# IPOD OEM Interface Noise



## jonb018 (Mar 6, 2005)

I recently had a generation 2 BMW IPOD interface installed from my dealership. I have a generation 5 IPOD 30 GB. I notice alot of background noise even when I have the EQ on the IPOD set to None. I randomly came across a way to fix this but its rather annoying. It seems when the display light of the IPOD is On, the background noise goes away and the music is crystal clear. However, if your backlight is set on a timer and it goes back out the noise returns. You can set the IPOD to have the backlight on ALL the time, but this is very annoying if you constantly remove the IPOD from the car because the backlight kills the battery. Also when you shut the car or radio off the backlight remains on which may or may not cause the charging image to burn itself into the display screen - like those old monitors - or it may reduce the life of the display, I have no idea. Point is I am unhappy with this background noise - it defeats the whole purpose of the supposed perfect sound quality of a BMW stereo. And I know the whole IPOD interface is one giant Hack, but if your going to do something it should be done right.

Has anyone come across the same issue? Its sort of a hissing sound - you can really hear it when changing tracks.


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## el_duderino (Aug 1, 2005)

jonb018 said:


> Point is I am unhappy with this background noise - it defeats the whole purpose of the supposed perfect sound quality of a BMW stereo.


Thanks... this one hilarious line was worth reading the entire rant.

I have not heard this problem, and we do a lot of iPods in cars, but what it is caused by is the power supply for the backlight.

I would test another iPod (friend? Clerk at store where purchased?) to determine if this is YOUR iPod... which is my preliminary assessment based on the data provided.


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## jonb018 (Mar 6, 2005)

Good call, unfortunately none of my friends have Generation 5 IPODS but I will give it a shot with an older one. If I can show that there is the background noise with any IPOD then either the Interface is faulty or perhaps it isnt grounded and/or insulated properly? I looked at the part and it does come with an insulation wrapper. Perhaps it slipped off. I will read the BMW installation instructions and see if there is any grounding involved that could have gone wrong.


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## jonb018 (Mar 6, 2005)

Ok, I tried another 5th generation IPOD and the "hissing" noise is still there - so this does not solve anything. It could now be an issue with video IPODs or my BMW Interface. 
I have Googled a few reviews saying that their 5th gen IPODS yield a "hissing" noise in car stereos. One person thought it may be noise created by hard drive spin. My guess is that it is probably coming from the IPOD since when I leave the LCD light on, the noise goes away. If this is the case, THIS SUCKS! I think BMW needs to come out with a version 3.0 of their interface geared toward 5th gen IPODs in order to reduce the background noise.

Anyone else with this situation??? Any results or workarounds??


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## r6girl (Mar 19, 2006)

just wanted to say that i have not encountered any hissing with my 5g 60gb ipod video through the bmw ipod interface in my x3 (nor with my ipod nano, for that matter). no eq setting on my ipod and no difference with the backlight on or off.

have you approached the dealership who installed this for you about it?

also, the ipod kit manual that the dealership gave me after installation stated that the ipod continues to be charged for up to 30 minutes after the ignition is turned off, so that should be the maximum time the backlight on your ipod remains on after you've left the car.

hope you find a fix for this soon!


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## kshny (Sep 19, 2005)

*Mine is event worse*

I have a 5G and my car came with the Aux for the IPOD. The noise is less when I leave the light on, but I have an even worse sound in between songs and when I shut the car off until I pull the key out it sounds like the speakers are blowing up. I hate my IPOD sound, it really sucks.


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## tom @ eas (May 5, 2004)

kshny said:


> I have a 5G and my car came with the Aux for the IPOD. The noise is less when I leave the light on, but I have an even worse sound in between songs and when I shut the car off until I pull the key out it sounds like the speakers are blowing up. I hate my IPOD sound, it really sucks.


Try using a different interface cable for the AUX, it could be the jack grounding itself on the iPod's headphone port.


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