Cost-effective bluetooth capability for 11th Gen T-Birds

TBone
Last seen
Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Thunderbird Year
2003
Moderator note 2023- List of Ford Thunderbird Bluetooth Devices here:


First time poster here, gang… and just wanted to share a really cost-effective way to listen to music via your smartphone through your factory Thunderbird stereo (it'll work with most other cars with a radio as well, but thought I'd share it here as it relates to my T-Bird experience).
[I didn’t see a thread on this before, so apologies in advance if it has been posted down the road before].

I purchased my 2003 Mountain Gray T-Bird back in June (48.3k miles / $15,200) and absolutely love it! By far and large my favorite vehicle I’ve owned since my first car in 1978 (that was a ’71 El Camino, which just may be my second fave). Driving this T-Bird on sunny days with the top down, the tunes blasting and my lovely wife by my side is just bliss.

I know that others in this forum have experienced some issues with the factory installed six-disc changer, but thankfully my unit works great. My only drawback is that it doesn’t have the modern convenience of an auxiliary input jack (for my iPod) or bluetooth capability (for Spotify and my Music library on my iPhone). I listen to a lot of music in the car.

Not long ago I stumbled upon this little car charger that also doubles as a bluetooth transmitter. It’s called Xiaomi ROIDMI 3S Bluetooth Charger. (no longer available) Try this one-
https://amzn.to/35grGIo
Sumind Wireless Radio Adapter Hands-Free Car Kit
The way it works is you tune to an unused station on your radio (you can choose any station frequency via their free Roidmi downloaded app) and then sync up your smartphone’s bluetooth with it.

I wasn’t sure how well it would work and sound, but it was only around 15 bucks, so I figured ‘what the heck.’ After receiving it last week, I can say I love this little baby. I plugged the bluetooth charger into my cigarette lighter and it literary took me a minute to sync the radio with my phone, and within seconds afterwards I’m listening to clear music without static through my T-Bird speakers and it sounds pretty fantastic. (Keep in mind, most of the music on my phone are on the mp3 format, so the sound isn’t as crystalline as a CD, but for the convenience of having my entire music library at my fingertips in my T-Bird without having to shuffle through a pile of CDs is a big plus for me).

You can charge two phones at the same time, so, with its low cost, and bluetooth capability it’s a win-win all-around (USB charging cords not included, but you can purchase these for a song).

The only downside for some is that it doesn't support hands-free phone operation. This isn't a big concern for me, but may be for some who would rather swap out the entire stereo unit for something with these modern conveniences, at a cost of course. The previous version of this included a small mic, but from what I've read online it was pretty useless, which is why I'm guessing they discontinued the mic for this newer version.

Please note: I haven't taken any longer road trips with this yet, so I'm not sure if the chosen frequency fades or not when far out of range, but even if so, you could always easily change to a different frequency if necessary.

And just for the record, I do not work for Xiaomi or Gearbest. I'm just a huge music fan that loves having my vast collection at my fingertips (and voice activation via Siri) and piped into my new baby's speakers with the top down : )

Hey Siri, Play a Beatles mix in Music. I love you... yeah, yeah, yeah!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sounds neat, I will have to check it out. I already have a little gizmo added to the bird that allows me to play my iPod through the bird's radio and speaker system. Thanks for sharing.
 
That one looks like a winner as well, Gus... especially with the mic for hands-free phone (I'm sure I could easily learn to love this function). In looking deeper just now, looks there's a good range of these type of products out there. They were just new to me. Cheers ~
 
That one looks like a winner as well, Gus... especially with the mic for hands-free phone (I'm sure I could easily learn to love this function). In looking deeper just now, looks there's a good range of these type of products out there. They were just new to me. Cheers ~
Tbone I tried a few. Most of them I have already returned. this one has some sort of dual channel thing going on. It works great in my car.
 
I tried a few different devices. I drive from Ontario to San Diego once a week and I needed something that works in two markets. This thing i found on Amazon works great for me. Has plenty of volume and no static. It does take calls but only has one charge port. I plug it into the cigarette lighter port and use the charge port for my phone

Wireless Car Kit Bluetooth FM... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XQWBVSY/?tag=thunderbirdforum-20

I have this same exact one, I bought 2 more just in case, my original one finally gave out.
 
I have been using a Roidmi Bluetooth charger for a year or so - great way to add Bluetooth and inexpensive. If I’m using Navigation on my iPhone and listening to music on my iPhone at the same time, the device mutes the music when navigation instructions come through - nice feature. I recorded music to a USB thumb drive, and put the USB stick in the second charger slot to listen to it through my car’s stereo system.
 
I bought this one on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074Y11C8B/?tag=thunderbirdforum-20 and am able to take phone calls as well. Much better than some of the others I tried when I had my 2002 (now have a 2005) - plus I bought a holder that fits in the CD slot that I can also see the navigation on Maps on the iPhone - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016D9K970/?tag=thunderbirdforum-20. It's so fun to "MacGyver" a solution!

Just ordered one, I’ll give it a try! $18.49 and fits iPhones including X and 11, but not with an Otter Box because they are too thick. Thanks!
 
First time poster here, gang… and just wanted to share a really cost-effective way to listen to music via your smartphone through your factory Thunderbird stereo (it'll work with most other cars with a radio as well, but thought I'd share it here as it relates to my T-Bird experience).
[I didn’t see a thread on this before, so apologies in advance if it has been posted down the road before].

I purchased my 2003 Mountain Gray T-Bird back in June (48.3k miles / $15,200) and absolutely love it! By far and large my favorite vehicle I’ve owned since my first car in 1978 (that was a ’71 El Camino, which just may be my second fave). Driving this T-Bird on sunny days with the top down, the tunes blasting and my lovely wife by my side is just bliss.

I know that others in this forum have experienced some issues with the factory installed six-disc changer, but thankfully my unit works great. My only drawback is that it doesn’t have the modern convenience of an auxiliary input jack (for my iPod) or bluetooth capability (for Spotify and my Music library on my iPhone). I listen to a lot of music in the car.

Not long ago I stumbled upon this little car charger that also doubles as a bluetooth transmitter. It’s called Xiaomi ROIDMI 3S Bluetooth Charger. (no longer available) Try this one-
https://amzn.to/35grGIo
Sumind Wireless Radio Adapter Hands-Free Car Kit
The way it works is you tune to an unused station on your radio (you can choose any station frequency via their free Roidmi downloaded app) and then sync up your smartphone’s bluetooth with it.

I wasn’t sure how well it would work and sound, but it was only around 15 bucks, so I figured ‘what the heck.’ After receiving it last week, I can say I love this little baby. I plugged the bluetooth charger into my cigarette lighter and it literary took me a minute to sync the radio with my phone, and within seconds afterwards I’m listening to clear music without static through my T-Bird speakers and it sounds pretty fantastic. (Keep in mind, most of the music on my phone are on the mp3 format, so the sound isn’t as crystalline as a CD, but for the convenience of having my entire music library at my fingertips in my T-Bird without having to shuffle through a pile of CDs is a big plus for me).

You can charge two phones at the same time, so, with its low cost, and bluetooth capability it’s a win-win all-around (USB charging cords not included, but you can purchase these for a song).

The only downside for some is that it doesn't support hands-free phone operation. This isn't a big concern for me, but may be for some who would rather swap out the entire stereo unit for something with these modern conveniences, at a cost of course. The previous version of this included a small mic, but from what I've read online it was pretty useless, which is why I'm guessing they discontinued the mic for this newer version.

Please note: I haven't taken any longer road trips with this yet, so I'm not sure if the chosen frequency fades or not when far out of range, but even if so, you could always easily change to a different frequency if necessary.

And just for the record, I do not work for Xiaomi or Gearbest. I'm just a huge music fan that loves having my vast collection at my fingertips (and voice activation via Siri) and piped into my new baby's speakers with the top down : )

Hey Siri, Play a Beatles mix in Music. I love you... yeah, yeah, yeah!
I’m wanting to play Spotify from my iPhone through this device. This will work? I have a 2003 thunderbird. Thanks Bob A
 
First time poster here, gang… and just wanted to share a really cost-effective way to listen to music via your smartphone through your factory Thunderbird stereo (it'll work with most other cars with a radio as well, but thought I'd share it here as it relates to my T-Bird experience).
[I didn’t see a thread on this before, so apologies in advance if it has been posted down the road before].

I purchased my 2003 Mountain Gray T-Bird back in June (48.3k miles / $15,200) and absolutely love it! By far and large my favorite vehicle I’ve owned since my first car in 1978 (that was a ’71 El Camino, which just may be my second fave). Driving this T-Bird on sunny days with the top down, the tunes blasting and my lovely wife by my side is just bliss.

I know that others in this forum have experienced some issues with the factory installed six-disc changer, but thankfully my unit works great. My only drawback is that it doesn’t have the modern convenience of an auxiliary input jack (for my iPod) or bluetooth capability (for Spotify and my Music library on my iPhone). I listen to a lot of music in the car.

Not long ago I stumbled upon this little car charger that also doubles as a bluetooth transmitter. It’s called Xiaomi ROIDMI 3S Bluetooth Charger. (no longer available) Try this one-
https://amzn.to/35grGIo
Sumind Wireless Radio Adapter Hands-Free Car Kit
The way it works is you tune to an unused station on your radio (you can choose any station frequency via their free Roidmi downloaded app) and then sync up your smartphone’s bluetooth with it.

I wasn’t sure how well it would work and sound, but it was only around 15 bucks, so I figured ‘what the heck.’ After receiving it last week, I can say I love this little baby. I plugged the bluetooth charger into my cigarette lighter and it literary took me a minute to sync the radio with my phone, and within seconds afterwards I’m listening to clear music without static through my T-Bird speakers and it sounds pretty fantastic. (Keep in mind, most of the music on my phone are on the mp3 format, so the sound isn’t as crystalline as a CD, but for the convenience of having my entire music library at my fingertips in my T-Bird without having to shuffle through a pile of CDs is a big plus for me).

You can charge two phones at the same time, so, with its low cost, and bluetooth capability it’s a win-win all-around (USB charging cords not included, but you can purchase these for a song).

The only downside for some is that it doesn't support hands-free phone operation. This isn't a big concern for me, but may be for some who would rather swap out the entire stereo unit for something with these modern conveniences, at a cost of course. The previous version of this included a small mic, but from what I've read online it was pretty useless, which is why I'm guessing they discontinued the mic for this newer version.

Please note: I haven't taken any longer road trips with this yet, so I'm not sure if the chosen frequency fades or not when far out of range, but even if so, you could always easily change to a different frequency if necessary.

And just for the record, I do not work for Xiaomi or Gearbest. I'm just a huge music fan that loves having my vast collection at my fingertips (and voice activation via Siri) and piped into my new baby's speakers with the top down : )

Hey Siri, Play a Beatles mix in Music. I love you... yeah, yeah, yeah!
Got one for my 2003 bird. Best 26.00 bucks I’ve spent. Thanks
 
View attachment 20761I have purchased Nulaxy Bluetooth FM Transmitter for Car, Upgraded Manual Power On/Off Switch from Amazon a month ago.
It has a switch so it won't drain the battery. I have found the unused frequency on the internet and it super clean and crispy sounding with my Samsung phone. Highly recommended.
I got one too. A very good solution with very good sound and no work needed on the excellent factory radio.

Only issue is if you are driving out of town you often need to find another open FM frequency. But most of my driving is in town or close so it’s not a problem.
 
I have a question- I’m fine with the stock Radio but I miss not having Bluetooth hands free for answering my IPhone calls - is there a simple solution that a senior can plug-in?
 
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