2EASy

I'm thinking about picking up this:



I'm looking for ideas on how to hard wire this. I have the aux in the glove compartment. I'd like to wire this into the glove compartment but looking for power suggestions. Then I'll run a USB cable up through the cup holder so it can charge the phone.

Anyone use this before, reviews are good and it's $25 right now with a promo code.

Tremek

Mine just got here, going to look at how best to integrate it into the car and will report back with pics.

taurran

I'm guessing you can tap into the cigarette lighter circuit that runs in the center dash console. Look up some guides on hard wiring radar detectors and splice it into the power and ground in the same manner.

Looks pretty cool though, I hate the fact that the MB bluetooth puck costs so much, and also doesn't stream music. Looking forward to seeing a review on this one.

Toadster

I got one like that then I realized I don't have an AUX port in my glovebox

rxsamg

Funny, I was just looking at an identical product recently
But searched reviews & the phone audio quality just wasn't up to snuff. Very curious as to how the one you are trying performs. I am disgusted that a technologically high end vehicle as ours doesn't have basic capabilities you'd find in ford focus! I know, I know, it's 7 yrs older, oh well [/rant]

westu93

Share the promo code please?

KrazyKorean

i run this and works awesome,
And its not too obtrusive, i think thats the word, I would never think a fm transmitter would work so well and this one does.

Toadster

they have a new model (X3) as well but it's white - eek!

the miniBT looks pretty slick - a bit smaller

KrazyKorean

Yea they do, Im tempted to return mine and buy this one. Im a sucker for new"er" stuff haha. But the white kind of killed it for me since it wouldnt really match too well in my car.

Yea I almost got the mini but the way it sits in the cigarette lighter in our cars doesnt make the as easy to get to like the X2, but technology wise its the same as the X2 and no on off switch.

Tremek

Got started last night and got a little ahead of myself. While not really thinking about the mechanics of the Kinivo, I hacked off the 12v adapter thinking I would hardwire it into the system.

Well, dumb move: it's a 5v device, not 12v. So I got to spend another hour fighting with my awful soldering iron to reconnect the tiny power wires to its circuit board in the cigarette plug adapter it came with. So, tl;dr: don't do what I did.

With that said I'm waiting for a second one to come that I don't feel weird about keeping this behind the dash. I'm also going to splice in two 12v cigarette lighter plugs behind the cigarette plug that's embedded in the trim for this and my Valentine 1.

A few pics:



This is where I'm putting the controller. You can see I took the dash trim off (pried up with my Griot Garage interior trim tools on the driver side, and then slid it out to the right with the passenger door open) so I could run the wires.


You can see I pried up the surround ring around the shifter (had to shift it back into Neutral in order to pull up on the leading edge) and then be able to pull the 12v plug surround out by pulling up and out. This is where I'm going to tap in for keyed power. Red wire with white stripe is hot, brown is ground, blue with white stripe is the light inside the cigarette plug.


I'm just pushing the wires into the panel gaps since they're so tiny in diameter. I'm using my trim tool to push it in gently. You can't see the wires once they're in they're pushed far enough in.


Trim tool pictured.


This is the guts of the adapter's 12v plug guts. To my dismay, you need this as it steps voltage down from 12v to 5v. Don't be me and break all this up.



The Kinivo has a single wire running out of the bottom of it that eventually splits into 1 3.5mm audio cable and then the power plug. It also comes with a ~2 foot 3.5mm audio extension cable, which I needed to use since I ran the single cable down the side of the head unit on the driver's side, and then the extension up the right side of the head unit over to the glovebox. Not pictured: I took the inside top of the glovebox trim off to run the wire above/behind it, as you can see.

Once I get the replacement unit I will report back on how I further hack up my car's wiring.

Edit: Once I repaired the wiring I did test it and the pairing was painless and the audio really clear. Pushing the button also acts as a Siri trigger - really liking how this will work, once I get it installed...

westu93

What do you guys think about these rechargeable ones? Just plug em in the aux and leave them in the glove box and take out to charge later?

2EASy

Sorry, the code expired. Looking forward to updated by Tremek.

Tremek

I can't be bothered to be removing and reinstalling things from the car on a regular basis, I want dead-simple car-is-on functionality to just work. Once this is done I think I'm going to be happy, and for <$100 all in this is pretty simple to justify.

2Easy: I played with it a little bit once I got it re-soldered and really liked what I saw so far. Super simple, after I paired the phone and the Kinivo it synced with key-on just like it ought to, and the Kinivo also gave audio cues about its state plus has a blue/red LED on the front to tell you what it's doing. It also has music control buttons on the top. Audio sounded VERY clear, I think it's going to be good but will give a full review after my replacement unit shows up today. The only thing I can see not liking is not having the head unit auto-switch from satellite radio to aux for a call but that's my problem to manage. :P

cij911

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe this setup will work for those of us with the factory iPod kit....

Tremek

More progress but more drama: the dual 12v receptacle I ordered isn't going to fit behind the ashtray. Slight change of plans:

I'm going to splice in (solder, heatshrink, etc) a 12v line from the cigarette lighter and put the dual receptacle under the passenger side dash above the footwell and above the panel with the two Torx screws. This will change my wiring a little bit but I think it will work out for the best in the end. Also going to power the V1 from that receptacle, and since the Kinivo has a USB port to output 5v I bought a 6 foot iPhone cable that I'm going to run up the back of the center armrest.

Ran out of time tonight but will keep you guys posted.

thunderclaps

What you guys think about this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-Bluetooth-Audio-Receiver-12V-New-Piano-Gloss-Finish-/350708496195?pt=US_USB_Bluetooth_Adapters_Dongles&hash=item51a7daf743#ht_2590wt_1241

Tremek

That doesn't look like it's intended for auto use, more for home or something.

I got everything installed last night, decided with much deliberation not to just use vampire clips and that I was going to cut the 12v line to the outlet and splice in and solder and heatshrink the new line:



It works! I put the dual receptacle up behind the glovebox using 3m tape and wired everything including a line for my Valentine 1 and put the trim back on. Got done at 2am last night so I will go take some pics in the daylight for you guys.

Tremek

K, so initial thoughts:

Good:
- Kinivo powers up quickly and is easy to use.
- Paired very easily with my iphone 5 and seems to have no issue automatically pairing.
- Music controls are easy, Siri works by holding down the button.
- Audio playback quality through the car is very clear.
- Where I put the device on the dash let me run its power down to behind the glovebox and plug in the audio into the aux port without any cable extensions. This is good as you can't unplug the 12v power adapter from the unit.

So-so:
- Voice quality on the other end is apparently not good. My wife said she heard a rhythmic thumping while we were talking (electrical interference?) My dad said he could understand me and I was loud, but that it was obviously a marginal cell phone-sounding connection. Really disappointed by this.
- Sound volume for voice calls versus music is very different - calls are very quiet by comparison with the music playback, so I end up turning up the volume on the head unit for calls and then get blasted with super loud music when the call is over. Not sure if this is the device, my phone, or both causing this. I tried maxing out my volume on my phone for both voice and music and it didn't help - even max volume for calls was too quiet without needing amplification on the head unit, which of course makes the music too loud at the same volume. I'm going to try dropping the volume on the music controls for my phone and see if I can normalize.

EthanX

i just got the naztech bt for IPOD 30pins for my clk350. it work awesome!!!! it as aux in too..... the sound quality is the same !

EthanX

work perfect sound quality is awesome,

zubin.p

Hey guys sorry to bump an old thread back to life. I just wanted to share a quick easy alternative to the common fm transmitter method used or any hardwiring.
If your car has the old 30 pin iphone cable in the glovebox but doesn't charge here are two things to get.

Scosche passPORT Charging Adapter for iPod and iPhone


and

CoolStream Duo. Bluetooth Adapter / Bluetooth Receiver



The Scosche changes and enables charging via firewire to usb. This can then power 30 pin bluetooth receivers commonly used on docking stations. Just connect the scosche to the 30 pin cable, then connect the bluetooth receiver to the scosche. Now you have bluetooth music capability. It is of better quality than the fm transmitter for sure and the best part is it seems to always auto connect to my phone whenever I enter the car if the bluetooth is still left on on my phone.

hachiroku

pointless to recommend spending 26.85 + 29.99 = $56.84 for both of those items, when the ViseeO Tune2Air for $85.00

sure you're saving a few dollars, but the Tune2Air supports next/previous track buttons on the steering wheel. will also support track name display if you use an apple product. also less pieces to eventually fail or break.

i spent 40 dollars buying other bluetooth 30 pin adapters, and should have just went straight for a tune2ar which worked flawlessly.



the above solutions are actually really good. i wish i went with the first suggestion instead of spending 189+85 for ipod interface then ViseeO Tune2Air