Aux cable help

I'm scared of the solder etc! Not that good with electrics! Why does this have 2 ends anway can I not just get a phono to mini to go in 1 of the 2 wires.
 
The two wires are left channel and right channel.
To get it to plug into a headphone socket, you'd need to also buy one of the cables posted up earlier by Un1eash which are about £6 on maplins:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31700

However, the stereo will ONLY show AUX on the screen if it detects connectivity between the left and right audio channels.
You MAY be able to trick the stereo by connecting up your iPod or other music device and turning the volume up high on it, but this never worked for me.
The "real" way is to have a resistor connected between the left and right channels - which will allow the stereo to ALWAYS display aux - regardless if something is connected to the aux cable or not.



If you ask nicely, I can probably knock you up a cable that will connect to the one you've already got, that ends with a 3.5mm jack that'll plug into your iPod's headphone socket, has the correct resistor and capacitors, all for about £5 for parts and another quid for postage.. ;)
 
Pin wise:

pinout.jpg


The red and green coloured pins are the left and right audio in respectively
The blue coloured pin is the ground.
These are the true aux connection pins on your headunit.
 
Thats great mate I may have a go on what I have at the min, and wait to get some other goods. If all fails I'm glad you can help and appreciate that, thanks
 
Or, if you're lazy like me and don't have a soldering iron - £45 for the official BMW cable :wink: .
Expensive, but still cheaper than the £300+ I know some people have been quoted to get it fitted by the dealer.
 
Nope I tried putting the pins in the way they came and the instructions I recieved also bought a cable as discussed to plug into iPod and kept turning up and down and still nothing!! No aux. This is so frustrating all these electrics :) if you can make me a cable I would be very appreciated.
 
Hey guys I have a problem, got my cd player out and the wires came out - I put them back in as per guide and now it don't show aux? Help please
 
Hi,

I know that this is a topic that gets done to death - but I'm mid purchase on a Aux cable:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-AUX-IPOD-MP3-MINI-1-3-5-SERIES-Z4-BUSINESS-PROFESSIONAL-/130627567456?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item1e6a027f60


The guy is saying my unit must have a quadlock connection and allow you to currently select aux.

I've got no idea what quadlock is and currently I cannot select aux - but I've read elsewhere that this only becomes selectable when an input it attached?

Is someone able to advise if they think this would work? I have a 2006 facelift model with Business CD unit.
 
it will only show up on the radio when there is a bridged connection between the aux output channels on the back.

Quadlock is the name for the connect on the end of the wires.
Whilst it's not 100% needed, as you can buy a couple of pins from maplin for about £2..

however, I'm not sure that the cable shown on that eBay item actually has the right connector on it.
The ones in the back of our stereo can be seen in many images earlier in this thread.. it's quite small and compact... this looks like an older version BMW used to have.....
 
Aux cable for £10 - link in this thread: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=33609#p455854

Simply plug n play - I've been using one for a couple of years now.
 
sk93 said:
it will only show up on the radio when there is a bridged connection between the aux output channels on the back.

Quadlock is the name for the connect on the end of the wires.
Whilst it's not 100% needed, as you can buy a couple of pins from maplin for about £2..

however, I'm not sure that the cable shown on that eBay item actually has the right connector on it.
The ones in the back of our stereo can be seen in many images earlier in this thread.. it's quite small and compact... this looks like an older version BMW used to have...
..

actually.. on closer inspection, it does look like the right one.
I've had my head in a charger for the last year, so having nice shaped plugs is a bit of a long-lost dream :rofl:

Ally's lead is definately the correct one tho btw.. but you'll still need a male to male stereo connector cable, wheras the one you posted comes with it.
 
a11y said:
Aux cable for £10 - link in this thread: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=33609#p455854

Simply plug n play - I've been using one for a couple of years now.

a11y said:
Buy THIS aux lead for a tenner, and route it into the glovebox - that's what I've done although I rarely use it as I've also got a (functional!) 6-disc changer but also an OEM MP3-disc playing headunit.

Fitting the lead is REALLY easy once you've got the centre air vents out - DIY guide is on the site if you have a search I'd think.

a11y said:
I don't recall that info previously when I bought mine - fairly certain I don't have those inline bits, and that was starting with my 54-plate pre-facelift that originally had a non MP3-disc playing headunit.



Just ordered one (without resistors) so I'll let you know if it works. If not, I'll splice in the relevant resisitors and try again :thumbsup:
 
You definitely need resistance across the two outputs. The headunit doesn't display "AUX" now, and simply extending the pins with wires isn't going to signal the headunit to enable it; it checks for current across the two and if it's there, it enables the AUX output.

Trust me; I built my own cable the hard way ;)
 
Are you saying that if you bought the one Ally used and bought it with the circuit board in line as advertised for a fiver that it would pick up the aux or am I completely off course?
 
OK cheers for the help all. I'm a bit of a novice so to save having to splice anything I've gone for the one that basically tricks the unit into thinking it's the CD changer. Bit more £$ but it sounds simpler to me!
 
sk93 said:
You definitely need resistance across the two outputs. The headunit doesn't display "AUX" now, and simply extending the pins with wires isn't going to signal the headunit to enable it; it checks for current across the two and if it's there, it enables the AUX output.

Trust me; I built my own cable the hard way ;)
I just used that basic cable in the link - can't recall there being any resistors or the like when I fitted mine a couple of years ago. And that was to a 54-plate, July-2004 built 3.0i fitted with a later MP3-playing basic business headunit from a facelift Z4/X3. Works perfectly and AUX displays and was enabled.

I guess for an extra £2 it might be worth folk getting the extra doodahs just in case.
 
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