I invested in the TomTom Blue&Me 2 Satnav when I bought my 500c, and I love the fact it gets its power from the dash (I just hate messy leads)

But I found a lot of other downsides, the CPU is awfully slow, the Memory is full with the supplied map (1Mb left free out of 4Gb), and it is just generally showing its age.

TomTom have just released 2 new units, the GO400 and GO500, the 400 is the same size as the existing B&M2 but they have changed the connection on the bottom, so that is ruled out as a replacement using the original dash mount

But the GO500 uses the same mount as the old Blue&Me2, but it has a larger 5" Screen, BUT it fits the mount snuggly without closing the mount down, the satnav just snaps in with the mount fully open.


I have attached some pictures showing it in use,

The bonuses you get with this new unit are

CHEAPER (About £150 if you shop around for the Full Euro unit)
Bigger Screen (5" against 4")
Much Faster CPU
FREE Lifetime Map updates (Saves £39 a year)
FREE Lifetime Traffic Service (Saves £47 a year)

But you loose, the Specific B&M features like Trip info and Music control, I was prepared to live with that as I rarely use them but rely on my SatNav all day every day.

Anyway here are a couple fo photos of it fitted, so if you are looking to upgrade your B&M2 or want to start from scratch and can source a cheap dash mount this is a lot cheaper option than the overpriced and out of date B&M2





EDIT - POSSIBLY A NEATER MOUNTING SOLUTION

I think this may be a better mounting solution, by prying the mount gently apart I removed the top bracket (Mount not damaged it can be slid back in), and now with a bit of Sticky velcro on mount and Satnav its a lot easier to remove the Satnav from Bracket when parking (I tend to leave the bracket in the socket hence why I prefer this method), will try this for a few days and see if it works OK and if not go back to the "Wedged in Bracket Method"




PS --- This upgrade means I have a TomTom Blue&ME2 unit available for sale, that has European Maps and Map Update Service till March 2014, and Live Traffic Service Paid up to 18th May 2014 (I just renewed it for £47.99!!), Going for sale very cheap!!

That's brilliant news - thanks.

I bought the B&M2 TomTom for my car in February, and like you I need it for work. And I too find the CPU slow. It takes too long to boot up every time and load the post codes, which I have to do up to ten times in as many hours, and I'm in a hurry too! In fact it is no better than my old one. I have no intention of paying for any updates once it expires next year, and my old TomTom was fine for seven years, at least locally. London: no!

Fiat seems to be very slow to update the hardware and offer revised equipment, and the 'Fiat' features are anyway, as you say (I say!), pointless.

But at least it's a TomTom; I haven't found any other satnav that's better.

Does the new one do what the b&m should have don and output through he speakers by any chance?........

Seagull said:

Does the new one do what the b&m should have don and output through he speakers by any chance?........

Click to expand...

No the New one is the same as before Built in Speakers (But a lot louder than the B&M2).

The Live data is no longer via a built in SIM Card like the B&M2, it now uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone and uses the phones Data connection to get the Traffic info. (Hence why its now Lifetime free rather than £47 a year), but to be honest its a lot quicker than the old Built in Sim version, it connects to the phone and downloads the traffic in seconds, rather than the 3 to 5 minutes the old one took when you switched it on.

Also although it connects to the phone by Bluetooth, it does not disrupt the bluetooth connect to the Car B&M System so it still works fine for Voice Calls etc through the car while getting traffic data.

Of course it will depend on your network allowing perosnal Hotspot tethering for data (I use "3" on an iPhone so its not an issue but I can see it being an issue for some people who dont have tethering), the data usage in tiny, I just tracked data usage on my phone and on a 2 hour journey up the M1 the Traffic service slurped just 54kb of data from the phone, and it seems to be checking for updates every 90 seconds against the every 120 Seconds of the old unit.

So it will have downsides if you dont like the idea of having Bluetooth Hotspot turned on, on your phone, personally I always do so its no biggie. But the New 500 is so quick and the response and mapping way better than the Blue&Me, It will be interesting to see how long it is before there is a new B&M unit based on this platform available from Fiat at some massively inflated price.

Oh and the New 500 does have a Micro SD card slot so you can increase memory size unlike the B&M2.

The included European Map on the 500 is 6Gb, compared to the 3.5Gb on the B&M2 so there is either a lot of extra detail or a lot of extra coverage!!

Great find Flashyphotos.

OK, So I have found the best solution for mounting a new GO 500 in the old Blue & Me socket

Option 1 : WEDGE IT IN, Worked OK and held it firm but was a PITA to get out of the mount when you wanted to do any updates

Option 2 : Velcro on Back of Unit and Mount, Easy to remove but tended to loose power connection intermitantly which was annoying

Option 3 : A Strong Magnet inserted into the base.. After 4000 miles this has been the best option, easy to disconnect for updates and hiding away, but never looses power in use

I removed the top of the mount completely, dremmeled the inside of the mount flat (There was a plastic ridge inside), and fitted a round magnet in the area between the screw holes with epoxy resin, this lines up with the mag mount latch inside the TomTom and holds it in the mount very securely (Just as the Mount for the standard TomTom was designed to do)

Here are some images

Mount with top section removed


1Quid Magnet Expoy Resined inside Mount


Holds like a trooper cant even shake it off


Much neater fit than wedged or velcro

Great thread, flashyphotos -- thanks for sharing.
I can't wait for the GO 500 to be released here in Australia!

Thanks to flashyphotos for putting me on to this, I am now the proud owner of a FIAT port 68R cradle with TomTom Go 500 unit! Set me back a very hefty AUD $130 delivered from the UK (eBay vendor "ntlparts") but I feel it's definitely worth it. No more silly suction cup and cable needed!

Alas, I'm not as technically minded so I'm just going to settle for leaving the cradle stock without trimming anything off -- and yes, the TomTom Go 500 is a tight fit!

I really like this cradle -- it can sit fairly low so it doesn't obscure driver vision. You can tighten the knob to lock it into place if you want to secure it, otherwise you can swivel it around and raise and lower it. I prefer to point it downwards slightly so that I get less reflection/glare on the TomTom screen.

One quirk I discovered is that the port 68R cradle barely fits into the passenger seat storage compartment (see 3rd photo) -- when I close the lid, I can feel it squishing the cradle slightly to make room. No damage so far as I can tell, but it's a bit annoying -- trust FIAT to make a compartment that's not even big enough to fit its own accessory

I'm using a Kenu AirFrame smartphone vent mount to hold my iPhone BTW -- works great. I use the iPhone for in-car music, as well as providing an Internet connection for the TomTom unit so that it can use the (free lifetime) Traffic IQ feature.

I wish more car manufacturers would make modular, upgradeable mounts for things like GPS car navigation units and smartphone holders. It's great that the current TomTom Go 500 (and presumably the 5000) fits the FIAT port 68R cradle, but I fear this is the end of the line and future models will probably not work anymore.

Also, this is a surprisingly popular thread, I've had people ask me on other forums about TomTom compatibility with the port 68R cradle, and I've pointed them here

For those interested, I've added photos of the labels on the cradle packaging in case you need the part number or whatnot. It arrived in a plain white cardboard box (with no instructions/manual).

You have an iPhone and have a mount for it. Would it not have been a lot easier and cheaper to get the tomtom app for your iPhone? I found it to work very well.

Yep I've used the TomTom app on my iPhone for years and it's served me very well, but I prefer the bigger screen by far. I would've preferred to go for the TomTom Go 600 but it's most likely too big to fit into the cradle.

Which has me wondering -- after doing flashyphotos' mod (removing the top of the cradle bracket), would the TomTom Go 600 fit? Not sure if it uses the same pin socket at the bottom though.

44sunsets said:

Yep I've used the TomTom app on my iPhone for years and it's served me very well, but I prefer the bigger screen by far. I would've preferred to go for the TomTom Go 600 but it's most likely too big to fit into the cradle.

Which has me wondering -- after doing flashyphotos' mod (removing the top of the cradle bracket), would the TomTom Go 600 fit? Not sure if it uses the same pin socket at the bottom though.

Click to expand...

Yes the 600 and 6000 (6 In Screen Models) both fit with the chopped top cradle and magnet verion

600 has no SIM and relies on a connection to iphone/android vis bluetooth PAN and the 6000 hasits own SIM but uses the old 2G network so is very slow with data updates compared to using the 500/600 and a 3G BLuetooth link.

I saw this on eBay for anyone interested, although I dare say you may be able to buy it all new for less, the tomtom go500 is currently £140 in halfords

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111340222376

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I have been thinking about this as well. Please see my post in the Blue&Me forum -

https://www.fiatforum.com/blue-me/352695-after-market-tomtom-cradle-smart-phone-mount.html

Nooooooooo -- flashy, your photo links are all broken

flashyphotos sorry to bump this again but this thread is drawing a lot of interest as always, any chance you can upload your original photos again, and this time embed them using the forum's built-in image hosting?

Looks like the Go600 can be bought for £129 including £30 cashback form TomTom.
http://www.halfords.com/sat-nav-aud...m-traffic-maps-of-full-europe-free-carry-case


http://www.tomtompromotion.com/halfordscashback/


Edit. Wrong cashback link. There is definitely a newer valid one. I'll try to find it.
Got it.
https://www.tomtom-promotions.com/cashback/go2014/en-GB/

Hi just about to buy a panda. Will my tomtom 750 go fit and work or do I need to buy a new tomtom?

flashyphotos Could You please explain how You managed to remove the top section of the cradle? I can't figure it how without risking to break the whole thing.

Hi
First contribution after my wife's purchase of a 63 plate 500 lounge ( which she loves to bits). I'm 90% of the way through doing this mod, I'm just waiting for the magnet to arrive (due tomorrow) so will upload the step by step pictures, it really is a simple task thanks to flashy's inspirational genius.

Here's the initial ones, I'll try to caption them
the black spots are small rubber plugs, lever them out carefully with a small screwdriver or knife blade and the screws are underneath them. There are four in all, don't lose them as you'll need to put them back afterwards