How to kill your iPod using your DICE kit...

[TorqueDog]

This weekend I undertook the seemingly (and it was) simple task of installing my DICE iPod integration kit on my beast.

Everything was going according to plan. Get all my junk out of my trunk, and start removing fastners. Remove the 6 disc CD changer and disconnect it, etc.

My M5 has a build date of June 2002. As a result, it was expected that I would require the DSP Adapter module. I had read the instructions a couple of times, and it was very clear... if there is a coax going to your changer, you'll need the DSP adapter. If there is a 6-pin molex going to it, you can pretend like you already installed the DSP adapter and move on; you don't need it.

Well I had in it my head that I would require the DSP adapter... and it failed to register upon discovery of the 6-pin molex that, duh, I don't.

So I hooked up everything as the instructions said to, as though the DSP adapter was required. Ran my wiring to the front of the car, tucked the cable into the glove compartment, plugged in my iPod, made the final connections and hooked up the battery, then started the car and waiting for the "INIT" to appear.

Nothing. CD-1-01 showed up, and I heard some slight electronic interference. "Strange," I thought, "it didn't say anything about this in the installer's manual." I decided to unplug the iPod and plug it back in... or at least, I would have if, upon touching it, the iPod didn't burn me.

I quickly shut the car off, and grabbed a terry towel from the back seat and quickly unplugged the iPod with it, and threw the iPod onto the garage floor. The unit literally felt like it was going to catch fire. It stayed at this temperature for a good 5-7 minutes, just on its own, the screen frozen at the iPod's main menu. Bugger.

After it cooled to the point that I could bear handling it again, I tried using the click wheel to browse the iPod. Nope. I tried doing a hard reset. Worked... kinda. The reset portion worked, but following the Apple logo, the screen promptly displayed the "Sad iPod" screen with the url http://www.apple.com/ipod/support.html. The iPod t'was dead. Damn, there goes my free iPod (I found it frozen in ice on the sidewalk last winter, and it worked).

Puzzled as to what happened, I went and rechecked all my connections to discover that I did not need the DSP adapter at all. I unplugged it, removed the wiring taps and retaped the wires, and rechecked my connections again. Headed down to BestBuy and picked myself up a new 8 GB Nano w/ Video, charged it up, loaded it with tunes, plugged it into the DICE kit, and it worked like a dream.


So how do you kill your iPod using your DICE kit? By not following the instructions properly and giving it, essentially, double the voltage it requires/expects.


Follow your instructions, and it's an easy install, and a GREAT product. I love it.

[Diny]

How do you like DICE, though? What's the input delay?

[ChrisR]

Good advice! Thanks for making the mistake for the rest of us. But at least you got a nice new ipod out of the deal!

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Diny

How do you like DICE, though? What's the input delay?

I can't even call it a delay. I was expecting a second or two delay... but there isn't. It's great! Pretty instantaneous, to be honest.

The DICE kit works with the latest iPod units, by the way, so go nuts if you were planning on purchasing one but afraid that it wouldn't interface properly.

I have my track text scroller set to go under my speedometer/tach display. Very convenient. Getting used to what each CD function does will take time, but it's not difficult; just keep the quick reference guide in your glove box.

Next project: Installing a VSM (with a reverse camera, and Playstation 2 in the glove compartment for DVD playback on the Navigation screen).

... maybe I'll get that one done professionally.

[Diny]

That's good to see. I may not be able to see ID3 tags, I have a MY200) with the old setup. Still, no ID3 tags is not a deal breaker. Not being able to navigate folders, though.....is.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Diny

That's good to see. I may not be able to see ID3 tags, I have a MY200) with the old setup. Still, no ID3 tags is not a deal breaker. Not being able to navigate folders, though.....is.

Yeah, that can be a bit of a bugger. And the iPod unit controls don't work when it's plugged in (it says "OK to Disconnect").

I just make playlists of songs I like listening to regularly, or set my main library to shuffle.

You should be able to see the ID3 tags on the OBC read-out under your speedo/tach, shouldn't you? Or did the MY2000 cars not come with that either?

[Diny]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Yeah, that can be a bit of a bugger. And the iPod unit controls don't work when it's plugged in (it says "OK to Disconnect").

I just make playlists of songs I like listening to regularly, or set my main library to shuffle.

You should be able to see the ID3 tags on the OBC read-out under your speedo/tach, shouldn't you? Or did the MY2000 cars not come with that either?

Not a problem. I plan on mounting it on the trunk, well out of sight. I hate ipods and I wouldnt be caught dead walking down the street with one. The accessory convenience and the idea of my entire library in the car is the only thing that's making me buckle

[TorqueDog]

I was going to mount mine in the trunk, but since the PS2 is going to be glovebox mounted, and I don't want to have to run the AV cable all the way back to the trunk, the iPod can live in my glovebox with my Playstation 2.

[Blockdoc]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Yeah, that can be a bit of a bugger. And the iPod unit controls don't work when it's plugged in (it says "OK to Disconnect").

I

That's interesting...I can use either the Ipod controls or the BMW controls interchangeably.


Brian

[SoCaLE39]

Originally Posted by Diny

That's good to see. I may not be able to see ID3 tags, I have a MY200) with the old setup. Still, no ID3 tags is not a deal breaker. Not being able to navigate folders, though.....is.

Did you download the id tag file? I have a 2000 and my IDs are working fine after of course I downloaded the tag file. I may still have it on my computer if you need it.

[Diny]

Originally Posted by SoCaLE39

Did you download the id tag file? I have a 2000 and my IDs are working fine after of course I downloaded the tag file. I may still have it on my computer if you need it.

Separately, you mean? All my MP3s have ID3 tags, but they arent a separate file. It's all in the mp3.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Blockdoc

That's interesting...I can use either the Ipod controls or the BMW controls interchangeably.

It's probably a quirk of the latest iPod release, not the DICE unit itself. I have the brand spankin' new iPod Nano 8 GB... the one that does video now.