Mini Cooper: Pairing a Bluetooth Phone to Mini Connected

Mini Cooper automobiles have the option to be fully configured to a geek’s liking. One feature they offer is the Mini Connected add-on. This lets you connect your smartphone via Bluetooth or USB to access the media and other features. In this tutorial, I will outline how to pair a Bluetooth phone to your Mini Connected system and also enable the Office feature.

This tutorial/demo was done on a 2013 Mini Cooper S Coupe with the Technology Package and Mini Connected with Navigation and HK sound packages.

Bluetooth Pairing

1.On your Mini, go into Telephone.

2.Add New Phone. This will put your Mini’s Bluetooth into Pairing mode.

3.On your phone, be sure Bluetooth is enabled, and find your Mini. It will be listed with the name on your Mini’s screen.

4.Once your phone connects, it will ask for a pairing code.  On your Mini, create a quick four-digit code (e.g., 0000).  Then enter that code on your phone.

5.Once connected/paired, the Mini will ask for what features to use. By default, it will check Audio and Telephone if your phone supports those features.

The video will also show you how to enable the Messaging and Office features along with the quirks of the system. (For example, I had to reset Bluetooth on the car to get the Office features to show.)  It also seems to take a few minutes for the phone and Mini Connected to download the messages from your phone to the car.  Finally, a reset of the Mini’s Bluetooth never hurts when you are having issues or when you do not see the messages features.

Resetting Mini Connected Bluetooth

1.Go into Telephone.

2.Right-direction push the navigation knob, and then scroll down to Telephone and uncheck the mark next to Bluetooth to disable it.  Then click on it again to re-enable it. This is basically like resetting your Bluetooth on your computer/phone/tablet but in the car. Once I had the Office features working on my phone, it seemed to always connect after the initial setup.

Using Mini Connected Office

1.To access your messages, you can either go into Office >, then hit Left on the navigation knob, and then scroll down to Messages. You can also go into Address Book >, hit Left on navigation knob, and then choose Messages.

2.Bluetooth is required to use the Office features on your iPhone.  Therefore, you need to have the USB cable connected to use Mini Connected apps and Bluetooth connected for the phone, office, and address book features.  As a note, I have an Android Galaxy Note 2 as my main phone, and it is paired to my Mini. However, my iPhone 4S is only connected via USB/Audio Aux in. In turn, I do not have access to its Phone, Calendar or Office Email features.

It does not appear You can view your text messages or emails on an iOS device HOWEVER, you need to be sure you have Messages and Mail enabled in the Notification Center on iOS 6, have banner alerts set and enable View in Lockscreen. My Galaxy Note 2 does show the text messages, for example.  I am still testing Blackberry 10 devices such as the Z10 and I will update this article once tested.