Adding Bluetooth to Betty the Bentley

The problem with older cars is that they don't have stuff that newer cars have, particularly in the infotainment arena. Betty's head unit had been updated, the original Alpine unit had been replaced with a later CDE-111r unit that has a built in cd slot, a usb slot and a very comprehensive graphic equaliser, sadly it does not have Bluetooth. I don't know why but alpine had elected to make it compatible but only if you added an additional module - a KCE237b, catchy name, huh? 

Anyway, mine didn't have one so I did a bit of research and found that Chinese versions were available for under a tenner. What I didn't know at the time is that there were 4 versions - two with mic input and 2 without, each variant has two possible connectors, which are not interchangeable. You need to look at the connector to see which one you have, one is sort of D shaped the other is a less regular shape. You need the correct one and to make sure you have the mic option, the ones without that are for mp3 players with a line level output and are no good if you want to add a phone.

The controls for answering the phone are built in to the unit, it will add the Bluetooth options when it sees the correct adapter. The hardest part is running the cable for the microphone so it is hidden, the mic needs to be close to the driver, I have tucked mine in the bottom right hand corner of the windscreen, it's got quite a short lead on it and I thought it looked most out of the way there, so that's where it's staying.

It is a bit of a bitch to set up, not really obvious. You have to add AUX+ to your menu, the manual shows how to do it but if you don't h6ave that set to on you won't get to select the aux in. You then have to set the bluetooth adapter to the AUX + , it took me half an hour of messing about to discover all this but I got there in the end. A nice feature is that you can select which chanel the audio comes out, Left or right front, eft or right rear or all. I selected all as usually I am the only one in the car and if I have the phone active I want the music off and sound out of all 4 speakers.

The module and wiring fits behind the stereo, there is loads of room there and it's pretty small, to pair it you have to use the number 0000, although I didn't have to set anything on my Samsung A06. There is a blue LED on the unit that flashes when powered up but not paired, it goes solid blue once it is paired. I set mine up with the stereo hanging out so I could see the LED, once it was all running I tucked it behind the dash. I rarely take calls when in the car but now I can do so legally, I can also use Spotify and other apps to give me access to millions of songs at all times. A great upgrade for a tenner, fairly easy to do and a most useful bit of kit. One day I might put in a single DIN combined sat nav / stereo with bluetooth but the Alpine sounds really good, I have a separate sat nav and to get a really good system eg Pioneer is several hundred of yer finest British Pounds, I have other things to buy right now as my daily driver needs lots of work.