michael10128

I have an iPod i want to use in my 03' E500 non navigation car (US version),

I have yet to find an aux input plug anywhere in the car. The Belkin FM transmitter sucks...dont want an ugly cassette tape cord hanging out of the radio either.. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. anyone get it done aftermarket??

Happy New Year!!

muhri

Some guys in the W203 soldered wires onto the tape player sound channels and created a jack where you insert using a female to female the connection to the IPOD. They say it sounded great, I'd love to do it myself as well. My FM transmitter sucks too and it uses batteries.. should have went with the IGriffin since it does not use batteries but i didn't know that until I had already purchased the belkin one. Currently, I use the tape adapter. Someone from the W210 forum installed the tape from the inside so that the wire does not dangle but comes through the ashtray. That's another idea but I think the W203 solution is much better.. now if some one can make instructions to do the same on the w211, that'd be awesome!

CaptMike

drb:michael10128 said in a NON-NAV car.

drb

oops!....never mind.....need sleep...


btw, on my pre nav car there was no aux port. This was extensively discussed during 03 on this forum.

Oslo

Here is my Ipod with COMAND

Randy B

Oslo where did you get the mount for the Ipod?????

Oslo

http://www.kuda-phonebase.com/home.htm

muhri

Oslo, I'm interested in learning more about your setup - where are you wires running from and I see your IPOD is charging so you must have ran the wire thru the ashtray as well.. More pics would be appreciated.

Oslo

Some more pics

bboerit

I have Nav now and use the aux jack (delivered broken by the way... had to convince the dealer it should work... had to get MBUSA to send an email before they believed me and fixed it)... But with non-Nav, I ordered iTrip. It sucks, don't buy it unless you live in the desert somewhere and have plenty of open frequencies...

jabo

FWIW

The key to using iTrip for me was to set the volume to only about 50% on the iPod. Otherwise the high frequencies distort badly.

I use the 87.9 FM in Chicago and it only occasionally sees interference.

I have once come across another vehicle on my frequency though. The output from their Tx was more powerful than the iTrip so I could only hear their music in my own car.

moa4r

but how is the quality in general?? is it worth it?? i am thinking of getting an ipod with the fm transmitter since only nav cars have aux input
and by the way, there is no wiring involved with that setup, right??

jabo

Obviously, you'll need power, I'm using the belkin power adaptor which is great because it automatically puts the iPod in power down mode when you shut off the car and automatically powers up the iPod when you start the car.

You still have to manually hit the play button to get it started.

For the iTrip, the quality is good but not phenomenal.

I have found that AAC recordings sound much better than MP3s, from the iPod thru the iTrip.

moa4r

thank you...what is an aac recording?? Also, you could always use its battery while in the car and just keep charging it when you get home i guess...

i might buy one, but i miay also wait for the mini ipod coming out next month...supposedly its the size of a business card and holds like 4gb, and its cheaper.

jabo

AAC is basically an MP4

Variable bit rate compression format.

Mini iPod shoud be pretty cool, but there might not be an FM transmitter available for a few months as it took Griffin a while to ramp up production on the current models.

Battery use makes it a true wireless solution. Just can be a bit of a chore to make sure you are always well charged.

jabo

Looks like the mini iPod was announced today on the Apple website.

Appears to have the same mic/acc jack as the current generatioon of iPod which means the current iTrip should work with it as is.

moa4r

i noticed that, but now i can't decide weather to get the mini or the normal one, which is already pretty small and has so much more memory... by the way, are the acc (mp4) files larger than mp3s??? Is there any way to convert from the old format to the new??

jabo

In order to get to AAC you would have to either reRIP from originals or there may possibly be a converter.

They would almost always be smaller than MP3s as they were meant to be.

BTW, there is a new product from Monster Cable called the iCarPlay that allows you to only use the dock connector on the botton to both charge the iPod and playback thru an FM transmitter.

This would allow you to use the remote for controlling playback and volume in the car instead of having that jack used up by the iTrip as I have now.

I would be able to avoid having to open the phone console to put the iPod in play mode or advance to another song.

MBZ4LIFE

I have an '03 Nav system and my glove compartment has not aux input.

I'm bringing in the car back to the dealership this week. They said if it's not there, they will order one for me. Unfortuantely, that part is not available in the US. Only from Germany. When they do, I will post the part number for you. You may be able to use this part for a non-NAV system. In any case, I will ask the shop manager whether you can get an aux input in a non-nav car.

stay tuned.

moa4r

thank you greatly appreciated...looking forward to your service guy's anwer...

Dema

HP will do iPod as well with WMA support, and it looks like more portable than AAC which tied to Apple.
Does anybody use Belkin or SiK Imp adapter? Can you hear a whine sound with adapters?

muhri

so none of you guys have done sort of hardwiring like the w203? maybe we should pay an electronics guru to create a way for an input? - Dema, whats the sik imp adapter is that different than an fm transmitter?

Lt0104

Awesome Setup, I have a 2004 E320 and would like to know where is the AUX output. My Navs says that it is there but where is the plug?? Can anyone help.

Thanks,
Len

MBZ4LIFE

Your aux input should be in the glove box.

interpol

I was looking at a 2004 E500 w/NAV yesterday... trying to find the aux input in the glovebox. All I could see was what looks like a 1/4" mini-jack in the top center of the glovebox... is that the aux input? Or am I missing something? I guess I was expecting to find RCA jacks.