Does the hiss increase when the headlights are turned on? If so, you could have a floating ground within the system.

 

What model year is your MCS?

 

No extra hiss when the lights are on. i do think I've narrowed it down to the harness that plugs into the DICE unit being VERY temperamental when it comes to movement. Its been running hiss free about 95% of time time lately. Still trying to find a perfect fix though.

 

Tom@EAS, Welcome to NAM . I e-mailed you last week suggesting you extend your vast DICE wisdom here and bam, here you are. I'm sure we'll find your help as fantastic as those over in the BMW forums do.

I do have a question. I installed my DICE this weekend. A pretty slick install into the MINI OEM armrest, and it fired right up as it was supposed to. I did notice, however, that the volume seems lower than the radio, enough that if I switch from DICE back to the radio it's painfully loud - at least to my ears. Is this normal function? Is there a way to boost the volume out of the DICE or on the headunit for the CD changer input?

Finally, there has been much talk here about integrating with OEM navigation on the MINI. It seems that on the MINIs that you can display ID3 text on the headunit and the NAV, overriding the map, but not just the headunit. Unfortunately when sending ID3 to the NAV screen it takes it over so you can't see the map or even exit out to it. I gather integration with the NAV in BMWs has been worked out. Since I know your connected to the DICE guys, are they working on a fix or is this something that can't be dealt with?

Again welcome.

 

Minis with NAV have always been text-capable. Text display became capable in the non-NAV applications in approximately Feb '05. Unfortunately, a non-text compatible cannot be made text compatible unless you want to FM modulate the sound and beam the text using RDS.

We're here for the long run - let me know if you have any further questions.

 

Thanks Tom, but I think I wasn't clear enough on my post, sorry. I have an 06 MCS without HK and text display works fine on the radio and NAV screen with the text display setting on 01. I'm wondering if there is a limitation in the MINI radio/nav design that prevents the display of text only on the HU, leaving the NAV alone? This is a question I, and I believe others here, have had.

Any ideas about the lower volume through DICE than over the radio? If there is no way to adjust it, I'll make due, but before I settle I thought I should make sure.

 

[quote=hemmerce;1225793]Thanks Tom, but I think I wasn't clear enough on my post, sorry. I have an 06 MCS without HK and text display works fine on the radio and NAV screen with the text display setting on 01. I'm wondering if there is a limitation in the MINI radio/nav design that prevents the display of text only on the HU, leaving the NAV alone? This is a question I, and I believe others here, have had.

The radios on the pre '05 units are simply not text-capable. There is no way to make a non-text capable.........capable.

The DICE runs at about a 2V gain voltage - it should be pretty close to your other devices. Do make sure the EQ is shut off on the iPod and SOUNDCHECK is disabled.

 

Thanks for the advice Tom.
I have heard people with pre Feb 05' using ice link plus having text but i will have to find the pics. They are on here somewhere. Unless my HU goes bad.
But then again the peopl that have GP's are still looking for the cd changer cables???...lol

 

No worries on the GPs, we have a specific harness for those models.

 

Well, I have an 04 with the DICE installed so I don't get the nice text readouts. It has been a good system so far but here are some of my issues with it. Not sure if these have been fixed by anyone yet.

1) When I first start the car with my iPOD attached, I need to cycle through the Modes (Stereo, CD, Changer, etc...) and pass the CD (DICE) Mode once and then return to it before my iPOD will play any sound. It is odd but I live with it.

2) I have a bad background wine that I can hear when no music is playing, like at the end of a track.

Other than that, I like it. Has anyone else had these issues and if so, is there a fix?

Thank you,
JBravoMC

 

I will need to know your iPod Generation and iPod firmware version to begin.

 

Tom, thanks for joining us and we certainly appreciate a vendor helping us out.

Unfortunately, I think you are still not understanding the question about using a Dice with a NAV system. On my 06 MCS, both the old ice link and the Dice output mp3 tag data on the H/U AND on the NAV screen at the same time. The NAV screen can no longer display maps while displaying tag data. The ice link or Dice take over the NAV screen rendering it useless. We want the tag data displayed ONLY on the H/U.

Has this been fixed? If not, there is a work-around I've documented, but is unacceptable for most and this would be a deal breaker for NAV equipped owners from purchasing a Dice. Might be a good idea to update your site in order to warn Mini NAV owners first?

Another deal breaker for me that I'm wondering if it has been fixed on the Dice is whether the playlist names are displayed on the H/U while selecting them. The ice link did have this function and I did not have to pick from >20 playlists blindly. The early released Dice model expected you to mentally map your ever changing playlists to a number which was unacceptable.

Thanks for your help in answering our questions!

 

If someone is in the OC area w/ NAV and has the DICE already installed, I'll take a look at it personally.

There really isn't a "fix" for Playlist display since the bottleneck isn't the DICE - it's the iPod. The iPod does not allow Playlist display while in iPod mode. With the ice>Link, the iPod was placed in UART mode which locked out the iPod completely - rendering it useless for control unless solely through the radio or MFSW controls.

 

Fair enough. Easy to reproduce and effects all Minis w/ NAV and text capable H/U.


Well, that's a shame and a moronic marketing design decision on Dice's part to remove the UART mode or leave it as an option. My iPod stays in the glove box; the last thing I'd want to do is use its miniscule screen to navigate anything while in my car. The MFSW controls are positioned were they are for a reason. Unless I've got my trusty copilot with me, it's not safe to use the Dice and iPod for decent playlist navigation. My $.02 FWIW.

Thanks again for helping Tom!

 

Not really - a major point on the DICE kit was leaving the iPod in an unlocked state. No other kit on the market allows for steering wheel control and offers text display in this mode. This was a huge leap in in-car integration.

With the ice>Link Plus, getting to a specific artist could be a pain - especially when the artist name started within the K-R range. This required numerous button presses (especially with an 80G iPod which has a 20,000 song capacity) to get there and most people were simply unplugging the iPod, selecting the artist and plugging it back in. DICE listened and made accessing the iPod via the Clickwheel a #1 priority.

The MINI was intended to have a CD Changer, not an iPod. The DICE simply emulates the CD Changer and squeezes out some additional features while doing so. Overloading the device with too many features makes for an unstable system - like the ice>Link turned out to be.

For some people - the iPod kit offered from MINI makes for a simple connection. For those that want more - there's the DICE. Want more than that? There's DICE with High Definition Radio now.

 

For some time now I have thought I would buy an ice>Link or DICE "when all the bugs are sorted out". The ****-poor implementation of the OEM iPod adapter (IMO) causes me to look to the aftermarket... this coming from a guy who insists on OEM for practically everything in his MINI!

However, I do have a few requirements, which I am still not 100% clear on (argh don't you hate repeated questions?):

1. Must either integrate with my factory Nav unobtrusively (i.e. not take over whole screen, still allowing Nav map) OR ignore Nav completely and only use head unit display.
2. Must display ID3 tags for the artist & song name (well, at LEAST song name)
3. Must allow direct iPod access to choose songs

I do have the OEM SIRIUS adapter but I figure I can use the passthrough cable (intended for the CD changer) to still keep that in-line.

The addition of HD radio as well is intruiging!

The big question - are we there yet? My MINI was built in 01/2005, part of the "tech refresh" that included the Bluetooth steering wheel buttons and LSD. If I need a newer OEM head unit than that to get ID3 tags, I will buy it. I'm that crazy.

 

I welcome questions - not only do we answer them, it allows for other forum lurkers to gain info form questions they haven't thought of yet.

1. According to another Speednut, he has an issue with this. Since my last post - I've had forums members inquire about possibly having their vehicles checked out for compatibility. If someone in the OC area would like to participate - contact me directly and I'll make the necessary arrangements.

2. The DICE does this. However your radio is about 1 month shy of the compatibility date and does not allow for this. FYI the earliest we've seen a text-capable radio in a MINI was 2/2005.

3. DICE already offers this.

The HD DICE will allow for you to keep your Sirius with the slave cable you have. If you are looking for a replacement CD text capable radio, we're crazy enough to even offer that:

Radio Boost upgrade w/ MP3 support - Mini Cooper/Cooper S
http://www.europeanautosource.com/pr...roducts_id=318

The major point is - we're here to stay and and answer questions when needed.

 

Thanks for the info - I'm glad you guys are here to be supportive for all these things... a good, honest and communicative vendor is always a good thing! I will continue to offer my support here too (since I have some unusual OEM MINI hardware).

The only downside I've seen to your sponsorship so far is the ridiculously long Forum title.

Hopefully at some point after you've been here a while, you might agree to have it shortened to:

"Navigation & Audio sponsored by EAS"

...with a stickyed post at the top of the thread explaining further who you guys are. Just a creative suggestion.

 

We plan to - I wanted to dive right in and answer a few pending questions before we start with the intro post.

 

Tom, if you have nothing better to do and lots of patience to read the LONG treads on the Dice/ice-link, you'll find a lot of people that have reported issues with the NAV screen integration. I look forward to your updates on this issue once you're able to see it happening in your shop.

Cheers!

 

Not much we can do with the ice>Link, it's been long discontinued. But we'll definitely check with the DICE.

Offer's there for a free install (w/ purchase of DICE kit) on a MY06 MINI w/ NAV to verify. Contact me directly for details.

 

Hmm, don't suppose you'd consider a MY05 MINI w/Nav? I don't believe they changed anything related between 05 & 06 though.

Geography probably rules it out anyway.

 

Sure - MY05 works as well, I would prefer a MY06 since we want to check for CD Changer connections as well.

 

Well, in my case it would include OEM SIRIUS (i.e. CDC passthrough) and OEM Bluetooth. A very full test!

The geography question though - I imagine the free install is in your shop only? Considering I live in Northern VA... kinda tough. Not sure of your location but since your hours are in PST, I'll guess you're in California.

 

Thanks for the offer, we will need someone local to Orange County, CA. I also would like to test a 10th Generation MINI Bluetooth kit.