Hello, I just bought my son a 2007 ES 350. Old lady owned it, pristine condition 79,000 miles, but I cannot get my iPhone 12 or my sons iPhone 12 to connect to the Bluetooth. It just will not connect. So my question is, what is the latest and greatest route to go to update the Bluetooth streaming for Pandora streaming music Bluetooth etc.? Do I replace the whole head unit, or do I just use the 3.5 mm aux cable in glove box And get a dash mount for his phone? I don’t need anything crazy I just want him to be able to stream music and be able to talk through his Bluetooth. The car is at a Lexus dealership so I should make them fix it before buying it or I just don’t know if it that system is so old that it will not connect to an iPhone 12. I do need the back up camera as well which is already on the car it has the package with the back up camera and navigation. Any suggestions for updating and getting this set up for my son to a more current will be very much appreciated. Thank you all so much! I’ve been searching through the threads and I can’t find exactly what I’m looking for so please don’t yell at me if there’s already a thread about this cause I could not find my answer. LOL. Priorities are leaving the back up camera hooked up, and being able to do everything else through his phone which is fine if he has a good dash mount. So I’m assuming I would just plug in the aux cable and be done with it. I’m just not sure why the Bluetooth is not working and finding the phone

 

I could be wrong but I believe Bluetooth Audio streaming did not become available until the mid cycle refresh in 2010. They only offered Bluetooth phone calls and AUX for years prior.

It’s a weird concept but basically Bluetooth uses two different technologies for phone calls and music.

Update: yup I just confirmed my suspicion. Bluetooth Audio streaming came out in 2010 on the ES.

I would recommend this 3rd party product for Bluetooth audio. I used it on a 2008 BMW 3 series and it worked perfectly. Just make sure that you have a USB slot or a cigarette lighter adapter next to the AUX connection to make it work. Trust me, it’s worth the extra cost compared to similar Chinese knockoffs.

TUNAI Firefly LDAC Bluetooth Receiver: High Resolution Wireless Audio Bluetooth 5.0 Adapter with Audiophile USB DAC 3.5mm AUX for Car/Home Stereo Hi Res Music Streaming; Auto On, No Charging Needed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HDO66NK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_JDDDH1M3Y5NCE63MKP3K?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

Thank you so much for the quick response. That is exactly what I’m looking for that type of set up, but I don’t have a USB in a 2007. When I open the glove box I have a cigarette 12 V circle charger and then I have a aux 3.5 mm right next to it so how would this work if I don’t have the USB?

 

Looks like you can use a USB cigarette lighter adaptor and plug the USB plug into there and the aux into the aux port

something like this

 

Yup exactly like that, this was my setup on the BMW.

 

Thank you!

 

As far as Bluetooth music, the 2007 does not have this option. The aux cord with a phone mount is the cheapest option. For phone calls, I recently had an issue where the calls would not come onto the screen and it was just overall unresponsive. I was changing the battery coincidently and disconnecting the terminals reset the ECU and the issues went away.

 

I use the 3.5mm aux cord when I want streaming music or GPS audio thru the car speakers in my wife’s ‘07 ES350.

 

Just wanted to provide an update to this:

After using the device posted above by HayK for one week- I found the buzzing noise absolutely annoying. You can hear the buzzing noise getting louder with acceleration- you need to be playing music to drown out the noise- not fun when skipping songs or lowering the volume.

Which leads me to my next annoyance- you need to hold your phone in your hand when controlling music- I need to keep waking up my Iphone to go to the next song. I decided to go with a different device (I use this in my Mercedes) and it came out great. No noises and I can skip/pause/play using the small mini controller that I stuck below my volume button with a magnetic back that comes with the device. If you scroll down and look at the Amazon reviews, another user with a ES350 did the same (he provided pictures for you to get an idea)

 

Yes you just need a ground loop for the aux. THat device is expensive. You can piece meal together a better price but you got it right: bluetooth to aux device with th addition of a ground loop cord in between the bluetooth and aux.

 

I had been using Bluetooth to AUX setup like this in my 2007 ES for years. No buzzing and sound is quite good. I use my Iphone 12 with Magsafe charger mounted on the dash and for my uses this beats CarPlay. Does anyone know a way to add a hardware rewind button? I listen to a lot of audio books etc while driving.

Good thing that with VLC player you can rewind with a swipe on phone screen, so no need to actually look at it.