Sound 5 - Connect to Aux in!

[anomaly]

The first part of this process is to order the Aux in cable kit from Becker
part # BNA-1319, cost $16.40 plus shipping (Total cost ~$25USD)

You'll also need a cable to connect from your MP3 player headphone jack to the Aux In kit. You'll need a 1/8" Male to stereo RCA Male like this one

Next, see my posting about pulling the stereo from your dash:

If you're interested, take a look at the wiring diagram for this stereo

Now - let's get down to business!

Surprisingly, the kit was not already wired up - apparently the same kit can be used with multiple head units, so you'll need to connect the wires yourself.

Take a look at the parts that come "in the box"
1 kit.jpg

In addition, the kit includes some helpful instructions
2 instructions.jpg

Here's a closeup of the cables in the kit
3 Cables.jpg

Pull the stereo out of the dash
4 pull stereo out.jpg

Here's the diagram of the pinout needed for this project
4.5 pinout.jpg

[anomaly]

Here's where the plug will fit in when we're done
5 plug connection.jpg

*WHEW* - it fits perfectly!
6 perfect fit.jpg

The tricky part here is making sure that the wire is inserted properly. Putting it in wrong makes it HARD to remove from the blue wiring block, so exercise caution!

Note that the pins on the back of the stereo are aligned horizontally, and you'll want to align the wire so that the connector lines up to slide on the pin.

First, connect the yellow wire - note that while the photo looks like the blue plug is pushed all the way in, it's NOT - if you push the blue plug all the way in at this stage of the process, it will be difficult to get the wire seated properly in the connector.

This is the Left + connection
7 yellow wire.jpg


Next hook up the brown wire
This is the common ground for both channels
8 brown wire.jpg

Finally, hook up the red wire
This is the Right + connection
9 red wire.jpg

Now it's ALL hooked up!

[anomaly]

Now it's time to hook up the iPod.

Grab the RCA cable
rca_cable.jpg

Hook up to the Aux in kit (match colors)
10 rca to ipod.jpg

Now it's all hooked up!
11 all hooked up.jpg

Now, how do I get the stereo to switch to Aux in? See page 93 in the radio handbook:
12 Set to Aux in.jpg

Press the leftmost bottom button until the display reads AUX.
Turn the Volume knob until the display reads AUX ON

Then you'll hit the CD button when you want to listen to your MP3 player!

[anomaly]

Now it's time to run the wires through the dash. First, i tried putting it in the Glove box, then I finally chose to run it out the front of the dash.

Here's how to run the cable to the glove box:
Open the glove box
13 Open glove box.jpg

Push up on the latches on the top of the box
14 glove box latches.jpg

Let the glove box fall open
16 Really open glove box.jpg

If you're careful, and have a small enough arm, you can push the wire from the center hole in the dash over to the glove box. Reach up with the fingers of your right hand through the hole the latch to catch the end of the wire.

Pull the wire through the round hole in the middle of the glove box.
17 jack in glove box.jpg

Once you've grabbed the wire, pull it out and close the glove box. 18 Jack in box.jpg

Now you're ready to reconnect the RCA jacks to the Aux in, then close up the dash

[anomaly]

There's plenty of room for the wires in the dash.

Gently guide the wires on the left behind the stereo as you slide the head unit back into the dash.
19 wires in dash.jpg

Reconnect the RCA cables
20 rca connections in dash.jpg

Here's a good hole to use for snaking out the headphone connector
22 find a good hole.jpg

Here's my iPod in the dash - ready to run!
23 ipod hooked up.jpg

[sikwan]

Good thorough write up Anomaly!

[biggy herm]

This is awesome! Thank you so much. I am in the process of hooking up my sirrius radio, now I can use my ipod too.

[Tuono]

Thanks for the writeup! I did a quick-and-dirty version of this by just cutting the RCA plugs off a standard stereo cable like the one you used, and soldering on female connectors to fit the correct pins on the radio (sheathed in heat-shrink tubing). Good to go! Thanks again!

[anomaly]

So, this week my wait was over. I finally received "iPod interface part# 1678.299" from Harman Becker parts.

This product is available from them for $136.50 plus shipping.

This week has been really nuts at work, and I've been dying to give this a shot.

I had high hopes about this, despite the following info in the Becker Great Britain site:

The Becker Remote Kit lets you control your iPod(r), conveniently select
titles from your music library via the car radio display and enjoy
top-quality sound. Compatible with 3rd and 4th generation iPods(r), Mini
and Photo iPods(r).

The following products are iPod(r) compatible:
Mexico 7948 (starting system-cd 3.5)
Mexico 7942 (starting system-cd 3.6.1)
Cascade Pro 7941(starting system-cd 3.5)
Cascade 7944 (starting system-cd 2.5)
Traffic Pro 7945 (starting system-cd 2.5)
Traffic Pro 7949 (starting system-cd 2.5)
Indianapolis Pro 7950, 7952, 7953, 7955 (starting software version 3.0)
Indianapolis 7920, 7922, 7923, 7925 (starting software version 2.0)
Grand Prix 7990, 7992, 7993, 7995
Mexico Pro 7936, 7937, 7938, 7939

So I finally hooked up the unit tonight. Pretty smooth, and the iPod began to charge as soon as I plugged it in. I went through the menus on the stereo to configure the Aux input from Aux in to CDC. At that point, the stereo did not see a CD changer.

BUMMER!

What I did discover is that if I switch the stereo back to Aux in mode, I could listen to the audio. So what I get for the price of the adapter is an easy hookup from my iPod dock connector, the ability to charge the iPod, and only one wire hooked up to the iPod (not a headphone jack and a power adapter.)

I've been thinking hard about whether to hook up the iPod through the GPS unit, whether to mount the iPod on the dash and use the headphone connector, mount the iPod on the dash and use the dock connector to charge and get audio out.

I'm still on the fence. At this point, given that the cable I have in hand makes a fairly elegant connection.

Is it possible that I still need to do something to get the Sound 5 to recognize the iPod as a CD changer?

Interested in hearing your thoughts....

[lespaint2]

I will try this cable, I thing that is the best option for now. Installer.comaip-rca.jpg