Aukpf

I am looking to tap into one of the two cigarette sockets in the back of the armrest, so that I can "hide" a third socket in the armrest that will charge my phone. I plan to have the tip of the cord stick out near the handbrake, so I can just plug my phone in there without seeing all the wires, or having my backseat passengers kick the phone charger when they get in/out.

Any suggestion on how to tap into one of the lighter sockets?

AchtungE60

You can do this, or you can simply just get a cigarette lighter adaper and plug in your USB and route up the same way. I did, works fine can barely see anything it so small and discreet.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Car-Cig...ht_2582wt_1139

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BLACK-USB-DA...#ht_2476wt_952

If you want to tap into the socket you can splice your USB cord all up and solder to the socket pins for power but why go through all that?

Aukpf

Because if I tap into it behind the cigarette ligher the cords will all be hidden. I know, I know. I have already "moved" the aux input inside the armrest.

I don't want it to look like this, the picture with the USB out and then aux back in. (picture #6)

AchtungE60

No no that's some other car. It will just be a USB cable and will stick out just a little and it tucks discreetly in the armrest. But if you want to go through all the work you can. I personally have never opened it up down there. Normally you can take a cigarette lighter socket out looking inside and releasing the two catch clips and pulling but that still leave the question of how will you route the cable up through armrest. I'm sure someone with immediate access to the TIS can post up how to remove the top center console. Anyone?
Sorry I couldn't be of more help brother. If you don't get any replies be patient and I'll look in my TIS to pull the doc for you. travelling right now so can't do.

Ricapar

I actually did this not too long ago.

I redirected one of the rear cig. lighter plugs, as well as the AUX port into the center compartment.

I removed the little change holder flip-up thingy that was in there (I found it to be annoying, and pretty useless), and passed the wires through the hole that it's hinge was in. In there I have a USB cable wired in, as well as my AUX port. Came out quite well I think.

What I did:

• Remove the trim covers for the area around the rear cig. lighter plugs + rear center vents
• Remove the tray inside the center console (remove some screws... + brute force. I ended taking pliers to the tray thingy and snapping off the last bit of it. I didn't care much for it.)
• I purchased one of those cig. lighter to USB adapters, disassembled it, and soldered the wires that were coming from the car's plug into it's board. Covered it in hot glue, then electrical taped it all to keep it safe.
• I ran the wires through the small hole where the tray's hinge once was. They feed right into the center console. In there I now have a USB port and my center console!
• Did the same thing with the AUX in port. Redirected that from the outside rear, to inside my center console.

It's great, because I can set my iPod or phone on shuffle, have it plugged in and playing music through the car's speakers, have it charging, and not see a single wire.

I sadly don't have any pictures of the process on hand... but let me know if you have any questions. It's fairly easy, just some (dis)assembly required

cryptical

I know this won't help you get the answer you're looking for whatsoever, but I just thought I'd throw this out there for shits & giggles anway!
I personally use the aux power socket in the passenger foot-well under the dash for my cell. I just have it plugged in there 100% of the time, run the wire down into the mesh map pocket or whatever it is and when needed, I just pull the wire from there, plug in and put the phone in the little coin tray in front of the shift.
No one has yet to snag, step, pull, kick, knock, hit, or even shit on it at this point. It's been in there since the day I bought the car and has yet to be moved. It's pretty convenient and hidden considerably well also. I suppose I could get crafty and run the wire better or even have it come out of the little cubby or something above the tray and access the wire when needed, but honestly it works pretty well as it is.
Again, just throwing this out there!

Aukpf

Okay, I did the work tonight and have some pictures to share. Here's a quick overview of what I did.

1. Removed the rear trim, to tap into the back of the two electrical sockets.
2. Spliced a new socket into each of the two existing ones, allowing me to now have two "hidden" sockets behind the trim piece, hidden in the center console.
3. Unscrewed the two bolts towards the back of the armrest,allowing me to put the two cords and jacks in the center console.
4. Plugged my iPhone charger/auxiliary jack into one, letting me charge my phone while playing music through the same cord.
5. Plugged my Garmin power cord into the other.
6. Ran both the Garmin and iPhone power cable out the bottom of the arm rest, along the right side of the driver's (US Model) seat.
7. Parked the iPhone power cord right below the handbrake, leaving enough room with the cord where i can sit it on my lap if needed, otherwise, it sits in front of the iDrive knob.
8. Ran the Garmin cord under the right side upholstery (just pushed it in, didn't have to remove the upholstery) and then under the steering wheel.
9. Reassembled the rear trim, with external sockets fully functional.

For additional covert wiring, I decided to bring the "Aux In" jack inside the center console as well. I removed the "Aux In" cartridge, popped the green "brain" out of the shuttle/cartridge, and plugged my iPod cable into the jack (now inside the console). I popped the empty "Aux In" shuttle/cartridge back into the trim piece, so now the only thing out of place is that there is a small hole for "Aux In" on my trim piece, but no Aux jack to plug into (since my iPod cable is already plugged in behind the trim).

Now I have two devices, and my auxiliary music source plugged in, with no wires to show for it!

Photos attached, and the last one is the Gigaware cord I used that plugs into the back of the iPhone to use the single iPhone port for both charging and music playing, allowing you to only need one cord coming out of the iPhone.

supratreo

hi, i'm glad i found this. i'm trying to do something similar to you guys but instead i want to bring the aux to the front right above the trunk release button. what would be the best way to go about this? i thought about getting a aftermarket plug from parts express but those require soldiering, i don't have a problem with that at all but i'm not sure if it will work and if it does, will it affect the quality?

thanks

BTW, for now i have a y adapter that plugs into the AUX and a cig to usb adapter. works great but its much more clean and convenient to just have it in the front.

supratreo

anyone?

Aukpf

I have used an extender before, when I had my aux jack in my glove compartment in my e39, and put a cord/jack in to bring it to the little tray beside the handbrake. It worked fine, with no audio degradation. I think I bought the 10ft cord at radio shack.