iPod Connection/Radio Removal

[Malc_R]

Guys

I am looking to move my XKR into the new millenium, connecting an iPod interface to the standard Radio unit in the console.

How do I get the radio out ?

Cheers

Malc R

[Nik]

Hi Malc ,
It's no problem , remove the cap off the extreme rear end of centre console by pulling it backwards , remove the gear selector surround by pushing an old credit card vertically in the gap top and bottom both sides , disconnect sport/cruise switch plugs , remove the four phillips screws that retain the veneer , undo the two torxdrive screws at the rear of the console and the two below the front fascia , lift up the console enough to disconnect the cigar lighter and illumination loom and carefully lift the console away , the switchpacks and radio assembly are secured by phillips screws and are modular so easy to remove , reassembly is the reverse order , when you have had it apart as many times as I have it will take 10 mins tops to strip it all out and about 15 mins to reassemble , one thing to remember is to locate the LH and RH carpet properly otherwise the ashtray lid won't open/close correctly and you will need to take the console partly out to sort it ,

Hope this helps ,

Nik

[Malc_R]

Wow - sounds a breeze

I'll give it a try over the coming Bank Hol w/e

Cheers

Malc

[Nik]

No problem Malc ,
I'm on holiday from this Sunday down in Somerset ,
would it be any help if I gave you my mobile number to ring if you have any problems ,

Best of luck ,

Nik

[Derek364]

Malc,

I use one of those fm transmitters to link my ipod to the radio. Works very well in essex but if you're in the city it might suffer from interference. It connects to the cigarrete socket and charges the ipod at the same time. Much better than the CD changer.

Derek

[mike020150]

Great description Nik! We can all sense the voice of experience, (the school of hard knocks?). You've also reminded me that I have to tuck in the carpet behind the damped ash tray lid on my car. Mike.

[Malc_R]

Gents

Nik - In the end I did not try the radio removal - with the weather as appalling as it was, I couldn't muster the enthusiasm (even tho the car was in my garage). Guess you experienced the rotten weather in Somerset too.

Derek - I am looking to use of the 'connects2' range - the one I have in mind is called iPodRDS - it basically interrupts the ariel signal behind the unit rather than transmitting within the car - track info is displayed as RDS info (apparently !!) . I have one of the CD-interface type units going into a Sony ICE in my Stag. The sound is good; there is no interference or signal degradation cos it uses the CD-changer interface, but all iPod navigation must be done thru the single-line display of the ICE head unit - it takes over control of the iPod, and only supports Playlists. When you have around 1000 tracks looking for one, or a group whilst driving is impossible.

Personally, I like the iPod interface for selecting my music ( I tend to let it shuffle the songs itself) , so I am looking for the model of interface that retains the iPod menu controls - hence the iPod RDS.

Cheers

Malc

[charlock]

I am looking to use of the 'connects2' range - the one I have in mind is called iPodRDS

Just spotted this - don't know whether you have gone ahead yet.

I went for this a couple of months back and it works quite well but with a couple of drawbacks.

Firstly I found it reduced the radio sensitivity to other stations. I tried the various DIP switch settings under the cover of the box but couldn't solve that problem. However, I discovered that when you unplug the iPod, after a few second the Connects2 box powers down and the weaker radio channels come back OK.

Secondly, it seems very sensitive to iPod firmware versions. I tried various iPods and found that whilst they all played fine and the song displayed on the head unit, very few allowed control via the iPod clickwheel. I eventually settled on a 1st generation nano which works pretty well with one combination of DIP switch settings.

The good news is that it sounds very good. I expected a reduction in treble (with the 15Khz limit on FM transmissions in mind) but that didn't strike me. There is slight hiss at high volumes on quiet music passages but it is rarely audible and only when stationary.

The display is also very nice - it scrolls across the head unit very well and even seems to display odd characters (e.g accents) without difficulty.

I installed the box in a space under the head unit taking power from the cigarette lighter and my Jag phone kit, and brought the iPod dock cable up through the base of the centre console. Thus my iPod can hide away in the centre console and flops out resting beside the gear selector in use.

BTW, I couldn't find anything made for the Jag head unit to intercept the CD changer control/line ins. It is approximately an Alpine setup but with a Jag specific control protocol (there is a tech bulletin about it somewhere). Thus I think there is no choice but to go with an FM modulator option on our cars - or replace the head unit .