After reading all the success stories of installations of the ipod interface, I decided I should be able to do it myself.

I printed the instructions, and followed them step by step. The only thing I didn't do was disconnecting the battery.

When I finished the radio wouldn't even turn on.

I undid all the work, reconnected all the original cables and prayed the radio would turn on. It didn't.

How can I troubleshoot the installation to find out where the problem is? I don't know where to start...

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

try unplugging battery for a few minutes then hook it back up, also make sure all the harnesses and everything are connected complete...ive done similar things before, and sometimes its as simple as a wire being loose.

 

Checked your fuses? F10 and F27.

 

thanks for the replies!

I have only checked the fuse at the back of the head unit, and it seems fine.
The fuse on the ipod interface itself seems to be fine as well, but it shouldn't matter as I took it all out - everything is as before I started.

One thing I didn't mention, in case it makes any difference, is that when I have the car's lights on, the little numbers on the radio do get illuminated. Some power seems to be making it to the unit somehow.

Thanks again for your help.

 

The button illumination comes from a different line than what powers the radio. Check fuses F10 and F27 in the fusebox (panel is in the drivers footwell).

 

You were right! F27 was blown.

Besides replacing it, will I need to do anything to get the radio working?

 

Chances are that you only need to replace the fuse. I would suggest replacing the fuse and see if the radio works. If it does, either disconnect the battery or pull out both F10 and F27 while you do the iPod thing again.

 

I couldn't wait, so decided to take F17 (rear windscreen wiper) and place it in F27, and voila, the radio turned on as if nothing had happened!

I will do as you say, and try the ipod installation again with no power on.

Thank you very much for your help!

 

I finally managed to replace all the blown fuses. Unfortunately, it seems that all problems are not over.

The radio will turn on, but all it does is display the message "disable".

no matter what I press, all I can see is the word "disable" on the screen. Any ideas of what might be causing this?

 

You may have activated the anti-theft feature that disables the head unit if it is disconnected from the main power. Your service advisor can walk you through the steps (over the phone) to reenable if this is what happened.

 

All sorted - it turns out one of the cables was a little loose. The guys at mini were able to tell me that it was likely to be the white green and red one, as this type of error "-disable-" often appears when the bus cable is not sending the right signal.

All working.

Thank you all for your help!