Iphone 3g And Music

[hafadude]

Thought I'd give you my experience hooking up the new iPhone 3G through the standard stereo on my BA.

Wanted to play music through the car's speakers and also still be able to use the phone using Bluetooth which works fine (a Sony Erricson unit that's hardwired in). I bought a Griffin FM transmitter/charger that was supposed to be made for the iPhone for $140 and that was terrible. All you could hear was static, snap, crackle and pop. Mucked around for over an hour using every setting I could find. No luck but the retailer took it back and gave me a full refund. I read on this forum about the aux cable with the boost amplifier as a Ford part. I checked with the local dealer and they said it would only fit a BF according to the parts catalogue. I bought it anyway to try it out and the dealer said they were willing to take it back if it didn't work. (Geez another helpful retailer! Cairns IS treating me well.) A local car sound place fitted the part for only $40 on the spot (vs $105 at the dealer) but weren't sure if everything would work with the new iPhone. Very happy to report that all works well! Music quality is like a CD, no static and the bluetooth for phone calls works well. You still need to buy a separate car charger of course.

One thing to look out for is the "audio source" when you make or answer a call. Make sure you select the bluetooth unit that that your phone pairs with otherwise it uses the phone's internal speaker and you can't hear a thing unless you pick up the phone. The boys in blue don't like that!

It all sounds simple but it's taken about a week to sort all this out. Anyone else had good or bad results with an iPhone in their T?

[Dagabond]

One thing to look out for is the "audio source" when you make or answer a call. Make sure you select the bluetooth unit that that your phone pairs with otherwise it uses the phone's internal speaker and you can't hear a thing unless you pick up the phone.

I always ran mine through the cars speakers without a problem.

Silly question maybe but have you tried turning the sound up in aux mode or on the phone itself?

Seems unusual that your getting CD quality from music through it, but not in phone use...

[hafadude]

G'day Dagabond,

Yes I can actually run the call through the speakers no problem. I was just referring to what shows on the iPhone screen when a call comes in or you make a call. You can choose whether to pair with your bluetooth unit in the car (through the speakers) or your phone's internal speaker which you can't hear unless you put the phone against your ear. The phone sits in a car cradle. The first couple of calls I got they could hear me but I couldn't hear them because the phone was not paired with the bluetooth unit which gives the sound through the speakers. (is that explanation confusing?)

I'm really happy it all works and now have it figured out. The iPhone owner's manual is almost non-existent so it took time to learn how it all works. Challenging when a person's not part of the iPod generation!

One thing I can't understand is why the Griffin FM transmitter was sooooo bad but my CD stacker works really well and uses an FM transmitter too.

[berzerker]

One thing I can't understand is why the Griffin FM transmitter was sooooo bad but my CD stacker works really well and uses an FM transmitter too.

Phew... I almost bought one of these yesterday.

When you say you had the kit installed for $40 - do you mean including the cable setup thing or just installation?

If the part was included, is it the proper Ford part?

[Adam]

It doesn't sound like he got the AUX audio kit from Ford.

It sounds like he brought the Bluetooth Phone Kit.

I've got both in my BF but I haven't tried playing music through the Bluetooth kit yet. I'll have to give it a go.

[hafadude]

Phew... I almost bought one of these yesterday.

When you say you had the kit installed for $40 - do you mean including the cable setup thing or just installation?

If the part was included, is it the proper Ford part?

Yeah, the installation (only) was $40 and that was done by a car sound place. The Ford dealer quoted me over $100 for fitting (only). The Aux cable I bought was a genuine Ford part FO-BAF 289455 BA. There are 2 aux cables you can buy. One is just basically a couple of wires and a plug available as a genuine or non-genuine part for about $25-$30 or you can buy the one I got that has a built-in amplifier. The cost was $99.79 and from what I have read on other posts, this is the way to go. Worked for me! If you know what you're doing mucking around with wiring ( I don't ) the kit does come with full instructions so you can save the installation cost. Using this aux cable kit feeds the sound directly into the sound system so there is no static, good volume etc.

Don't know if they are still listed but I did see the genuine kit with the built-in amplifier on Ebay for less than the dealer price but the seller said they would not fit a BA, only BF. That ain't true!

I also have a Sony Bluetooth kit that the iPhone pairs to for a call. That works well too. But have a look at my earlier post about using the bluetooth set-up. Good luck with it!

[Adam]

Oh I see...

You are using the AUX audio kit for music.

It's simple to install. Everything just plugs in.

I use the same kit for my car computer.

[berzerker]

Cheers for the info.

Just browsing eBay... would this one be suitable? dont think it has the built-in amplifier - maybe just a replica of the cheaper one.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Ford-BA-BF-Territor...1QQcmdZViewItem

[hafadude]

G'day,

This one will work but not sure how effective it will be. Some of the other posts seem to be saying that without the amplifier, you might not get enough volume or you will hear a lot of static or hissing. I don't know from personal experience though!

This one on eBay has the amplifier built in but costs a lot more:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/FORD-BA-BF-TERRITOR...1QQcmdZViewItem

If you do go for the cheaper one, it would be interesting to hear about your results. I got great sound with the one with the amp.