Fitted Brodit Proclip iPhone cradle
/In the past I've always just used suction cup iPhone cradles but this time I wanted something more substantial. My research led me to the Brodit Proclip. This is a two part solution where you buy a cradle which is specially made to fit your phone and then you buy a mount which is specially made to fit your car. There are also several variants of both the cradle and the mount so you have lots of flexibility. It's not a cheap solution but it's not expensive either, and the quality is a big step up from a typical suction mount.
I bought my kit from DSL Developments for a total of £61.68 all inclusive. The cradle was £42.99 (p/n 514422) and the BMW E60 M Sport mount was £15.69 (p/n 653802). Note that the mount is different depending on whether you have M-Sport trim or not. There are also various mounts depending on where you want the phone to attach. I decided to attach to the centre air vent with the intention of routing my USB charge cable into the air vent and through the dashboard to the glovebox where my Dension Gateway was installed. This was relatively easy to accomplish.
The Proclip mount is really excellent and well worth the money. It has a soft, velvety covering which protects the iPhone and holds it securely and it uses the original Apple Lightning cable which clips securely into the bottom of the cradle and allows one-handed insertion of the phone into the cradle. Anyone who has tried to connect their phone to a charge cable with one hand will know how useful this is...