OK! Thanks for your help!! After a month of not being able to get this diagnosed, it sounds like you have solved the mystery. Thanks!!

No problem, we've got those in stock - just follow the link in post 11 and we'll get you one shipped first thing in the morning.

UPDATE!!!!

Received the DSP kit today thanks to overnight courier. I just installed it and IT WORKS!!!! So my X had digital DSP after all!!! The whole setting up took about 15 minutes only because I took the time to solder the power and ground wire connections. SOUNDS GREAT. Works on both my iPod touch and 2nd Gen Nano.

The Nano is now temporarily stashed in the trunk. I want to take a couple of days to decide where to install the iPod. Center storage? Glove box?

Lest I forget, THANKS Tom G.!!

LESSONS LEARNED

I thought I should post these for the benefit of the others who plan to go gown this route.

1. For Xs with DSP that DID NOT come with a CD-changer form the factory... FORGET the instructions about 'looking for a COAX cable'... your X will not have one because it has no CD-changer. LOOK FOR A COAX PLUG on the TOP of the DSP amplifier. My X had a 3 and 6 pin connector in the trunk but when I installed the DICE without the DSP kit, I could browse songs on the cluster but there was NO AUDIO. The COAX plug on my DSP amp meant that I had digital DSP and needed the adapter. I could have saved the cost of overnight courier if I had purchased the DSP Kit with the DICE module.

When I got it working, my install used the 3 pin plug, the COAX plug on the DSP, plus taps into the power and ground wires to the DSP amp (see below)... the 6 pin plug I found in the trunk WAS NOT USED.

2. When installing the DSP kit... the 2 wires that you tap in for power (BROWN and RED w/Green Stripe) on top of the DSP amp are ALWAYS HOT - even if the key is off. Disconnect the whole plug from the DSP amp when working on it... I got careless (did not expect the wires to be live, should have known better ) and set them down on my wire stripper... thankfully I just blew a 30 amp fuse (#72). Had I been working with the plug attached to the AMP I may have fried that too.

And No I did not disconnect the car's battery because I did not want to risk erasing data in the engine control computer.

3. While the DICE allows you to browse songs/artists etc... (I have only 900 select songs on my iPod) browsing a long list is a royal PITA. I am now creating many but smaller playlists in iTunes. Think of these small playlists as virtual CDs.

After a few days of testing the DICE, I'm very happy with the sound quality.

Hi,
I had the same issue w/ my 2001 X5 3.0i. I have the DSP and a cass. tape deck but the PO did not add the CD changer when she ordered it from the factory. I did not have the cable which i was mainly looking for and did not look for the plug in. The X5 did not have the 6 pin connector and i had to do the over night shipping (Sat) which cost me another $50.00....I just happy to have it all set up and ready for my road trip!!!

It was easy to set up and i was really happy how easy it is to take off the panels, sills, seat and so on. Try taking that out of a Range Rover Classic...lol

The sound is great and i am happy w/ the set up. I have the cass tape storage in my cubby box which allows some more space under the pull out part to store the DICE unit and ran the ipod plug up the hinge so i did not have to make a big hole on the bottom (thanks JohnD for that tip).

I have one question: At first i could see the song, artist display on my radio but i must have pushed a botton and it now just displays the artist and will stay frozen on the 1st 11 letters (will not keep "running" to show the full name). It would show the full name ("run") like it does on the radio. Does anyone how which setting i should press.

Thanks Tom for your help and thank the guys at your shop that helped me w/ the over night shipping for Sat.

Not true - all amplifiers will have the port present even non-DSP equipped vehicles.

The 6-pin may or may not be a live input on some applications.

We use a purple/white wire from the telephone connections, which is +12V switched. Ground can go to a clean chassis ground.

Not true. Removing the battery cables is critical to a proper install. Blame BMW for putting the battery underneath the spare tire. :rofl:

It was not to bad to take out the spare and gave some extra room to work in. A lot better then the Audi's (and others) batteries that they placed under the back seat...LOL

I just used the RED/GREEN wires and the BROWN ground on the amp and seem to do the trick (I had the battery un-plugged).

Thanks again Tom! Could you answer my question in the above post i made (about getting song, artist to display the full text)

Cheers,

Are all DIP switch settings in the UP position on the DICE module?

I do not have the DICE manual in front of me but i did what it stated for the early BMW radios/cass deck w/o nav.
I went DICE module: Car DIP mode (left 2 switches) up/off and down/on
Ipod DIP mode (right 2 switches) up/off and up/off

I get text display but it only reads the 1st 11 letters of the artist and it does not finish the rest of the letters in the artist name (if more letters are in the artist name). When i 1st tested the DICE i got the artist, song and it would display the whole names then later that night and only showed the 1st 11 letters. In the manual (DICE) i thought that it read for the Car DIP setting to go off and on if i have the radio/cass. tape deck.

Thanks for any info!!

We prefer al DIP switches in the UP positions in all X5 applications. If any changes are made, the battery must be disconnected while the change is made.