matt_a

I just added a new mod to my wife's xB. She's on her phone a lot for her job, and her driving scares me enough as it is without a phone in her hand. So I decided to get her a Bluetooth Hands-Free car kit. It took me about 2 hours to install, and it works really well. She loves it. She never has to take her phone out of her purse. She can place and receive calls by simply pressing a button on the car kit controll and speaking into the air. The sound quality is great ( a LOT better than I expected). Anyhow, here's how I did it:

I put the mic where it's pointed right at her, and I didn't need to put it up behind the A-post.




I mounted the speaker in front of the cupholders.




I mounted the controller on the door to the storage bin (double sided tape) and ran the wire below the door.






I mounted the "Brain" inside the storage bin. My wife said she never uses it, so it made that part very easy. I just stuck some velcro on the bottom.


I needed two power sources: one switched with the ignition, and one constant-on. I bought an Add-A-Circuit, but then realized I didn't need it, because the power lines have in-line fuses. I used the one I bought anyhow for one , but I just did a direct tap for the second one.


I installed everything in a way that I could easily remove it someday without leaving a trace behind. I like it so much, I'll be getting another one for my xA.

evosky

whoa, looks like a very clean, slick job. cool to see that people are doing more technical mods.

cheers.

matt_a

Thanks! I was kinda nervous about doing it, but it really wasn't hard. The local stereo shop wanted $100 to do it, so I had proper motivation.

evosky

actually, if you would do a Tech Write Up of your process and equipment used, i'm sure the community would like to see it. i know a lot of us out there would like to have this hands-free solution.

matt_a

I wouldn't mind doing that, but I didn't think to take pics during the instalation process. To do the tech write-up the way I feel it should be done, I should have shown how the dash came appart, how the wires were routed...ect. If anyone does want to know, I'll be happy to explain it all in more detail to them. BTW, the kit sells for around $95.

Big_Bird

nice job, very clean

^^and yes, could you do a write up

matt_a

Thanks..and yes, I can do a more detailed write up in the tech section in a few days. I just wish I would have taken pics during the instalation.

evosky

haha no sweat. i'm sure someone could help out with pics along the way, or if you could just point to where the spots would be in pics, it shouldn't be a problem.

looking forward to the write up !

surfcity40

Very nice. Btw, I'm moving this to the xB ICE & interior forum.

KingOfAllCarAudio

Looks cool, I added a Bluetooth kit to my car as well; I will post a few pics because not too many people believe me. But, it is a rear view mirror with built in Bluetooth. It has a digital display in the mirror so you can see the caller ID and other info. The speaker is built into the back of the mirror and the microphone is pre wired to the top of the mirror and can be clipped to the headliner. If this isn’t enough, it also has two back up censors with a digital readout of the distance of the nearest object behind you built into he corner of the mirror!

matt_a

That sounds cool! Who makes it? I have heard that Parrot makes great car kits, but they have to be wired in to your stereo (it uses your stock speakers). That would have been more complicated of an install than I wanted to deal with. I like this Motorola kit because it's simple and it works great. And like I said earlier, the sound quality is excelent. I would love to see pics of the one you have!

porschemaniac

I have a Parrot kit in my tC and absolute love it. They now make a harness adapter so you just plug it into the back of the radio - takes a few minutes and no wires to cut! See here: http://www.parrotkits.com

The harness adapter for our cars is called a Toy-1.

sraudio

We do alot of Parrot kits here at the shop. We make T-Harnesses for any vehicle that has Metra harnesses available for them. Customers love these kits. Verizon customers need to check compatability some of there phones are not 100% compatable

kevets

I love having my BT earpiece in the car... but having the full speakerphone setup would be sliiiick. Those Parrott kits look real nice.

ElChupacabra

Im all about the AI connection bluetooth kit for my Alpine head unit. Its super easy to install. Even easier than the kit above. I think its about $160 for the kit...

sraudio

The Alpine unit only uses voice control and is not that nice I am an Alpine dealer we are very unhappy with the kit

KingOfAllCarAudio

Raytel, best Bluetooth Kit, period. It cost a bit more, but so does anything else of good quality.

omextreme

Love it... works great and the color screen is a nice touch...

porschemaniac

Looks fabulous but recharge your cell battery

Did you hand wire with a speaker like the first poster or did you use the parrotkits.com harness adapter to make the audio come out of your sound system? Also, change the bluetooth name in your phone from "Motorola Phone" to Omextreme or whatever - personalize baby....

sraudio

looks good!