Mod Details

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This is what you receive in the smart bluetooth hands free system. It’s compatible with Radio 9 and 10. These haven’t been available since 2012. You’ll have to search for 2nd hand ones on eBay, look for the following part number:

English – A451 906 51 00
English US – A451 906 52 00
French – A451 906 53 00
German – A451 906 50 00
Italian – A451 906 54 00

I bought mine 2nd hand for £80 but that was a long time ago, they are usually cheaper now. I have seen them very rarely on eBay but they don’t sell for much more than £40.

With the user manual (downloadable at the bottom of the page) you get the reconstructed dash pod that replaces the existing clock pod, wiring loom, wireless controller, microphone and the main control box.

Remove the dash pods from your car.

On examination, it is clear that the new pod is just an extended rev counter pod.

Flip the pods over and remove the 2x Torx8 screws from the base of the clock.

Disconnect the wires that are plugged in near the front of the pod and pull the pod out of the base. Keep the black retainer that slides off the other end, we’ll need it for the new pod.

Thread the wires for the new pod in place and push the pod into the base. Slide the black retainer in from the other side, line it up with the screw holes and refit both Torx8 screws.

Swap the coloured decorative cover over from your old clock to the new pod. Although the new pod is much larger, when it is facing towards you, it’s not so obvious.

The main controller has 6 connections, we are only using 3. Hide this box behind the stereo.

The microphone plugs in far left, the pod plugs in the middle with a telephone/LAN style plug and the power/audio wiring plugs in just right of that.

The power/audio wiring loom terminates with a green and yellow mini ISO, these plug in the back of the Radio 9 and Radio 10 as shown below.

When the car starts and power is applied to the stereo, you will get a start up screen.

After 1 minute of inactivity, the screen goes black and shows the time. This can be set in the menus.

With the wireless controller you twist left and right to move the selection and push down to select. There is also a pair of buttons for answering and ending a call. This controller has a sticky pad on the rear so it can be placed where you like. Clean the area to remove dust, dirt and release agent or the controller won’t stay stuck for long.

The microphone should be placed somewhere sensible like next to the sun visor. Run the cables behind the trims to keep it tidy. The microphone should be as close to the driver as possible and aimed towards the mouth.

Extras

If you have this bluetooth kit, you can also add 2 extra things to it.

iPod integration kit – A451 870 01 96
Smart Cradle for 3GS iPhone – A451 906 02 78
Smart Cradle for 4/4S iPhone – A451 906 08 78

iPod Integration Kit

Turns the hands-free kit into an extension of your iPod. You can use the wireless rotary wheel of the bluetooth kit to navigate through and select songs from your iPod. All the albums and songs are displayed on the dash pod screen.

It is worth noting that this kit probably only works with iPods with the 30 pin dock connector.

I’d like to apologise in advance for the quality of this diagram. It’s December 2018 and the last iPod sold with a 30 pin connector was in 2012. No one buys iPods any more, especially ones made between 2003 and 2012.

However, I was contacted and asked how it was connected so I knocked together this quick diagram. Then I thought there’s a chance it might help someone so I’d put it here. No one will look at this page anyway.

In the kit, you should get the iPod control box, an RJ45 style lead, a headphone cable and a 30 pin iPod connector.

If you have a 30pin iPod spare and you want to use it, the control box is being sold by smart for cheap.

Smart Cradle

With the cradle and the downloaded “smart drive” app you phone becomes an online information and multimedia system. You can also purchase an extension to the app that adds navigation.

It is worth noting that the cradle is made for either the 3GS or iPhone 4 or 4S. No iPhones with lightning connections will work. The app is only available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and USA.

Subscription Information

The subscription info covers:
Controller battery type
Controller battery change
Controller syncing
User manual