Hi All,

I want to buy a Mini Cooper S, but believe it or not, the thing that's stopping me is lack of info about integrating the Empeg into the Mini properly.

I heard from the Empeg folks in the UK when I was drinking beer with them, that you could buy some kind of adaptor that lets you control the Empeg from the steering wheel controls in the Mini using IR or RF or something. Is this beer talk??? :-)

Searching the BBS, I found no info on installing the Empeg in the Mini. Anyone have any info for me? If I can get that sussed, I'm buying a Mini...

- Thanx in advance!
- Jon

It would seem that there are devices out there that will emulate Sony Stalks for various cars, including the Mini. The empeg understands those Sony stalks, but only if you have a tuner. There seem to be some such adapters here, although I know nothing about that company or their products.

So this one looks like the one? http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product.asp?product=20055

I do have a tuner... So how does this work? Does the Mini steering wheel already sent out RF and then this adaptor translates the codes into ones that the Empeg understands to increase/decrease volume and change tracks and stuff?

- Thanx
- Jon

Hm. There's a round pin one too. http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product.asp?product=20054

I'd like to understand how this works before I base a purchasing decision on it...

Just a loose idea would be great! Has anyone used something like this???

- Jon

I imagine that it attaches to the wiring in your car that would transmit the appropriate signals to your factory headunit if it were still there and translates them to the equivalent signals that would be generated by a Sony Stalk, then transmits them to the empeg. It'd all sit inside your dash with no visible changes at all.

Again, though, you have to have an empeg tuner to make it understand Sony Stalk-style signals.

Ok, found this:

http://www.riocar.org/modules.php?op=mod...&faqent=9#9

Which led me to this:

http://www.soundgate.com/

and then this:

http://www.soundgate.com/contact.htm

finally tells me that they don't have a product for the Mini. In fact, he says that the European devices don't work as advertised...

So that basically puts me in the position of needing to find someone that has done it so that I can be sure before I buy the car...

Anyone with a Mini that's done this out there??

- Jon

Wow, not one Mini owner on here that's integrated their empeg with the MFSW (multi function steering wheel)???

- Jon

When I first read this post I searched for one. I could of sworn someone had already done it, but I never could find one.

If you have installed an empeg in a Mini, I still need some info! Please post a note!

- Jon

I own both a Mini and an empeg, but I have not installed one into the other.

If there's some research I can do for you in the Mini, I'd be happy to help.

It's the wife's car, and it's not the S. She seems to like it real well. She's had no problems, other than a recall for some emissions sensor that we need to take it in for eventually. It's a load of fun to drive even without the turbocharger.

In this thread there are two users: foxtrot_xray and GO_MINI, who seem to have empegs installed in their Minis. However, no mention is made of whether or not either of them got the empeg to work with the factory steering wheel controls. Perhaps a post or a PM might get you a response from them on whether or not they solved this particular problem.

You might also want to fire off a mail to the guys at connets2.com who seem to be doing various stalk and display adapters. Aquick glance at their list didn't show the mini explicitly, but one can always ask...

Appreciate the correction - someday I might get the hang of onehanded typing...

No problem. Hope your recovery is going well.


I'm doing pretty well! Can walk on my own (sort of - someone commented that I had a walking style like a cross of Zeb Mcahan [if anyone outside Sweden, where the series "How the West was won" is sort of kult] remembers, and Sonys walking/dancing robots as seen on the web. The physioterapeut spent part of thu and fridays sessions on trying to make me walk naturally, which when you need to think of it immediately becomes very Unnatural )
Starting to to twiddle the individual fingers on the left hand, but the one-digit salute is still pretty feeble, so I'm still not ready to drive in traffic But that a in "traffic" was the first key struck with the left hand since oct 10... Still need better fingerdexterity + strength in the wrist and back of the hand, but it's a start:)

someday I might get the hang of onehanded typing...

Lets hope you don't have to!

Hang in there, Michael, you have a lot of friends in this community, and we're all rooting for you!

tanstaafl.

I also have a Mini but have not installed it because I don't know if I want the empeg as my only head unit and there is no room for two. I thought I found a mini to sony remote adaaptor I will see if I can find it again but I haven't tried it.

I'm picking up my Mini Cooper S Convertible tomorrow, with the Harman Kardon sound system. I plan to bring it to the local car audio specialist within days to install an Empeg sled in it while they install the alarm (not included on U.S. models). I do not plan to use my Empeg tuner; I'm going to keep it in my classic Cooper and use my new Mini's tuner, with the Empeg hooked up to the aux input of the Mini/HK system.

I see from searching that the P.A.C. SWI-X interface allows you to use factory steering-wheel controls with the Empeg by converting them to IR. I also see, from their website, that the SWI-X is compatible with the Mini's steering wheel controls, and, as near as I can tell, the Kenwood units. Finally, I see that the Empeg accepts the signal from a Kenwood remote without requiring one to hack a kernel. This is good news because the last time I tried to hack a kernel I had no luck getting it to work. (I am not a complete idiot - I do have Hijack running - but apparantly I am more of an idiot than I think.) So my thought is that if I get the Pacific unit, I can make it transmit the Kenwood signal, and thereby get my factory steering-wheel control to work with the Empeg without having to mess with the config.ini file. Most importantly, I want to be able to enter the MP3 menu (genre, artist, song) from the steering wheel. Will this work? Please help me, as I am extremely excited to get my Empeg installed in my first-ever brand new car, and will run out and buy this Pacific unit as soon as humanly possible if it will do what I need!

Thank you in advance for all your help.

The SWI-X works simply by "learning" remote commands from your existing remote. You don't even need a special kernel, and you don't even specifically need the Kenwood commands. Just make it learn the Rio Remote commands. (You can make it learn the kenwood commands if you want, or if you don't have a Rio remote.)

Where are you mounting the empeg ?

Yep, the swi-x will do exactly what you want. One thing you may not realize though. You will have to cut the wires from your steering wheel controls to enable the swi-x. So, your controls will no longer work for your mini's factory headunit.

If that's not a problem, then you're all set.

This is the one I eluded to earlier. Link

He says to get the "boost" one if you have the HK system.

> Where are you mounting the empeg ?

I want to keep the Mini/Harman Kardon indash for the use of its tuner and CD player. (Which I suppose rules out the use of the PAC steering wheel control adapter, since as someone noted I can't use both the PAC and the factory controls - although a hidden A/B pushbutton switch behind the steering wheel might be an option?) My hope is to install the Empeg at the bottom of the dash console section (below the heater controls etc.) There is enough height there for the Empeg, but the console section seems to taper inward toward the bottom, so it's slightly narrower than the Empeg sled. My hope is to slightly trim the posts where they fit inside the bottom tray, allowing them to sit just a tad further apart, thereby providing enough width for the Empeg. I may also have to trim the Empeg sled so that it does't stick out quite as far. Meanwhile, the stock 2005 Mini cup holder happens to be the right size to hold a Sony XM radio tuner. So if it works out I'll have the stock H/K AM/FM/CD, with the Empeg plugged into its aux input, and the Sony XM radio plugged into the Empeg's aux input. Or so I hope. With this combination I cannot possibly lack for music! Wish me luck!

I thought about doing that but I decided there wasn't enough room after ripping the tubes out and holding the empeg under there.

The other thing I thought of doing was getting the parcel shelf that goes in place of the glove box and putting the empeg there. I couldn't find anywhere to buy one for a left hand drive though.

I finally just gave up and am ripping out the factory stuff and the empeg is going in tomorrow.

I just got mine back from the installer and it's awesome. The empeg fits into the dash very well since it's all black and the factory radio is only slightly larger so there is only a little of the trim plate showing.