Hi Paddy,

I am planing to add bluetooth connective in the same way.
Is the Bluetooth module you installed still working in current phones?

Dennis

 

Hi Dennis,

Still working with my phone... now I keep my phones for a while..it's an Iphone 7 I think.

 

I seem to have the first phone now that doesn’t connect to the ancient module anymore. Last Nokia 7 still did the job, current Pixel 4a doesn‘t connect, no matter what I try. The Jag just doesn‘t show up as connectable device.
Has anybody else made such an observation? Has a newest BT standard dropped its compatibility to the BT stoneage of the old module?

 

Thanks Paddy,

I think I am going all the way with this and install the Jagdroid upgrade.

Dennis

 

In 2020, from Amazon I ordered this simple $17 plug in - IMDEN Bluetooth 5.0 FM Transmitter for Car, QC3.0+Type-C PD 18W Wireless Bluetooth FM Radio Adapter Bass Sound Music Player FM Car Kit with Hands-free Calling and 3 USB Ports Charger Support USB Drive

I plugged it into the cigarette lighter (that is only powered with the key on - no battery drain) matched it with the middle radio button set to 88.1, and fixed my Android 4A-5G Google phone on an air-vent-grill magnetic mount near the door and ran a USB charging wire from the transmitter.

I get excellent quality phone and WhatsApp, Spotify on demand and Google map instructions, all running the same as on my phone, but through the car stereo. Very occasionally if no music on, I can hear a slight rustle of radio static but only because the Jag is so quiet.

I expect an audiophile might find the sound quality is not the same as a direct wired system, but I find it perfectly acceptable.

It would be interesting if one of you who has completed the whole rewiring design were to purchase one of these $17 devices and write a comparative review.

Here is a reasonably good review of this type of device: https://www.thedrive.com/reviews/282...m-transmitters

 

It allows you to hear your caller through the sound system, but does the on board microphone work as well?

 

Most of the inexpensive bluetooth units like that (cigarette lighter socket powered, that use the FM radio as the modulator) do have a microphone built in.

 

Thanks. I won't be cluttering anything up, that's for sure. I'm trying to see if i can find a kit that will allow for a modern radio/nav/satellite unit.

 

According to the blurb on Amazon: ": high-performance microphone with noise suppression cvc technology, grants you crystal clear call." In my experience, the person I am calling hears me fine. I expect 2022 noise cancelling technology is superior to the 2004 technology of my car. Bottom line - it works fine.

 

If I didn't have the factory nav/radio setup, I would have just gone with a quality replacement head unit with navigation and BT. Since I spend much of my working day in the car and pile on the miles, I went forward and added the later version of the X350/X200 BT unit and the voice module plus a junkyard-sourced CD changer at the same time. It was cheaper to buy them from eBay sellers in the UK and have them shipped versus finding the bits stateside. I was able to buy the correct fiber optic harness and the overhead microphone (the one that attaches to the headliner, not inside the overhead console) new from a couple different US-based dealers online.

 

I bought a magnetic phone mount that I fixed to the right side (RHD) air vent. I place my phone on it and plug it in to keep it charged. I use Google Maps and watch the video on my phone whilst hearing the directions through my speakers. When I compare this to the built in GPS system that came with my Mercedes W246 (at a much higher price), I find no functional difference whatsoever except that Google Maps are always updated and the realtime traffic conditions is exceptionally helpful. My TomTom is now gathering dust.

I am reminded of my 1986 Mercedes 300E that came with an installed car phone and the roof antennae. It was a very expensive option that is utterly worthless now... but the rest of the car is still not only driveable, but considered a great classic. Digital technology moves at a much faster rate than mechanical, hence the one vulnerability in buying an older/classic car is state-of-the-art radio systems that came with the high end cars is obsolete long before the car. The only real advances in car technology come into play if you have a crash (something I have not yet experienced since getting my driver license in 1966) or in the efficiency in the tailpipe and at the petrol station. The X350 is a great car, but the radio is no longer useful, and unfortunately, the way it was integrated into the car makes it a lot harder to upgrade.

Incidentally, I also have a 2001 SLK that came with an aftermarket radio with an AUX jack. For that I bought a Bluetooth adapter. I find very little difference in sound quality. But as the Jag did not come with an AUX jack, I went with this radio input instead.

 

The point of my posting is to give fellow owners an alternative to the effort you went through.