Yes you can.

The Auxiliary connector will allow you to introduce any audio source into your audio system with an OEM BMW cable. When the cable is connected, a new mode will be available on the radio called "AUX". The cable plugs right into the 2003-2005 X5's and comes with a 1/8" stereo female jack. You could convert that to any jack you need. People are using it mostly for portable MP3 audio and DVD audio. However, I found an additional use for it. On my lunch hours I plug in my battery powered preamp to the aux connector and jam on electric guitar through the X5's stereo. :D

two years ago i posted this





check out the archives:

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles.php?...icle&artid=113

http://www.bmwmotorsports.org/x546s/...d/P8091325.jpg

I cant believe this?! 6 months Ive had the X and I had no idea I could do this. I would blame the stlr rep, but 25 minutes before I drove off the lot with the x, I was scehduled to pick up an E90 they had just finished washing for me. One drive was all it took! LOL...

My daughter will LOVE listening to "Barbie starring as Rapunzel" at 50db's. I however.....

http://jadedbeats.net/auxiliary/thumb/IMG_1323.JPG

http://jadedbeats.net/auxiliary/thumb/IMG_1324.JPG

http://jadedbeats.net/auxiliary/thumb/IMG_1325.JPG

http://jadedbeats.net/auxiliary/thumb/IMG_1326.JPG

http://jadedbeats.net/auxiliary/thumb/IMG_1327.JPG

since the holder is so narrow, i had to pull back the sleeving on the jack so it would fit all the way in.

thanks everyone for the circuit diagram, looks like i have some more work to do...

so let me get this strait... the caps are used to take out the pop, and the resistor is used to make the headunit to detect. so if i dont care about the pop, and it works, then am i ok?

when i dont have anything plugged in, the circuit is obviously open, so there is no aux option. but when i do plug soemthing in, it is detected... is that all the resistor does? i think i may just leave it the way it is. 15k service is due soon so i will ask the dealer too...

Good luck and take a look at Drex's DYI aux cable as an example. You can clearly see how he duplicated the 2 caps and resistor like the OEM solution.

No...you are NOT OK. You need the capacitors regardless of the pops. As I said in my earlier post, It is there to block any DC bias that might be on the line, either from your portable player or from the BMW head unit (every output driver and input buffer will have some sort of DC bias if it is running off of a single power supply and it is different from device to device depending on the power rail that it's using). If the caps are absent, a potential problem of either your portable unit may overdrive the head unit's DC bias point or vice versa (that's why it's sometimes referred to as a DC blocking cap because it prevents the DC bias of one system from interfering with another). In either case, things might work fine in the short run, but eventually, one of the drivers (either your portable or head unit - usually the weaker one) will get stressed and craps out.

thanks so much, thats exactly what i needed to know, sorry i missed it in your other post.

caps going in tomorrow, thanks for all the great info again everyone : )

are we sure that its .22F cap? isnt .22 Farads a whole lot?

...

ok i got .22uf. its green... looks like the same one in the pix above. i must say, the aux input now sounds like crap.

You seem to be determied not to use the inexpensive cable that was designed for your car. The OEM cable is a 10 minute fix and sounds great. I hope you get yours working and sounding good!

haha no i am determined to learn. thats how i work through things, thats how i am passionate about things. i like doing it myself becuase i think its fun, and i like learning in the process. plus if there was a store that i could just go to and buy it, i probably would. either way i would be waiting for a few days for shipment. with a circuit in the signal, it would never sound as good as it did strait, i wish they designed it differently. i take audio very seriously, so it wont sound great to me.

thanks again for everyones help... i did spend alot of time searching and didnt find much... at the very least i hope someone else may find this thread useful.