# Auxiliary Audio Input Retrofit (Questions...)



## Dirkvr (Jul 1, 2005)

I've always wanted to be able to use my ipaq as an MP3 player in my 323 ci conv. Today, i finally got around to soldering and installing the aux input as shown on this thread (I used the schematic on the last page of the BMW retrofit guide).

The aux in works well; I can cycle to it, and it reproduces the Ipaq's sound very clear, loud, and crisp. Because my local electronics storee did not have the suggested 0,22uF capacitators and 300KOhm resistor, I went with the closest things they had: 1 uF and 330 KOhm.

BUT....when I plug my Ipaq in to charge, the aux in suddenly 'disappears'. That is - the radio switches to FM, and 'aux' no longer appears when cycling with the mode button. When I unplug the cigarette lighter charger, everything works again.

I'm not exactly clear what's going on here. My guess is that the ipaq is in essence shorting out the resistor, thereby making the headunit 'forget' the aux in is there.

How reasonable of an explanation is this? What might be a possible solution? Are my capacitators too large, so that they're useless in blocking DC currents??

Any help greatly appreciate!!!


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## nitram_luap (May 24, 2004)

Fantastic! Well done.

It is wonderful to see others creating their own AUX input cables. While it is a shame that BMW charges a fortune for the cable (let alone the installation) it enables people to have a little fun with their cars by creating their own cable and installing it for a few dollars.



I've just done a similar thing with our new smart fortwo (although much simpler) - an AUX input for the smart OEM stereo! :thumbup:

Paul Martin
Australia



tetsuostu said:


> Right, this thread needs more love ...
> 
> Followed the OP's instructions, took an afternoon to do it all but that includes the running around.
> 
> ...


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## nitram_luap (May 24, 2004)

Dirkvr said:


> I've always wanted to be able to use my ipaq as an MP3 player in my 323 ci conv. Today, i finally got around to soldering and installing the aux input as shown on this thread (I used the schematic on the last page of the BMW retrofit guide).
> 
> The aux in works well; I can cycle to it, and it reproduces the Ipaq's sound very clear, loud, and crisp. Because my local electronics storee did not have the suggested 0,22uF capacitators and 300KOhm resistor, I went with the closest things they had: 1 uF and 330 KOhm.
> 
> ...


Hopefully someone with some serious electronics knowledge will be able to shed some light on this problem.
A stupid question I know, but can the Ipaq audio output normally be used while it is charging? Some devices behave strangely when charging.

Charging a device should not affect the audio output so that does seem strange. Do you have access to another Ipaq to see if it is just your unit or an Ipaq issue? I don't have this problem with my iPod (or Palm) when charging.

Paul Martin
Australia


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## tetsuostu (Feb 11, 2006)

nitram_luap said:


> Hopefully someone with some serious electronics knowledge will be able to shed some light on this problem.
> A stupid question I know, but can the Ipaq audio output normally be used while it is charging? Some devices behave strangely when charging.
> 
> Charging a device should not affect the audio output so that does seem strange. Do you have access to another Ipaq to see if it is just your unit or an Ipaq issue? I don't have this problem with my iPod (or Palm) when charging.
> ...


i did have this issue for one minute last night - i picked up a belkin (maybe fake - i got it off ebay) charger/dock connector/audio thingy, and when i plugged the audio into the belkin and then the belkin into the cigarette lighter i lost the AUX channel as well.

I'd turned the volume output down to 0 when plugging in it. This must have given the juice a clear path or something, because as soon as Iturned it up the AUX channel reappeared.

Hopefully this will help with anyone else having the ipaq issue.


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## Dirkvr (Jul 1, 2005)

So last weekend I got around to soldering another connector cable, this time with 0.22 uF capacitators instead of 1 uF......and the thing works much better!!!

I can now charge the ipaq while playing music, although the aux does at times disappear when I plug the charger in. Once plugged in, I can switch to aux without a problem.

So the problem seemed to be too large capacities......


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## flat6 (Sep 9, 2005)

tetsuostu said:


> I'd turned the volume output down to 0 when plugging in it. This must have given the juice a clear path or something, because as soon as Iturned it up the AUX channel reappeared.
> 
> Hopefully this will help with anyone else having the ipaq issue.


Quite a strange issue, The headunit picks up the AUX input via the slight resistance between left and right chanel, it should pick it up regardless of a device being connected..

I'll have to give this a try in my car, hook a device up to it whilst its charging...


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## jawjatek (Jul 4, 2005)

The Germans (Euros) use a comma for a decimal point. It is also common engineering practice to omit capacitance units on drawings if they are in microfarads. The correct capacitor is a 0.22 uF of at least 15V rating (higher voltage rating is fine but they do get bigger in size and its not necesary). Typical commonly found caps would be a 0.22 uF 50V mylar or polypropylene film type. The code for this value cap is 224x, where x is some letter signifying tolerance, like K (10%). See this LINK for an explanation of capacitor markings. I recommend a film or poly cap as they have a better frequency response than ceramic, but you probably won't hear a difference. Do not use electrolytic capacitors in this circuit as they are polarized (have a + and - side) and tend to fail short-circuit when reverse voltage is applied for chemical reasons. A 1/4 watt carbon-film type 330k Ohm would be my choice for the resistor (orange-orange-yellow-gold/silver). 300k is not a standard value and might be hard to find, but 330k is very common. HTH


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## flip68 (Jan 24, 2006)

I was hoping for some help. I purchased the overpriced AUX cable from my BMW dealer and installed it for my XM SKYFI satellite radio on a 2004 325XI.

It initially worked like a champ, but now I'll be driving and then suddenly my AUX input will go away (back to FM) and it won't come back unless I turn off the car and restart it. Even that sometimes doesn't work, but after a some time I'll turn the car back on and the AUX input is back.

Sometimes the AUX input will last 1 hour or more while driving and sometimes after 5 mins it goes away.

Could I have a faulty cable? It appears from reading this thread that the radio recognizes the AUX input by way of the 300K resistor between L and R channels. I wonder if a resistor can go bad? I just bought the cable a few weeks ago.

Any other thoughts? Could the XM radio not be the correct impedance causing some issues?

Any insight or help on troubleshooting this would be appreciated as its driving me nuts... 

Thanks!

-Flip


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## slvr666 (Jun 10, 2006)

*business cd aux input*

Guys, I'm a total newbie in the Bimmer world, just picked up an '03 540i on 06/06/06, what a day to buy a car! I'm trying not to be the ignorant guy that doesn't use the search button and asks all the wrong questions, but the more I search the further I get away from getting to my target. 
I would really like to make my own cable specially after writting a check for over 30k, every saved dollar counts. 
I've been looking all over the forums for the aux input but can't quite find the exact match to my setup.
In-dash business cd with 6 disk changer in the trunk and DSP. I'm guessing that my year has the aux input by the cd changer but would disable my changer signal to get auxilary signal instead. Reading the posts above I took my indash cd unit out and saw 2 - 12 pin connections on the cd player one is open the other has wire harness plugged in with 3 wires. 
Is this similar connector to your 10 pin mentioned in the post above?
I have no idea what this 3 wire connector does, but with it disconnected from the cd player I still can play indash cd and the cd changer and I can control it all from the steering wheel. Any help much appreciated.


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## dkl (Jul 18, 2004)

Here's the instructions (see attached) that came with my AUX kit for the X5, which also include instructions for your E39 5-Series. Adding the AUX kit will NOT eliminate the CD player or changer...so, you'll get to keep all existing functions.


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## slvr666 (Jun 10, 2006)

Thanks, lot of info for x5 is the same as E39 didn't know that!
Will widen my field of search next time.


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## noguts_78 (May 2, 2007)

*To make things neat!!!*

Well, after looking into Aux Input, and did some searching. YES, $31 for the OEM cable might be worth it. But the fun of this is a DIY project. So I follow this post, and some others I've found, and I found a way to make things VERY easy to make the cable.

This is the cable u'll need:
http://www.frontx.com/pro/p090v1_030.html
You might need to re-arrange pins to fit correctly, according to the 1st post of this thread if u have a NAV.

If you do NOT have a NAV, u'll need this extra little guy:
http://www.frontx.com/cpx075_9.html
U'll need to re-arrange the pins and use the extra "1-pin" connector above, move yellow wire pin from the 3-set, to the "1-pin" and arrange them like this.







.
If you want to make things REALLY neat at the HU's connection, u can get this and use it as a harness. http://www.frontx.com/cpx075_4.html. This way, u won't need the "1-pin" little guy, just move all the 3 wires out and put it into this 10-hole "harness" and line the pins up correctly.

If you want to add the capacitors and resistor into the wire, just cut the wire some where in the middle, and add them to it. A good example:









Total Cost: less then $10. It's just fun for a DIY project, instead of paying $30 for the OEM cable.

Then follow the DIY installation of the Aux Input cable.


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## chrisproia (Jul 31, 2007)

you should have shown the rest of the woman that modeled that part lol


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## chrisproia (Jul 31, 2007)

(that is- those capacitors and resistors)


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## YBBB (Nov 4, 2007)

Very nice MOD.

Does anyone have try this:
http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/product/519/282/DICE-iPod-Integration-Kit-for-BMW-X3-04---E83-/
It can display TEXT from the iPOD.

Maybe it is another alternative for the iPOD adaptor from BMW.


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## tom @ eas (May 5, 2004)

YBBB said:


> Very nice MOD.
> 
> Does anyone have try this:
> http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/product/519/282/DICE-iPod-Integration-Kit-for-BMW-X3-04---E83-/
> ...


That is the DICE kit, we have them as well:

*DICE iPod Integration Kit for BMW*
http://www.europeanautosource.com/product_info.php?products_id=268

This will give you steering wheel control, charge the iPod and provide better sound quality than the AUX adapter.


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## YBBB (Nov 4, 2007)

tom @ eas said:


> That is the DICE kit, we have them as well:
> ...
> This will give you steering wheel control, charge the iPod and provide better sound quality than the AUX adapter.


Thanks, Tom! I went to the website, and just did not see any X3 specific tutorials... Do you happen to know if there are any video illustration for how to install this in X3?

Thanks.


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## tom @ eas (May 5, 2004)

YBBB said:


> Thanks, Tom! I went to the website, and just did not see any X3 specific tutorials... Do you happen to know if there are any video illustration for how to install this in X3?
> 
> Thanks.


I have installation instructions I can send, feel free to email me directly.


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## m5james (Nov 1, 2005)

Anyone willing to throw in their .02 over here....I'm hoping someone has an answer.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4306711#post4306711


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## m5james (Nov 1, 2005)

Bump for alternatives, besides deck replacement...


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