Question regarding an Aux input on my bosses car!

jezseaton · #1 03-08-2007, 12:55 PM

Guys, new here, mainly for the purpose of solving a problem my boss is having on his x5, but also becasue i was loving that thread on "cool things you didnt know about the x5"

My boss has a UK X5, with a sat nav, cd changer, tape socket behind the rotating screen, and bluetooth phone kit from nokia.
He has had a pioneer dvd installed in the rear with two screens and a wireless headphone system.
On the rear of the centre console/arm rest is a socket marked Aux In and Aux Out.
I have personally fitted alot of car audio kit (mainly in Saab's) but always remain cautious with VERY expensive cars, especially when owned by your boss

Basically he wants to feed his sony mp3 through this aux socket to his sound system.
Now having noticed the aux adaptor mentioned on the site and in the stickys I expected that this was just one mounted in the centre console.
(note opposite this button is the tv> button)
However i cannot seem to get "aux" up when pressing the mode button, have tried with no feed going into the aux in, and with a mp3 feed.
The DVD system seems very much standalone-ish, the sound from it CANNOT be fed to the main speakers.
Can anyone help me work out if this Aux input is aftermarket or stock standard (seems too well fitted to not be part of the standard system?!).
Picture enclosed.
Any help very much appreciated

Thanks,
Jez

mmmfan · #2 03-09-2007, 11:17 PM

I have the same issue/question. I'm trying to use the AV input for an iPOD and couldn't get the Mode button to toggle between CD, Radio, Tape to AV.

I took it into the dealership and asked them how to get it working. Response: "You should buy the BMW iPOD integration kit. The AV input is only if you have a rear TV/DVD installed"

I didn't believe this response. Why would BMW install an AV input jack (3.5mm stereo plug) for a TV/DVD unit without a corresponding RCA connection for the Video signal? This jack HAS to be for stereo input.

I picked up the car on yesterdayand started experementing some more and came across what I *think* may be the answer. If you select Television from the screen then scroll through the channel selections available, one of them is AV. What put me on to this is that the rear console also has a button marked TV which allows rear passengers to change the TV stations - of course this button should also allow you to scroll through till the AV source is selected.

However, it's not all good news (yet). I still haven't managed to get sound to come through the car speakers from my MP3 player. For some reason the TV screen shows "Mute" at the bottom - I think this is because the signal still isn't getting through for some reason. It may be that my 3.5mm male/male stereo cable is faulty, or that there's something else that's needed.

Jez. Can you try using the TV AV input as described above with your MP3 player/cable and let me know if it works on your bosses car, just in case its a problem with my player/cable?

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

mmmfan · #3 03-10-2007, 05:33 AM

More information.

I did some more research on the x5world site and there are several threads which discuss the AV input issue. The most complete I found is at:

http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum/...ighlight=input

It's frustrating that BMW don't appear to publish accurate information on the AV jacks in the console - even the dealers aren't exactly sure what it does and how it operates.

The bottom line however is that even if you're lucky enough to find the correct cable to connect an iPOD, the sound will only be Mono and the NAV screen can't be used for anything else (and constantly flickers).

Looks like DICE is the only way to go.