Originally Posted by bruce_miranda' post='395178' date='Feb 24 2007, 08:07 PM

I thought I'd write an article of how to install the 12V sockets and the Aux in the center armrest. My car's interior is non wood grey.

I bought all parts from BMW or Maplins (www.maplins.co.uk)

Parts required for 12V socket plate

• 1 x COVERING REAR GRAU 51167141356
• 2 x BLIND PLATE 64228385142 (or 3 in case you are not installing the Aux extension)
• 1 x BLIND PLATE 51167110223
• 1 x SOCKET CONTACT ELO-POWER 2,8X0,63 0,5-1,0 MM? 61138364832
• about 5meters of thick grade wire for the 12V live. If you want it exactly colour coded it needs to be Green wire with a white strip. I found Green with yellow strip in Maplin code XR38R)
• about 2 feet of thick grade wire for the ground. If you want it exactly colour coded it needs to be Brown wire with a Red strip. I found Brown in Maplin code XR34M)
• 1 x Blue Terminal Insulated Ins Eyelet 6.7 (Maplins code JH73Q)
  Either buy for plugging into the lighter plugs.
• 2 x PLUG HOUSING 2 POL. 61131351144
• 4 x CABLE SOCKET FEMALE 0,5-1,0 MM? 61131362868
  or
• 2 x Red Fully Insulated Crimp Terminal - ?Lucar? Female (Maplins code JH81C)
• 2 x Blue Fully Insulated Crimp Terminal - ?Lucar? Female (Maplins code JH82D)

Parts required for Aux extension

• 1 x UNIVERSAL SOCKET HOUSING UNCODED 10 POL 61136909008
• 6 x BUSHING CONTACT 0,2- 0,5MM? 61130005197 (N.B. these contacts come with a foot of black wire attached to each of of them)
  If you only want an Aux in then
• 1 X AUDIO SOCKET, SINGLE 61316986791
  I actually wanted AV in and out so I used
• 1 X PLUG SOCKET AV 61318368346
• about 4 meters of 3 core wire. I used Maplin code XR20W.

Other non specific items like insulating tape, solder and iron and shrink wrap as needed.

How to :

Attachment 28919

Look at the image it shows where to connect the wire both for the rear 12V and the boot 12V. In case you car didn't come with the boot 12V then you can do both jobs together. My car came with through-load seats and hence I got the boot 12V socket (parts needed CIGARETTE LIGHTER SOCKET 61346906374 and SOCKET MOUNT 61346904008 along with the plugs). I attached image is from Radioham's car who had the rear 12V sockets but no boot plug. Infact the entire project was a result of Rahioham and me talking to each other and solving each others problem. The reason it wasn't straight forward was the pictures in the WDS 8.0 were different than both our cars. Infact the plug X11011 itself has changed position and from a 10 pin as shown in the WDS has become a 12 pin plug which confused us even more.

Attach the 61138364832 connector to one end of your Live wire. Remove the plug from the fuse box and connect the wires into the plug as shown (pin 3 for rear sockets and pin 2 for boot socket). You will need to lift a side catch flap in order for the connector to go completely and snap into the plug.

Since I was interested in rear sockets only, Route you wire (using wire ties or tape to attach it to the main wiring harness) behind the boot felt panels and into the back of the car. Because I had the drop down seats it was slightly easier and I routed the wire along with the main wiring harness entering the car.

Remove the bottom of the rear seats. No screws holding it, simply hold the front of it and lift up. With cars with a drop down seats the small upright back seat panel near the right door needs to be pulled out so that you can route the wire behind it. Its a simple pulling out by holding the top of it below the right seat belt, no screws holding this down. You then need to pull out the 2 trim pieces between the door and the seat. 1 trim piece is held with one screw but the remaining part is simply snapped in. You dont actually need to remove the screw because all you are trying to do is route the wire under the carpet to the center of the car. Leave that wire there for now near the center of the car in front of the rear seats.

Now the tricky part starts. Remove the cubby hole in the back of the center armrest. I simply held and pulled it with my nails but you can use a credit card or something to ease the sides out. Remove the ac vent clips and also the ac duct. There are two nuts holding the center console down at the back. Remove these nuts and you will notice the back of the center console now lifts up. You will notice that inside there are slits in the carpet to allow the handbrake wires to be routed under the carpet and under the car. Use a stiff wire or better still a hollow stiff tubing. Point the wire/tube from the back of the front seat and push this towards the rear seats between the slit in the carpet and the metal tube of the handbrake wire. Now push this wire/tube toward the back seats under the carpet. You may find it easier if you try and lift the carpet and foam a little from the back seat area while trying to route this wire/tube backwards. Its a 6-8 inch hard journey for this wire/tube and you may dig into the foam a few times before you see if come out the other side.
If you used a tube then route the wire that you bought from the back fuse box thru the tube until you see it arrive in the center armrest or attach it very well to your stiff wire and pull the stiff wire back until your wire comes into the center armrest. Once it appears on the other side, the worst is over.

So now you have your 12V Live wire in the armrest. Attach it to the cigarette socket either via the Red Lucar plugs or the BMW plug. You will need to parallel up another Red Lucar plug to power both sockets.
For the negative simply connect another coloured wire to the Eyelet. This Eyelet then goes between under one of the two the nuts that holds the center armrest down that you removed earlier. Connect the negative wire either via the Blue Lucar plugs or the BMW plug. Again you will need to parallel up another Blue Lucar plug to power both sockets.

That will give you your rear 12V power sockets. I actually added a third power socket that is hidden inside the armrest. I'll tell you why later.

Will update article for Aux.

Originally Posted by Harry

Edit:

My car looks different, has only two places for plugs.