iPod install in a Porsche 911 Twin Turbo

[chinhster]

I'll do a more extensive guide once I'm finished. I'm pretty much going to have to start over on the wiring.

First my pride and joy :-):

[chinhster]

Just some quick notes:

Removal of the head unit was a b*tch. Putting it back in was even worse! Save yourself some time and go ahead and remove whatever is above your head unit. It makes putting the head unit back in much easier (I was lucky that I only have cupholders above my head unit).

I tested the lines going into the cigarette lighter and could've sworn that they're hot only when the car is on. But I've found since then that it stays on even after the car is off! So I've gotta rewire. In addition, even though I'm using a ground loop isolator, I still get a little whine... I had used the ground from the cigarette lighter but I think I'll go ahead and ground it to the harness that holds the head unit.

[davecuse]

Wow, I don't think I've seen a better skin for an iPod.

[chinhster]

I'll put these pictures up elsewhere once I find a place to put them.

I will say that the iPod does sit a little close to 5th gear. I had to leave out the tilt swivel which was unnecessary since the mount already leans the iPod in the right direction.

[chinhster]

Picture of cradle.

[chinhster]

Picture of mount.

What I would like to do is get a skin in black and somehow clip it to the mount. I like the look of the new exo skin. I wonder if the belt clip could be clipped onto the mount? I'm going to order one soon and find out.

[chinhster]

I had to crank up the contrast on the iPod display. I wish there was some way to turn down the backlighting. It's awful bright at night.

[Nicholas]

Nice set up you got there.
And thats an awsome car u got too.

[jasonmccabe]

Originally posted by chinhster
I had to crank up the contrast on the iPod display. I wish there was some way to turn down the backlighting. It's awful bright at night.

Adjust the Contrast in Diagnostic mode....that should help.

[loGan]

Just a suggestion but wouldn't it be better off mounted on the other side to the gear lever? that way it wouldn't interfere with 5th gear and would also be easier to see/operate?

Otherwise a nice looking install in an awesome car.

[NaTT]

I'm trying to get to the same result with my Boxster (CDR22).

I'm in the UK where we get CD changer preperation cables routed to the front boot. They're so well taped up there's no way of extrocating them from the other cables to route to the front though.
I've found out how to enable Aux from the boxa.net forum.

But I can't find a Becker Mexico Aux adaptor cable for love nor money in the UK.
Which is a pig cause I've got the head unit hanging out and (as you point out) there's no way it's going back in till I'm finished. What a nightmare getting it out is.

What holder and mount are you using? I'll definetly copy that. and what power adaptor / aux adaptor are you using?

And how are you getting power to it?

[chinhster]

Thanks for all the kind words. I was hoping to detail my install but didn't have a digital camera handy and was anxious to get everything installed before I drive off for Thanksgiving. My install was a comedy of errors so this might help you know what NOT to do.

First off, I got the Belkin auto adapter with the mini jack plug. I ordered a ProClip iPod holder ($35), and a ProClip Porsche 911 mount ($30). There is only one choice for the 911 in terms of the mount (other vehicles have different mounts for different places). I also ordered another holder and a mount for my 2003 4Runner which I will be putting an Ice-Link in (whenever the Toyota ones are available). The advantage of the ProClip mount is that it's not a permanent installation and you don't need to take apart your dash to do it.

I ordered an AUX kit from Becker which cost $24.40 shipped. They make them for the CDR220 and CDR230 (never heard of a 230, I've got a 220). Odd thing is that you actually have to put the kit together but it's fairly simple. It also comes with keys to remove the head unit. Grab a small hand towel before you do. Those keys are very thin and you're going to slice your fingers off trying to extract the head unit with as much force as you're going to need to get it out. And you're really going to need to pull on it to get it out.

I unplugged the head unit to get it out of the way. Let me warn you that if you don't know where your codes for the head unit are, do not unplug it! After you plug it back in, it will ask for a code. If you get the code wrong 3 times, it will lock you out for 60 minutes. However, this is not 60 minutes later, this is 60 minutes of the head unit being on!

After I removed the head unit, I was able to get to the wires where it clipped into the cigarette lighter. This is where I screwed up. I tested the wires and could've sworn they were switched. Turns out they weren't so I had to undo my wiring (I used a female cigarette lighter adapter from Radio Shack), find the switched line going into the head unit and tap into that. I grounded using a screw on the left side of the harness (you'll need a Torx screwdriver) that screwed the harness into the chassis.

I snaked the dock connector from the Belkin auto kit around the back of the console and up the right side tucking it into the area between the console and the dash. I connected the auto kit to the female adapter, connected the mini jack to RCA adapter that came with the ground loop isolator I got from Radio Shack into the auto kit, connected the isolator into the RCA plugs from the AUX adapter. Conncted the AUX adapter to the head unit and reconnected the head unit. I don't have a CD changer but if you do, you'll have to disconnect it to plug in the AUX adapter.

Now things are starting to look questionable. The cigarette lighter adapter seemed to have about 3-6' of wires and the receiver is pretty big. The isolator is big too and also has a long run of wires. Then there's the wire from the auto kit and good God, could the cigarette lighter plug on the Belkin auto kit be any bigger? It wouldn't even fit in the Porsche's cigarette lighter! I was afraid I was going to have to cut some stuff up just to get it all to fit. Well, there's a nice area deep behind the head unit and everything fits well back there.

I enabled AUX on the head unit, plugged in the iPod, turned everything on and heard nothing. I turned the volume all the way on the auto kit and the iPod and finally started hearing something. I played a CD through the head unit to compare and confirmed that even with the amp (preamp?) on the auto kit, the sound coming out of the iPod is fairly low. I tried the headphone jack and noticed the same problem. The difference isn't so great that you'll blow out your ears switching from the iPod to a regular CD but you do notice the difference.

Now getting the head unit back in took a bit of effort. I ended up removing the cup holder above the head unit. I can pretty much say it's near impossible getting the head unit back in without doing this. I could see the wires catching on the harness and had the benefit of being able to move them out of the way from above.

I installed the ProClip mount, and the holder to the mount. Forget about the swivel, it'll put the iPod too close to the stick shift and you really don't need it. Someone had asked earlier why I didn't put the iPod on the left side.

1) They don't make a kit for it.
2) My knee would occasionally bump into it (it does take a little knee space away from the passenger when installed on the right)
3) The steering wheel would obscure the iPod

The right side is the perfect side for visibility and accessibility (it's just about the same distance as the knob to change tracks on the head unit). If you have really large hands, you might bump the iPod when you're in 5th gear. I only had a problem when I installed the swivel with the holder but once I installed it with just the holder, I had enough clearance.

The iPod slides easily into the ProClip. Too easily if you ask me but perhaps they didn't want it scratching up the iPod. I forget how deep the iPod sits in it but I could see the iPod popping out if you hit a really huge bump. Of course my car isn't made to handle that kind of bump so if my iPod were to pop out, I would have bigger problems on my hand ;-)

Anyway, I took the car out for a drive and noticed a little tinge of engine whine even with the isolator. To be honest, the iPod sounded kinda crappy... really muddy. I don't expect the quality to be superb but I didn't expect it to be this bad. I only listened to a few songs though so I'll get a better idea during my trip and I probably just need to experiment. The stock Porsche stereos are pretty crappy anyway though.

I plan on replacing some of the items I used with some higher quality stuff to see if it makes a difference. I'm also going to see if I can get power from the head unit so that I only get power when the mode is set to AUX. If they ever make an Ice-Link for Porsches, I'll switch to that (I've already emailed the company). The difference in price between the stuff I bought from Radio Shack and the AUX adapter versus the cost of the Ice-Link (not including the mount because they both need it) is probably $100-120. If it works as advertised, it's probably worth every penny. Especially if they solve the problem where you have to press play on the iPod after starting your car (it's paused when you turn the car off or on). And it seems to be a much cleaner install. Too bad they don't use the line out on the dock connect and instead use the head phone jack.

Hope this helps someone out.

[Doc-iPod]

I also wanted to install something like this into my Porsche 911 GT2 but then I went to my Porsche Dealer, they did a great job :D. I did the same with my 3 BMWs, my Bentley, my Mercedes-Benz and my Porsche Cayenne Turbo... I can only say "go to your dealer it's not difficult" :D indeed I was to stupid to install it by my own. Shall I also let this be built into my Porsche 911 Targa 3.0, built 1978 ? I think the speakers are not good enough for it :D

But chinhster, you did a great job, maybe I'll try it by my own on my new BMW 760Li :D

Doc-of-iPod

[kloh]

Great job! Nice, clean install.

[chinhster]

After listening to a variety of music for a few hours, I can say that the iPod sounds fine with the Belkin auto kit. I think my initial reaction was due to the poor sounding tracks I listened to (I had it on shuffle so it was quite a coincidence that the first 3 or 4 songs I listened to all sounded like crap).

[jpel85]

Just a suggestion but wouldn't it be better off mounted on the other side to the gear lever? that way it wouldn't interfere with 5th gear and would also be easier to see/operate?


....what good would that do its a six speed...just depends when you want to hit your hand on it....haha

[Eyenovation]

Nice setup. Even nicer car. #### you for having both.
:D

Just kidding.

[bhb399mm]

real clean instal.... i just finished an install in my 2002 Jetta VR6 using the belkin auto kit and im starting an instal with the ice link in my 04 Audi S4 in a few weeks.. any tips you could give me .. or problems you ran into?

[urbanmac]

I think the ICE>Link would of looked better IMHO, I dont like the way you have to plug in the wire to the iPod and if you dont use the iPod the wire would just trail on the floor, the ICE>Link resolves all these problems.

Nice car though! :)

[bhb399mm]

thats why my instal is in my arm rest

i looked into an ice link for my jetta, but as it is a dialy driver, and the lease is up in 6 months, i decided against a costly instal. i am going to put the ice link in my S4 as soon as i have time.

[chinhster]

As for a tip, you'll almost definitely need a ground loop isolator.

I had considered getting an icelink (I have an icelink in my other car, a 2003 4Runner) but because the iPod is mounted so close to the head unit, I didn't see the point (I don't have steering wheel controls). The autokit pauses the iPod (in the Porsche, I keep an iPod mini) so the only thing I have to do differently from the icelink is hit play after I start the car. The only time I touch the head unit is to adjust the volume.

I almost never take the mini out of the Porsche except to sync it up with iTunes so connecting/disconnecting the cable isn't an issue. Even with the 3G iPod in my 4Runner, I never take it out either except to sync.

As I've said in other posts, the icelink is great if you have steering wheel controls or want a stealth install. Otherwise, just get an aux converter.

I have carbon fiber in the Porsche and I've thought about buying the stickers to put on my mini to make it look like carbon fiber. It'll probably look like ### but I figure it's worth a look.

[bhb399mm]

the only problem i can see if conecting the ipod via aux imput to the hifi bose stereo in my s4.... i dont want to change the head unit, and i dont think i'd like having to play blank CDs (as is the case with the pie x3 audio input)... i dont mind spending the extra $$... so i think ill just go with the icelink.

[centauratlas]

I am looking to do the same thing on my 2004 Twin Turbo Cab. Is this still something for the dealer to do? (I don't think they have a clue sometimes). ;-)

[Rabid Yoshi]

Originally posted by Doc-iPod
I also wanted to install something like this into my Porsche 911 GT2 but then I went to my Porsche Dealer, they did a great job :D. I did the same with my 3 BMWs, my Bentley, my Mercedes-Benz and my Porsche Cayenne Turbo... I can only say "go to your dealer it's not difficult" :D indeed I was to stupid to install it by my own. Shall I also let this be built into my Porsche 911 Targa 3.0, built 1978 ? I think the speakers are not good enough for it :D

But chinhster, you did a great job, maybe I'll try it by my own on my new BMW 760Li :D

Doc-of-iPod


Awwwwwwwww, nice cars...........

I got a nice install on my Saturn!!!!!!