additional info on the aux input
 

i have a 2004 x5 3.0i with the bmw business cd and no gps or dsp
i didnt want to spend 35 dollars buying a factory kit. i went to radio shack to get a 1/8" phone stereo jack for 3 dollars

http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...t%5Fid=274-248

it acutally fits right into the cigerette holder in the ashtray. wires can be brought through ashtrey light and through the hole under the ashtray.

i did not have a torx screwdriver nor did i want to buy a set of torx screws. a small flathead screwdriver from a micro set works just fine. i used it to turn the torx lock about 90 degrees counter clockwise, and at the same time used a pair of small pliars to pull the head unit out using the volume pot. the lock will turn back by itself, so you have to hold the torx lock while you pull the whole thing out.

the acutual connector for the aux input was acutally located on the back of the cd player, not on the radio. it took me the longest time to figure that out. for the adaptors to the factory wiring harness, i took the pins out of an old power connector to a computer floppy drive. they fit right into the connector. i took out the pins, and the wires to which they were connected. i then used buttconnectors to splice together the wires. the connector locks into the housing for the wiring harness via a rail, and if the terminals are inserted the correct way, they will get in the way of the rail. i turned the terminals upside down and le the rail lock the pins in place.

i used some pretty thick wire, so they were not flimsy...it helped when i was trying to snake the wires down to the ashtray. it also helped to remove the air control panel by pushing it out from behind.

so i saved myself alot of time and money... besides the time it took to figure out the very sketchy directions online, it is really easy and not invasive to the vehicle at all. i didnt need a drill or anything, just one small flathead screwdriver and a pair of small pliars. and about 5 bux

Did you put a capacitor and resitor inline in your DIY Aux cable like the OEM aux cable? You should if you didn't. The cable is only $34 and plugs right in. Seems alot easier than going to Rat Shack and trying to figure how to make a cable. Congrats though, I am not patient enough to try to reinvent the wheel. :thumbup:

whats the resistor for

not really about trying to reinvent the wheel... i like doing things for myself, as a learning process. i dont trust anyone else. also, i didnt want to deal with waiting esp if parts have to be ordered.

Can you please post a picture of the jack installed in the cigarette holder? I'm thinking about installing the jack in that exact location. Thanks. NCX is right, for $34 bucks or less for the aux kit, it's not worth it for BMW to void your warranty if something does indeed go wrong with your home-made mod.

i will post the picture tomorrow when the sun is out, thanks for the advice, i will be ordering the aux kit tonite

one more thing...just for the sake of learning info...

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=13716

what do youguys think?

If I remembered correctly, the 300kOhm resistor is there for the system to detect that you have an Aux connector attached. To an audiophile, this isn't really a good scheme since that resistor will introduce crosstalks between the left and right channels, although at a very low level which can only be detected by an instrument...but still, not a good practice. But the aux input is still much better than an FM modulator. A 300kOhm resistor cutting off low frequencies sounds like BS to me.

so if its already detecting the aux input... then theres really no poitn for me is there? or am i at risk of shorting soemthing out? maybe the internal resistance of my dap is enough for it to detect?

thanks so much for the replies and information... will post pix tomorrow

If it detected your connector without that 300kOhm resistor, then it sounds to me like you lack those DC blocking capacitors. So...if you haven't already done so, you should add some series DC blocking capacitors on each line on your self-made kit. I understand that these capacitors are on the aux kit that you buy from BMW. The blocking capacitors will prevent any DC signal from your portable MP3 player from over driving the inputs of the head unit and vice versa. The values of those capacitors WILL determine your frequency response...especially the lower cut-off frequencies.

I think the capacitor was also used to elimate loud pops from entering the radio when you first power on your source (MP3, player, DVD, etc). See diagram:
B1 is for cars with Business Radio/Dash CD
C1 is for cars with NAV

http://www.margraves.net/toys/x5/misc/aux_circuit.jpg

So Ive read all these posts, and I realized -- I have no f(&#in clue what you're talkin' about. Is this the wrong place, or should I start a new thread asking what the hell the connector is for anyway?

Oh yeah--parallel resistor with cap in series = high pass filter.

So I can just plug in an i-Pod in there and go?

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.

I just implemented this with several hours of debugging :banghead:.

Now a word of warning: there is a bug in this diagram. In connector X14118 pin numbers have changed places. Correct numbering is: 1-Right, 2-Left, 3-GND. Pins are in correct order in the diagram but numbers are wrong.

This was quite annoing since having to read schematics in a work I've used to rely on pin numbers. Component can be drawn various of ways but pin numbers is something you should be able to trust.