Hands on with the Bentley Flying Spur (Bluetooth)
The Bentley Flying Spur is Bentley’s four-door version of the popular coupe. Drastically changing the technology inside for the better made me want to take a more in depth look at what this car has to offer. Unlike the GT you no longer have to use a peasant Nokia phone as your car phone. Throwing away the standard Pop-Port connector and adding Bluetooth could not be a more welcome change. It gets better. This isn’t just bluetooth here, this is rSAP Bluetooth. Should I stop? No way. The Bentley Flying Spur also provides a SIM card reader in the armrest which works so flawlessly a tear started to roll down my face. The menu and GUI might not be the prettiest thing in the world, but it does what Bentley does best; keep it simple, keep it classy, and have it work perfectly. Click on for some more explanations of how this technology integrates into the car and more pictures than you probably care for.
This is the LCD screen that controls the Bluetooth. Beneath it is a simple directional wheel to select your options.
Here is the SIM card slot I was referring to. Simply drop the card right in, and your good to go! It uses the built-in antenna in the car so your reception is improved by at least 2-3 times.
This is the main control screen throughout the car. You can read text messages at anytime but you can’t compose one. I know, sad.
Oh look, a message from Bentley
On the steering wheel there are many different controls from voice commands, send/end key, select wheel, and the obvious volume buttons.
Here is the display you are most likely to look at while driving. It offers a slimmed down version of the main screen shown earlier.
Is there an actual list of compatible phones for the 2007 GTC? (USA) I am ready to buy a Nokia phone but don’t know which one to get.
I talked to my Cingular (AT&T) dealer and they had never heard of rSAP. Will the Nokia N75 work in the GTC? Apparently that is the latest Bluetooth model.
Thanks for the reply re: the Nokia 6200 for the 2005 GT. I was at the dealer and he tells me the Nokia 3120 will work. I bought one and things work other than the voice dial and the whole voice thing. Any thougts?
Bentley USA have a list of compatible phones, but they say it’s not right up to date. I bought and installed a Nokia 6230i today for my 2007 GTC, and it works great – directory, voice dialing and everything.
Does anyone know if it will work, or tried the Bluetooth in a 2007 Flying Spur with a Palm Treo 700wx?
no Palms will display the address book onto the screen.
I am sure this is a dumb question – my car asks me for a code when i try to pair the bluetooth phone – i cant find it anywhere
Does anyone know if the new Iphone will work with a Flying Spur?
@ Harry, it would be on the display screen in the armrest…
@ Tom, do not believe the iPhone supports the rSAP Bluetooth profile. Sucks…
I have been in continual contact for at least nine months with Bentley re the limited number of phones supported. In particular no BlackBerries are supported.
I’ll keep at it!
Anyone tried an Apple iPhone with a Bentley Continental? My BlackBerry won’t work, only thing I could get to work was a Nokia. It’s a great car – apart from the lousy Bluetooth support (compared to other cars in this class) and the Sat Nav, imho. Type in Restaurants and you get a load of Burger Kings! and it won’t do postcodes!
The bluetooth rsap is too slow to load and there are no phones other than a couple of Nokias ( and no PDA’s) that I’ve been able to find. You ask Bentley and they stare at you like you are insane. It’s a disgrace for such an expensive car. But then the Phaeton had no phone at all because they couldn’t get it to work.
I couldn’t find anything but the Nokia 8266 that would send the address book to the screen. Would like to find a PDA.
Can one of you Bentley owners hook me up with the recipe to your success? I wouldn’t mind it if my main problem was getting my bluetooth to work in my $160K car.
- Eddie Dollaz (not really), USMC
Eh? Is that all it costs in the US? It’s over $250k in the UK
The only phones that work well are the Nokia 6230 and Nokia 8266 no matter what Bentley tells you. No pda’s. I bought a 6230 with a new phone number and hard wired it in the trunk. Kinda a pain but that was the best I could come up with.
If i remember correctly they go for around 160K here in the US. You can buy a Maybach for 250K…
Maybach 57 that is…the six deuce will run you a bit more
“The answer is to go to your participating service provider (Vodafone or Orange in the UK) and get a multi sim account where the same number is on two sim cards. Leave one plugged into the sim reader in the car and put one in a decent phone which you carry with with you. Tada!”
Do you have to divert or turn off the mobile phone when you get in the car? Or for example do both the car and mobile ring at the same time, and you just answer which one you like? Thanks!
I have had a multi-sim card. There is an increased cost of course. You have to switch from phone-sim to car-sim but I made a short-code for that. It is still a bit of a pain as you have to remember to do it each way.
Thanks for that. Apparently our multi user tariff (which gives us free mobile to mobile calls within our company) would be affected by having a multi-sim account, so I have just ordered a new sim and number for the Bentley and we just then divert the call to the car when we get in it. It’s not good though, our £45k Lexus works great with every phone we have thrown at it so far!.
I think it is a real shame Bentley haven’t addressed this issue properley. Having to wait till ‘09 for a revision is a bit lame, as it will probably be out of date by then.
In every other respect the car is ace. For example if the driver had a heart attack while at the wheel, the passenger could engage the handbrake, which applies the brakes on all wheels at 0.7g to bring the car safely to a stop. Also, the handbrake doesn’t need to be released before you drive away, just accelerate and you’ll pull away. Which means (unless you use left foot braking) you can just floor it, without moving your foot from the brake to the accelerator pedal. They have seemed to focus their attention on the right areas of the car – driving it. But the phone and SAT NAV could both be a lot better.
Even that’s a damned nuisance especially for those without your kind of subscription. There is a reason which is that Bentley has chosen rsap which is a more advanced form of Bluetooth but few mobile phones support it! Here is the explanation I got. Getting it was like drawing teeth until I got to the right chap.
Dear Mr Dover,
I will pass this to the CEO’s office as requested, although it will be passed back for Cus-tomer Management to action the query further, as I will outline further down. I will also pass it to our immediate Manager.
If I may be so bold, I will take this opportunity to elaborate on the way rSAP works and why BlackBerry technology is not automatically compatible with the rSAP system. As is alluded to in the URL link you forwarded, BMW do have Blackberry compatibility. I have been do-ing some research with our Infotainment engineers, and we have been speaking directly with Blackberry,from whom we learned that BMW does not use rSAP technology, but Blue-tooth; rSAP being a more sophisticated technology utilising elements of Bluetooth technol-ogy. There are various advantages in text display and phonebook downloading etc. that make rSAP the more integrated solution for us. There is no rSAP 2.0, rSAP’s latest version is 1.0, which we use. Bluetooth is indeed on version 2.0, and it that which makes it compati-ble with the aforementioned BMWs .
There is no generic ‘fix’ for making Blackberry work in a solely rSAP system, but we have learned that they are working on an rSAP kit. However, in the shorter term, my friends in En-gineering are endeavouring to come up with a solution for you, and they have one or two ideas that I will update you with as soon as I have more information.
I do genuinely appreciate your comments about the system, and I hope you will under-stand when I say that phone technology is somewhat of a poisoned chalice. Were we to offer a simpler Bluetooth system, there would always be people who would say that we should offer rSAP as it does offer advantages even though the phone range may be more limited at the outset. Conversely, other people say that we should offer a system where every phone (within reason) is compatible. Phones are introduced at a bewildering rate and we test as many as we can; I also enclose a document that explains the Hands Free Profile and SIM card reader reader methods of phone usage (also mentioned on the URL you forwarded), apologies if you have read them before.
Please let me know if you would like any more technical information and I will gladly sup-ply whatever I can.
Kind regards
Stephen Davies
Bentley Customer Management – UK Operations
Tel. (+44) (0) 1270 653305
Fax. (+44) (0) 1270 535450
BENTLEY MOTORS LIMITED
Crewe, Cheshire, CW1 3PL, England
Tel: +44 (0) 1270 255155
http://www.bentleymotors.com/
Circulation : Sales&Marketing Service&Parts Dealer General Manager / Sales Manager
1. Introduction
• Further to the 2006 Bluetooth rSAP communiqué the following contains a reminder of the usage of rSAP and HFP, plus an update (highlighted in red) to the newly tested and Bentley approved telephones for rSAP and HFP compatibility.
2. Bluetooth rSAP
Introduction
The Bluetooth rSAP telephone system is the latest technology available to enable users to connect their mobile phone to the onboard telephone system. rSAP is an abbreviation for ‘remote SIM Access Profile’ and uses ‘Bluetooth’ connection technology.
Bluetooth rSAP uses a wireless link between the mobile phone and the vehicles onboard telephone system. Where a standard telephone system requires the mobile phone to be fitted in the drivers armrest cradle, the Bluetooth connection means that the mobile phone can be left in a briefcase, pocket, etc. without the requirement for a physical connection to the vehicle, thereby giving greater convenience and flexibility to the user. A key ad-vantage of this system over previous systems is that it provides the customer with greater flexibility as it offers 3 separate ways in which to connect to the new system;
1. Bluetooth rSAP
This connection creates a secure wireless link with the mobile phone, allowing all details stored on the phone SIM card to be downloaded onto the infotainment system, in addi-tion to allowing the user to make and receive telephone calls.
Key benefits;
- Use of handsfree & voicedial functions
- Displays phone book & SMS text messages on infotainment system
- Uses integrated vehicle antenna (improves signal strength & extends talk time)
- Provides longest battery life
Bluetooth rSAP compatible phones
Nokia 6021, 6230, 6230i, 6810, 6820, 6822, 7280, 9300, 8800, 9500, 8801, 6111, 6270
Vertu Ascent
Siemens SK65, S65, S66, SP65, CX75, M75
NOTE: This is a new industry-wide protocol and many additional phones are expected to arrive onto the market with this capability from all brands. Bentley will update this list as and when this information becomes available.
rSAP Interface
The main user interface where all the connections and mode changes (Bluetooth rSAP, Bluetooth Hands Free Profile & SIM card reader) are made. It is located in the drivers arm-rest. This interface features a rotary push knob & display screen. The user can register up to 10 different phones – e.g. 1 default phone plus 9 other ‘guest’ phones.
2. Bluetooth Hands Free Profile (HFP)
This connection creates a wireless link with the mobile phone, allowing the user to make and receive telephone calls using the infotainment system, including the handsfree and voicedial functions. However, there are disadvantages when compared to Bluetooth rSAP, namely;
- Battery life of phone is reduced
- No integrated vehicle antenna (call quality might be reduced)
- No phone book or SMS text messages displayed on the infotainment system
Bluetooth Hands Free Profile compatible phones
Nokia 9500, N90
Motorola V620, V551, V3, ROKR, L7, L6
Sony Ericsson K750i, K600i
Samsung D500
Please note that at rSAP launch the Sony Ericsson P910i was deemed HFP compatible however, after on-going testing this phone has not proven reliable and therefore has been taken OFF the Bentley Approved compatible phones list.
As there are a large number of Bluetooth phones available on the market and as such a potentially huge list of compatible phones, it is not feasible to test and evaluate all of these phones. As such, a selection of the best selling business oriented phones from vari-ous manufacturers have been chosen for evaluation. Other Bluetooth phones may oper-ate with the Bentley system, but this cannot be guaranteed in all cases, however, a simple compatibility test of a customers phone in a dealer demonstration model should answer any specific model questions.
3. SIM Card Reader
In addition to the two types of Bluetooth interface, users have the option of inserting their SIM card into the SIM card reader which is located in the drivers armrest.
Key features;
All benefits of Bluetooth rSAP system
Not restricted by phone model or type
Allows two SIM cards for one phone number to be used (where applicable)
No battery life concerns
Handbook
The Owners Handbook includes comprehensive instructions which describe how to use the Bluetooth rSAP telephone system. Furthermore, the ‘Mobile Phone Quick Reference Guide’ includes outline details describing how to connect an rSAP telephone to the sys-tem.
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And in relation to other aspects of the car, I can’t praise it highly enough. It’s a fantastic machine. I used to run Porsches, the last being a Turbo3 and my version of the Bentley which is the GT coupe I describe as a Porsche for the older gentleman. Of course the quality of everything is miles better than the Porsche but you’d expect that.
I’d fight to the death to retain only two items of property, the other being my BlackBerry 8300!
Yes, I like my BlackBerry too, but will gladly replace it with an iPhone, if it works as well as it looks.
I had the chance to drive a few Bentleys round the Millbrook test track recently. We did some emergency stops at 150mph, even with me driving the brakes left even straight black marks on the track. The instructor pointed out the lines left by the Aston Martins which were uneven and not straight. It is a truly amazing car. Even after driving hard the wheels are cool to the touch, the engine doesn’t get flustered. It also is comparitively cheap to run, we have the 19inch wheels fitted, which the instructor recommends, and they use on the tracks. Our tyres have lasted 30k miles too. A great car, just shame about the few niggles. Sure AMG Mercs, are fast, but I think the all-wheel drive and industrial strength engineering set this car apart from any other on the road.
Very interesting indeed.
I tried to post the email I got back from Bentley about rsap but it must have been too long and didn’t get posted. I’ll try a shorter version in a separate post just now but if you’d like the wole thing including an attachment of a communique from Bentley, I could email it to you.