Aftermarket bluetooth options?

[Rambo]

Ok, I'm trying to find a good bluetooth unit for my wife's Honda. The problem is that bluetooth was available from the factory, but only with the really crappy nav unit. I'm trying to find a nice clean way to add bluetooth to her factory stereo.

The facts:

• I will not replace the factory HU
• The factory HU has both USB and AUX in
• The USB port seems to work with any flash drive or ipod/iphone we throw at it, and has full control over the USB-attached device (can navigate iphone playlists, albums, etc).

Here's my ideal solution: A small bluetooth dongle like those you can get for computers. It autoconnects when the car is started (powered off the USB port), displays the contact/call info on the dash, and lets me use the factory steering wheel buttons to hang up/dial. I know I can't just plug into a generic bluetooth dongle and expect it to work, but you'd think there would be something out there like this.

I have found lots of cheap-looking bluetooth dongles that are powered off the cigarette jack and have an AUX plug. That would technically work, but isn't very elegant, and means whatever audio we're listening to prior to the call MUST come from the phone. Also, the USB port is in the glovebox, so it would be much easier to hide a small box or dongle out of sight there, as opposed to plugging into the AUX jack, which is right on the front of the dash.

Any ideas/options? Thanks!

[Rambo]

Update: This gets pretty close to what I'm looking for, but isn't compatible with my wife's car.

Honda Acura 03-11 Auxiliary AUX-IN and Bluetooth Interface Adapter

Any other ideas?

[Rambo]

Well, I'm about to just give up and get her a new headset...which she'll probably never use. *sigh*

Maybe I'll get her a reverse alarm system instead: the type that beep faster as you move closer to something (usually biased left or right based on which side is closer), and have a small distance display.

[MainFrame]

[*]I will not replace the factory HU

Ghey .. I stopped reading. I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my wife's Civic. Good luck.

[Rambo]

Ghey .. I stopped reading. I need to figure out what I'm going to do with my wife's Civic. Good luck.

Have you seen the factory Insight head unit? It's not DIN at all and sort of flows asymmetrically around the dash.



Replacing it with a DIN unit would look really tacky, not to mention the HU itself is great, aside from no bluetooth.

[Excitedjime]

I have been looking for something similar, an easy way to get the music/nav from my iPhone into my car radio. Im currently using this simple iPhone 5 car mount and a standard aux cable. It works fine, but getting it a bit more tidy and streamlined would be awesome. Does anyone use or consider this Oxygen Audio Ocar iPhone Radio or something similar? Im very interested in being able to simply "mount" my iPhone into a radio face without the additional car mount goose neck thing and ugly aux cable...

[Rambo]

What car do you have? If it's a Subaru, get a double-Din Pioneer unit. You can display the iphone's display on the larger screen, and depending on the model, control it. I'd stick with a reputable brand.

My biggest problem here is that I can't change the head unit out, but if it were my WRX, it'd be no problem.

[jrb5783]

just a quick question are there any ways of getting an aftermarket head unit and still be able to use the factory bluetooth controls in my '13 STi

[Rambo]

just a quick question are there any ways of getting an aftermarket head unit and still be able to use the factory bluetooth controls in my '13 STi

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