General AUX or Ipod Connection Headache.

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General AUX or Ipod Connection Headache.

stevieste23

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Hi everyone.

I have been looking round for a way to play AUX or Iphone 6 through my daughters fiat 500 stereo.

Looked at the leads that connect to the back, where an autochanger would fit, but they say only work for non Bue & Me stereos???

The car does have Blue & Me, it a 2008 1.4 lounge. So I looked at the blue & Me adaptors that enable the system to play Ipods/Iphones, but they are saying not compatible with Iphone 6 (which is the desired source).

Could anyone help me out here, surely there is an answer?

Thanks for reading.
 
Hi everyone.

I have been looking round for a way to play AUX or Iphone 6 through my daughters fiat 500 stereo.

Looked at the leads that connect to the back, where an autochanger would fit, but they say only work for non Bue & Me stereos???

The car does have Blue & Me, it a 2008 1.4 lounge. So I looked at the blue & Me adaptors that enable the system to play Ipods/Iphones, but they are saying not compatible with Iphone 6 (which is the desired source).

Could anyone help me out here, surely there is an answer?

Thanks for reading.

The Blue&Me hardware on the early cars isn't compatible with the latest versions of the Blue&Me software, so upgrading the car's software isn't going to help you; the early cars needed a proprietary adapter (not cheap) to connect to any Iphone and I don't know whether the adapters are compatible with Iphone 6. This may not be as easy as you'd think it ought to be.

If Fiat had chosen to implement A2DP functionality into Blue&Me then there would have been many more interconnectivity options, but sadly they didn't (n)

The simplest thing might be to convert the music to .mp3 format, put it onto a memory stick & play it from the car's usb port. Assuming you can convert the music, that will be both very cheap and guaranteed to work.

Foobar2000 is a highly functional freeware music player which can transcode practically anything, but as of right now, you'll need a windows PC to run it.
 
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If you connect a stereo mini jack from the iPhone to the aux input by the handbrake then that should work and is what I do, with no cd loaded by pressing the cd button on the radio it will select the aux input and away you go, obviously all track selection etc will be via the phone only
 
If you connect a stereo mini jack from the iPhone to the aux input by the handbrake then that should work and is what I do, with no cd loaded by pressing the cd button on the radio it will select the aux input and away you go, obviously all track selection etc will be via the phone only

Sadly there is no aux input by the handbrake on a 2008 500 (it's a feature added to the later models), only the USB connector, and the functionality of that is limited to inserting a USB stick. You could buy an adapter (about £70) to enable you to connect your iphone through the USB socket, but IIRC that may not work properly with an iPhone 6.
 
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Sadly there is no aux input by the handbrake on a 2008 500 (it's a feature added to the later models), only the USB connector, and the functionality of that is limited to inserting a USB stick. You could buy an adapter (about £70) to enable you to connect your iphone through the USB socket, but IIRC that may not work properly with an iPhone 6.


Ah ok dident realise that, pita!
 
Our 2011 500TA has an AUX socket and a USB as well.

Personally, I have no use for them at all. I can see why people want to listen to music and stuff, but I prefer to listen the the roar of twin cylinder engine. :)

Regards,
Mick.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I have put some music on a USB stick for her, which works when planning in advance. But sometimes she wants the latest tune to play from her iphone that she has just got.

I think I have 2 options. Buy the Blue & Me adaptor and fingers crossed it works with the iPhone 6. (has anybody had any luck with this???)

or

Buy a newer model headunit that will have a compatible AUX input. If anyone can shed any light on that it would be great. What model would i be looking for or any links from ebay etc.

Again, thanks for the help.

Regards
 
I think I have 2 options. Buy the Blue & Me adaptor and fingers crossed it works with the iPhone 6. (has anybody had any luck with this???)

This almost certainly won't work.

Fiat dealer advertising says specifically that it's not suitable for use with iPhone 6. That's not a good starting point.

Buy a newer model headunit that will have a compatible AUX input. If anyone can shed any light on that it would be great. What model would i be looking for or any links from ebay etc.

I assume from this that you mean a non-Fiat head unit (the problem with compatibility in older cars is the Blue&Me convergence unit & associated wiring, not the head unit, so changing the head unit for a more recent Fiat one likely won't get you the result you want).

There are several options at varying prices; complicating factors include checking for compatibility with the steering wheel controls. There are a few threads here worth searching for; Seagull has a particularly nice Pioneer doubledin unit, but it wasn't a straightforward plug 'n' play fit.

As I said before, transcoding to a memory stick will be the cheapest and easiest option by a fair margin. The older Blue&Me system works well within its design limitations, but it's now at least eight years old and is exceedingly frustrating if you want it to do anything outside of the box.

Another idea, which I admittedly haven't researched further, is to get some sort of radio transmitter that's compatible with iPhone6; that way, you can use it to stream the iPhone's output to an unused radio channel & tune it in using one of the radio presets.

I remember about five years ago trying to get a tablet-based third party satnav application playing through the head unit of a 2010 car; after about a day of researching and experimenting, I abandoned the project as a lost cause.
 
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Thanks again for the reply. I read the same advert from fiat dealer about the blue & me stick. Further research into it led me to this page:

http://www.fiat-accessories.com/blue-and-me-adaptor-for-iphone-and-ipod

Looking at this it says iphone 6 and 6 plus compatible. Even more confusing.

Regards

It is indeed confusing :bang:.

On the basis of your link, I'd consider buying one on a 'sale-or-return' basis, specifically conditional on it working with your daughter's phone.

Still think it would be simpler and easier just to transcode the music.
 
Is there even an aux input on the back of the head unit? You could run a flying lead down to the cup holder and plug in the phone there
 
For what is worth I bough the adapter and had to return it as it would not work with iphone 6.
 
I purchased a dension gateway lite bt for my 500.

It too is a 2008 with Blue & Me, the radio is manufactured by blaupunkt. The box plugs into the rear of the headunit CD changer port. When connected it allows pausing track changing and playlist selection(i think). It did cost more than the dongle but it charges the phone too and the newer version also has A2DP so you can stream music via bluetooth.
 
This was my number one quest with my 2008 500 - I still have iphone4 and I am completely certain that without an expensive adapter of some sort it's not possible to play music from the phone to the cars system to any acceptable standard with a cable or otherwise (I have no aux socket by my handbrake, USB only) :( There is a bluetooth app called Blue2me which can stream music wirelessly from the phone to the car - it works but everything played sounds like you're listening to it over a telephone handset, it's no good for playing music at all and I wouldn't even recommend trying it.

Once I made the decision to move on I basically copied 32gb of my own ripped albums to a stick. I also have software to record web radio to my PC - I'm heavily into Prog Rock so I basically leave my computer recording Delicious Agony for 10 hours - overnight usually - then split into some tracks and burn to a CD-R as long mp3s. This is a great and simple way to have hours and hours of random rock music available in the car at all times!
 
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