Simple DIY Magnetic Phone Mount for A4 / S4 / RS4 - B7

[mikeinsf]

Recently acquired a B7 RS4 & searched endlessly for a mount I was happy with.
I didn't want to:
- glue some big thing to a conspicuous spot on my dash
- have the phone on top of the dash or on the windshield anywhere
- screw anything in anywhere and put holes in things

No manufactured mount seemed to fit and hold the phone where I wanted, so I brainstormed my own simple one.

Parts:
- small black hinge
- gorilla glue
- electrical tape (or plastidip)
- two medium diameter neodymium magnets
- heavy duty black velcro

I tacked the two magnets side-by-side on one half of the hinge using some gorilla glue, then wrapped them in black electrical tape. I used heavy duty velcro, the kind made entirely of stout plastic rather than the normal velcro with the fuzzy size and plastic loop side. I wanted the mount to stay put when it's installed, and it would wiggle a bit with normal velcro. I cut down the velcro strip to be only about the size of the half of the hinge to which it is stuck. The other side of the velcro is stuck inconspicuously on the underside of the lip in the dash below the center vents. The phone is held firmly at an angle above the head unit and securely against the dash. It slightly obscures part of the left vent but doesn't obstruct the vent "handle" or the ability to adjust it. The neodymium magnets are very strong and the phone doesn't budge at all.

I have some black plastidip, and will dip the half of the hinge with the magnets instead of wrapping them in electrical tape, for a slightly better finish. I'm also going to use a marker or some black nail polish to blacken the edges of the white adhesive strips on the velcro. That should clean up the look pretty well. The mount is very strong, cheap, and easy to make. It won't damage your dash, and it's very easily removed altogether. I think it looks at least as good as any other solution, or at least it will after I black out the white adhesive strips and switch to plastidip.

The phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 in a Spigen case with a metal plate for magnetic mounting.

Thought I'd share this simple DIY to help out anyone else not satisfied with what's for sale. Cheers.











--
///Mike Westermann
San Francisco, CA
[email protected]

[Kingzilla17]

Not bad. I personally use the Spigen vent mount. Cheap and has held up for going on a year now. You can easily fit the phone without blocking the dash. Negative is you can't really adjust the vent handle vertically but not too bad where it's useless. I have an LG V20 which is about the same size as the Note 8.

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[dalmation53]

Make me one how much?

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[mikeinsf]

Not bad. I personally use the Spigen vent mount. Cheap and has held up for going on a year now. You can easily fit the phone without blocking the dash. Negative is you can't really adjust the vent handle vertically but not too bad where it's useless. I have an LG V20 which is about the same size as the Note 8.

Thanks! Yeah I've never liked the vent mount ones for a few reasons: they make the vent non-adjustable; they are always directly in front of the hot air if you're heating the car; they might over time warp or otherwise damage the vent slats.

Make me one how much?

It's really not hard to DIY on this one. I guess I could get the stuff and make another for $30 if you're really interested. You would have to get your own phone case and metal backing plate.

[A4_PimP]

Real ingenuity right there, simple and effective +1 👍

[Kingzilla17]

Thanks! Yeah I've never liked the vent mount ones for a few reasons: they make the vent non-adjustable; they are always directly in front of the hot air if you're heating the car; they might over time warp or otherwise damage the vent slats.

True forgot the heat part. Normally I let the heat run until I'm ready then cut it down before mounting the phone up. Not crazy cold in TX so I'm sure up north it will be a bigger hassle. I'll try this out. Seems simple enough. Thanks.

[mikeinsf]

@kingzilla17 Let me know how it turns out!

@a4_pimp thanks!

[nij_tp]

Did this! Thank you is all I can say. I had to have a couple of goes as my case didn't have metal and I tried to use a sticky metal disc but it f'd with the charging. So I have one of those cars that has a holster, put some magnets under the clip of the holster and stuck that to the Velcro'd hinge. Now I can put the phone in the holster (which I don't think I would have used anyway) whilst driving. AWESOME

Sent from my SM-N950U using Audizine mobile app

[nij_tp]

Phones not cars!!!!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Audizine mobile app

[mikeinsf]

Did this! Thank you is all I can say. I had to have a couple of goes as my case didn't have metal and I tried to use a sticky metal disc but it f'd with the charging. So I have one of those cars that has a holster, put some magnets under the clip of the holster and stuck that to the Velcro'd hinge. Now I can put the phone in the holster (which I don't think I would have used anyway) whilst driving. AWESOME

Awesome. :) It's cool to see others like the idea and find it as handy as I do. I wish I'd thought of this before blowing $50-$75 trying out other mounts that all sucked in their own ways.

I have this case, with the indent for the metal plate inside. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073R7DFG1
Gluing the metal plate inside does interfere with wireless charging, so when I'm at my desk I just pop off the case to charge, or just plug it in sometimes.