Finished up my (Silver) iPod Mini install in my Pure Silver MINI tongiht!





More details and more pics can be found in this thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co....php?p=1433607

 

I did mine on Saturday. I wanted full ipod control without the restriction of just controlling playlists (I installed an ipod controller in my Volvo that works this way, and it's very annoying), and I wanted to be able to control everything on the ipod without taking my hand off the wheel. I also wanted to see the entire ipod screen in a safe spot so I could read it easily in my line of sight.

I almost bought the Craven Speed ipod mount but decided I'd rather attempt to engineer something myself. I ended up getting a pro clips 20g 4th gen ipod specific padded ipod cradle, and spent a whopping $1.49 at the home depot on a genuine Stanley 5" steel trim plate. I spent another half a buck on washers and screws, and was out of there with what I needed for less than two bucks .

I painted the trim plate with some anthracite paint I had lying around, then mounted one end of the plate to the right side screw on the tach. I used a few small neoprene washers above and next to the screw so the metal plate doesn't scratch the back of the tach. I then mounted the pro clips ipod mount to the other side of the plate. No drilling - the holes in the plate lined up perfectly. I used a neoprene washer on the back of the plate behind the pro clips mount, and also used a traditional washer on top of that.

Then I installed the factory aux in, which took a good four minutes (I took out the radio which was very easy). I used the SIK dock line out/charger cable, and I was ready to listen. I drove up the Edens Expy. in Chicago (a horribly rough road - they must have cut ridges into the pavement on purpose to keep people from driving too fast and knocking their fillings out) and while my rear view mirror was vibrating uncontrollably, the ipod was vibration free.

I love the sound of the line out as opposed to the much more distorted headphone out, and I love having full control of the ipod at the wheel. It looks a bit apple fanboi-ish, but I am one, so I guess that's ok.

Now I need to direct wire the charger to the fuse box, and hide the wires a bit better.

 

Here's a picture of my Ipod Nano (with a skin) on a TuneFlex by Griffin. Its basically a flexible neck that cradles the Nano specifically and it plugs into my cigarette lighter outlet. My DIY Aux cable connects to the 1/8 jack at the base of the TuneFlex. At first my HU didn't recognize the Ipod through the TuneFlex (bought used from eBay 14 bux shipped), but the Ipod worked when connected directly. With a suggestion from ShankRabbit, I purchased a ground-loop isolator(around 20 bux with adapters) from RadioShack and it still didn't work. The TuneFlex was still not recognized by the HU. I was pretty frustrated at this point so I returned the GLI to RS and gave up for 2 days. I ended up ordering a brand new Tuneflex from a vendor on PriceGrabber.com for around 40 bux. I plugged it up and it still didn't work, so I went back to RS and bought the darn GLI again and "PRESTO," EVERYTHING WORKED PERFECTLY!

Moral of the story is, don't buy used electronic type items from eBay just to save a few bucks and don't give up so easily.

I love this set up by the way. It's clean because you don't really see the wire next to the 12 volt adaptor. It holds and charges the Nano. Best of all its versatile. You can bend the Tuneflex anyway you want. I have it close enough to my shifter that my wrist still rests on my **** while I'm changing songs. I totally recommend the TuneFlex if you have a Nano. I probably wouldn't recommend it for non-Nano owners, because the 12-volt socket is kind of weak. Other Ipods would be kind of heavy.

Oh and yes, before anyone asks, that is the RCA cables from the GLI on the left side under my steering wheel. I got lazy because I'm going to buy a Parrot, Bluetooth soon and I'll make everything pretty then.

 

A bit of an update to my earlier post - I didn't care much for the look of the wires coming off the bottom of the dock connector, so I used some graphite cable jacket that I had around from a previous home speaker cable project and used it on the SIK cable. I heat shrinked the end as well. The cable disappears into the dash, and I much prefer the look of the graphite to the tiny white wires.

 

 

I used a KUDA mount with swivel and universal MP3/PDA adapter to install my new iPod Touch.

The iPod mount attaches to the right downtube using one of the existing screws. The DICE iPod connection cable comes out of the glovebox and I just close the glovebox on the cable. There is plenty of clearance and the cable does not get pinched at all. With the swivel mount I can go vertical or horizontal. The universal mount will hold an iPod, phone, PDA, GMRS radio or whatever.

The finishing touch was the two MINIBee splash screens on my NUVI 360 and the iPod Touch.

With the DICE connector set to Simple IPod mode, I have full control of my playlists, tracks and volume from the steering wheel. And I can also use the touch screen on the iPod Touch to select albums, tracks, etc..It can also be used to browse the web when near WIFI. And a passenger can watch movies with the audio coming through the stereo (or with headphones). So there is a lot of flexibility. I do not have text display on the CD player with this setup because I intend to get that information from the iPod screen.

iPod Touch horizontal, using the "Coverflow" feature to select albums:


NUVI 360 and iPod Touch with matching MINIBee splash screens


Playing "Apollo 13" in horizontal movie mode


KUDA mounts from the side

 

has anyone else using the Kuda Mount noticed that it leaves indentations in the dash? Maybe I just put it on a little too tight, and the indentations do go away after a few hours once the mount is removed. Just curious.

 

Here's my Dice set up:



I was planning on getting a cradle mounted on the right hand side downtube. But the screen and click wheel is locked out on the 3rd gen. nano when connected to the Dice.

 

My Drive + Play doesn't have bluetooth connectivity. Am I missing something? Or is there a new version out?

 

Here is my install in my wife's 2008 MC Convertible. iPod Touch on downtube with ProClip mount. The video interface is the Dietz 1265 from EAS. I also installed the Mini Bluetooth Retrofit kit from EAS.

 

I've got an '02 so the AUX jack was out of the question. I bought an FM modulator then took a PIE-RCA POD cable, and wired it to the radio power and ground. I had to use a ground loop isolator, but know the car has a wired, powered iPod cable that sounds great. I also bought a FastMac U-Connect so I can connect any 3.5mm audio device. I ran the cable out the bottom of the center console. If anyone wants to duplicate my way of doing this let me know, it only cost like $50.

 

yo guys im about to buy the dice unit for my 05 msc...is this the kit that connects to the head unit instead of the cd changer wire in the trunk?

http://www.europeanautosource.com/pr...oducts_id=1639

also does anyone has a diy on taking the head unit out?

 

Yup, that looks like the one you want.

For a quick and dirty DIY, look at my Flickr page here. I wrote it a while ago, but should still be valid. Just start at the leftmost photo, and continue to the right.


-Paul!

 

I have instructions, send me an email and I'll reply with a copy.

 

got a quick question: i installed my dice unit the other day and i im using a itouch with it, but i can only see my playlists and videos when i restart my touch, if not it says ''attach something?" anybody know why its like that?

 

The touch, new Classic and 3rd Generation nano lock the iPod's Clickwheel when attached to 3rd party devices, this is an iPod-specific issue - not the DICE.

Earlier iPods do not experience this issue. All DICE-specific features are still available. If Clickwheel operation is desired, you can set the DICE module's DIP switches to Simple iPod mode to gain access of the Clickwheel, but will lose text display on the radio when doing so.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

 

hi
i ve a question for MINI Bee... I was really impressed from your touch mount so i've search all arount the web (ebay in particular) for a swivel mount (to put on KUDA) like your i'll want go vertical or horizontal with my touch!!!
Could you give me some info on where to buy it?
NOTE i'm not in USA i'm from italy so i need a shop which ship internationally!
Many Many thanks
Filippo

 

i got another problem with my dice unit...now everytime i attach the itouch to it the radio says "detached"...wtf is up with this...says it works with an i touch but everytime i start up my car the touch locks and i have to reboot it...

anybody know how the itouch can work properly with the dice unit?

 

Type R, have you tried starting the car first and then docking the Touch? I'm just guessing here, but it might be something to try.

 

yes tried that...

 

The touch, new Classic and 3rd Generation nano lock the iPod's Clickwheel when attached to 3rd party devices, this is an iPod-specific issue - not the DICE.

Earlier iPods do not experience this issue. All DICE-specific features are still available. If Clickwheel operation is desired, you can set the DICE module's DIP switches to Simple iPod mode to gain access of the Clickwheel, but will lose text display on the radio when doing so.

 

it's the iPod Touch, not iTouch. Sorry. Pet peeve.

 

ok so u say that the 3rd gen pods have that problem when connected to 3rd party right...then how come my ipod touch works perfectly fine in my other interface thats in my integra which was installed over a year ago???

 

What? it gets the song Artist/Title displayed??
I just get bunch of seems like random track numbers!

 

No idea on the integra, we don't perform any work on those audio systems.

What is the production date of your MINI? Only 02/2005+ models have text support.