I want to share this solution that has worked fantastic for adding bluetooth to an older Rover that doesn't have it.

Skill level: Mega easy - 15 minutes
Tools needed: A credit card

This awesome little device is the brains of the bluetooth addition. You can skip tracks, pause, play, and fire up Siri with it. It has a sticky back so you can just stick it to the dash and the wire is so thin you can see from the attached photo I was able to smash it into the thin seam alongside the radio using a credit card.


I ran the power and aux under the rubber cubby thing just in front of the cup holders, and towards the front passenger seat. I connected power for Kinivo and my phone to this cigarette power hub. I used the USB power on the bottom for the phone.


Next I connect the audio cable from Kinivo to this device. You need it to remove noise from the car's electrical:


Next connect this Boostaroo device to the above ground loop isolater. Its a tiny amp which was necessary because the aux input on the Rover stereo was very quiet. This thing packs a decent punch and is clean sounding despite its size. Connect the Boostaroo cigarette power to the above


Connect this 3.5 mm audio extension to the output on the Boostaroo and connect the other end to the aux input which you'll find at the back of the center console just under the rear passengers air vents. Also connect the cigarette plug to the power duplicator here.


Shove the cigarette duplicator in between the passenger seat and the console. Its a tight fit but its nice because it stays put. I put the ground loop isolator, Boostaroo, and excess audio cable under the passenger seat out of view.

Total Cost: $126

This cost doesn't include the cost of the ProClip iPhone mount you'll see in the first attached photo. I can also highly recommend the ProClip mount. It was a 5 minute install, looks great, feels really solid, and provides fantastic view and accessibility. I use it with all the above for GPS and driving directions through the Rover's stereo speakers of course. These are the parts you'll need (second link for iPhone 5 with thin case only... if you have another phone buy the first mount and pick the correct cradle for your phone):

http://www.brodit.com/product.html?id=853573
http://www.proclipusa.com/phone-hold...423-19370.cmsv


The above added $115 to my setup.

 

My Kinivo device is being delivered today and will go into my 2011 LR4 HSE. After I brought the LR4 home a week ago I was baffled by the lack of BT streaming audio (and several other tech features I had come to rely on in my previous vehicle of the same vintage).

I have seen negative comments from others about the sound quality of BT phone calls in the LR4. My calls sound great. However, I will probably be shifting both phone calls and audio streaming to the Kinivo. I use an iPhone and iOS doesn't currently allow the splitting of BT connection services. IOW, I can't stay connected to the onboard LR4 phone system while connecting to the Kinivo and sending music via the AUX port.

notsleepy, your install looks great, especially the discreet and clean placement of the Kinivo device and wire routing. I'm encouraged by the fact that you did it with a credit card and didn't have to pull off any trim. Also, I have not invested in any of the other items you mentioned. I will wait to see if I need a GLI and so far I have been happy with the output of the AUX port when connecting my iPhone to it via a cable.

I'm surprised there hasn't been more chatter here about the Kinivo and related devices to retrofit BT into LRs. I realized the music streaming issue during my test drive and right away started researching options. This device gets great ratings for quality, ease of use, and easy installation. I will post up some pics if there is anything remarkable about my installation.

Chris
2011 LR4 HSE
Stornaway Grey/Jet

 

I assume to hear streamed music from your iPad or whatever, you have to have the Aux button on the radio head unit pushed.

Does that mean if you were listening to the normal AM or FM radio or I guess the CD, that you would not have BlueTooth for your phone?

 

bbyer, under normal conditions a Bluetooth connection is persistent even when a different input is selected (radio, CD, USB, etc.). The question is whether the phone's BT connection has priority over other inputs when a call comes in or an outbound call is made. In every other BT scenario I've used, this is the expected and actual behavior. My expectation is that the Kinivo will work this way also. I will report back in after I install it later today!

PS: I don't think I will miss the LR4's onboard BT phone connectivity. The interface offers no real convenience when making or receiving calls. Assuming the audio quality of Kinivo calls is at least comparable, I'll just get used to using Siri as my interface.

 

Well that was even easier than I had expected.

The Kinivo BTC450 device arrived and I went for a super-down-and-dirty plug and play attempt right out of the box. Plugged it into the power port and AUX port under the door on the rear of the center console. Tucked the device and extra wiring into the small cubby below the door. For this attempt I was only testing music streaming, not phone connection. Therefore it was ok to have the microphone tucked away.

Powered up the LR4 and the Kinivo went into pairing mode and within seconds I was grooving to some tasty Jamiroquai via Spotify. No audio issues so far that would require an amp or ground loop isolator but I will keep monitoring that.

I then tried making a phone call and was pleasantly surprised to see that the call was being handled by the LR4's BT phone connection. I checked my phone and sure enough it showed two different live connections-- one to Land Rover and one to BTC450. Previously I had been told by Kinivo customer support that this was not possible on iPhones. When I placed a phone call, it automatically ducked my music's volume that was being provided by the Kinivo.

One workaround to report: When I finished the call, the Kinivo showed as still paired but did not automagically resume streaming music. I tried a number of button presses and found that only when I reached back and briefly cycled power from the power port would it resume playing music. That's a totally acceptable workaround in exchange for getting BT music streaming back, IMO.

This is a great setup for me because I would prefer not to run any wires and affix anything to the dash. The Kinivo now has a permanent home hidden in the console's rear cubby. The 3.5mm patch cord I had been using to play music from my iPhone is now stashed in the glove box as a backup. Very happy with this $40 purchase.

Chris

 

Update: I returned the Boostaroo as it was having issues and distorting the sound. I just turn the radio volume up.

Yes you have to have the AUX selected to use the Kinivo.

Chris I've not had the issue you experienced in which the music didn't resume playing. However I've only used iTunes Radio and Amazon cloud player.

The Kinivo has been a great purchase that I use daily. I love skipping tracks with the top buttons that I can feel rather than fiddling with the iPhone touchscreen while driving. I've had zero complaints about sound quality from people I'm on the phone with. I can't say the same for my Saab factory BT hands free phone.

 

You might be interested in these two links re the AUX connector wiring and the perhaps low volume issue. The links shows how and where to wire directly into the aux wires going into the various radio head wiring configurations.

You may not wish to do that as it complicates a simple plug and play install, but the concerns addressed in the links may be of interest.

DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Aux connector

DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Retro fit an AUX input to Discovery 3 GS

 

notsleepy, I had resigned myself to routing the Kinivo wire and attaching it as you did when I thought I would have to use it for both phone calls and music. This would have provided the benefit that you are experiencing-- seamless user experience when returning to music after a call. I'm sure my issue is due to having two separate BT connections going on my phone, instead of just one to the Kinivo. I may get in there and fool around with things a bit more and see just how easily I can route the wire. I have a perfect spot scoped out for the Kinivo just below and to the right of my ignition button IF it's possible without much wire showing. I have to agree that easy access to the buttons would be a win.

Thanks for your original note which confirmed the reviews I had read. Always good to hear a product getting good rep from a fellow LR owner!

PS: After sending this I couldn't stand it...went out to the garage and sure enough I wound up mounting the Kinivo as noted above. I've only got a short span of wire hanging exposed but it is below the level of the seat belt latch and completely out of sight. It will bug me a little knowing it's there but that's just my OCD. I will look for a black adhesive backed conduit I can attach in that area to route that stretch of wire through. I disabled the LR's factory BT connection to my iPhone and am now using the Kinivo for all BT services.

 

bbyer, I understand your question better now that I have installed this device. I am experimenting with a few different ways of using it.

It does appear that if you are in one of the normal radio or CD modes, you would have to switch back to AUX mode to answer a call through the Kinivo. However some of this may depend on the type of phone you have. I understand that Android phones give you a bit more flexibility in configuring BT than iPhones, for example.

My best recommendation is to see the amazon reviews for this product. The first 3-5 that come up are full of great info covering many different usage scenarios. I learned a lot from these and will continue dialing this thing in to make the best use of it.

Chris

 

Thanks for posting this. I ended up with a very similar setup thanks to your post. Kinivo has a newer model now that allows up to two paired devices, the BTC455. With just the BTC455 hooked up to the aux input audio was at a lower level, totally usable though, just lower level then the radio or CD. I added a "Sound Shocker Pro", this acts as both a ground loop isolator (although I had no noise) and a line pre amplifier. Passive Preamp | PHP Audio, LLC

With my phone set to about 75% volume the volume of the stereo is the same on aux as on radio. The nice thing about the Sound Shocker is that it is all passive, no extra power to hook up.

For the Kinivo I find to get Siri to work I need to hold the button about 4 seconds vs the 2 it says in the manual. If TuneIn Radio is running on the phone I can start it playing again with a single push of the Kinivo button. Start the car, hit the button and I'm streaming right away. The mic and audio quality are good, I get no complaints from anyone I've talked to via the Kinivo. I can't say the same for the Bluetooth I had in my last car.

If you are looking for a cheap way to add Bluetooth to your LR3 I'd highly recommend this. If you don't have an aux input all may not be lost, you should be able to wire straight to the back of the stereo, see here
DISCO3.CO.UK - View topic - Retro fit an AUX input to Discovery 3 GS