Technical Blue & Not Me?

[Intergalactic Ow Ow]

Hi Guys,

Bit of a random thread out of shear curiosity. For no reason at all, after owning my 2014 Punto Easy for over four years, I decided to see if it has "Blue & Me" installed and my investigations have left me.... confused?

1) From everything I have read, if I have "Blue & Me" then I should have a steering wheel button with a windows logo on. I don't, but I have a button with a talking face on?

2) I should have a USB port to the right of the cup holder. I don't, I have a blanking plate. There is nothing underneath it, just emptiness and crumbs!

So from the above, I thought that perhaps my car doesn't have it but when I hold that talking face button down, a voice says "new message" (I think - it sounds slurred as if it's had a few ) and my stereo display reads "Blue & Me" for a few seconds and then goes back to whatever it was on.

My phone doesn't detect anything on Bluetooth... what do you think? Do I have blue & Me? Are the non-windows button and blanking plate a Fiat anomaly? Has someone in the past perhaps piddled about with things?

Any advice, as always, appreciated

 

[AnthonyH]

You have blue & me. You could at best make and take phone calls through it hands free and that'd be a faff what with setting it up. There's no music going through bluetooth to your speakers - its not supported by the software. With no USB your music options are very limited, i mean, you could buy a portable speaker and leave it in the car.

 

[Intergalactic Ow Ow]

You have blue & me. You could at best make and take phone calls through it hands free and that'd be a faff what with setting it up. There's no music going through bluetooth to your speakers - its not supported by the software. With no USB your music options are very limited, i mean, you could buy a portable speaker and leave it in the car.

Thanks Anthony,
So, I am restricted to using it just for phone calls? LOL... what a cutting edge feature I've bought unbranded Chinese stereos for previous cars well that could do all kinds for not even £20 delivered... what an interesting design choice for the time...

 

[AnthonyH]

Thanks Anthony,
So, I am restricted to using it just for phone calls? LOL... what a cutting edge feature I've bought unbranded Chinese stereos for previous cars well that could do all kinds for not even £20 delivered... what an interesting design choice for the time...

Blue & Me is a pile of doggy doo lol. The best option is to replace the stereo, i looked into that a while ago and decided it wasn't important enough to me. The only thing I recall was important was to feed one of the power cables from the fusebox in the glovebox, or else the stereo won't turn off when you remove the key. Thats OK if you remember to turn the stereo off every time but a flat battery if you forget!

 

[Intergalactic Ow Ow]

Blue & Me is a pile of doggy doo lol. The best option is to replace the stereo, i looked into that a while ago and decided it wasn't important enough to me. The only thing I recall was important was to feed one of the power cables from the fusebox in the glovebox, or else the stereo won't turn off when you remove the key. Thats OK if you remember to turn the stereo off every time but a flat battery if you forget!

Yeah, sounds it and the alternative sounds like far to much grief tbh. I don't use the stereo much at all, really unless the radio / cd is requested by the family if we are out on a drive. With three young kids, I genuinely prefer complete silence if I am out by myself

 

[AnthonyH]

I drive for about 15 hours a week, more than i'd like really, but i rarely put music on, generally because my favourite music would be getting looped quite a lot and get boring

I'm now wondering what exactly i think for those 15 hours? Can't be much! lol

 

[Intergalactic Ow Ow]

I drive for about 15 hours a week, more than i'd like really, but i rarely put music on, generally because my favourite music would be getting looped quite a lot and get boring

I'm now wondering what exactly i think for those 15 hours? Can't be much! lol

Letting the mind wander is severely underrated..

 

[The Panda Nut]

You have blue & me. You could at best make and take phone calls through it hands free and that'd be a faff what with setting it up. There's no music going through bluetooth to your speakers - its not supported by the software. With no USB your music options are very limited, i mean, you could buy a portable speaker and leave it in the car.

It might have been disconnected or removed

 

[PuntoHowTo]

what do you think? Do I have blue & Me?

Clearly you do or the car wouldn't bring it up on the screen.

Are the non-windows button and blanking plate a Fiat anomaly? Has someone in the past perhaps piddled about with things?

Yes this!

Has the car ever been in an accident. The talking face button is a sign that the steering wheel/buttons might be from a later model car. If the dash airbag deploys you have to change the dash which might have lead to the new dash having a blanking plate.

I would probably do an HPI check on the car to be sure.

Some other models started moving over to UConnect around 2014 so I can't be 100% that fiat didn't just start changing the button around that time.

I would also take the blanking plate out and look under it for a wiring plug. The Blue and Me USB socket is liable to damage being right beside the cup holder and being faced directly upward, just crying out for someone to pour a drink into it. So if it was damaged and stopped working a previous owner or dealer might have removed the faulty plug and put a blanking plug in its place as usually if the car did not come with blue and me, then it didn't have a blanking plug either, just a plastic molding without the hole.

I seem to recall you can access some voice controlled menu features by pressing the blue and me button.

Another possibility is circa 2014 they included only the handsfree phone portion of Blue and Me, but not the full B&M feature set, as they were approaching the redesign of the punto at that stage (not really a re-design but they did change the the infotainment system options)

The best way to get a definite answer is to open the glovebox and look for the blue and me module directly above it.

 

[Intergalactic Ow Ow]

Clearly you do or the car wouldn't bring it up on the screen.


Yes this!

Has the car ever been in an accident. The talking face button is a sign that the steering wheel/buttons might be from a later model car. If the dash airbag deploys you have to change the dash which might have lead to the new dash having a blanking plate.

I would probably do an HPI check on the car to be sure.

Some other models started moving over to UConnect around 2014 so I can't be 100% that fiat didn't just start changing the button around that time.

I would also take the blanking plate out and look under it for a wiring plug. The Blue and Me USB socket is liable to damage being right beside the cup holder and being faced directly upward, just crying out for someone to pour a drink into it. So if it was damaged and stopped working a previous owner or dealer might have removed the faulty plug and put a blanking plug in its place as usually if the car did not come with blue and me, then it didn't have a blanking plug either, just a plastic molding without the hole.

I seem to recall you can access some voice controlled menu features by pressing the blue and me button.

Another possibility is circa 2014 they included only the handsfree phone portion of Blue and Me, but not the full B&M feature set, as they were approaching the redesign of the punto at that stage (not really a re-design but they did change the the infotainment system options)

The best way to get a definite answer is to open the glovebox and look for the blue and me module directly above it.

Hmm.. interesting. I had a look in my glove compartment and attached a picture - not sure what Blue and Me actually looks like?

There is nothing at all under the blanking plate, just the floor that I can see with my torch.

Before I got the car, there is only one recorded accident which was rear end damage. That doesn't definitely mean there wasn't more as I know it's had new passenger side doors and my dash is loose in places and screwed together too so.. MAYBE.

I have since done eBay scouring and found that the Punto Easy between 2012 - 2017 that are listed on eBay now, vary with the windows button vs talking face (it seems talking face came in at late 2013 / early 2014. There IS 2014 with windows button though. My own car is six days late of being a 63 plate, perhaps it got the new steering wheel and an older piece of dash (?). The actual USB socket has had several different looks and sometimes there isn't one. Interestingly, there is a manual and digital heater matrix which varies across the years seemingly a lottery of what was fitted. One punto listed has a completely different cubby above the vests. There is also a version more like the "pop" - identical to the pop actually that simply has no windows/talking face button and no USB bit is still the "Easy" trim level. Ive attached some pictures of these variants - and a few of my wonky dash