Best way to fit Ipod into an E39?

[mattman]

I have just purhcased a 99 E39 with the standard BMW business radio/casette - hmmm!
Whats the best method for installing ipod compatibility?

I've seen some kits on ebay for 29.99 but are they any good and what sort of work is involved? I don't really want to rip the old stereo out and replace with a single din unit as I like to keep the dash as standard as possible.

I've used an FM transmitter before which are a bit cack and equally don't think the old cassette with a wire is a great option either.

Any recommendations?

[LordGrover]

DICE - not cheap though.

ETA - similarly Intravee.

Edited by LordGrover on Monday 27th September 16:43

[skoff]

I have a DICE Silverline and I wouldn't really recommend it. I think I paid about £100 for it. You plug it into the CD changer input.

It certainly lets you play your iPod through the car stereo, but it is very clunky and buggy. If you have a large music collection you will find it tedious trying to find specific tracks or artists. The only way I found to make it efficient is to set up playlists in advance, but this is a far from perfect solution.

I also have issues with the text display which only works as it should occasionally, and according to the manual, any changes you make to the set up of the system (dip switch changes) require you to disconnect the battery on the car, which is frankly a PITA.

I think the Intravee solution works better, but is more expensive.

My only other suggestion would be a parrot car kit, some of which have fully supported iPod connectivity, but I don't know how good they are.

[john_p]

The Intravee is superb, rock solid and works great on the single line display (some early E46 models excepted, but you can get around that with steering controls - not sure if E39 is affected, check the website)

I don't know how easy it is to get hold of the Alpine KCA-420 now though.

[DennisCooper]

Here you go!

http://www.toysinyourcar.com/acatalog/intravee.htm...

Looks like around £270 or so, and I think if your E39 hasn't got a CD changer, you'd need to purchase the OEM lead as if it did have one and connect the Intravee to it.

Cheers, Dennis!

[Fox-]

I have an intravee. It works brilliantly and is really, really good.

BUT

Is it expensive.

Intravee + KCA-420i = £230ish

You will also need a Multi Information Display if you have the boggo tape player for it to work properly. These either cost 99p as nobody notices them on Ebay, or £100 when a load of fools have a bidding war over them. Then you need to retrofit it with a £16 loom from BMW - it needs to be wired into the wiring loom of the car.

[joesmoe]

bmw do a oem retrofit ipod interface,
arond 190 from a dealer,
simular to intravee but doesnt display track name,

[Fox-]

joesmoe said:

bmw do a oem retrofit ipod interface,
arond 190 from a dealer,
simular to intravee but doesnt display track name,

Its rubbish, its a line in socket pretty much.

Intravee has complete ipod control from the head unit and steering wheel controls. It's very very good but very expensive.

[Max M4X WW]

I also have an Intravee, works fairly well.

I need to sort out the fields on the display though, is a bit messy at the moment.