Hi All,

I just got my Aux Cable for my Ipod. I am going to install it on this weekend. I was wonder where do you put your Aux connector? I know greatbear post the whole installation instruction (thank you). However he has the Euro shelf. What about the people does not have the shelf? What about the place for the Ipod? Please share your experience with me. Thank you.

UltraMINI

 

If you can swing it, do the parcel shelf too, adding both at the same time is AWESOME and it is a perfect location for the AUX jack. I just plug mine in and drop it into the left cupholder while I'm driving. When I park it goes up on the shelf out of sight!

Plus with the bolster removed you can just reach up and plug in the aux cable without removing the head unit!

Good luck with the install

 

The 'standard' intallation of the Aux jack is in the glove box. Workable, but kind of awkward. Most people keep their players in the cupholders or between the seats, the logical place is nearby. There is a small panel under the a/c controls (between the downtubes) that comes out by removing a screw and popping it out, that is a good place to mount the jack as well.

With or without a shelf, one of the simplest 'installs' is the non-mounted jack. Simply tug on the knee bolster to remove it, reach around the back of the headunit (as long as you dont have huge hands and forearms like me, and/or your car has NAV), plug in the adaptor, plug your connecting cable into the aux jack, tuck the excess away, replace the bolster and you are done. Simply run the cable to where you have your player.

People have gotten creative and mounted the jacks into unused spaces in their toggle switch panels, in places other than my suggestion in parcel shelves, etc. Since you have to connect another cable to the jack to match it to your player, there are almost infinite possibilities for mountings (and non mountings).

Good luck however you decide. Be creative and make it unique!

 

I am still in search for the perfect mounting. I am getting closer with the latest...

First, I have an iPod 2. In order to make connections easier, I decided to buy a second cradle stand for it. The stand also comes with a connector for the charger and an aux output which is handy. So, I have the both the recharger and the output fixed to the stand and not the iPod itself.

This lets me pop the iPod into the cradle hit play and I rock n' roll... when I stop, I hit the pause, take it out and let the sleep mode take care of itself...

Note that if for some reason you leave it in the cradle, the iPod will not go to sleep mode and will eventually run down its own battery. I don't know why this is. No drama however, it will re-boot itself when you start up.

As for the mounting, I bought the Mini phone holder kit and then adapted a Garmin e-Trek car mount base to hold the cradle. Seems quite sturdy and it is infinitely adjustable.

I have put the Blitzsafe adabpter in the boot (okay, hatch) and ran cables to the iPod cradle.

There is a picture here and a couple more on my web site:
http://au.msnusers.com/OzMini/mymini.msnw?Page=Last

Drawbacks? Buying a second cradle (not much); the Garmin base (also, not much). The iPod remains in place in most bu not all driving situations...

Cheers


_________________

 

Not to change the subject, but is a center tach rather than the speedo standard in Australia?

 

Oz,

Luv the centre tach, and your chrome bonnet intake. But ya gotta do something bout that steering wheel. Its on the wrong side mate.

I've heard that Oz won't let any LHD vehicles register there, all must be converted to RHD. Man what a bummer. I imagine that no one imports any of the US muscle cars of the 60's and 70's. You are missing out on some great iron.

_________________
BLUBELLE - 2003 MCS IB /W Premium, Sport, Cold pkgs, Lapis blue interior, Magnecor wires, Alta Pulley, Moss Skid Plate, Chrome Trim Interior

 

WOW, with the center tach, do you have a speedo on the steering column? If so, I'm surprised MINI doesn't offer that as an option in other markets.

Re: AUX: I installed mine in the Euro parcel shelf under the steering wheel (and it's on the left ), but I'm not that happy with the location: the mp3 player is very hard to reach there.

Here's what I'm planning on doing:
I am thinking of fabbing a fairly big overhead console to replace the current clock. This console will hold a hardwired and mounted mp3 player so that the buttons to control the player are on the face of the console. The console will also likely hold a hidden radar detector (with a hidden display in another area), and maybe a G-tech type accelerometer performance monitor.

 

I had an extra blank spot where the dash switches are, so I mounted it there:



Then the iPod sits nicely in the cup holder and plugs into the dash.



It was a little tricky to get the wiring inside the switches panel, but I like the way it looks and it works well.

Cheers!

 

That's great...how'd you swing it? I'm doing the install this weekend, and that looks like the perfect spot. PLEASE give us a brief description of how it went...I'd love to do something like this...

Thanks!

 

Sorry for the delay in responding... time zone changes and all... I am writing to you mid-Saturday afternoon...

And sorry for going off topic but I want to respond to the previous comments:

As for the tach in the center, yes it is actually by Australian design rules that the speedo has to be in front of the driver... so the tach is moved over and the speedo is in front. I think I like it better that way... having the big old tach needle swinging around is a lot more fun to watch in super big size...

 

I Love to install my Aux input there. Please give us some tip or photos. Thank you.

UltraMINI

 

Sorry for the delay, I lost track of this one.

Unfortunately, I do not plan ahead of time and take photos of my install process! :???:

Basically, you begin by getting the stereo unit out to plug in the back harness. I know there are other post that describe that part. (remove knee bolster, open dash slightly, remove downspouts, unscrew stereo dash screws and remove head unit).

Once you have the dash open this far, you can see the toggle switches have a few screws on the sides that hold it in the same as the stereo. Remove them and the whole piece will come out. There is one main wiring harness that you can unplug to completely free the toggle switches.

Plug the Aux input harness into the back of the stereo and feed the cable down behind it and out where the toggle switches are. Then proceed with the toggle switch prep.

Using a small flat screwdriver, carefully pop the back piece off the toggles. There should be a circuit board which will lift out and a rubber piece under it. This assembly is pretty straightforward. When you remove the rubber piece, BE CAREFUL as there are a two white spacers used for each switch and you don't want to lose them. Carefully turn the piece over and remove the spacers.

The difficult part comes when you have to drill the holes in the plastic! Use a good drill (a small pilot hole is a good idea) to drill through the front of the plate where you want the plug to go. Check for the correct size drill bit that will allow you to slide the plug through the back and secure it from the front with the supplied nut. If your hole is too big the nut will not be able to secure it!

Before you put it in, you need to make another hole in the bottom of the panel. The wire needs to make an immediate turn down and come out the bottom as there is no space to route the wire through the rubber piece or the circuit board. The hole in the bottom needs to be pretty big so the the whole plug can be fed through, then attached to the inside. Be sure to place the bottom hole where the wire can be routed without interferring with the switches.

Once you have the two holes drilled and have fed the plug in the bottom and secured it to the front hole with the nut. Then, you need to put the white spacers back in for the toggle switches to work correctly. Replace the rubber contact piece, the circuit board and the back plate.

The wire will come out the bottom of the toggles and then up behind it. you will not really be able to see the cable unless you look from below.

I think I made it sound more complicated than it really is. Once you get in there, you'll understand how it goes together. The scariest part is having to drill the holes in the toggle plate. It is delicate plastic and could be easily damaged.

Sorry I don't have photos to go along! Hope this helps!

 

good info!!
for those who wants to see pics, can use the how to guide for extra toggle switch in Bridger.us/mini.

Good site, good pics!
It is not for the aux, but it helps to visualize what you facing to!!

 

Thanks Chrisfb1!

here's the link that shows photos of the toggle switch assembly

This should help you see what I'm taking about!

Good luck

 

Here is the how to that I made when I did mine. I made my own aux adapter, but this should work for the regular mini adapter as well

www.thepilo.com/aux/

Thanks
Dan
Pilo Racing

 

Thank you Ryanide.

I will follow your instruction and take as many photos as possible on each steps. When I successfully install it, I will post my instruction here. Wish me Luck...

UltraMINI

 

Actually, there is a plastic piece under the whole console thingee, between the pillars. I cut a hole out there, and put the aux in down thar, looks stealthy. No parcel shelf, and the glovebox idea wasn't gonna work. By the way, when you install, don't bother tryin to take the HU out, works fairly well just pulling the knee bolster down and pluggin into the back. Total time to complete project, 2.5 minutes.

Sorry, no pics, works great though!

 

I have successfully install the Aux Cable. I followed "Ryanide" idea to place the Aux Input on one of spare space next to the window switch. I spent most of time take the two plastic pole apart. Since most of the instructions on the net were for 2002 Cooper. My is 2003 with CVT so some instructions are different. I took a lot of pictures. Once I organize it and find the space to host those files, I will post the instruction.

I must say that without other MINI owners to share their installation experience, I could not completed it with simple instruction from MINI aux cable.
Thank you for your input.

Next thing for me is to purchase the VW New Beettle iPod kit. I think it is made by Belkin. As soon the VW promotion end, I think the kit should be available for everybody.

BTW, Ryanide, where do you purchase the L shape of mini audio cable?


UltraMINI

 

Glad I could help! I actually made my own cable which is only about 12" in length. The 6' cables were the shortest I could find. So I took a cable that I already had
(from some other electronic product??) cut it and bought a screw on headphone piece from Radio Shack to put on the other end. It works pretty well but I'd rather find a ready made short cord if possible.

Cheers!

 

Howdy all. Did the mod this weekend, with help from Greatbear's instructions. I was able to pull down the knee bolster, and reach around to plug in the AUX interface without taking apart anything else. I fed the AUX line down through the dash behind the stereo, etc. I ended up installing the jack itself on the angled plastic panel just forward of the cup holders. I took out one screw, and was able to pull that panel out pretty easily. The jack is out of the way, and under the stereo, pretty nice spot, and very easy to do.

The whole operation took about 10-15 minutes, and now my Mini and iPod are friends. Now to find a cable less than 6 feet long, like Ryanide said...

 

I found a 12" mini cable at local Radio Shack for $3.99.

 

WOW!!!

That's all I have to say about the European Parcel Shelf/Aux connector combination. I put the Aux connector in the shelf but now I'm thinking having the connector loose would have been better. But I just did it so we'll see. I found, so far, the best place to put my iPod is under the e-brake. Maybe I'll look for a way to mount it on the knee bolsters.

If anyone is hesitant about the european parcel shelf, I say get it!!!! the install was easy (pull the existing piece out, pop the new one in and tighten 2 screws) so you can easily do it yourself. I like it, if for no other reason, the extra knee room I get. Shame on MINI for not giving us this to begin with!
-Chris