AUX Input DIY
04-12-2008, 09:25 AM
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Location: Shropshire UK
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My Ride: Estoril Blue 440i GC
Model Year: 2017
Firstly, please read the following thread:
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=51895
Thanks to Rudeja and especially to Bruce for his help.
My car has a pretty low spec - no NAV, no mp3 playback, but HiFi loudspeakers.
I fancied having an AUX input - even though I don't have an mp3 player!!! I am toying with the idea of fitting a DAB adaptor, and wanted it hard-wired rather than using an FM transmitter.
Plus, I use a Garmin SatNav, and sometimes I miss directions because the music is so loud!
I didn't want to put visible holes in the dash, so I am using the cubby under the CD slot for all things holy - my Garmin is hard-wired in, plus it's associated Traffic Alert aerial is also wired in and hidden. When I do eventually sell my car, I will just replace the holy cubby with a pristine one (that I have already sourced!).
So, to the job in hand:
Firstly, I removed the lateral dash trim using a screwdriver as a lever - then once it's free, pop out and disconnect the hazard/locking switch.
Undo the 2 star screws to the top of the vertical dash trim, and pop it out complete using the aforementioned screwdriver as a lever. Disconnect the heater controls and the PDC/DSC switches. Put the two bits of trim where you aren't going to sit or stand on them!!
Undo the 2 screws holding the CD drive. Pull out the drive and undo the 3 plugs at the back.
The large black one is the only one of interest here. As you look at the back of the CD drive, there are two sets of small 12 way terminals. Ignore one as there is nothing connected to it. The other has its socket in the large black plug.
This socket - the one on the bottom right of the picture, adjacent to my (overexposed) thumb - has the audio connections to it.
The lowermost wires - the blue-ish, green-ish and yellow wires are the ones I have added. (The terminals are normal Tyco ones available from RS Components).
To add the wires, pop out the individual socket - the retaining clip can be seen just above the black/white wire.
Then you must take the socket out of its individual cover, because the cover has locating lugs that stop the metal connectors from coming out - it also stops the new connectors going in properly!! (I wasted half an hour before I realised this. Dummy.). The connectors I used were just slightly the wrong size, so I ended up shaving the retaining lug a little to allow the cover to slide over the socket.
This is the cover before I shaved off the internal lug.
The switch wire is connected into the same large black plug - it needs a 2.5mm female spade connector. It just slides in and can be seen in the following picture - it's the light wire coming across to the left and out of focus. (I hope I'm a better driver than I am a photographer!!)
The CD drive can then be slid back in and screwed up.
You are left with 4 wires hanging out with nowhere to go!! What you do with them is up to you - I went for the option of terminating the audio wires to a 3.5mm stereo socket so I could either connect my lad's iPod, or my SatNav to it - the socket is in the aforementioned cubby. I toyed with the idea of using one of the steering wheel switches to do the switching of the AUX, but decided that I couldn't be bothered to make an electronic latch circuit, as the wheel switches are just press to make. This would have been a more elegant solution, but I ended up with a small toggle switch, again fitted in the aforementioned cubby to put the switch wire down to earth to enable the AUX when required. I used the CD drive case screw as an earth.
Then, after a test run, I put it all back together again.
So, does it work???
Well, yes. Mostly. When I tried it on my SatNav, the sound quality was OK, but only OK, not good, and that I put down to the SatNav output probably being poor - music out of it's internal speaker is certainly less than good!
This morning, I tried my lad's iPod, and the sound was still OK, but nothing more.
As I experimented, I discovered that the audio was only coming from the front speakers, hence the reduction in quality.
There was nothing coming from the rears at all.
The treble/bass, fader and balance controls don't work with it.
The switching from Radio to Aux is smooth, with no thuds or clicks. The AUX audio is not heard in the background whilst the Radio is on.
The normal listening volume of both my SatNav and the iPod is at a similar level to the Radio, so there is no great difference in volume levels when switching between the two.
For the Audiophiles, this isn't really the way to go to get cheap AUX, but if you need an input for your Bluetooth, then this is ideal. I will keep the setup as-is for my SatNav, as then I can listen to my music and have the Nav tell me where to go - and on family trips, there is no need to use the fader so that my kids can listen to their mp3 players in the back.
Mike
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=51895
Thanks to Rudeja and especially to Bruce for his help.
My car has a pretty low spec - no NAV, no mp3 playback, but HiFi loudspeakers.
I fancied having an AUX input - even though I don't have an mp3 player!!! I am toying with the idea of fitting a DAB adaptor, and wanted it hard-wired rather than using an FM transmitter.
Plus, I use a Garmin SatNav, and sometimes I miss directions because the music is so loud!
I didn't want to put visible holes in the dash, so I am using the cubby under the CD slot for all things holy - my Garmin is hard-wired in, plus it's associated Traffic Alert aerial is also wired in and hidden. When I do eventually sell my car, I will just replace the holy cubby with a pristine one (that I have already sourced!).
So, to the job in hand:
Firstly, I removed the lateral dash trim using a screwdriver as a lever - then once it's free, pop out and disconnect the hazard/locking switch.
Undo the 2 star screws to the top of the vertical dash trim, and pop it out complete using the aforementioned screwdriver as a lever. Disconnect the heater controls and the PDC/DSC switches. Put the two bits of trim where you aren't going to sit or stand on them!!
Undo the 2 screws holding the CD drive. Pull out the drive and undo the 3 plugs at the back.
The large black one is the only one of interest here. As you look at the back of the CD drive, there are two sets of small 12 way terminals. Ignore one as there is nothing connected to it. The other has its socket in the large black plug.
This socket - the one on the bottom right of the picture, adjacent to my (overexposed) thumb - has the audio connections to it.
The lowermost wires - the blue-ish, green-ish and yellow wires are the ones I have added. (The terminals are normal Tyco ones available from RS Components).
To add the wires, pop out the individual socket - the retaining clip can be seen just above the black/white wire.
Then you must take the socket out of its individual cover, because the cover has locating lugs that stop the metal connectors from coming out - it also stops the new connectors going in properly!! (I wasted half an hour before I realised this. Dummy.). The connectors I used were just slightly the wrong size, so I ended up shaving the retaining lug a little to allow the cover to slide over the socket.
This is the cover before I shaved off the internal lug.
The switch wire is connected into the same large black plug - it needs a 2.5mm female spade connector. It just slides in and can be seen in the following picture - it's the light wire coming across to the left and out of focus. (I hope I'm a better driver than I am a photographer!!)
The CD drive can then be slid back in and screwed up.
You are left with 4 wires hanging out with nowhere to go!! What you do with them is up to you - I went for the option of terminating the audio wires to a 3.5mm stereo socket so I could either connect my lad's iPod, or my SatNav to it - the socket is in the aforementioned cubby. I toyed with the idea of using one of the steering wheel switches to do the switching of the AUX, but decided that I couldn't be bothered to make an electronic latch circuit, as the wheel switches are just press to make. This would have been a more elegant solution, but I ended up with a small toggle switch, again fitted in the aforementioned cubby to put the switch wire down to earth to enable the AUX when required. I used the CD drive case screw as an earth.
Then, after a test run, I put it all back together again.
So, does it work???
Well, yes. Mostly. When I tried it on my SatNav, the sound quality was OK, but only OK, not good, and that I put down to the SatNav output probably being poor - music out of it's internal speaker is certainly less than good!
This morning, I tried my lad's iPod, and the sound was still OK, but nothing more.
As I experimented, I discovered that the audio was only coming from the front speakers, hence the reduction in quality.
There was nothing coming from the rears at all.
The treble/bass, fader and balance controls don't work with it.
The switching from Radio to Aux is smooth, with no thuds or clicks. The AUX audio is not heard in the background whilst the Radio is on.
The normal listening volume of both my SatNav and the iPod is at a similar level to the Radio, so there is no great difference in volume levels when switching between the two.
For the Audiophiles, this isn't really the way to go to get cheap AUX, but if you need an input for your Bluetooth, then this is ideal. I will keep the setup as-is for my SatNav, as then I can listen to my music and have the Nav tell me where to go - and on family trips, there is no need to use the fader so that my kids can listen to their mp3 players in the back.
Mike
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