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AUX input installed today - my reaction

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Old 09-01-2010, 04:49 PM
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Originally Posted by kscarrol
Not true. There is the OEM iPod adaptor which I had on my 2004 545. The sound is on par with the rest of the system and you control the iPod through the iDrive. Only draw back is there are limits on the the number of songs that can be played. The adaptor replaces the 6-disc changer in the glove box and appears appears in the iDrive as CD1*, CD2* etc which represent PLaylists, Artists, Albums etc... More expensive than the Aux Input though. And as BlaSTiWi points out, there are third-party options available as well.
Do you have Nav?? I dont... maybe thats the difference. BMW and every other Sound shop I went to were real specific about only being able to do the Aux Input. Or maybe its where your car is manufactured or production date?
Old 09-01-2010, 04:58 PM
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Originally Posted by jaycal3
Do you have Nav?? I dont... maybe thats the difference. BMW and every other Sound shop I went to were real specific about only being able to do the Aux Input. Or maybe its where your car is manufactured or production date?
No Nav, Jan 2004 build. All E60's built at the same plant. Lost the 6-disc changer but the OEM iPod adaptor worked great!! I'll find the BMW document for you...
Old 09-01-2010, 05:50 PM
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mine came with the car...and it sounds great.
Old 09-01-2010, 07:12 PM
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use a 3.5mm aux jack on both ends, and plug into your ipod headphone port. Turn your ipod volume all the way up and it will be loud as hell.
Old 09-02-2010, 10:42 AM
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Originally Posted by flint
use a 3.5mm aux jack on both ends, and plug into your ipod headphone port. Turn your ipod volume all the way up and it will be loud as hell.

I'll try that. The plug I use now (iPod docking plug to 3.5mm) doesn't allow the volume to be adjusted. Thanks for the tip, but I have a feeling adjusting the iPod volume will provide too much "boost", resulting in distortion. Also, does the 3.5mm to 3.5mm increase the bass?

Any luck on finding that thread on the how-to to remove the resistor?
Old 09-02-2010, 11:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Scoops
I also have an AUX jack and had the same issues. Took it to BMW recently to look at it, they told me it was faulty and they've ordered a new one. (My subs were not being activated at all through AUX). I also bought the cable which you've shown above. Don't notice a huge quality difference and be warned it doesn't work with ipod touch''s and iphones from my experience. Only had it working with my nano. When I plugged it into my iphone the iphone just played music through it's own speakers.

it's under a 2 year unlimited KM warranty if it was installed by a BMW dealership.
Scoops, you have the best kind of cable, you won't hear much improvement until your auxiliary input is fixed... Compared to taking audio from the headphone jack, you'll find that the line level output delivers greater clarity and greater separation. There's no better way to (easily) get the best signal out of your iPod.

For those looking for the threads discussing the additional resistor in the cable, if I remember correctly the member who discovered it was Fred (my530i). Take a look at Fred's threads and you should find what you want and which specific cables that the dealers install that included the resistor in question.
Old 09-03-2010, 08:08 AM
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Originally Posted by swajames
Scoops, you have the best kind of cable, you won't hear much improvement until your auxiliary input is fixed... Compared to taking audio from the headphone jack, you'll find that the line level output delivers greater clarity and greater separation. There's no better way to (easily) get the best signal out of your iPod.

For those looking for the threads discussing the additional resistor in the cable, if I remember correctly the member who discovered it was Fred (my530i). Take a look at Fred's threads and you should find what you want and which specific cables that the dealers install that included the resistor in question.

Ya definitely still a useful cable to have as I've discovered they're very very rare. I was just disappointed it didn't work on my iphone as my nano is only 2GB, all my music is on my 32GB iphone. Might just get an ipod dedicated to the car or something.
Old 09-03-2010, 08:31 AM
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I have ann iPod Touch and use the headphone jack right into the aux of my '07 with Nav. With the volume on the iPod all the way up there is no distortion problem with mine and it sounds fine to me with the standard factory (non 7)sound system. I love it. I just put it on shuffle and let it run.

Tom
Old 09-04-2010, 06:04 AM
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The oem aux unit is slow, it takes about a minute to scan all your songs, which is a long time when you're starting up your car, that would get annoying fast.

get this model instead:

http://www.europeanautosource.com/pr...oducts_id=1648

that will load songs much faster and you have the additional aux input.
Old 09-05-2010, 07:32 PM
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Here's the link to the AUX Input Resistor Removal instructions.
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...tml#post716370

I had my AUX input installed on my 06 530i at the dealership about three weeks ago and I decided NOT to remove the resistor because 1) I wanted to first hear the difference with my own ears and 2) I was concerned about the popping noises that might occur when plugging and removing devices.

I'm no audiophile but I do listen to a lot of music in my car and lackluster sound bothers me greatly. After giving the AUX input a few weeks of use, I regret not removing the resistor.
The sound quality definitely takes a hit. The volume reduction is noticeable but not horrendous. But what I can't ignore is the lack of bass through the AUX input. When I play the same exact mp3 through my iPod and burned onto an mp3 CD, the difference is huge. The mp3 CD just sounds considerably richer with deeper bass that can't be reproduced no matter what you do with the Tone settings in iDrive. Changing the iPod EQ to Bass Booster gives it a distorted crackling bass.

I plan to dust off the soldering iron and remove the resistor on my AUX cable. I'd absolutely recommend to anyone thinking about installing an AUX cable to save yourself the hassle of soldering post-install and to remove the resistor first.


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