I should point out I meant that the iPhone and Touch are not suported as iPods and not that the iPhone won't work as a phone with B&M
General Abarth Collection Day - today
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General Abarth Collection Day - today
I should point out I meant that the iPhone and Touch are not suported as iPods and not that the iPhone won't work as a phone with B&M
Few questions for you.
Firstly, you're aware that B&M doesn't support iPod touch or iPhones right? If you have a normal iPod and it doesn't work then don't sit there on the forums bitching about it, get it sorted! You do also realise the iPod kit Fiat sell is just an extendable iPod cable and something to physically hold your iPod? There's nothing special about the cable! It's just a USB - dock connector like the one you got when you bought your iPod.
Secondly why are you using an SD card with a USB adaptor and not a USB flash drive like everyone else? You're adding complexity to the system and the more complex you make things the less likely they are to work and the more points of failure there are.
Thirdly, BT problem? Get Fiat to sort it!
Not to sound rude but do you think Fiat went out and made a system that flatout doesn't work and then decided to sell it on pretty much their whole range of cars?If B&M were this bad everyone with a 500 lounge, sport or Abarth would be bitching about it day and night but they aren't. If you have a faulty product then go out and get it fixed rather than bitching about it on a forum.
Let me bring you up on a few points here as I am not sure you read my post correctly:
1) As far as I am aware B&M is now officially supposed to work with the Iphone. It certainly works with mine in as far as the phone book copies across and you can dial a call - its just that the quality is terrible - that is a B&M problem, not an Iphone one, I know this because the result is the same when using my SE K550i.
2) I know the cable is a standard one - however as hinted at by you in your post, its best to keep things as standard as possible, so I bought the official Fiat cable.
3) Im not sure what you mean by 'sort your Ipod out' - It is sorted thanks - It is FAT formatted and loaded with MP3s, however my Fiat B&M will simply nor recognise it - my Alfa system plays it no problems at all.
4) The local Fiat dealer will not touch my Abarth. The nearest Abarth dealer is 100 miles away. I have taken the car 3 times with this problem; each time they tell me its fixed and then 1 week later the problem returns. Frankly id rather live with the flashing clocks than drive another 200 mile round trip to have the problem 'not solved' again. I think I am allowed to be grieved with this!
5) If you look into the B&M area of this site and others you will see it full of people 'bitching' about the system. By all accounts it is a disaster!
6) The SD card in the USB adapter is far and away the easiest and most stable solution I have found - beating the hard drives and USB sticks I have tried - so ill continue, thanks.
7) I notice you skip nicely around the issues of crashing/freezing/resetting/B&M Nav and the Ford system.
Ive learnt to 'live around' the system and work around its flaws - but for the money you pay why should you have to. Having to pull over in service stations, raise the bonnet and disconnect the battery simply to reset the audio system is not acceptable!
I absolutely suggest that Fiat have rushed out a system that is inadequate and not properly designed. Having personally spoken to some of the marketing men at Fiat UK to say that they are privately ashamed of some aspects of the system is to put it mildly.
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1) As far as I am aware B&M is now officially supposed to work with the Iphone. It certainly works with mine in as far as the phone book copies across and you can dial a call - its just that the quality is terrible - that is a B&M problem, not an Iphone one, I know this because the result is the same when using my SE K550i.
I never said the iPhone won't work as a phone, I merely meant as an iPod. Sounds like you have a faulty system.
2) I know the cable is a standard one - however as hinted at by you in your post, its best to keep things as standard as possible, so I bought the official Fiat cable.
Well it makes no difference anyway, just wanted to make sure you knew
3) Im not sure what you mean by 'sort your Ipod out' - It is sorted thanks - It is FAT formatted and loaded with MP3s, however my Fiat B&M will simply nor recognise it - my Alfa system plays it no problems at all.
I wasn't suggesting that you get your iPod sorted, I said get B&M sorted. It sounds like it's faulty unit......
4) The local Fiat dealer will not touch my Abarth. The nearest Abarth dealer is 100 miles away. I have taken the car 3 times with this problem; each time they tell me its fixed and then 1 week later the problem returns. Frankly id rather live with the flashing clocks than drive another 200 mile round trip to have the problem 'not solved' again. I think I am allowed to be grieved with this!
Call up Fiat CS and see what they'll do for you. It sounds like your dealer isn't bothered that your car is faulty. It's not really a problem that needs to be deal with by an Abarth dealer anyway
5) If you look into the B&M area of this site and others you will see it full of people 'bitching' about the system. By all accounts it is a disaster!
Well people hardly ever go onto sites to praise products. I know if when I get my 500 and B&M works I'm not going to be going into the B&M section and warbling on about how good it is. If it doesn't work as expected I'm going to bitch and moan about it
6) The SD card in the USB adapter is far and away the easiest and most stable solution I have found - beating the hard drives and USB sticks I have tried - so ill continue, thanks.
If you've tried USB sticks and they don't work then it sounds like you have a faulty unit and it needs to be repaired/replaced
7) I notice you skip nicely around the issues of crashing/freezing/resetting/B&M Nav and the Ford system.
Not really, I've suggested you've got a fault with your system and get it sorted rather than getting a non-standard system which won't offer as much integration as B&M does.
Ive learnt to 'live around' the system and work around its flaws - but for the money you pay why should you have to. Having to pull over in service stations, raise the bonnet and disconnect the battery simply to reset the audio system is not acceptable!
I absolutely suggest that Fiat have rushed out a system that is inadequate and not properly designed. Having personally spoken to some of the marketing men at Fiat UK to say that they are privately ashamed of some aspects of the system is to put it mildly.
I'm sorry but marketing people don't know crap about technical issues. I'd wager that the issue with aac is a licencing one as in Apple wanting £x per every B&M system which gets sold so it can support aac. This might not seem like much but when you're churning hundreds of thousands of cars it adds up to a nice big dent in their profits. Never trust salespeople or marketing people 100% when they discuss technical things.
You can suggest all you like but if other people are not having issues with B&M then you need to open yourself up to the possibility that your dealer is incompetent and that your B&M system has a fault which needs to be rectified by a more competent dealer.
If you want your system sorted then have the various B&M related components replaced under warranty. If you buy a TV and it doesn't work as it should do I doubt you'd go out and buy some sort of third party unit to sort the issues which your TV has, why do it with your car?
I might seem a bit harsh but I'm only trying to make you realise that rather than a badly designed unit, you've got a faulty unit which can and should be repaired.
I never said the iPhone won't work as a phone, I merely meant as an iPod. Sounds like you have a faulty system.
2) I know the cable is a standard one - however as hinted at by you in your post, its best to keep things as standard as possible, so I bought the official Fiat cable.
Well it makes no difference anyway, just wanted to make sure you knew
3) Im not sure what you mean by 'sort your Ipod out' - It is sorted thanks - It is FAT formatted and loaded with MP3s, however my Fiat B&M will simply nor recognise it - my Alfa system plays it no problems at all.
I wasn't suggesting that you get your iPod sorted, I said get B&M sorted. It sounds like it's faulty unit......
4) The local Fiat dealer will not touch my Abarth. The nearest Abarth dealer is 100 miles away. I have taken the car 3 times with this problem; each time they tell me its fixed and then 1 week later the problem returns. Frankly id rather live with the flashing clocks than drive another 200 mile round trip to have the problem 'not solved' again. I think I am allowed to be grieved with this!
Call up Fiat CS and see what they'll do for you. It sounds like your dealer isn't bothered that your car is faulty. It's not really a problem that needs to be deal with by an Abarth dealer anyway
5) If you look into the B&M area of this site and others you will see it full of people 'bitching' about the system. By all accounts it is a disaster!
Well people hardly ever go onto sites to praise products. I know if when I get my 500 and B&M works I'm not going to be going into the B&M section and warbling on about how good it is. If it doesn't work as expected I'm going to bitch and moan about it
6) The SD card in the USB adapter is far and away the easiest and most stable solution I have found - beating the hard drives and USB sticks I have tried - so ill continue, thanks.
If you've tried USB sticks and they don't work then it sounds like you have a faulty unit and it needs to be repaired/replaced
7) I notice you skip nicely around the issues of crashing/freezing/resetting/B&M Nav and the Ford system.
Not really, I've suggested you've got a fault with your system and get it sorted rather than getting a non-standard system which won't offer as much integration as B&M does.
Ive learnt to 'live around' the system and work around its flaws - but for the money you pay why should you have to. Having to pull over in service stations, raise the bonnet and disconnect the battery simply to reset the audio system is not acceptable!
I absolutely suggest that Fiat have rushed out a system that is inadequate and not properly designed. Having personally spoken to some of the marketing men at Fiat UK to say that they are privately ashamed of some aspects of the system is to put it mildly.
I'm sorry but marketing people don't know crap about technical issues. I'd wager that the issue with aac is a licencing one as in Apple wanting £x per every B&M system which gets sold so it can support aac. This might not seem like much but when you're churning hundreds of thousands of cars it adds up to a nice big dent in their profits. Never trust salespeople or marketing people 100% when they discuss technical things.
You can suggest all you like but if other people are not having issues with B&M then you need to open yourself up to the possibility that your dealer is incompetent and that your B&M system has a fault which needs to be rectified by a more competent dealer.
If you want your system sorted then have the various B&M related components replaced under warranty. If you buy a TV and it doesn't work as it should do I doubt you'd go out and buy some sort of third party unit to sort the issues which your TV has, why do it with your car?
I might seem a bit harsh but I'm only trying to make you realise that rather than a badly designed unit, you've got a faulty unit which can and should be repaired.
I live in the Netherlands, there is only one dealer - I have no choice.
If I could simply rip out the B&M and install my own stuff I would be a happy chappy - but you cant, and to be honest thats what grates even more.
If I could simply rip out the B&M and install my own stuff I would be a happy chappy - but you cant, and to be honest thats what grates even more.
You think it makes sense to replace faulty stuff under warranty with your own stuff?
Yes, if I dont like it - not everyone wants to leave the ICE completely standard :bang:
Abarth500 Joe
New member
That is quite worrying.....my dealer also told me that the split rear seats are standard......better phone them.
How long, in the end, did you have to wait for your Abarth?
Something's going on here because I find myself agreeing with you more and more! I think the B&M is great, it works brilliantly with my nokia, both making and recieving calls. Also I've always thought the standard head units in cars look much better than aftermarket ones... we had to have one in our Stilo after the original blew up, it was a Kenwood and sounded ok but looked an abomination. Personally the standard stereo is fine for my needs, but I will admit I'm not one of the ICE cognoscenti tho so I understand that people may want a far better system than the standard one. Still think the proper thing looks better tho.
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If you have ticked the leather box they are standard, unless something has changed secretly they aren't with cloth
w12ksy
New member
With regard to the split seats I was assured by the sales person at the dealers that the split seats was a standard fit to the extent that they even stated on Wednesday that they had had cloth seats that had come in with the split seat option.
Wait time was 11 weeks from order to delivery which was within the dealer quoted 10-12 weeks.
With regard to the B&M, it will not work with an ipod unless the formatt is coverted to MP3, as most of my material I listen to is in Audio book format which cannot be converted to MP3 then I need to change my head unit.
For the record the Pioneer DEH P88RS along with the ipod kit gives complete ipod control via the head unit, I know as I have been using this system for 6 months in my previous car.
I already have a CK-300 car kit which was linked into the head unit, it works perfectly with the Nokia N95, if you should happen to check out the B&M section of this very forum it would appear that this and many other phones work intermittently with the B&M - I simply want a phone kit that works all the time.
Connect2 make the stalk adapter that should allow the steering wheel buttons to work the head unit etc, if it works the phone as well then thats a bonus, if not the CK-300 device works any way.
Wait time was 11 weeks from order to delivery which was within the dealer quoted 10-12 weeks.
With regard to the B&M, it will not work with an ipod unless the formatt is coverted to MP3, as most of my material I listen to is in Audio book format which cannot be converted to MP3 then I need to change my head unit.
For the record the Pioneer DEH P88RS along with the ipod kit gives complete ipod control via the head unit, I know as I have been using this system for 6 months in my previous car.
I already have a CK-300 car kit which was linked into the head unit, it works perfectly with the Nokia N95, if you should happen to check out the B&M section of this very forum it would appear that this and many other phones work intermittently with the B&M - I simply want a phone kit that works all the time.
Connect2 make the stalk adapter that should allow the steering wheel buttons to work the head unit etc, if it works the phone as well then thats a bonus, if not the CK-300 device works any way.
Ameer was good, but he was ill when I placed the order, so I had Abb. Try to keep away from him, he never calls you back.
Abarth500 Joe
New member
I had dealings with Thames Motors in Slough. I went there to test drive an Abarth 500 which was great.........infact I was absolutely buzzing from the experience.
To cut the story short, I gave them a £2000 pound deposit (cheque) for the Red Abarth they had available on site, but when I got home I had a bad feeling about the deal. So the next day I phone Thames to say that I was pulling out of the deal, and they assured me that the cheque had not been cashed and that they would return the cheque back to me....phew! Three days later I received a phone call frome Thames to say "don't be alarmed if you see the funds cleared from your account. I'll write out a cheque to you and stick it in the post"..........What the f**k!!!!!
Luckily, I'd cancelled the cheque the day I called them.......
So, unfortunate to them, I will never ever have any dealings with Thames Motors!
In the end I drove all the way to Romford and ordered my Abarth with them. The saleswoman there is awesome and extremely helpful........and they even threw in an electric sunroof for the price of a fixed one......brilliant
w12ksy
New member
I ordered mine from Romford!
How are you going to get around the issue of the B&M disconection?
If you inhook the standard HU from the B&M the car 'knows' and usually chucks out a load of CANBUS errors which will make the mileage flash.
So Ad who did you use?
I had Abb, he was OK but the whole outfit seemed to be out of touch, and with that you need someone who will ring you back, and he never did, unless it meant cash.
I just felt they were not very gratefull that in this recession someone was prepared to pay full price, and to wait.
I got to that feeling in the end that each time I spoke to them I was just making a pain of myself, even now my Warranty book is not completed correctly, with one page having tippex over a contract number.
The dealership is only 10 minutes from my house, if it was any further I would have gone elsewhere I suspect.
I just felt they were not very gratefull that in this recession someone was prepared to pay full price, and to wait.
I got to that feeling in the end that each time I spoke to them I was just making a pain of myself, even now my Warranty book is not completed correctly, with one page having tippex over a contract number.
The dealership is only 10 minutes from my house, if it was any further I would have gone elsewhere I suspect.
Sounds a good spec- shame about the split seat. That would bug me, especially as I have a kids seat in the back. The B&M is great, but I don't use an Ipod / Iphone. I have a Nokia & a Sansa MP3 player. Call quality is great. Sometimes the MP3 player takes a while to connect, but it does have loads of files on it. Also use a memory stick for the little one's tunes with no issues...
