Just picked up a 2008 Subaru, no bluetooth, no steering wheel controls fo raudio.
Anywya, I'm looking for a hardwired bluetooth solution that creates an 'as integrated' as possible functionality.
Theres always been chatter about Parrot systems, but most of the info I can find is from 5 years ago. Have they updated their products recently, or is it a case of "if it aint broke..."
Any suggestions for handsfree calling that will mute my stereo, tell me who'd calling and possibly text to voice?
Android phones, not apple if that makes any difference.
Thanks
Replace head unit? I've had good results with Sony and Alpine. The alpine came with an adapted for the in steering wheel controls too BMW.
EBay is a good place for replacement fascias if required.
I fitted a Parrott kit to my last car and have fitted one to a mates car. It was fine - better than the BT set up in my SMax (which packed up after a few years) and my wife new BMW. The Call quality was fine and it was much better to navigate your way through your contacts than the system on the BMW or the SMax. Also it was a doddle to fit - don't believe the BS about having to dismantle half your dash. I managed to do a really neat install with no visible wires with no drilling of holes or cutting of anything. The only bits of trim I had to remove was the passenger side windscreen trim and the lower under-dash kick-panel. The rest I was able to push the wires through panel gaps, access behind the dash from underneath and through the head unit slot.
The best way to do it is to get an ISO adapter for your current head unit and connect it via that rather than cutting and soldering wires.
The later systems enable you to stream music too so no need to get a new head unit that will probably get nicked anyway.
I'd get a bluetooth headunit. All my music is on a tiny usb stick that barely sticks out ... and I notice some of the units no longer take CDs which make them shorter (therefore easier to fit).
Thanks for the above.
Not super keen on a head unit swap though as im more a factory look guy.
I was the kid at school with the classic cars, not the euro box nova sri with a kenwood and sub 😉 yes, i appreciate the headunit is likley better in every way.
The subaru has a handy hide away in the upper console that i can tuck a module into. Nowhere to hide a single or double din unit though.
IO Play2 is rather good.
Great amp and music player.
2 phones at once via existing hi-fi and bluetooth.
[url= http://www.jbl.com/connected-car/CP100+LEGEND.html ]JBL Legend[/url]
This looks pretty factory.
Any idea on vendors for that IO?
Halfrauds sell them
I just bought another Parrot for my new(ly-acquired) car. I had an mki9200 about 5 years ago which did everything I wanted, and I came to the same conclusion as you: nothing has greatly changed since then. Parrot have released some newer but half-baked stuff (The Asteroid series) which doesn't get terribly good reviews and doesn't seem to be supported in the UK. I guess most new cars have bluetooth so that side of the business is dying out (Parrot now seem to make well-reviewed headphones and quadcopters!).
I went for the mki 9100 since it's a bit more discreet and the larger display of the 9200 doesn't add anything for me.
Fitting is very car-specific. I had to dismantle the whole dash on my Civic, but the actual wiring was plug-and-play. Getting behind the stereo in my current BMW is far easier but the wiring is more complex and (I discovered last night) beyond my capabilities. I've bought a more advanced SOT adaptor* so hopefully that will allow plug-and-play.
*#Boring - I wanted the Audio to go through the BMW head unit's Aux input which utilises the head unit's amp. If you use the Parrot as the amp then the sound quality takes a bit of a hit. But to do this is more complicated than I could understand.
P.S. I don't think the Parrot kits will do text-to-voice as such but it will send the audio from your phone so you can get Siri (or similar) to read texts.