Auxiliary Audio Input Retrofit (Questions...)

Hello,

I have a 2004 E46 with Navigation and I'm looking at installing the AUX input retrofit.
http://www.bmwmotorsports.org/crew/u...stallation.pdf

I've removed the dash a/c vents and after much searching & unwrapping I've located the plug for which the AUX harness plugs into (I'm yet to buy the harness). It has 3 wires going into a little black plug (which resembles X14118). I can't imagine what else this is for.

My display currently does not display AUX when I cycle through the MODE button on the screen - only CD & Radio. (I have no CD changer so CDC is not present)

My questions:
- Will AUX *only* appear when cycling the MODE when there is a signal on that cable?
- Should AUX be there already if this retrofit is possible?

The reason I ask is because if this is not going to work, I'm not going to bother buying the AUX cable.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Paul Martin
Australia

Originally Posted by nitram_luap

Hello,

I have a 2004 E46 with Navigation and I'm looking at installing the AUX input retrofit.
http://www.bmwmotorsports.org/crew/u...stallation.pdf

I've removed the dash a/c vents and after much searching & unwrapping I've located the plug for which the AUX harness plugs into (I'm yet to buy the harness). It has 3 wires going into a little black plug (which resembles X14118). I can't imagine what else this is for.

My display currently does not display AUX when I cycle through the MODE button on the screen - only CD & Radio. (I have no CD changer)

My questions:
- Will AUX *only* appear when cycling the MODE when there is a signal on that cable?
- Should AUX be there already if this retrofit is possible?

The reason I ask is because if this is not going to work, I'm not going to bother buying the AUX cable.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Paul Martin
Australia

The CD mode refers to your in dash CD. When you have the Aux-in installed, you should have a new AUX mode when you cycle the MODE button. In absence of the Aux-in install, the AUX mode does not appear. I had mine installed professionally so I don't know if there was any tinkering with the GM to have it recognise the Aux connection (although I highly doubt it).

Originally Posted by nickeltong

The CD mode refers to your in dash CD. When you have the Aux-in installed, you should have a new AUX mode when you cycle the MODE button. In absence of the Aux-in install, the AUX mode does not appear. I had mine installed professionally so I don't know if there was any tinkering with the GM to have it recognise the Aux connection (although I highly doubt it).

Thanks for the rapid reply!

Do you have AUX as an option when cycling MODE if there is nothing playing on the AUX line - or does it not show in this case?

The reason I ask is because if you look at the install (which requires no recoding apparently), the AUX harness is nothing more than an extension cable with a female 3.5mm socket at the other end. I can't see how the system would see it any differently to how it is seen now... 3 wires with nothing plugged into them.

The actual installation of the wiring is a piece of cake - it's the rest I'm not sure about.

The instructions (in the PDF file linked in my original post) state this in the 'Concluding Work' section.

- Conduct a brief test with DIS/GT1
- Conduct a function test

Could it mean that even though it does not require 'coding' as such, the dealer still needs to 'enable' AUX input on my stereo somehow?

Thanks,

Paul

Originally Posted by nitram_luap

...the AUX harness is nothing more than an extension cable with a female 3.5mm socket at the other end. I can't see how the system would see it any differently to how it is seen now...

OK... I'm officially an idiot!

On closer inspection the harness is not quite JUST an extension cable. At the end of the install document is a circuit which (when I looked at it properly) shows a small resistor in the circuit between the L & R channel wires. That's how it *knows* that the AUX cable is connected!

I decided to test this out. I deliberately shortcircuited the L & R channel wires as they come out of the wiring harness and voila! - AUX now shows up when cycling the MODE button. When I remove the short, AUX disappears!

Now... all I need to do is buy about $3 worth of plugs, wire and the required 300kOhm resistor and I can make my own harness (for about 1/20th of the price of the BMW one!)

Excellent!

Paul

I did it!

I bought about $4 worth of gear - wire, plugs & the resistor - and made my own wiring harness for the AUX in - and it WORKS perfectly!!

At first it was very quiet when plugged in, no matter how loud my devices volume was - then I noticed a little P1 in the corner of the screen which shows AUX on it.

When I pressed the buttons (numbered 1-6) beneath the MODE button I found out that this controls the input 'volume' - P6 is the loudest.

Now the AUX volume matches the volume on the other audio sources

All the wiring is hidden in the dash and the plug comes out in the glovebox - you wouldn't even know it was there!



Paul Martin
Australia

Originally Posted by nitram_luap

I did it!

I bought about $4 worth of gear - wire, plugs & the resistor - and made my own wiring harness for the AUX in - and it WORKS perfectly!!

At first it was very quiet when plugged in, no matter how loud my devices volume was - then I noticed a little P1 in the corner of the screen which shows AUX on it.

When I pressed the buttons (numbered 1-6) beneath the MODE button I found out that this controls the input 'volume' - P6 is the loudest.

Now the AUX volume matches the volume on the other audio sources

All the wiring is hidden in the dash and the plug comes out in the glovebox - you wouldn't even know it was there!



Paul Martin
Australia

This is a great "reverse engineering on the cheap"...

What about the DC blocking caps (.22f) in the schematics? Did you install them? I do not see where you mentioned them.

Originally Posted by nitram_luap

I did it!

I bought about $4 worth of gear - wire, plugs & the resistor - and made my own wiring harness for the AUX in - and it WORKS perfectly!!

At first it was very quiet when plugged in, no matter how loud my devices volume was - then I noticed a little P1 in the corner of the screen which shows AUX on it.

When I pressed the buttons (numbered 1-6) beneath the MODE button I found out that this controls the input 'volume' - P6 is the loudest.

Now the AUX volume matches the volume on the other audio sources

All the wiring is hidden in the dash and the plug comes out in the glovebox - you wouldn't even know it was there!



Paul Martin
Australia

Can you provide any specific part #'s for the BMW-end of the harness... the plug/socket/pins? Everything else, wires, resistors, caps, phono-jack should be readily available at most electronics supply houses.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by nitram_luap

OK... I'm officially an idiot!

On closer inspection the harness is not quite JUST an extension cable. At the end of the install document is a circuit which (when I looked at it properly) shows a small resistor in the circuit between the L & R channel wires. That's how it *knows* that the AUX cable is connected!

I decided to test this out. I deliberately shortcircuited the L & R channel wires as they come out of the wiring harness and voila! - AUX now shows up when cycling the MODE button. When I remove the short, AUX disappears!

Now... all I need to do is buy about $3 worth of plugs, wire and the required 300kOhm resistor and I can make my own harness (for about 1/20th of the price of the BMW one!)

Excellent!

Paul

Hi,

I've been trying to do this for the past 2 months without success. I have a 2005 (previous moodel) 320.
I've shortcircuited pins 8 and 9, but still do not get the AUX on the screen when cycling the MODE button. Does this mean that it won't work with my radio?

many thanks

which pins do you consider to be 8 and 9?
If you look from the back of the unit, you have to be working with the ten pin gang to to bottom right and pins 8 and 9 are the 3rd and 4th pins on the top row of that 10 pin gang. May be you had the right pins but just in case!!

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

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.

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.

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

(that is- those capacitors and resistors)

Very nice MOD.

Does anyone have try this:
http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/pr...-X3-04---E83-/
It can display TEXT from the iPOD.

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

Originally Posted by YBBB

Very nice MOD.

Does anyone have try this:
http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/pr...-X3-04---E83-/
It can display TEXT from the iPOD.

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

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

DICE iPod Integration Kit for BMW
http://www.europeanautosource.com/pr...roducts_id=268

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

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

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.

Originally Posted by YBBB

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.

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

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...11#post4306711

Bump for alternatives, besides deck replacement...

Hey, I see the awesome work you did on making a cable yurself. They sell those for $80 plus tax (total $91) here in Canada. I want to make my own as I am also an engineer, be it Mechanical, I understand electronics enough to make the cable. My only issue is that I do not have a NAV system in my 2004 BMW 330ci and was wondering if you could tell me if your cable works for that or where I could find the differences.
Thanks for your help.

So,, i want to make this cable up, but a couple of questions, in the diagram, the resistor is after the capacitor, but somebody said put it before the capacitors?

Which is it?

The connector on the back of the headunit, is it 10 or 12 pin? Seen plenty of pics with 12 pin (2 rows of 6), but the diagram on page 2 says 10 pin?

Thanks.

Ignore my resistor question, i was reading the diagram wrong, big d'oh!