Ricapar

So, first on the list:

I de-badged the trunk a while back and just threw the badge numbers/letters in the center console pocket. They've kinda just been sitting there. I didn't wanna throw them away, as I felt they were kindof part of the car's identity. So I found a new spot for them:

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Took me a while to get the alignment just right, but I think it came out pretty good.

Next on the list, and probably what took me the most amount of time...

Previously, I had a car cell phone charger thingy. One of the ones that plugs into the 12V outlets found in the car. When I first got my e60.. The first thing I noticed was that there is an abundance of these! They're everywhere! I've counted...

• One in center console
• One on the very front of the passenger leg room area... a little further back the beneath of the glove compartment.
• Two for the rear passenger seats, in the center console area.
• One in the trunk, near the latch that you pull up to unveil the spare tire compartment.

I had my charger plugged into the one I mentioned in the 2nd bullet point. My charger also had a USB port on it, and I had an iPod cable plugged into that.
I had a rather long 3.5mm audio cable coming from the back (where the AUX in port is.... what a stupid place for that.. anyways..), kinda wrapping on the side between the center console and the front passenger seat, and coming up through there.
In short, it was a mess of wires, and was pissing me off!

So here's what I did:

• Disabled one of the rear 12V outlets - used the wires that were originally coming through that to power my little contraption.
• Removed the flippy-top cell phone holder thing that was inside the center console compartment. What good is a cell phone holder if I can't charge it?
• Cracked open my cell phone charger, wired it into the center console, along with a USB extension cable. Both get power from the wires that once went to one of the rear outlets.
• Passed the audio cable through the cover of the disabled 12V outlet, and had it go into the AUX port in the back. The other end feeds into the center console. I did it this way because I didn't wanna disable access to the AUX port in the back completely.

Anyways, pics show more than words:





I now see no wires at all, and everything is readily accessible!

Work mostly involved removing the cell phone tray (pain in the ass). And removing the wood trim/vent covers on the rear part of the center console. A bit scary, since it's all put in using those pressure clips.. and they like to hold on tight.

And as for the old iPod .. (2GB, 2nd gen iPod Nano) - I found it while digging through stuff I had packaged away! So much of my old music on there... Isn't it amazing how songs you haven't heard in a while can trigger so many old memories of the time around when you last heard it?

And on the topic of memories... here's a pic of my last ride: 1997 Toyota RAV4. She's still going strong. 171k miles and counting. 120 HP!

Kaizen

Nice work. Nothing like working on your car and making it work like it should, lol.

BTW, where did you put your badge? There is no link or picture.

Ricapar

Oh, hrm. Whoops. Messed up the img tag.

Here we go: