected.

Indeed, it's been missing for some time now Sad

Thanks Phil! You have saved me some cash then! Will stick with what I have and not change it! Very Happy

Location : Farnham Surrey Join date : 2014-07-26 Posts : 12

Hi not sure if you guys can help but sounds like you know what you are talking about....

I have a USB and audio socket located under my dash, I can play music from an android phone but you have to control it all from the phone, not ideal when driving.

I tried to connect my wife's iPhone to the USB port with a normal iPhone cable and nothing works, am I right in saying I need a special cable? and if I but a cheap iPod nano will that work?

Thanks

That's right Ian, you need a Y cable from BMW/MINI, which will then give you full control - there are different versions available though, depending on whether you have nav or not Smile

Location : Farnham Surrey Join date : 2014-07-26 Posts : 12

Thanks for that mine is a 2010 cooper S so its old software, the menu is different to what you get now, it has sat nav built in though, I will ask when I call the garage tomorrow.....

My old 2008 Clubman with Nav(sounds like the same system as yours) took the non-media version of the cable.

I did a software update when I got the coupé, it was easy but can't remember how.

Instructions and the file should be on mini.co.uk/connectivity

Very old thread, but today realised that there is another type of Y cable and picked it up from Mini.

Works perfectly. The cable I have just branches at the Y joint..there is no box. The box one is for cars without media and won't show artwork or video. My car is sept 2011 so it is possible on the earlier builds.