V8 Vantage Phone (2006) - sim card not bluetooth

[jce297]

Dear all, have found a couple of threads relating to connecting your phone via bluetooth but have been unable to find anything for the older models which have a sim card slot and no bluetooth capacity.

Has anyone set this up in their car? I have an iphone5, with Vodafone, have contacted them to see if I could get a standard dual sim card but apparently not. So it looks like I am faced with having to get a sim only deal (where the sim is free) where I then have a another number and another monthly contract? I originally thought I could just get a sim, divert calls from my mobile to the car sim and hey presto. Alas it doesn't seem that simple unless I'm missing the point..... I don't want to install a parrot and find using headphones a pain.....

Anyway able to solve my problem? Thanks.

[mikey k]

You could get a PAYG sim for the car and put your iphone on divert to it when you get in the car?

[jce297]

Good point... as the call would come out of iphone minutes..... but then how would I make an outgoing call from the car without chewing through the pay as you go sim?

I kind of thought it would be possible to use my current phone but maybe I'll just have to get a cheap contract sim for the car..... its annoying though as it will obviously be a different mobile number.

Guess I should have bought the 07 model with bluetooth.... d'oh!

[Neil1300R]

The only way to do it would be if your provider allows you to add another number onto your call plan. Yes you will have two numbers, but one bill, with the same call costs etc.
Normally only available on a Business Plan, but worth asking.

[mikey k]

jce297 said:

Good point... as the call would come out of iphone minutes..... but then how would I make an outgoing call from the car without chewing through the pay as you go sim?

I make VERY FEW calls from the Aston when I'm on the move

[jce297]

Thanks for the suggestions....

[PiloteAM]

mikey k said:

jce297 said:

Good point... as the call would come out of iphone minutes..... but then how would I make an outgoing call from the car without chewing through the pay as you go sim?

I make VERY FEW calls from the Aston when I'm on the move

Yes, exactly, the mike is a Bit st, so you're not going to want to use it much.

[mikey k]

I'm not a bit st
The later cars have a better mic
But why would you ruin the experience with phone calls

[cesg81]

Hi guys, I have an iPhone4 with iOS6.1.3 that keeps losing the Bluetooth connection so I thought I'd go back to using a sim in the phone. The phone module is not recognising there is a sim in there. Tried reading through the manual but its useless. Do you need to do anything particular to get a new sim working in the v8 vantage? like providing an IMEI number to the network provider? It's a new payg sim also so maybe I just need to activate it on a Vodafone handset first?

[Paralight]

I'm pretty sure that cars with Bluetooth have no SIM reader fitted. The cables are all there at the back of the Infotainment module, but no pins in the socket to the SIM reader!

The Blue (colour) Bluetooth module was designed before the Iphone was invented, and upgrading it is (from what I've been told) not possible.

However some owners have had success with Iphone and the Bluetooth module, so you may well have a faulty unit.

Hope that is of some help.

Kind Regards,

James

[cesg81]

Think your right James and appreciate the info. Tried a new activated sim today and no response from the phone module. Works fine in a phone though so definitely the car playing up. I assume even without a sim I should be able to at least turn it on but even that's not happening so either it's not connected at the back or Bluetooth overriding it.

[jce297]

I ended up getting a cheap £5 a month sim which so far has worked fine. Only made a few calls but the microphone seems ok. Didn't need to activate the sim card or use it in a proper phone first.

If I pressed the phone button in the car prior to having a sim, it would just say "insert sim card".

[brakedwell]

jce297 said:

I ended up getting a cheap £5 a month sim which so far has worked fine. Only made a few calls but the microphone seems ok. Didn't need to activate the sim card or use it in a proper phone first.

If I pressed the phone button in the car prior to having a sim, it would just say "insert sim card".

After my dealer fitted another mike next to the A pillar the quality of my phone transmissions on the move have improved considerably. (The original mike in my DB9 is hidden behind the rear view mirror).

[jeremydb9]

I took my DB9 centre consol to bits and behind the SIM slot there is simply a socket with nothing plugged into it.

If you press the Phone button it says something like "Waiting for phone" and from memory this does not clear until you turn if off.

Given the SIM slot is not connected to anything I suspect it will be waiting a long time!

I did google trying to find the bits to add to make it work and there is a module and aerial required and the bill was something daft.

I believe you need this http://astonmartinbits.com/models/4-DB9/parts/1096 (£750 + vat) + an arial and probably some more bits beside.

Err ..... not worth it!

[brakedwell]

You would also need two new telephone switch packs @ £700

This is the microphone mod.

Edited by brakedwell on Sunday 5th May 12:00