Eureka moment - easily streaming music from phone to Boardmonitor stereo!
 

So I already installed the OEM Aux Input retrofit since years ago - but whenever you choose a portable device to connect, they mostly have a very weak sound output and you have to crank the volume up on the stereo which makes it out of wack with the radio volume. Headphone outputs don't really cut it on a line in jack.

My car has a DSP amp which made the Eonon head unit swap impossible - eventually chatting with their CS in China revealed that that HU wasn't designed with the digital amp in mind. I'm not inclined to replace the amp and a good deal of wiring as I try to keep as much as possible to stock specs (except the air suspension, of course) - I replaced the Boardmonitor more or less resigned to not having a decent connection to my portable devices, unless I made a major change to the whole setup.

So, the other day it hit me and I went for an experimental purchase - a Bluetooth *adaptor* with a proper line out signal. I purchased this one at my local book/ stationery superstore, keeping the receipt and carefully opening the packaging in case it wasn't satisfactory. There was a Logitech one which cost less money and I would have bought it in a heartbeat, had it not required AC power in! The BT device comes with a 12V DC car adaptor to charge it, which you can run from the hidden socket under the glovebox and run the cable through behind the glovebox door.

I have to say the DA conversion is very good - it rings through clear with plenty of bass; the main thing is it's always ready to connect to the phone's BT and the level is on a par with the radio, so there's no volume shock when you change inputs. I'd recommend this to anyone who doesn't want to make a big, irreversible upgrade job to the stereo.

Yep, those things work great. I use the same sort of thing in our E61 wagon. I forget the brand of the one I use but it was $14 on sale at Sonic Electronix.

[mention]crystalworks [/mention][mention]BigLion [/mention]I looked up the auxiliary input retrofit cable kit https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/82110149391/ and it says that it doesn’t work with a 2001 e53 4.4, but I have an updated wide screen OEM Navigation system. Where is that cable supposed to be plugged in? I can easily pull my OEM display and drill the hole to get into the glove box to mount the plate / pull any power needed, so it’s really a question of is there an extra plug that I need to look for in that area?

Also since I updated my OEM display, my navigation GPS is acting weird. I plugged back in both the white and blue plugs into the back of the display and did not think that changing the cabin side OEM display would have any impact on the trunk mounted navigation system, but it no longer seems to know where I am it’s off by hundreds of feet to miles like the antenna is no longer communicating with the system in the back. Did I giggle something loose under the dash and miss reconnecting a cable? Because when I look at the back of the original OEM (small screen) nav unit, it only has the two (white and blue) plug connections too.


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The Aux cable should be fairly easily visible when you pull out the head unit - from memory it has brown, black and black/white cables (3) - a black connector about 5mm across. It should be sticking out of that same loom wrapped in lots of fabric :thumbup: