Another Mod: Bluetooth Car Kit Installed

Had this installed last weekend by Jamie Rawlings (ex Paris Audio) in Pasadena. One of the best install experiences I've ever had. He cared about my car just like it was his own, and he has a very nice 2004 GT3, btw. It was getting scary trying to drive this thing while shifting as my job requires that I be on the phone quite a bit. Overall I am extremely happy with this kit and the install by Jamie. I am now looking at going back to him to have an entirely new audio system installed.. I decided to put the control module in the console ashtray area and the microphone up top. Everyone whom I speak with says I sound loud and clear and I've had no problems with the exhaust noise from the GHL's interfering with my conversations. The kit is the latest Sony Ericsson HCB-300 one and it works with a few different bluetooth phones I've tried from Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson. Here are some pics of the install. Rio

Just curious...what head unit are you using? Do you have the stock head unit or an aftermarket unit? Did you hook up the bluetooth unit to the car speakers and enable the auto-mute feature when you get an incoming call? I don't talk on the phone a lot when I am driving and I use a bluetooth headseat. However, I'd definitely get the Sony Ericsson car kit if I had to -- cool setup riozilla!

My head unit and system is completely stock (for now). I ordered the Sony Ericsson music mute cable which is supposed to route everything through the OEM stereo speakers but Jamie told me it would not work with the OEM Porsche system I have. But what he did do was wire the system so that it still does auto-mute the stereo when an in-coming call comes in or when I make a call, but the speaker that the sound comes out of is the speaker that came with the bluetooth kit and not my factory speakers. This speaker is mounted very far and high up into the passenger footwell and is unviewable and secured well. It is an acceptable compromise and works great.

That's what I miss about the greater LA area.....you can find talented people to provide just about any service you need!!!!

I have the earlier Sony Erricson in the same location. I love it. It is routed through the TrafficPro.

OK, I'm impressed. Do you have his contact info?

Programmatore, I have exactly the same setup and I am local to you. I am going to VIR this weekend, but if you want to see my setup, we can meet for coffee the following weekend. Chuck at Myers-Emco in Seven Corners knows Porsches very well (particularly mine). TD

Riozilla, We routed mine so that the sound comes out of the factory speakers. Let me know if you need more details. TD

Thanks TD - It's highly likely I will be doing a complete stereo/amp/speaker upgrade in the next few weeks so it will get re-wired at that time and fully integrated. Glad you guys like it -

Here is his info: Jamey Rawlings Rawlings Audio Inc. 826 S. Arroyo Parkway Pasadena, CA 91105 [phone removed]

TD and Riotzilla - do you have Bose? I think if you have Bose, it's not possible to use Bose speakers. Can you guys confirm?

I have BOSE, Jamie said it would not work through them - so the sound comes through the included speaker from the bluetooth kit. As I said though, in-coming and out-going calls still mute audio through the headunit the way he set it up.

Yup, I have Bose, and trust me, you can do it. You just have to be a little more creative (or hire a stereo guy who is). I am only joking about the stereo guy crack. I really like Jamie and have used his services as well.

Riozilla, any range in $$ for the kit & install?

Let me guess, you don't have a CDC right? The only way to connect into a Bose HU is the CDC input. That's what I have been told anyways.

Actually, I do have a CDC. That is the key to the whole system. In fact, I use the CDC as my input for my XM satellite hardwire as well. I press cd on the head unit. If the XM unit is on, XM plays through the stereo. If I turn the XM unit off, the sound switches back to the CDC. The phone audio is run through there as well.

The reason for not being able to go through the head unit is probably due to MOST on '03 and up. On '02 and before, you can buy a cable through Becker. It's really an easy install, I did it one night after work. Tom

Ahhh yeessss. I forgot about MOST. Sorry for getting any hopes up for you guys with 03+

To answer the earlier question, I picked up the kit (Sony Ericsson HCB-300) from www.expansys-usa.com (a reliable phone & equipment retailer I've used many times before) for about $160 and the install was about $125 or so.

Funny, I got my kits from expansys as well

I just use a blue tooth ear piece.

I have had my Parrot CK3000 Bluetooth kit installed for about a year now. It works really well for hands free but I bought a decent microphone and installed it in place of the supplied one which picked up a lot of noise. My kit is installed behind the dash and the microphone on the drivers side windscreen pillar. It even works without problems with the roof down but have to turn up the sound a bit. This pictire is taken with the car in my messy garage. You can see the microphone on the top right corner of the windscreen pillar. There is also a switch to on/off hook the phone to the right of the console switch cluster just behind the steering wheel.

Hey Scouser, Have you considered moving the controller to the ashtray? I started out with the Parrot CK3000, but switched to the Sony Ericsson when I found out that brand specific car kits matched to phones seem to operate better (in the case of Sony Ericsson, it enables more features). Hope all is well TD in DC

I have a few questions: 1: I want to get a Sony Ericsson bluetooth phone from a private vendor. I have Verizon as my service provider and want to keep using them since they have the best coverage in my area. Is this possible as Verizon does not carry Sony products on its site? 2: My next question is for TD: I am in the DC area once a month. Is there a good installer that you would trust with the P car as I rather go with a bluetooth car kit rather than the OEM Porsche carkit that weds you to a particular phone model. You mentioned Chuck at Myer Emco in Seven Corners. Do they install the Sony HCB 300?

Make sure that the phone is compatible with the Verizon network before you buy it. A majority of the Sony Ericsson phones are GSM phones (will work with Cingular or T-Mobile). I am not sure that Sony Ericsson makes phones for Verizon. It does not mean that you're out of luck. Some Motorola phones, the V710 for example, have bluetooth so you can check those out. Those would still work with the Sony Ericsson HBC 300.

Sony Ericsson does not sell phones in the US on CDMA technology (Verizon or Sprint).

Chuck knows Porsche inside and out, and he is a car nut that knows far more than the electronics. I trust him completely. I can most certainly install a Sony HCB 300 for you.

True, but if I were using a Motorola bluetooth enabled phone, I would check out the Motorola bluetooth hands free kit. In my experience, although nearly all of the kits will work with any kind of bluetooth enabled phone, a car kit that matches the brand of the phone tends to work better because it can enable certain "enhanced" features.

Are any of you using this Sony HCB-300 with a Motorola V600 phone. I have not heard great things about the Motorola Bluetooth car kit and this is my next mod. Thanks, Kris

I use the HCB-300 Sony Ericsson kit with a Cingular Moto V600 every day and it works great including voice dialing which is usually where you have problems with vendor specific implementations. I generally agree that sticking with the same vendor is the right idea but I have had no problems with this mix. I also have heard that the Moto bluetooth kit is not that great - This is my 3rd Sony Ericsson BT kit though and it is very solid.

Thanks for the referral. I had Jamey come out today and install a Bluetooth handsfree kit in my '02 996TT to pair with my Motorola V3 Razr. My instructions to Jamey were that the unit needed to be completely invisible/stealth and function as if the factory designed it as OEM. Per Jamey's recommendation, I went with the Parrot 3000 Series interface. I couldn't be happier with the installas wellas Jamey's service and quality of install. I'd post photos, but given the quality of the installation, there's nothing to look at, other than a window switch that would normally be used for one of the rear windows in a Cabriolet. The switch is uses to begin and end a call - just like the red and green buttons on the phone. The phone plays thorugh the factory speakers on the Bose system and will mute the audio and the PCM display shows "PHONE" during a call. Even the voice dialing works with the Bluetooth enabled. Once again, I'd highly recommend Jamey and his expertise for a Bluetooth install.