Connected Ride Cradle

[Gruesomebike]

My Garmin 5 failed again on my recent 3k miles return trip to Bosnia, so on my return I bought the connect cradle which does work very well, however after only 20miles on my Gen.2 XR it screwed the camera on my iphone 11

I had read the various reviews & potential risks re. the vibes but thought after my frustration with the clunky Garmin it was a risk worth taking, but was still surprised how quick it was to damage my iphone camera.

So a new phone will have to be bought and my old iphone 11 will be used on the XR without SIM

I posted this because I don't want anyone to get caught out !   

[capt cf]

Thanks for the additional data point.  We've kicked this around in other threads, but I'll throw mine in too.  After using the cradle for months with my older Galaxies on both my gen 1 and gen 2 XR with no problems (including a relatively recent S20+) I threw an S23+ in there and it only took about 6 weeks before it broke the vibration/haptic feedback system (guessing a little motor or something got vibrated loose and broke off inside).  Like you, I am still using the cradle, but dedicated my old S20+ to permanent cradle duty running the BMW Connected/nav app and keep my new S23+ in my pocket.  The only drawbacks are 1) I have to carry my phone in my pocket and 2) while in my pocket it isn't charging.  On the gen 2 connectivity is slightly more complicated, but still works fine.  The bike just sees the S20 in the cradle as "navigation system" and my phone as "phone" and I have no problems using both with my Cardo.  Slightly more of a pain to dig the phone out of my pocket to change Spotify playlists vs. just stopping and touching the screen, but I can live with it.  I suppose you could call having your phone in your pocket a benefit since it should be with you in a getoff vs. smashed or lying somewhere you can't get to it to call for help.

[Gruesomebike]

Thanks for the feedback, I am hoping my old phone in the cradle will also bluetooth my music (although with my non BMW earbuds you can't change the volume but you can pause the music etc) but I guess unless I have a sim card it wont give me live traffic info. unless I hotspot it to my new phone in my pocket, and I agree it will be safer in pocket, only way to charge though will be by putting it in my tank bag.

One day in the future things maybe a lot easier !

Safe riding.

[Wildhaus]

That's exactly what I do. 

I have an old Samsung S10 without a SIM that I use in my Connected Ride cradle, real time traffic updates coming by hot spotting from the S23 with SIM that I keep in my jacket inside pocket. 

Edited to add that being devoid of the antishake mechanisms of newer smartphones, the camera in the five year old S10 still works fine after several thousand miles in the cradle. Not that I need it to, but it does anyway.

[Gruesomebike]

That's good to know, looking forward to trying it out soon.

[Mareng1]

Originally Posted by Gruesomebike

Thanks for the feedback, I am hoping my old phone in the cradle will also bluetooth my music (although with my non BMW earbuds you can't change the volume but you can pause the music etc) but I guess unless I have a sim card it wont give me live traffic info. unless I hotspot it to my new phone in my pocket, and I agree it will be safer in pocket, only way to charge though will be by putting it in my tank bag.

One day in the future things maybe a lot easier !

Safe riding.

I got a small Bluetooth doodah, comes with a bar mount - does Back/Fwd, Vol Up/down and pause/play.

It’s about 35mm diam and 12mm deep.   


https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0969BK1H6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[ClassicTim]

Thank you for the heads up / PSA. I wonder if the vibes there are what kill the bmw nav.

I found the mounting point with the least vibration is in the center of the handlebars mounted as flush to the bar as possible. This is on a gen 1. I used a wrap of the 3m grey (or black) foam tape. It is pretty still. Incredible compared to the mirrors

[ClassicTim]

The BMW NAV cradle uses a standard 4 hole “AMPS” pattern that attaches to the BMW mount, then to the stock bar.

Turns out quadlock has a 4 hole “AMPS” pattern adapter.

I’m going to change the mount to a quadlock, add a vibration damper, and see where that leaves me with vibration. Hopefully this will prevent the BMW nav from being shaken to failure. If the result is not great, I might move the BMW Nav down to the handlebars