iPod in 2001 BMW 330i

Disclaimer:
I was a mechanic in a past life and have quite a lot of experience. While I think this process is pretty easy, you need to read through the directions and evaluate it yourself to decide whether or not you can do it. The details presented here are believed to be correct but they are not not guaranteed to be correct. I am not responsible for any damage that you may do to your car or injury that happens to you as a result of following these directions. Proceed at your own risk.

Since my BMW has the factory stereo installed, I used a CD changer interface to bring in the audio signal. Some newer BMWs already have an auxiliary input option by way of a separate add on kit purchased through BMW. I do not have any information on these kits and I think they only apply to the newer models. Contact your BMW dealer or search the forums on the BMW bulletin boards such as:

www.bimmerfest.com
www.e46fanatics.com

Anyway, there are several companies that make these interfaces, they are:

SoundGate
www.soundgate.com

BlitzSafe
www.blitzsafe.com

Peripheral Electronics
www.peripheralelectronics.com

I chose the SoundGate ABMW35V5 with the optional auxiliary cable (DIN to stereo pair RCA). This will apparently be available as a new model called, perhaps AUXBMW V2. Contact them for details.

The factory CD changer harness can be found in the trunk on the left side behind the wheel well. You need to remove the trim panel to see it and it will probably be wrapped up. It is actually quite long. I unraveled the cable and ran it back toward the front of the vehicle running it back through the hole that the harness runs through. There is a large foam grommet that you can pass it through.

The rear seat back and seat bottom need to be removed. I then ran the cable diagonally across the drivers side rear seat back and it ends just under the rear arm rest (red line in the following picture). It is the perfect length to do this but those of you with folding rear seats will not be able to do it quite this way (I don't have folding rear seats). People with folding seats may need to compensate by creating a longer harness between the iPod and the changer interface. One mounting option that I considered for the changer interface was to cut away some of the foam from the back side of the rear seat back and locate it there. The part of the seat back I am referring to would be to the far left of the seat back. On the front (leather side) it's the part that the seat belt lays against. People with folding seats: this is the part that stays upright when you fold the seats down. When you sit in the seat, there is little to no pressure there so the changer interface should be safe.

Here is the CD changer interface in place directly beneath the arm rest (seat back is installed in this picture).

Here's another shot. Running the wire under the carpet is a bit of a pain despite it being a very short run. The carpeting has very heavy padding (actually a good thing for noise reduction) and is very stiff and hard to work with.

This little section of leather is actually NOT padded from the factory and is perfect for holding the interface in place snugly.

Actually, only you will know it's there. It's not very obvious, especially with the seat belts neatly tucked in place. Arm rest operation is not obstructed.

Running the harness requires removal of the center console. I tapped into power and ground using the cell phone pre-wiring. You can do this whether or not you have the factory phone. I had the factory phone but removed it a while back. For my 330, the Belkin and Radio Shack cables were left full length and are a perfect fit with a bit of slack. Also notice at the very bottom of the following picture that the Belkin cable is doubled over and zip tied in order to add strength to the cable (the wires inside the Belkin harness are fragile).

Tap into the following wires:

Snip off a little bit of the corner of the cubby hole to allow the cable to pass through. Those of you worried about aesthetics need not worry as this is high enough under the console that you won't see it when seated normally, even if the harness is eventually removed some day. This is the only permanent modification to the car.

The finished install. Just press the CD button twice in order to switch to the changer circuit. If you have a CD inside the deck, repeated pressing of the CD button will toggle between the CD and the iPod. When the iPod is selected, the radio will display "CD 1-" as pictured below. The mounting bracket I chose here was the plastic ProClip. This one is nice because it just snaps in place (takes like 10 seconds to install).

Here is what it looks like when listening to the radio and no iPod connected. The cable kind of dangles there but is okay for me. Others may want to bring the wire through the ash tray or through the inside of the cubby hole so that you could stuff the cable back inside and close the door when not in use. I chose not to do that because it would mean leaving the ash tray or cubby hole open when the iPod is in use. I felt it looked cleaner the way I did it. Plus you would have to remove the parts and create the custom wire harness around them versus just creating the harness.

This page was last updated on October 24, 2004 01:00 AM