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20K views 114 replies 35 participants last post by  JimmyH 
#1 ·
#4 ·
I purchased the costar unit and installed it in about 10mins with a simple cable tie and unplugging two white harness. I have to say its nice to have blue tooth in my car finally without having to resort to using an actual headset.

for the ease of install i must say its a great unit and the developer seems to be on top of his work by giving a 1yr warranty and being reachable is you have any issues.

to install it you go to the faq and follow the steps to disable onstar and its crazy simple. sorry no pics i didnt think it was going to get installed so fast.

-Will
 
#7 · (Edited)
what do you mean it doesnt work with the iphone? isnt bluetooth all the same?

edit:

from the FAQ:
7. Will it work with my phone?
The Motorola HF850 junction box is what interfaces to your phone and it will interface to almost every phone on the market today. This includes Blackberry’s and iPhones as well as phones from other manufacturers including Samsung, LG, and of course Motorola.
 
#6 ·
well i have a 2005 so i dunno what to tell you. but it works in my car just fine. and i'm sure if you email the creator chris about the iphone issue ( even though only fruit cakes use iphones) he may be able to figure something out for u.

where did you see that it doesnt work with the iphone though?
 
#12 ·
#14 ·
Do you think that the static could be from the BT unit being mounted in the trunk. I would be concerned about the distance. I know they say it shouldn't be an issue but I can put my phone in its holster on my left hip and a BT in my right ear and I loose reception. I would guess loading up the trunk with some luggage and a couple kids in the back seat won't help. I am going to order one and hope that it works, if not I will move it up under the dash somewhere. Keep us updated on how it works.
 
#16 ·
well an easy fix to test that would be to put the phone in the trunk for a test call but the static seems to have gone mostly. I think its the bt stack on my phone. most smart phones have screwy bt stacks and htc has been known to screw the pooch some times. i'm gonna play with it this weekend if i get a chance and i know how much your scrardy cats love vids so i'll try to make one if i can.

Like i said, if you compare this to the bt in a bmw or mb then you are going to be let down. but thats mostly due to the shame of a 2002 HU we have in our car. but for making use of the in car phone options this is a great solution and there is no cutting nor wires/mics hanging around anywhere. it looks oem and my wife can finally stop asking my why the phone button in a caddy doesnt do anything.


if you live in jersey and want to see if first hand let me know, i'll see if i can find time to meet you guys.
 
#20 ·
I have like 4 but the one paired to it now is a sprint htc touch diamond


oh, and having the bluetooth kit in the trunk is not likely a problem. In my V, the parrot brainbox is in the trunk, and I get no static at all.

In my CTS, the brainbox is tucked into the carpeting in the driver footwell, and I get intermittent static. I don't think it is in the bluetooth link though because the streaming music does not have any static, just phone calls.
yeah i had static that first day and then it went away. I havent driven my car for a few days, but when i go back to it i can speak on it a bit more.

i'm not sure if it would do streaming music but i can try it.
 
#18 ·
wow, so somebody is actually selling these now.

It's basically the same thing Reed was offering for a while:
http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/cadillac-cts-v-series-forum-2004/105273-bluetooth-interface-order-now.html

It fakes the data bus in the CTS into thinking the bluetooth connection is Onstar (hence why you have to unplug onstar)

I had one in my V for a while, but I was not too happy with the sound quality. But I was not using the Motorola unit either, maybe that was the problem. I have a Parrot, and I have since wired it to the amp directly and it sounds better, still not perfect though.

With that moto kit being so cheap now, I may buy one just for kicks and try it out.
 
#19 ·
oh, and having the bluetooth kit in the trunk is not likely a problem. In my V, the parrot brainbox is in the trunk, and I get no static at all.

In my CTS, the brainbox is tucked into the carpeting in the driver footwell, and I get intermittent static. I don't think it is in the bluetooth link though because the streaming music does not have any static, just phone calls.
 
#21 ·
the moto kit does not stream music (at least I doubt it) I was talking about my Parrot MK6100 in my CTS which does have stereo bluetooth. It is really cool btw, and sounds great going directly into the Bose amp! Though every other day I have to turn my phone off and on otherwise I get some popping and audio dropping. Resetting the phone takes care of it.

Interesting enough though, the phone call quality is much better on the CK3000 in my V than on the MK6100. And I know it is in the parrot kit, because I have an MK6100 in my wife's Pilot which also has substandard call quality.
 
#22 ·
Looks like these will work on the 2007 V. E-mailed Chris and he said he hasne't updated the app list yet:

"The 2007 and up models will work with the GMLAN unit. I have not updated the application guide yet, but there should be some users there that have already installed it. Certainly in the base model (non-V), and as far as onstar is concerned, it is the same.



Thanks,



-Chris"
 
#25 ·
Receieved my bluetooth today and installed. Pretty simple, just unplug the onstar and plug in the bluetooth. I just plugged in and sat on the floor of the trunk to give it a try. Synced up nice and made a call to my voicemail. The sound was very choppy and notice that the onstar logo on the nav unit would come on and off like it was a bad connection. Checked everything but nothing loose. Made a couple more calls and the same thing, very choppy. I have a Blackberry Curve 8330 from Verizon. Any thoughts? I will give them a call tomorrow and see what they have to say.
 
#28 ·
FWIW...My wife got me this for X-mas as I thought it would be a great use of the the OnStar equipment that I don't use. As stated install was easy as pie. I had the same issue with the link not staying connected and dropping out intermitantly. The owner and I swapped several units back and forth trying to figure out the problem. He was extremely helpful and understanding of the situation. I finally gave up and returned the unit.

From my discussins with the owner it seems that the V radio is looking for the OnStar info on the data bus more frequently then the CoStar unit is sending it out. Thus the dropped calls.

Definetly a great idea and product, just not the answer for the V.
 
#29 ·
Hi Guys,
There is an issue, but I haven't been able to narrow it down to a particular vehicle model. My guess is that it is specific to some optional equipment installed that changes the way the radio responds on the class2 data bus. Some vehicles show up as intermittant problems, where once in a while, it will drop the radio out of mute mode, on some vehicles it never works, and some vehicles, it works perfectly. I've sold several hundred of these now, and only a handfull have had the problem, so it has been tricky to isolate.:hmm:

The GMLAN protocol found on the newer vehicles is much more reliable, and has not shown any of these issues.

I am working currently with a customer that has the really bad problem and we are trying to track down the root cause. Once resolved, I hope it will clear up those with intermittant issues as well.

Of course, I will stand behind everything I sell, so if you are experiencing any of these problems you can always send it in for a free upgrade once resolved.
 
#30 ·
I received and installed mine this weekend. So far the quality is good and the calls don't drop. However, the controls on my rearview mirror don't respond well with the kit for placing and receiving calls. If I want it to work perfectly, I have to use my phone for those tasks. The only button that works well on my rearview so far is the mute button.

I like and recommend the product, but I'll send it back for the latest and greatest when it's available.
 
#31 ·
That's a unique problem. I have not had any issues with the buttons, except that they are a little finicky in volume control mode only. What's especailly strange is that the mute works. The signal from the mirror is only one wire, so I would expect that if the mute works, than so should the others. It's possible that there is a connection issue somewhere on the BlueSTAR PCB. If you'd like to try and swap it out for a new board, just drop me an email, and i'll arrange an RMA.
Thanks and sorry for the troubles.

And what options might you have that are different than Capt. Dan? I don't think its an 05-06 thing...
 
#32 ·
Hey chris my issue most of the time is similar to what Birdman has. once i get an intial call to connect the following ones would work fine. but i have not been able to get the mirror buttons to properly accept a call. aside from that issue i just come up with work around which i dont mind doing ( also since i have to look at the phone to see who is calling anyway).

But my one gripe i cant get past is the spotty 1st or 2nd call i get which will connect and mute the radio and turn down the fan speed... but then it would kick the call or drop it and i have to take the call from the phone. if it wasnt for that issue I would be able to make use of this flawlessly even without the mirror buttons.


Also why doesnt the phone button answer and hang up on phone calls? it seems logical to just push the phone button once to answer and once to hang up instead of pressing the onstar button x# of seconds.

But i'm down to work with you since i like the overall product. I am also local if you want to take a reding of my vehicle as well.
Will
 
#34 ·
FYI Bluestar Operation Update:

Every once in a while the kit will grab the first call received and not drop it if I answer from my phone. However, If I step in the car and try to place a call it's been taking exactly three tries. The first two calls will connect, the radio mutes initially, but then the radio unmutes while the call is still connected. Sometimes the call drops in a couple seconds, sometimes it just stays connected and I can only hear radio. I've confirmed with the people I was trying to call and they can hear my radio. This also happens intermittently on the first call received. Same as liqidvenom, once I get a call connected properly there aren't any problems for the rest of that driving session.

Fiddled with the rearview mirror controls some more and still get the same thing. Only the mute button works as advertised, but I'm OK with this.

I've got a Blackberry Curve 8330 I'm taking to the store today to get a sorely needed software update. Maybe that will help, I'll let you guys know.
 
#36 ·
FWIW; when Reed was working on this solution with Radios&More, it was found that the data bus in the CTS-V (and CTS also, I imagine) is very different from the data bus in any of GM's other cars and trucks. I don't think they ever figured out why.

In the box that Radios&More made, I believe it accesses the data bus only to mute the radio, and put the amplifer in On-Star mode. It DOES NOT send any other data through the system. You had to unplug (or tap into) the audio leads going into the amplifier to use the car's speakers (or else you could just use the car-kit supplied speaker), and you had to use the microphone supplied with the car kit (not the Onstar microphone). You also had to the use the control buttons supplied with the kit (not the onstar buttons on the mirror--they were non-functional).

I do not know the specifics, but I know the above is all true, because despite Reeds warnings, I DID NOT unplug onstar, and the system still worked. However, I did not use Onstar either.

I hope all of this makes sense. I believe I still have my schematic from when I installed it, I will try to find it and dig it out later.
 
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