removing iPodYourBMW kit

[phong13]

I've been doing a lot of reading on these forums and I haven't been able to find this out. Hopefully, someone can help me with this.

I recently purchased 2003 X5 4.4i. The previous owner had the OEM iPodYourBMW kit. I am thinking of removing it and upgrading to the DICE kit. My reason for wanting to switch this out is because, I don't like the fact that I can't pick what songs I want to listen to. It keeps resetting to playing the first song that starts with A.

From the installation instructions, it looks like there are some wire cutting and splicing. Do I have to reconnect those wires to be able to install the DICE unit?

Thank you.

[docridge]

Originally Posted by phong13

I've been doing a lot of reading on these forums and I haven't been able to find this out. Hopefully, someone can help me with this.

I recently purchased 2003 X5 4.4i. The previous owner had the OEM iPodYourBMW kit. I am thinking of removing it and upgrading to the DICE kit. My reason for wanting to switch this out is because, I don't like the fact that I can't pick what songs I want to listen to. It keeps resetting to playing the first song that starts with A.

From the installation instructions, it looks like there are some wire cutting and splicing. Do I have to reconnect those wires to be able to install the DICE unit?

Thank you.

Well, the Dice unit connects to the harness that your CD changer connects to (assuming you have a CD changer). I just installed the DICE unit in my 2003 4.4i. The DICE unit has many issues. I don't think it is designed very well. If you read all the threads on this site you will see that many people have had issues with it. I had to send one unit back to DICE and even the replacement unit has the same issues. Some days the DICE unit works great and other days it does not. So, not very reliable. But, you will be able to scroll through songs and artists when it is working properly. Good luck.

[phong13]

I've had the older Dice unit in my 2002 Mini for many years now and I haven't had any problem with it. I got the Dice unit as a replacement for the Ice>Link Plus unit. I pretty much control everything from the iPod itself aside from track +/- and volume.

The Dice unit just arrived today. I will try to install it tonight and see how it goes.

[mrtm2008]

Originally Posted by phong13

I've been doing a lot of reading on these forums and I haven't been able to find this out. Hopefully, someone can help me with this.

I recently purchased 2003 X5 4.4i. The previous owner had the OEM iPodYourBMW kit. I am thinking of removing it and upgrading to the DICE kit. My reason for wanting to switch this out is because, I don't like the fact that I can't pick what songs I want to listen to. It keeps resetting to playing the first song that starts with A.

From the installation instructions, it looks like there are some wire cutting and splicing. Do I have to reconnect those wires to be able to install the DICE unit?

Thank you.

Kind of funny that I just joined Xoutpost and I just happen to do this on my wife's '04 E53 X5. Just a short blurb first...we bought the X5 CPO without iPod & had the dealership install it. We dealt with the drawbacks for 2 years because the Dice I had in my E46 M3 was just ok & we also spent $800 thinking that maybe it was up to par, our bad!

Anyway, not sure if you have Nav or not (so this might make a difference) and I just purchased the Intravee II to replace it. As I wasn't too sure about what was involved in the kit or the installation of the BMW ipod set-up, I went in blindly. I knew that the iPod connection was in the glove box, so I went & took the glovebox out (not sure if there is a DIY on this here or not). After I got the glovebox out I found a small unit that the ipod cord connected to & another cord to go behind the nav. So I had to take the Nav out. Taking the nav out is actually pretty easy. The plastic piece around the front of the nav unit pops off (3 clips on the bottom, 2 on the top), just use something strong but thin & work around, pulling it up. Once you do, there are 5 torx screws to take out & then you can just pull the Nav unit out.

When the Nav is pulled out, I found a new wiring harness attached to the cord that went to the iPod unit and it also ran to another small (new) cable that went back toward the glovebox. Basically the new wiring harness pulled 3 wire connectors from one of the 2 main wiring harness connections (the black one) to the back of the Nav unit. THOSE 3 wire connectors need to be pulled back out of the new wiring harness connector & reinserted into the connector that goes into the back of the Nav. It actually becomes quite obvious when you see it. Disconnect the small wiring connection on the new wiring harness to the wire that leads back toward the glovebox. Then remove the new wiring harness because you don't need it anymore.

From here, you are done with the Nav unit. That one New cable that ran toward the glovebox needs to be taken out. I found that it is routed under all the lower door sill panels, under the rear seat, through a used wireing harness hole & into the trunk, under the rear spare tire.

So from there, you have to take out the spare tire, take out the air suspension frame bolts & nuts, put them to the side & unscrew the screw holding down a plastic cover that goes around the rest of the battery area (it doesn't cover over the battery itself). After taking that out, you will see a set of connection that the new cable finally connects to, as well as a connector that is no longer connected. Take out the new wiring harness connector & replace in the connector that is the same (white) color.

Now you system is back to the way it was stock!

I REALLY like the Intravee II system compared to the Dice unit I have had. And from what I've investigated, the new Dice Pro isn't much different from the dice I had. But that side of the coin will be up to you!

Hope this helps...if you have any questions, ask them here or PM me.

Marshall

[mrtm2008]

If you don't have Nav...I just saw this in the How to's section...just reverse the steps:

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/...ion-guide.html

[phong13]

Originally Posted by mrtm2008

Kind of funny that I just joined Xoutpost and I just happen to do this on my wife's '04 E53 X5. Just a short blurb first...we bought the X5 CPO without iPod & had the dealership install it. We dealt with the drawbacks for 2 years because the Dice I had in my E46 M3 was just ok & we also spent $800 thinking that maybe it was up to par, our bad!

Anyway, not sure if you have Nav or not (so this might make a difference) and I just purchased the Intravee II to replace it. As I wasn't too sure about what was involved in the kit or the installation of the BMW ipod set-up, I went in blindly. I knew that the iPod connection was in the glove box, so I went & took the glovebox out (not sure if there is a DIY on this here or not). After I got the glovebox out I found a small unit that the ipod cord connected to & another cord to go behind the nav. So I had to take the Nav out. Taking the nav out is actually pretty easy. The plastic piece around the front of the nav unit pops off (3 clips on the bottom, 2 on the top), just use something strong but thin & work around, pulling it up. Once you do, there are 5 torx screws to take out & then you can just pull the Nav unit out.

When the Nav is pulled out, I found a new wiring harness attached to the cord that went to the iPod unit and it also ran to another small (new) cable that went back toward the glovebox. Basically the new wiring harness pulled 3 wire connectors from one of the 2 main wiring harness connections (the black one) to the back of the Nav unit. THOSE 3 wire connectors need to be pulled back out of the new wiring harness connector & reinserted into the connector that goes into the back of the Nav. It actually becomes quite obvious when you see it. Disconnect the small wiring connection on the new wiring harness to the wire that leads back toward the glovebox. Then remove the new wiring harness because you don't need it anymore.

From here, you are done with the Nav unit. That one New cable that ran toward the glovebox needs to be taken out. I found that it is routed under all the lower door sill panels, under the rear seat, through a used wireing harness hole & into the trunk, under the rear spare tire.

So from there, you have to take out the spare tire, take out the air suspension frame bolts & nuts, put them to the side & unscrew the screw holding down a plastic cover that goes around the rest of the battery area (it doesn't cover over the battery itself). After taking that out, you will see a set of connection that the new cable finally connects to, as well as a connector that is no longer connected. Take out the new wiring harness connector & replace in the connector that is the same (white) color.

Now you system is back to the way it was stock!

I REALLY like the Intravee II system compared to the Dice unit I have had. And from what I've investigated, the new Dice Pro isn't much different from the dice I had. But that side of the coin will be up to you!

Hope this helps...if you have any questions, ask them here or PM me.

Marshall

I don't have a NAV. I ended up ripping out the OEM unit, but I left the wiring in place because I didn't feel like spicing the wires. I ran the wire from the CD-Changer port in the trunk to the center console storage. I have the DICE unit sitting in there along with my iPod or iPhone depending on what I want to use at the time. I've been controlling everything from the iPhone or iPod since the controls on the head unit is a bit slow and hard to work. Most of the time, I just listen to music on random so it's not much trouble for me. I do enjoy having the text display on the dash or the radio itself if I have a passenger in the car.

[BmwX5SF]

I installed ipod kit from iCarkits model called Neo ProLink which was very easy to install ( took about 20 minutes , removing the spare to get to the battery cable was the toughest part of the install ) . The connections are through the disc changer in the back which was only 2 plug in connectors. I dont have the 6 disc changer nor the DSP so it was just a matter of locating the 2 plugs . Also on this ipod interface , the options on it are numerous where you can selection by playlist , songs , artists , and genre as well as having it on random selection . The display can be sent on the radio or driver's display panel . I secured my ipod on the rear cargo panel so I didnt have to run the wire cable all the way to the front because I just wanted to control the ipod through the radio or steering wheel controls. I havent had any problems so far and the company has great customer service.

iCarKits.com