Advanced Ipod Intergration Instructions (write up)

[Boon]

Figured I would post this in here too, since it applies to you Y50 guys. Hope this helps someone out.

Let me start off with all the warnings.

***** This is not a beginner stage install being as the wires you have to splice into are small and delicate. If you don't have experience with this sort of thing I would not recommend going forward*****

***** This WILL void any warranty on your radio as this is the brain of the entire audio system. If you don't know what your doing then please do not attempt this*****

***** All screws that you will be removing are VERY VERY tight. Make sure you are using a phillips head that seats properly and use a good amount of inward pressure so that you do not strip the screws. DO NOT USE A DRILL/GUN ON ANY OF THE SCREWS*****

***** When this is done you will no longer be able to use the tape player for audio. You do have to still have a tape in the player for this to work. The tape tricks the system into thinking it is playing thus allowing the ipod signal to take over*****

Ok with all that out of the way let me just say WOW. This is such a good solution and works perfectly. Cant tell the difference between this and my wifes car that has a direct ipod connection to her radio. It is PERFECT!!!

Here Goes........

I am assuming everyone knows how to remove there tape player, if not there are many post in here to help. Once you have removed it pick up here.....

Here is our lovely radio, once you have removed those gold metal stickers your warranty is pretty much void on this component, keep that in mind.



Start by removing the brackets on each side, again screws are snug so use a good driver and a good amount of downward force.



Next remove the 4 screws on the top



Then the 4 on the back (Very Tight)



Then the 3 on the bottom



Now remove the face, it just clips in on the sides and slides straight off.



Now you should be able to pull the inside structure out of the cage pretty easily.



Now you need to remove 5 screws that hold the tape player assembly onto in.



Then unplug the 2 harnesses.



And then you should be able to easily remove the tape assembly from the unit.



Now the plug that we will be using is the 3 pin plug on the bottom of that tape assembly (1 Yellow, 2 Black Wires) Yellow wire is left input, middle black is ground, and the outside black is right input.



There are numerous ways to tap into these wires, I wanted to be able to easily return this to stock so I spliced into them. This was the best way IMO to do this. BE VERY CAREFUL when doing this as the wires are thin and can easily break. To do this I used a wire stripper to remove the shielding and expose the bare wire.



With all 3 wires exposed use a small pick tool or flat head screw driver to split the wires so that they are open in the middle.



I went to Radio Shack and bought a 20ft headphone extension cable. Make sure it is the standard 1/8" (2.5mm) jack.



Make sure you cut off the female end and not the male, then remove about 3-4 inches of shielding to expose the 3 wires inside.



Cut back the shielding to exspose about 2 inches, then one at a time insert the wires into the opening you made in the harness wires, then wrap them around tightly. This can be a bit tedious do to the tight space but is pretty easy. Wire colors as shown in picture or if not the same colors refer to picture 11 for plug configuration.



Next you need to solder and tape each connection separately. Solder is not necessary but highly recommended.



After soldering and taping everything individually tape them all together then throw a zip tie on for extra support.



I forgot to take a picture of how i ran the cable, but there is actually a perfect path that I show here to run the wire. ********** MAKE SURE that you DON'T plug the smaller harness back in. The smaller harness must stay unplugged from the tape player. The big harness does need to be plugged back in***************



Wire comes right out the back, if you want to put electrical tape around the metal edges you can, I didn't but probably should have.



Now it is ready to put back into the car. I wanted mine in my center console so I ran the cable down the console.



I then drilled a whole in the upper portion of the center console to stick the cable through.





Put everything back together and boom, you have a working IPOD!



From start to finish this took less then an hour and the outcome is amazing.

As I said you have to keep a tape in the player for this to work, so pull out your old Beastie Boys tape and leave it in there.

If anyone has any questions or needs any help feel free to ask................... Boon

Special Thanks to Stroked 347 for the wiring diagram and to Thirty7th for the info/idea to do this
Modified by Boon at 1:05 PM 4/13/2008

[oldmako]

Boon

Slicker than snot! Thanks for the descriptive post and the quality pics. I am tossing around several ideas to get an ipod jack into my stock Bose unit on my Q. Any idea if I can pull that same stunt with the Bose unit?

[Boon]

I would imagine because this is a bose unit also. If your tape player is your head unit also then this should be the exact same unit, thus the exact same install.

[96Qowner]

Thanks a ton for the writeup, boon! And especially for all the great pics.

[qsiguy]

Excellent writeup. I need to at this to my archives. I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to wire the internal switch that gets switched when the tape is in to an external switch so you didn't have to have a tape in there. More than likely this would work with just about any tape player as long as you can find the signal leads.

Excellent.

[Boon]

Excellent writeup. I need to at this to my archives. I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to wire the internal switch that gets switched when the tape is in to an external switch so you didn't have to have a tape in there. More than likely this would work with just about any tape player as long as you can find the signal leads.

Excellent.

Yea there probably is but honestly it's not really a big deal as you just leave the tape in the player and hit the tape button on the dash. You can't hear the tape running so no need to really cut anything else up. If you do hear the tape running Stroked in the M forum had a great idea.......

I know several people who did this mod (different cars) and the 'dummy tape' continued to make noise in the player. An easy fix - if it does cause noise, is the following:

1. Disassemble a normal tape2. Remove the tape from the two geared wheels3. Replace the tape w/ a rubber band. This will turn both wheels and the rubber will insulate any rattling caused by loose gears.4. Reassemble the cassette and you have a quiet dummy tape.

I'll do this over the weekend and take pics just as a supplement.

That's some good info to know also.

Have a great weekend guys.......

[Jesda]

Someone copy this to the articles section!