Rear Seat iPad Dock and Custom Mount
11-28-2012, 06:13 PM
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Rear Seat iPad Dock and Custom Mount
Like many wagon owners, we use ours frequently to take road trips with our kids. In my search, I found rear seat entertainment options are pretty limited for the E61.
Instead of breaking down the pros and cons of all options, suffice to say I knew I wanted a flip-down style monitor to retain Active Headrests and keep it out of sight when not used. So I was set on figuring out how to make a roof mounted monitor work.
During this process, my wife suggested not getting a single purpose DVD/monitor but rather get an iPad, since we could use it for multiple functions inside & outside the car. Enter the Magnadyne iPad Docking Station: MovieVision iPad mobile vehicle docking station model MV-IPAD2-KC
At $200 for the dock, it isn’t exactly cheap when you factor in the $500+ you’ve already spent on your iPad. However, it is the only true iPad mobile dock I’ve seen. The common portable clamp mounts out there worry me, since they aren't strong enough to prevent your iPad from becoming a projectile in a crash.
So the question was: How do I suspend this thing from the roof, if I can’t attach it to the headliner? My solution was to build a bar that runs across the roof, but just below the headliner so it would not interfere with the panoramic roof. The design goals were:
- No drilling holes or cutting into the car
- Fully removable, returnable to stock
After taking the B-pillar panels off, I found a small metal bracket held to the roof by 2 screws. Its primary function seems to be providing 2 tabs that keep top B-pillar panel clipped in. I built a bracket for each side out of 14-gauge mild steel which slips under the stock piece, reusing the same 2 screws.
You can see the stock B-pillar panel will still slide in place with the bracket installed.
To make the bar connecting the new brackets, I used ¾” EMT conduit because it’s rigid enough for strength but allows me to bend it using a simple conduit bender. The bar hugs the contour of the roof, and rises up ~1 inch to follow the shape of the panoramic roof recess.
Once the bar was bent, I rough cut to length using a pipe cutter (like you use on copper water pipe). Then I shaped the ends to match the bracket angle using a cutoff disc in my 4.5” grinder.
To mount the docking station, I cut 2 strips of 10 gauge mild steel ~7" in length, and placed them at the correct distance on the middle of the bar. Thicker steel was used here for increased rigidity, since there's the weight of the iPad hanging from it.
After prepping the metal surfaces, I tack welded the pieces together. Once I verified the bar would bolt in place, all the welds were burned in. This is the first thing I’ve welded that wasn’t practicing on scrap metal, so I don’t think it’s too bad? I also drilled some holes in the bar to allow for wiring to pass inside the EMT tubing, which hides all the wiring.
The assembly was then primered, then painted.
Partway through paint, I decided to add a removable mount for a video camera built into the bar. I started with a Manfrotto 3232 tripod head, chosen for its all-metal construction.
Fabricated a "gooseneck" bar, and attached the head on the end.
On the bar side, I simply welded a matching 3/8" nut flush into the bar.
Ran wiring through the bar.
Test fit the iPad dock, with the shroud bezel notched for the bar. The hole is where the camera mount screws into.
Hope to get this thing wired and mounted this weekend...
Instead of breaking down the pros and cons of all options, suffice to say I knew I wanted a flip-down style monitor to retain Active Headrests and keep it out of sight when not used. So I was set on figuring out how to make a roof mounted monitor work.
During this process, my wife suggested not getting a single purpose DVD/monitor but rather get an iPad, since we could use it for multiple functions inside & outside the car. Enter the Magnadyne iPad Docking Station: MovieVision iPad mobile vehicle docking station model MV-IPAD2-KC
At $200 for the dock, it isn’t exactly cheap when you factor in the $500+ you’ve already spent on your iPad. However, it is the only true iPad mobile dock I’ve seen. The common portable clamp mounts out there worry me, since they aren't strong enough to prevent your iPad from becoming a projectile in a crash.
So the question was: How do I suspend this thing from the roof, if I can’t attach it to the headliner? My solution was to build a bar that runs across the roof, but just below the headliner so it would not interfere with the panoramic roof. The design goals were:
- No drilling holes or cutting into the car
- Fully removable, returnable to stock
After taking the B-pillar panels off, I found a small metal bracket held to the roof by 2 screws. Its primary function seems to be providing 2 tabs that keep top B-pillar panel clipped in. I built a bracket for each side out of 14-gauge mild steel which slips under the stock piece, reusing the same 2 screws.
You can see the stock B-pillar panel will still slide in place with the bracket installed.
To make the bar connecting the new brackets, I used ¾” EMT conduit because it’s rigid enough for strength but allows me to bend it using a simple conduit bender. The bar hugs the contour of the roof, and rises up ~1 inch to follow the shape of the panoramic roof recess.
Once the bar was bent, I rough cut to length using a pipe cutter (like you use on copper water pipe). Then I shaped the ends to match the bracket angle using a cutoff disc in my 4.5” grinder.
To mount the docking station, I cut 2 strips of 10 gauge mild steel ~7" in length, and placed them at the correct distance on the middle of the bar. Thicker steel was used here for increased rigidity, since there's the weight of the iPad hanging from it.
After prepping the metal surfaces, I tack welded the pieces together. Once I verified the bar would bolt in place, all the welds were burned in. This is the first thing I’ve welded that wasn’t practicing on scrap metal, so I don’t think it’s too bad? I also drilled some holes in the bar to allow for wiring to pass inside the EMT tubing, which hides all the wiring.
The assembly was then primered, then painted.
Partway through paint, I decided to add a removable mount for a video camera built into the bar. I started with a Manfrotto 3232 tripod head, chosen for its all-metal construction.
Fabricated a "gooseneck" bar, and attached the head on the end.
On the bar side, I simply welded a matching 3/8" nut flush into the bar.
Ran wiring through the bar.
Test fit the iPad dock, with the shroud bezel notched for the bar. The hole is where the camera mount screws into.
Hope to get this thing wired and mounted this weekend...
Last edited by constant; 12-02-2012 at 02:58 PM.
11-28-2012, 06:14 PM
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Spent a couple hours today finishing the wiring and mounting the dock. The docking station is a simple 4 wire hookup: ground, 12V constant, 12V switched, and dome light trigger. I tapped into the rear passenger side dome light using quick disconnect spades. There are 3 pins on the light connector:
Red/blue stripe - dome trigger
Brown - ground
Red/yellow stripe - 12V switched
For 12V constant, I used an existing tap-a-fuse in the glovebox fuse panel.
Here's the finished system. Sorry for the bad pics, I finished up late.
The panoramic roof still opens and closes. With the screen stored (folded up), you cannot see it in the rear view mirror. I showed it to my toddler son, and it got his stamp of approval. :-). Can't wait until the next road trip!
Red/blue stripe - dome trigger
Brown - ground
Red/yellow stripe - 12V switched
For 12V constant, I used an existing tap-a-fuse in the glovebox fuse panel.
Here's the finished system. Sorry for the bad pics, I finished up late.
The panoramic roof still opens and closes. With the screen stored (folded up), you cannot see it in the rear view mirror. I showed it to my toddler son, and it got his stamp of approval. :-). Can't wait until the next road trip!
Last edited by constant; 12-02-2012 at 02:51 PM.
12-10-2012, 05:36 PM
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Update: I do not recommend using the red/yellow stripe wire on the dome light for 12V switched. It is a pulsed signal (not sure why) and keeps turning the dock on/off.
I re-routed my switched wire to an existing 12V switched tap I used from the back of the stereo.
I re-routed my switched wire to an existing 12V switched tap I used from the back of the stereo.
12-22-2012, 11:17 AM
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Update #2: turns out the Light Module also pulses the dome light wire (red/blue stripe). This causes the dock's built in light to flash on/off. To get by this, I used a 220uF capacitor across the trigger wire to ground.
Great work!
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