# My MP3 Installation...



## chania98 (May 9, 2002)

Hey all,

On and off I come to this board and to Roadfly to tap the valuable knowledge of you all.

Now its time to add a little of my own.

I have a 2002 325xi, PP, HKS, manual.

I recently bought the Nomad Zen 20 Gig mp3 player for 249 from Buy.com with free shipping and no tax...I think thier price went up a little since I got it on sale. (I tried the silly FM wireless modulator, but they really stink)

I had gotten some excellent info via the search on others who did installs as well and am just adding to their experiences.

1st step: I bought a Bliztsafe BMW/AUX DMX V.1 for around $115 delivered...you can find at http://blitzsafe.com/blitz_appguide/blitz_aux_app_052003.html

2nd step: I bought a 16' Shielded Audio Extension Cable from Radio Shack, part # 42-2493 for $10.99, you can find at: http://www.radioshack.com/product.a..._name=CTLG_007_002_003_010&product_id=42-2493

3rd step: miniplug y adapter from radioshack for 4.99 part # 274-369, http://www.radioshack.com/product.a..._name=CTLG_007_002_001_002&product_id=274-369

4th Step: regular rca phono cables...look around your house, as you should have a pair somewhere

5th Step: Clothes Hangar, cut and make straight, then bend ends in so you have a nice smooth tip.

6th Step: 1st Pull up on the front of the driver side of the rear seat cushion while pushing seat with your leg a little towards the rear of the car...the seat should come right off when you do the same on the passenger side.

7th Step: Carefully pull on the top right corner of the rear seat seatback and also the lower right corner of the seatback...That section of the seatback should pop out of its bracket without too much force...You should then be able to see a bunch of wires bundled together going thru to the trunk area.

8th Step: move driver side carpet opposite the fuel door, in trunk out of the way so that you can see the CD Changer wires...you must pop out the small black snaps that hold the carpet in place...note that you don't need to remove the whole carpet, just enough so that you can work in there. The 2 wires you need are in a bundle wrapped in a wierd looking vinyl cover kept together with velcro.

9th Step: Pass 3/4 of the hangar thru the hole that the wires are passing from the rear seat back into the trunk area...fiddle with it a little so you dont damage any other wires.

10th Step: From trunk, look for the hangar...Once you find it...take a breather.

11th Step: Doh ! ...test the blitzsafe adapter to make sure it works...(You should probably do this upfront before removing seats, etc...) plug in the cd changer controls and hook up the y adapter to you mp3 player with rca cables into the blitzsafe....turn on you ignition and turn radio on...keep hitting the mode button until you see CD-99 come up...you should now hear sound coming out of the car stereo fed by your mp3 player....wooow...take another breather...almost done...hey I did this in 94 degree weather this past weekend.

12th Step: Take male side of the cable extension tip and using electric tape wrap the tip of the wire to the tip of the hangar from the trunck side togther, making it as smooth as possible for the snaking of the wire.

13th Step: Pull hangar from the rear seat slowly and fiddle with it so that the wire comes thru...make sure you don't pull too hard as to ruin another wire, etc...

14th Step: Pull enough wire so that you have enough to route the wire under the plastic molding along the rear driver side seat all the way to the driver seat molding as well...it should tuck under the molding nicely as the wire is fairly thin when comparing to RCA wires.

15th Step: Decide where you will put you mp3. I decided to lay it on the cup holders, so I brought the line under the driver mat and I let it dangle by the shifter.

16th Step: Connect all wiring and test to make sure mp3 player plays, just now you are sitting in the drivers seat.

17th Step: Tape up with electric tape all wiring connections between blitzsage and rca cable, and rca to y adapter and y adapter to extension cable.

18th Step: Place Blitzsafe and wiring in a nice corner behind the carpet in the trunk...it helps to tape it somewhere so that it doesn't rattle while driving.

19th Step: Put carpet back in place using the snaps.

20th Step: Snap back rear seatback cover and cushion...If you need help with this, search online as I think their are some good sites with pictures.

21st Step: I think that's it....I am writing this after the fact, so I hope I am not missing any steps.

ENJOY YOUR NEW MUSIC COLLECTION !

MannyG


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## mtnbound (Jan 17, 2003)

Manny - great info, thanks for sharing. I'm considering something similar. What made you go for the Zen over the other players?


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## chania98 (May 9, 2002)

mtnbound said:


> Manny - great info, thanks for sharing. I'm considering something similar. What made you go for the Zen over the other players?


I went for the Zen due to its relatively small size/nice price/excellent reviews, especially from some that have the sound quality even better than the iPOD due to the 98db output.

Also, It has better battery life than the ipod and works flawless with Windows o/s'.

I wanted something small for my traveling trips, not only in the car, but when I go to Europe or the Caribean or wherever. It is a nice size for the beach, not like the clunky Nomad Jukebox.

The iPod looks much sweeter, but looks to me is not that important.

I prefer clearer sounds at higher volumes at the right price in a decent size.

Oh..and another reason was that the ipod didn't support USB 2.0, only firewire, so I would have to buy a firewire card to make it work with my pc which is much slower than USB 2.0.

Anyway, go check it out, it's a great unit and I am very happy with it.

PS>.I already have 5,000 songs on it...it's maxed out...but I really don't need any more space, as I fit all my clean mp3's on it.

Enjoy whichever model/brand you get..I just love music.


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## Pete Teoh (Jan 27, 2002)

FYI, the 3rd Generation iPod has USB 2.0 support.


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## ESS (Jan 10, 2002)

Great Post!! 

How long did this take you? I've been wanting to take my car to a stereo shop to have them do it, but I just may be able to do it myself from your instructions. Thanks.


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## Jamman (Dec 23, 2002)

I recently installed an aux port in my 2002 325xi. 

I used the BMWPILA CD changer adapter manufactrued by Peripheral Inc. It is cheaper than Blitsafe and can be had at Crutchfield for as little as $85.00. 

I used Monster 400 MK II audio interlink cable (2 meter length @ $49.99) and Monster Cables IPOD RCA to Mini adaptor (7ft @ $29.95). 

I used RCA female-female connectors from radioshack, but am looking for a better connector.

I do not have Nav, CD changer or fold down seats. There is a small hole where audio cable exit the trunk and I just pushed my cable through. I did remove the rear seat (very easy to remove and replace). Then I just felt for my wires. I ran the wires underneath the side molding by pushing them under then brought them out under the drivers seat to the center console. 

I secured the Adaptor in the trunk with a small screw. I did not have to drill any holes. The sound is fantastic and the install took less than one hour.


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## Galun (Aug 14, 2002)

I did this when I got my car a year ago. I went with the BMWPILA adapter.

Just in case any of you notice hissing when you use a device that needs to draw power from a cigeratte light adapter (my IPAQ, XM radio, etc), you can put a ground loop isolater to elimiate the hissing. Took me about 6 months to figure it out. You can find it here: http://www.radioshack.com/product.a..._name=CTLG_009_001_002_000&product_id=270-054

My next step will be to pull out the glove box, tap the fuse box, and hard wire everything.


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## Dan Martin (Apr 3, 2003)

Pete Teoh said:


> FYI, the 3rd Generation iPod has USB 2.0 support.


Do you know if it is a lot faster than the 2nd gen? I know that USB 2.0 has a max transfer rate of 480Mb/s vs. ~12Mb/s for 1.0 but is the hard drive any faster?


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## Spectre (Aug 1, 2002)

Dan Martin said:


> Do you know if it is a lot faster than the 2nd gen? I know that USB 2.0 has a max transfer rate of 480Mb/s vs. ~12Mb/s for 1.0 but is the hard drive any faster?


The speed of the hard drive wouldn't matter -- any hard drive is going to be faster than USB 1.[01]. USB 2.0 likely always exceeds the throughput of any current iPod hard drive.


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## holee (Jan 8, 2002)

I'm a newbie to all of this, so let me see if I can follow what you guys are saying. You installed an aftermarket Aux-in adapter into your cars? For approximately $200?

And these aux-in devices let you ouput sound from MP3 players, etc. in to the car's built-in sound system?

Would this work in a 2000 328i with the business CD player?


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## alfredojpb (Jun 4, 2008)

*HELP with BMWPILA*

Hi, I would like to know how do I have to connect the BMWPILA wires to my car, because the manufacturer doesnt say nothing at all...
I have 3 wires on it: a yellow one, black one, and grey one. 
If I just want to connect the PILA just to have an AUX input, may I need to connect this wires to the 12volts? thank you!


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