ipod mount mod card holder questions!

[holtchristian]

Hey guys- im in the process of doing the ipod mount mod in the card holder. i plan to fiberglass a subtle clean dock that fits snuggly in the card holder. then have the wires coming from behind my radio thru the back of the holder. i also will make the tray only come out the necessary inch and a half or so. I already dismantled one of my few ipod docks and everything is on its way to work great but a few questions first!

1. how the hell do i remove the hold card holder tray. Ive seen the posts on here but they really are weak with detail. i understand you pull the top part off of the console and then i get lost. your supposed to push down something but the angle is rough to determine anything. Anybody with a writeup or anything would be nice. Not the cupholder! Just the card tray. Thanks

2. has anybody ran the DICE ipod connection through an apple dock? i am only running the headphone jack so my setup will work with the headphone jack but in the future i hope for a DICE setup. wondering if my mod now will do me justice in the future.

i know this has been done by some of you so help me out! ill be sure to post pics when im done or in the process. itll be sweet to push the card tray, slide in my ipod like audi meant it that way and even be able to use an apple remote! if im lazy. Thanks guys

[PRVWing]

sounds very nice! i want to see how it turns out, i might try it too...

for the ipod dock, i think you can just connect the Dice cable to the dock and place the ipod on the dock and should work perfect... the dock uses the same cable as the ipod itself...

[holtchristian]

yea i understand that -but sometimes things dont go to plan, maybe DICE wont be able to read the ipod through the dock. it would make sense for it to work. just lookin for any experience of this. basically anybody with a dock and DICE, can you check for me? thanks

[wunder wagon]

curious as to why you don't want to do the Panavise or ProClip? Clean and easy installation and you can run the wires right behind the iPod. I put velcro on my iPod and the mount to make removal a cinch. You could always mount an actual dock/mount/holder thingy to itl. I assume you wanted to go custom, though.

Ignore the gun since it was the only picture I had before my camera when kaput :( You can see where the iPod is in relation, though.

[kwimberly]

I have a DICE unit, but I don't have a dock. I have always used Panavise mounts. I have my XM receiver on the panavise, and I have my iPod on the ashtray door. Not as stealth as I would like, but I take it with me when I leave the car anyway. Also, since the DICE controls kind of suck, I prefer to use the touchpad on the iPod to control it.

edit: I definitely understand why you wouldn't want a panavise though - some people just don't like the look. My XM receiver is silver, and I have an all black interior. I'm thinking about painting the XM unit because the silver plastic kind of looks like ass with all the black. The red LCD blends with the car though.

[A4DJ]

So that's what the card holder looks like open?

[kwimberly]

^^ I think an "accidental discharge" might hurt a little from that angle!

I thought guns were supposed to go in the secret bin under the seat? :-)

[holtchristian]

hahah yea the panavise mounts just dont do it for me. i plan to show NO wires with my setup, and a very james bond (if you will) like style. im gonna wow my friends yknow. and i get my kicks doing this so i like my way better : ). hah please dont hijack this thread with the quirky gun remarks- but your right that should be in the secret bin beneath your seat along with drugs and whatnot.

back to topic- i dont have DICE yet, it merely is an idea. and if my setup works well enough i might not even need it so we will see...

now anybody know how to get that damn card holder out?? in detailed yet simple words?

[Sammy7]

The connection for a DICE is the same type of plug that you use to sync the iPod with your computer. If I understand what you want to do, you'll need to break the plastic that forms the plug and modify it somehow to get a low profile yet remain stable enough to dock your iPod into. Replacement cables are $40 a pop, so it's not something I'd recommend doing by trial and error. Then again, if your iPod's going to be readily accessible, you're not going to gain much by going with a DICE.

[holtchristian]

i shouldnt have to trim the dice cable- for it will lay flat behind the dock in the card tray- which is fine.

[holtchristian]

...bump

[holtchristian]

sorry but bump

[B-Rob]

Good idea, I'm actually trying to do the same thing. I was going Sammy's way, bought a pack of dock adapters from apple.com for like $9 (thieving bastards), and am going to cut the Dice connector to be a little smaller vertically. If you can find/hack up a dock small enough to fit in the tray great.

The question I have is that I hacked up a regular iPod>USB cable to test my ability with the connector, and found that on that cable only 4 of the 30 pins in the connector are actually used. So if you're using a dock, you run the risk of whatever it was in it's former life not requiring the same pinouts as the Dice.

[holtchristian]

i have a lack of experience with dice so i dont really understand exactly, but i do sortof know what your talking about. i already have the dock that fits in the tray, i jsut need to fiberglass it so its snug in the tray and nice and clean.

im desperate now tho- tricks on removing the tray?

[apatchin]

another idea i saw you guys might be interested in.

http://www.audiforums.com/m_347910/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm

[holtchristian]

great idea but too low and dangerous personally. thanks tho-

[holtchristian]

anybody else know a cheap good fiberglass kit or should i just use body filler ? like the linked thread?

[B-Rob]

The cc tray doesn't have much space around it like the ashtray does, and isn't really visible, why would you need to fill it?

[holtchristian]

to make the dock secure- so the ipod wont bounce around or anything? i dont care about filling it length wise- just so its snug width wise.

[holtchristian]

how to take out the card tray...

[B-Rob]

Got mine out this morning, it wasn't that hard. Took it into the dealership and they popped out the radio for free, but wanted $25 to pull the tray, and told me they didn't use any of the special tools the Bentley says you need, so I said no. I'm not sure if you have to have the radio out to do this.

Took me a while, but in hindsight pretty easy. Take off the trim piece around the top of the console (just get a knife or flathead screwdriver and GENTLY pry it off. It needs to come off straight, you'll break it if you try to pull it at an angle), and on the top side of the tray box you'll see two little tabs that hold it into the frame of the console. Get something long and skinny, push those in, and it'll slide out.

[clcsocal]

how to take out the card tray...

You have to take the radio out with Audi radio removal keys. My Concert unit takes two. Some Symphony Units take 4. I bought them on Ebay for $2.99. Place the keys in the slots under the knobs and it will pull out with some effort. You need to push the keys in towards each other as you pull out.

After the radio is out you can easily put your hand in and push the card holder out from behind. Remember to unplug the lighting connection from the card holder before pulling it all the way out. Also remember that the ESP button is actually attached to the card holder. Carefully unplug it. You DO NOT need to take the trim piece off. It is very hard to get off without wrecking it, so avoid it when possible.

This is the method the dealer uses, no trim removed. By the way, this is the same way to remove the drink holder.

I have been trying to find a deal on a Dension Ice Link to do the same thing, just not through the card holder. Good luck and show us how it turns out.

[clcsocal]

By the way, I see your in LA. If you want to use my removal keys, or need help let me know. I am in Santa Clarita, but travel in the valley and around quite a bit. PM me if you want.

[holtchristian]

awesome guys this is the help im needing. i have yet to try yet but as soon as i do ill let you all know and add any input of my own. clcsocal i appreciate your help man- i plan to get my own set of the removal keys anyways but thank you.

[B-Rob]

I disagree. It's helpful to pull out the radio to be able to reach back and push it from behind (but not mentioned in the Bentley manual, so not truly necessary), but you definitely DO have to remove the top trim. The tabs you have to push in are along the top.

[cfujikawa]

fyi... i have a dice unit, and i'm trying to do the same thing as you for my B7 A4. i thought i could just connect the ipod connector to an apple dock, and dock my ipod into that. but for some reason, it doesn't work for me. i have an ipod nano, and a dock for the iphone. when i use it to dock to my computer, everything works fine. when i connect the dice to my nano, everything works fine. but when i use my dock to connect the nano to the dice... the dice doesn't recognize the ipod.

not sure if this is an issue because i'm using an iphone dock rather than an ipod dock, or if the dice unit just doesn't like the dock. i'm a little stumped...

[clcsocal]

I have heard that the iphone and ipod interface differently. I'm not an Apple geek, I'm sure some one will know for sure, but someone else told me their iphone and ipod connectors were not compatable.

[pondside36]

Well it depends what you use for your Ipod/iphone... you can't use a fire wire type wire on the Iphone only USB... I have the Audi Ipod adapter and you can plug the Iphone into it but the quality sucks... haven't see a newer version of this cord for the Iphone..

[SeattleAWD]

not sure if this is an issue because i'm using an iphone dock rather than an ipod dock, or if the dice unit just doesn't like the dock. i'm a little stumped...

Your speculation is correct. The DICE unit uses a firewire only pinout to charge and interface with the iPod. All iPod/iPhone units worked with both Firewire and USB prior to the iPhone 3G. The docks (I know for the 3G, and likely for the original iPhone dock) for the iPhone support only USB.

Side note...Manufacturers have been told for years to stop using the FW only pin out, but Bose, DICE, and tons of others have insisted on using the cheaper FW solution. Now things don't work properly.

Side note #2... The iPhone 3G dock didn't allow the credit card holder to properly open and close with the dock inside the holder. Just thought I'd throw that in there. Installing mine in place of the ash tray.

[JohnUSMC]

curious as to why you don't want to do the Panavise or ProClip? Clean and easy installation and you can run the wires right behind the iPod. I put velcro on my iPod and the mount to make removal a cinch. You could always mount an actual dock/mount/holder thingy to itl. I assume you wanted to go custom, though.

Ignore the gun since it was the only picture I had before my camera when kaput :( You can see where the iPod is in relation, though.

I've been searching custom Ipod installs, but this made me laugh... was wondering if my Springfield XD45 would fit in the card holder LOL

[LampyB]

As far as my thoughts go I really don't like the ProClip for two reasons:

1. You can't read the ipod while driving when the ProClip is positioned as you can see in the pic with the gun.
2. It's ugly as sh*t whenever your ipod isn't in the car, and you can't just take it on and off.

I'm going to go with the card holder route because when you push the tray out, the ipod will be parallel to the steering wheel close enough to view your playlist and still use peripherals for driving. It will be angled to face the driver. I'm still working on how this is going to be done, but I'm getting close. I'll post up a thread in a while when I get it the idea down.

[drmeegge]

I'm working on doing this too. I wonder if this guy ever found out how to remove the card holder.
I tried a Blitzsafe deal, but the stupid 3G dock doesn't output audio through the 30 pin connector. ONLY through the line out headphone jack. So I'd have to get a regular PIE adapter and then also some kind of car charger to wire into the fuse box. I was hoping to get it done over the weekend, but Valentines day took over things.

[drmeegge]

Side note #2... The iPhone 3G dock didn't allow the credit card holder to properly open and close with the dock inside the holder. Just thought I'd throw that in there. Installing mine in place of the ash tray.

Yes it does, Just tear off the rubber piece on the bottom of the dock and you're all good. However like i said in the previous post - you can't use a 30 pin connector for audio on the dock.

[DrMatt]

Hi folks, new to the forum but have recently put a dock in my card holder for my iPhone 3G and found this helpful:

http://rapidshare.com/files/20283859...older.pdf.html
MD5: D421BDC6269478085CBDE318053EE820

[Spacemani]

Hi folks, new to the forum but have recently put a dock in my card holder for my iPhone 3G and found this helpful:

http://rapidshare.com/files/20283859...older.pdf.html
MD5: D421BDC6269478085CBDE318053EE820

Do you plan to share some pictures or how you did the mod?

[rickiwithani]

i will be doing this mod the next day i have off i will post pictures if anyone cares still but it seems this has been dropped. the thing Im worried about is if there is a circuit board on the ipod dock that will make it impossible to hack the sides off so it will fit in the cardholder.if i can't just cut that guy up i'll have to find a smaller one or build on using the universal dock inserts and the cable from my dice thingy

[onceover]

definatley interested in a diy guide

[forevraudi]

By the way, I see your in LA. If you want to use my removal keys, or need help let me know. I am in Santa Clarita, but travel in the valley and around quite a bit. PM me if you want.

i live in santa clarita too, holla!

the card holder looks like it would be too precarious of a location because its up so high, but for trying. im interested in the results, im looking into a mounting solution for my ipod & DICE

[AussieInSeattle]

I'd love to see some pics of the install as well - has anyone found a dock that plays sound through the 30 pin connector? As drmeegge said above, the apple one that fits nice and snug minus the rubber on the bottom will not play sound through the 30 pin connector :-(

[HBturbo]

I also have an iPhone 3g mounted in my cardholder with the Apple 3g dock and Dice. Instead of using just the dock connector (since it won't do anything with the Apple 3g dock except charge w/ Scosche), I also run a 3.5mm mini jack cable from the line out on the dock to the aux input on the Dice. I control everything via touch on the iPhone and volume on the Symphony II (trying to control volume on the iPhone won't do anything since it's line out). It sounds exactly the same as when it was connected with the dock cable. It's a great setup since i think it's easier to navigate the iPhone directly than with the buttons on the radio anyway.