I have the same problem as reported by Goates at the bottom of the first page of this thread. My OEM bluetooth handsfree kit is in a Mitsbuishi Outlander and worked fine with a previous 7290. I too can make this work if I connect manually.

EDIT: My OS is 4.2.2.163 and I need to re-pair the phone to get it to connect. As soon as I drop that initial connection and try to re-connect, it tells me that it is unable to connect to Handsfree. So, there is a workaround, but it is cumbersome.