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Thread: AUX-IN to stock E36 head unit

  1. #51
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Staten Island, NY
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    1998 BMW 528i
    Hello xisco44,

    Why not to try and use Auxillary Interface? Like for example, made by USA Spec I am using? All you need is use your CD Changer hook ups:


    It cost me $30 for Harmon Kardon Drive+Play (eBay) and $9.98 for USA Spec Auxillary Interface (CircuitCity).

    I have outstanding sound, way better than with Cassette Adapter and absolutely no hassle with mod of my radio.

    Let us know how is it going,
    siny528i

  2. #52
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    PANAMA
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    530i 11/00
    then i loose the cd changer

  3. #53
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    1998 BMW 528i
    Well, you are not going to loose it. It will be there, but just disconnected. What is the point to have CD Changer with 6,10 or 12 CDs anyway, if you can have (and easily access it) as many CDs/Albums as you want. For example, I have 322.
    Last edited by siny528i; 10-21-2008 at 10:53 AM.

  4. #54
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    530i 11/00
    if my dad want to play a disc or something.
    anyway

    i already have an aux i did this mod, the dealer sell an aux cable that you plug on the back of your headunit.
    it supposed to work only in 2002+ radios but i make myself one cable for less than 2 bucks .
    and plug it on the back of my radio at the beginning didn't work, but then i put a fuse on my cd changer that didn't have one so the disk changer didnt work and put a disc and voila now recognize my aux in cable.

  5. #55
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    1998 BMW 528i
    Quote Originally Posted by xisco44 View Post
    if my dad want to play a disc or something.
    anyway

    i already have an aux i did this mod, the dealer sell an aux cable that you plug on the back of your headunit.
    it supposed to work only in 2002+ radios but i make myself one cable for less than 2 bucks .
    and plug it on the back of my radio at the beginning didn't work, but then i put a fuse on my cd changer that didn't have one so the disk changer didnt work and put a disc and voila now recognize my aux in cable.
    so, you got it. I thought you needed help with it.

  6. #56
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
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    99 M3 96 328iC
    This is quite the upgrade and a great little DIY. Extremely helpful a lot of BMW owners I am sure!

  7. #57
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    Oceanside, CA
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    Wasp & Duc
    Hi fellas,
    this mod was published on the Roundel some time ago and did it on my Z3 equipped with C33 headunit. It turned out pretty nice and it's working great.

    Here's a pix while I was testing the system (the white cable is the USP cable used to power the GPS)



    My MP3 player is my GPS unit (Harman Kardon GPS-510 with 4GB memory card).

    The problem I'm running into is a whining noise when the charger for the GPS is powered on and the cassette player is on. After some research I learned this could be a ground loop: the GPS charger uses a different ground than the aux-in cable (which is ultimately the ground for the radio).
    Is this diagnosis correct? Will I get rid of the annoying noise by using the radio ground as ground for the GPS charger?

    Thanks!!!
    Last edited by LPCapital; 11-11-2008 at 07:04 PM.



    ZetaTre
    2003 BMW Z4 2.5i
    2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d
    2006 Ducati 999S
    2012 Ram 2500 Laramie Longhorn 6.7 Cummins

  8. #58
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    Yorba Linda, CA
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    1999 TiAg M3, 2003 E46M3
    Quote Originally Posted by LPCapital View Post
    Hi fellas,
    this mod was published on the Roundel some time ago and did it on my Z3 equipped with C33 headunit. It turned out pretty nice and it's working great.

    Here's a pix while I was testing the system (the white cable is the USP cable used to power the GPS)



    My MP3 player is my GPS unit (Harman Kardon GPS-510 with 4GB memory card).

    The problem I'm running into is a whining noise when the charger for the GPS is powered on and the cassette player is on. After some research I learned this could be a ground loop: the GPS charger uses a different ground than the aux-in cable (which is ultimately the ground for the radio).
    Is this diagnosis correct? Will I get rid of the annoying noise by using the radio ground as ground for the GPS charger?

    Thanks!!!
    The easiest way to fix this without messing with grounds is to install a ground loop isolator between the GPS and the stereo. The GLI is basically 2 transformers that 'isolate' the grounds so they're not at different levels, allowing noise into the signal path.

    1999 ///M3 TiAg | Heated Power Vaders | DDM Projector36 5000K 55W HIDs | DDM 3000K 35W HID Fogs
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  9. #59
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    Apr 2007
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    Wasp & Duc
    I tried the GLI. This is the one I bought.

    However it kills the volume completely: it's so low that even if I blast it all the way I can barely hear it. I might have got a defective one, though.



    ZetaTre
    2003 BMW Z4 2.5i
    2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d
    2006 Ducati 999S
    2012 Ram 2500 Laramie Longhorn 6.7 Cummins

  10. #60
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    No, it shouldn't affect the volume at all. I recommend getting a different one.

    1999 ///M3 TiAg | Heated Power Vaders | DDM Projector36 5000K 55W HIDs | DDM 3000K 35W HID Fogs
    DDM Smoked Corners | DDM Weighted Shift Knob | K&N CAI | Mishimoto AL Rad w/Zionsville AL Shroud
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  11. #61
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    Wasp & Duc
    So I gave the GLI another try, but it distorts the sounds quality behind my liking.
    I was able to play around a little with it before I blew up the charger. Here are some more clues.

    1) I tried to source the ground through the brown (ground) wire in the radio harness, with no significant improvement (noise level still the same)
    2) while messing around with the wires I noticed the charger was still working even when the ground going through the charger was not connected, but the noise lever increased significantly (I guess now the AUX-IN was acting as ground for the charger...)
    3) I blew the charger before being able to try to source both power and ground from the radio harness
    4) If I use the charger that came with the phone and plug it into the cigarette lighter the noise level increases but not as much as in #2)

    A couple idea I got while playing around
    1) is the ground in the aux-in really needed or the ground in the power source is good enough (I'm asking because if the charger can ground through the audio I'm tempted to think the audio can ground through the charger, but in my mind this would mean no electricity would go through the audio system)?
    2) why don't I get any winding noise if I use the cassette adapter (the fake cassette with the wire...)?
    3) the AUX-IN plug is attached to the chassis of the radio (ground): could that be the problem?



    ZetaTre
    2003 BMW Z4 2.5i
    2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d
    2006 Ducati 999S
    2012 Ram 2500 Laramie Longhorn 6.7 Cummins

  12. #62
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    Ouch, sorry to hear the charger "blew up"... how'd that happen?!

    Anyway, to clear some things up:

    1. AUX-In ground, cigarette lighter, stereo chassis, and stereo harness grounds should all be the same. No need to switch the charger ground/power from the lighter to the stereo harness.

    2. The cassette adapter works without whine because it's electrically isolating the head unit pre-amp from the external audio. It's actually working just like a GLI in that there's a magnetic field passing the audio signal from one side to the next, with an ISOLATED ground. It's just not as reliable/clean as a direct connection because the tape head and cassette adapter can shift around during operation.

    There's no reason why a simple GLI won't work for you. I essentially built my own GLI using 2 audio transformers in my setup and it works flawlessly.

    1999 ///M3 TiAg | Heated Power Vaders | DDM Projector36 5000K 55W HIDs | DDM 3000K 35W HID Fogs
    DDM Smoked Corners | DDM Weighted Shift Knob | K&N CAI | Mishimoto AL Rad w/Zionsville AL Shroud
    Stewart HiPo Water Pump | Samco Hose Kit | 16" SPAL Puller Fan | Viper 5701LE Security
    E36 OBC is now open! Join the effort: BF.C Thread | openOBC Wiki

  13. #63
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    Quote Originally Posted by m2pc View Post
    Ouch, sorry to hear the charger "blew up"... how'd that happen?!
    That's cuz I'm an idiot...

    Quote Originally Posted by m2pc View Post
    1. AUX-In ground, cigarette lighter, stereo chassis, and stereo harness grounds should all be the same. No need to switch the charger ground/power from the lighter to the stereo harness.
    Please forgive me, but I thought the whole thing with ground loops and alternator noises was that the power and the aux uses different "routes" to get to the common ground... Is that what you're saying?

    Quote Originally Posted by m2pc View Post
    There's no reason why a simple GLI won't work for you. I essentially built my own GLI using 2 audio transformers in my setup and it works flawlessly.
    The GLI works, but the sound quality is significantly different... And I'm not the only one that says that: other folks said not to use one, but to solve the "source" of the ground loop.

    I think I saw a couple of pix of your setting: do you have a DIY or something so I can give it a try?

    Here's where I placed the AUX-in (The Z3 doesn't use the diversity antenna, whatever it is)



    Here's where I soldered the 3 wires (red is left, green is right, and black is ground) for the aux in:





    And here's the finished project:



    Thanks so much for your help so far...



    ZetaTre
    2003 BMW Z4 2.5i
    2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d
    2006 Ducati 999S
    2012 Ram 2500 Laramie Longhorn 6.7 Cummins

  14. #64
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Va.
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    My Cars
    e36 M3
    if ur not worried about losing cd changer u can remove audio inputs in radio and attach e90 aux input in console and leave changer power, ground and bus line connected to changer

  15. #65
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
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    Vancouver, Canada
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    1991 325i Coupe
    Question: is it only a typical AUX jack that can be soldered on or can you solder on a USB jack? Is it receiving power? I'm an electronics noob

  16. #66
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
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    Florida and ATL
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    1999 M3 and 1990 Jetta G
    I'm attempting to do this right now and ran into some trouble. My tape deck seems to be different.

    The circuit board is mounted on the back of the deck instead of under the shield as in the Jcrowell tutorial. here's some pics for reference.

    Here's the deck, the board mounted on the rear of the deck.


    here's the actual board

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  17. #67
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Mount Juliet, TN, USA
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    1996 BMW 328is
    I know this is an old thread but here is another tutorial I found and it works like a charm.

    http://blog.mountainblasting.com/diy...adio-aux-input

  18. #68
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Oradea,Romania
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    4
    My Cars
    1995 BMW 316i Compact

    Aux in Blaupunkt Reverse RDS

    Hellow there. Can someone help me doing the same thing but for a blaupunkt bmw reverse rds head unit?.. is it the same?.. I didn`t opend the radio because I want to know sure that everything is ok. It`s not the buisness edition... I hope someone will answer my question. Thank you . Have a great day.

  19. #69
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Staten Island, NY
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    1998 BMW 528i
    Hey guys,

    Few guys are asking me about correct places to solder the wires into..
    So here some pics... taken 10 years ago:











































    I hope its gonna help someone.
    siny528i
    BMW CCA 434493

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