[RCUK]

Hey all,

Im picking my car up on friday (assuming funds clear!) and need to get a bluetooth system sorted as my car isnt wired for one.

Ive read somewhere that you can get the parrot ck3000 integrated so it works off the steering wheel controls.

Anyone know where i can get this done?

As an aside - halfords are currently doing the ck3000 fitted for £99 which is pretty good value!

[PeteJ]

Before you spend your cash, try going into your local carphone warehouse. I got a fully installed nokia kit for a 1 series (colour screen etc) and fitted very well for £89

The website doesn't seem to have any good deals, and instore seems to be better.

Hope this helps!

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by PeteJ

Before you spend your cash, try going into your local carphone warehouse. I got a fully installed nokia kit for a 1 series (colour screen etc) and fitted very well for £89

The website doesn't seem to have any good deals, and instore seems to be better.

Hope this helps!

I have the same one fittes to my E93 - colour screen mounted on the dash by the windscreen pillar. Had almost 2 yrs out of it so far without a hiccup. Pairs to ANY bluetooth phone (unlike the BMW option!!!), muted the stereo and puts the sound through the front speakers. OK no steering controls but there is a small thumbwheel that allows menu control etc on the small screen. It loads the phonebook to allow the contact browsing etc.

[RCUK]

Connect2 has a wiring loom (approx £60) that will integrate with the handsfree unit and allow you to use the steering wheel buttons.

I know, i know its not a big deal - but i hate having buttons on the steering wheel that are redundant!!

[marriedblonde]

The parrot ck3100 is a brilliant bit of kit and can be had for about £70 off ebay fora brand new one. You can then buy the multican adaptor thing from parrot for £60 that enables the steering wheel controls to work.

I had the ck3100 fitted in my z4 coupe even though I spec'd it with the BMW bluetooth kit.

J.

[Donster]

Originally Posted by marriedblonde

The parrot ck3100 is a brilliant bit of kit and can be had for about £70 off ebay fora brand new one. You can then buy the multican adaptor thing from parrot for £60 that enables the steering wheel controls to work.

I had the ck3100 fitted in my z4 coupe even though I spec'd it with the BMW bluetooth kit.

J.

I've got this in my Merc. Fantastic bit off kit...

I have not used the steering wheels controls yet though. I have a magnetic rubber mount for the phone so i can see who is calling anyway.

Will get one in every daily drive i buy from now on, including the 335D

[Wingco]

Let me be the first to chime in with a regret of installing the CK3100, let alone splashing a FURTHER 60 quid of the company's money on multican, in the mistaken belief of the added functionality I'd get with steering-wheel buttons.
YES, the kit interfaces with the BMW stereo and automatically mutes any music playing, and YES it channels the phone-call audio through the car's speaker.
The Multican interface allows you to initiate & end a call, and change the volume using the steering wheel buttons. It does NOT allow one to scroll through your phone-book or any other menus. A visit to the Parrot website in relation to the multican interface/add-on, is very vague, inferring that it will do this in some makes but not others, but there is no list to help you confirm in advance of splashing out. Let me confirm that it does NOT do this for the BMW E90.

Given that there is, in all honesty, only ONE sole place for the "display"/control unit for the CK3100 kit to be postioned, just to the left of the steering wheel on the none-flat dash above the metal/wood trim, and that this is so close to your left hand to be able to operate the control buttons, I wouldn't bother with the multican option.
The display unit is not intelligent enough to have day / night time illumination (i.e. less bright for the latter): don't get me wrong, you CAN go into a menu setting and change it - brighter or dimmer, but it's a fixed setting (until manually changed again.
If you hope you can actually change background lighting on the display to match the BMW's instrument lighting, think again.

Many of us these days also have 2 mobiles - a "work" one and a "personal" one - YES, the CK3100 will pair with up to 5 phones, but to switch the active connection from one to another is a convoluted trip through the menu structure and after about 4 or 5 button-presses, your there.

I deeply regret that there was no real place to locate the control unit of the very excellent Sony Ericsson HCB700 kit I had in my A3 before changing the BMW, and no interface for the steering-wheel buttons. The latter fact has become largely irrelevant, as the bl00dy multican interface for the parrot kit might as well not be bothered with either, for all it's "functionality", but at least the HCB700's display could be mounted well (i had mine above the r/v mirror in my A3, and hopping between paired phones was simply a 1-push on the joystick controller to the right. Furthermore, voice-dialling was always bang-on, and you could even digit-dial - i.e. read out a number NOT stored in your phonebook - "oh-one-nine-one" etc.
To cap it off, the colour of the display could be changed to match your instrumentation - or like I did, one colour for 1 phone, and another for the second....

Rant over, sorry guys!

[E92 LeMans]

I nearly went done this root with the Parrot and getting Multican but I came up with the same conclusion was not worth the extra money to get get multican as could not scroll through phone book or anything. So I thought I would get a better model and not worry about steering wheel controls just do off the wheel on the parrot asked halfords as they had a deal on of free fitting and got the answer dont do new 3 series mate to much hassle.

So put on hold but the nkia kit sounds like a good solution.

If I did noy have USB in car I would splash out on on mobridge that work as oem bluetooth and get USB interface too and is £599 + Fitting So would work out £300 each for bluetooth and i pod connection.

[Wingco]

I think I'm going to reconsider having my HCB700 put in, just not sure where to put the control unit.
It's similar to the BMW's iDrive controller (although not as well made). But, I do not have iDrive in my car but instead have a VERY useful tray where that would be - where my phones tend to sit!.
Ideally the controller needs to be mounted on a horizontal (rather than vertical) surface, actually considering the door's arm-rest, but I know the local Ice installer company will say it's too much like hard work....

Too many swoops and curves in the E9xx BM interior!!!

The most annoying part is that the Parrot Multican WILL allow menu & phone-book access in some models!!! this then, suggests it's "only" down to electronics & programming. Plus a little voodoo and black-magic....

[atariboy]

Originally Posted by Wingco

Let me be the first to chime in with a regret of installing the CK3100, let alone splashing a FURTHER 60 quid of the company's money on multican, in the mistaken belief of the added functionality I'd get with steering-wheel buttons.
YES, the kit interfaces with the BMW stereo and automatically mutes any music playing, and YES it channels the phone-call audio through the car's speaker.
The Multican interface allows you to initiate & end a call, and change the volume using the steering wheel buttons. It does NOT allow one to scroll through your phone-book or any other menus. A visit to the Parrot website in relation to the multican interface/add-on, is very vague, inferring that it will do this in some makes but not others, but there is no list to help you confirm in advance of splashing out. Let me confirm that it does NOT do this for the BMW E90.

Given that there is, in all honesty, only ONE sole place for the "display"/control unit for the CK3100 kit to be postioned, just to the left of the steering wheel on the none-flat dash above the metal/wood trim, and that this is so close to your left hand to be able to operate the control buttons, I wouldn't bother with the multican option.
The display unit is not intelligent enough to have day / night time illumination (i.e. less bright for the latter): don't get me wrong, you CAN go into a menu setting and change it - brighter or dimmer, but it's a fixed setting (until manually changed again.
If you hope you can actually change background lighting on the display to match the BMW's instrument lighting, think again.

Many of us these days also have 2 mobiles - a "work" one and a "personal" one - YES, the CK3100 will pair with up to 5 phones, but to switch the active connection from one to another is a convoluted trip through the menu structure and after about 4 or 5 button-presses, your there.

I deeply regret that there was no real place to locate the control unit of the very excellent Sony Ericsson HCB700 kit I had in my A3 before changing the BMW, and no interface for the steering-wheel buttons. The latter fact has become largely irrelevant, as the bl00dy multican interface for the parrot kit might as well not be bothered with either, for all it's "functionality", but at least the HCB700's display could be mounted well (i had mine above the r/v mirror in my A3, and hopping between paired phones was simply a 1-push on the joystick controller to the right. Furthermore, voice-dialling was always bang-on, and you could even digit-dial - i.e. read out a number NOT stored in your phonebook - "oh-one-nine-one" etc.
To cap it off, the colour of the display could be changed to match your instrumentation - or like I did, one colour for 1 phone, and another for the second....

Rant over, sorry guys!

I second that. I too have the Ck3100 with utilizing the BMW steering wheel controls and the extra costs for the steering wheel interface is hardly worth it. Mind you, the Parrot Ck3100 is a cracking bit of kit and works very well

[Donster]

Originally Posted by atariboy

I second that. I too have the Ck3100 with utilizing the BMW steering wheel controls and the extra costs for the steering wheel interface is hardly worth it. Mind you, the Parrot Ck3100 is a cracking bit of kit and works very well

I've never used it the BMW. But its great for the Merc and Audi..

Sounds like i will have to avoid using it in the BMW Coupe that i'll be getting then..

[RCUK]

Gents,

Thanks a lot for your reviews!!

Makes a big difference having a review from folks who are using it.

Might just get the the CK3000 from halfords for £99 fitted in that case.

[atariboy]

Originally Posted by RCUK

Gents,

Thanks a lot for your reviews!!

Makes a big difference having a review from folks who are using it.

Might just get the the CK3000 from halfords for £99 fitted in that case.

Having heard some horror stories about Halfords in the past I would be reluctant to let them touch my car. What you could try is going to the Parrot UK forum. When I logged a query about the CK3100, I was messaged by a professional installer who offered me a good deal. There are a lot of professional fitters who browse that site and if you ask if anyone can match the Halfords deal you may get a response.
For the record, the guy who fitted my CK3100 did a cracking and very tidy job on my E93 and I have had no problems whatsoever.

[RCUK]

Parrot forum ... right .. can i be really lazy and asked for the web address as i cant seem to find it.

[atariboy]

No problem,, there you go.

http://www.parrot.com/forums/english/index.php

[TMP]

Originally Posted by atariboy

Having heard some horror stories about Halfords in the past I would be reluctant to let them touch my car .

Totally agree - do you really want some half trained lad taking (or breaking) the trim in your car? Professional Installer all the way on this...

[dxb335d]

ah should have gone for the BMW bluetooth.

[DAN]

I'm thinking of fitting the 3000 evolution either with multican, or without it but mount the parrot controller on the front dome on the roof, as I don't have a sun roof, there are no extra buttons on there so thought it might be a good place...

My question is..... with the multican, does it stop you from using the buttons on the steering wheel for skipping tracks/radio stations etc? And will the volume control only then control phone call volume and not that of the cd/radio head unit?

[AlanQS]

This company did my CK3100 last January. The installation was perfect and it has worked flawlessly ever since.

I don't find changing phones to be that much of a hardship. If you are carrying two phones it will automatically connect to whichever phone was last connected.

Although the screen colour doesn't match the instruments one bit, it does automatically dim after a minute or two so I find it no problem at night. It brightens if there is an incoming call and you can set it to automatically answer an incoming call and automatically end it when the other party hangs up.

[Wingco]

Originally Posted by DAN

I'm thinking of fitting the 3000 evolution either with multican, or without it but mount the parrot controller on the front dome on the roof, as I don't have a sun roof, there are no extra buttons on there so thought it might be a good place...

My question is..... with the multican, does it stop you from using the buttons on the steering wheel for skipping tracks/radio stations etc? And will the volume control only then control phone call volume and not that of the cd/radio head unit?

DAN, multican does NOT stop you from using the S/Wheel buttons for your audio - to skip tracks, change volume etc.
Firstly, the "skip-tracks/radio stations" buttons don't do ANYTHING on the phone-side through multi-can (or at least they don't on my car), and secondly the volume buttons change the phone-call's volume ONLY when there's a call in progress (outgoing or incoming). When there's no active phone-call, then the volume buttons on the s/w revert back to controlling the car audio, as you'd expect.

[Wingco]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

This company did my CK3100 last January. The installation was perfect and it has worked flawlessly ever since.

I don't find changing phones to be that much of a hardship. If you are carrying two phones it will automatically connect to whichever phone was last connected..

AlanQS - yes, but sod's law you can GUARANTEE that despite whichever phone being currently "connected" to the kit, you'll bloody get a call through on the other one! was so much easier to "hop" connections on my previous SE HCB700 kit.

Mind you, even some of the cheap visor-type bluetooth handsfree all-in-one jobbies can now "pick-up" an incoming call on ANY paired phone (within range) even if it's not the "currently active" connected one..... Now THAT's the feature we need to see in the installed (factory or aftermarket - e.g. Parrot) kits.

[DAN]

Thanks, Wingco.

I was assuming the up and down buttons did something as they are highlighted in this pdf:

http://www.parrot.com/documents/en/s...ulticanbmw.pdf

....but looking again at the instructions below the picture it doesn't actually go on to say anything about those, like you say.

I wonder if it's worth the extra £60 for the use of just two buttons then.....?