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Aux & USB in the armrest

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PointedMarlin

Member
Sutton Coldfield
I’ve only tried to play music through the Aux attached to an iPod once & it started then cut out

At the weekend I tried playing music through my phone attached via USB & again it very quickly cut out

I read a topic a while ago about the Aux connecter being temperamental but I wonder if both my Aux & USB are suffering from a loose connection under the armrest

Does anyone know if this is the likely problem & if so is it an easy fix?

For reference here is my under armrest set up
 

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Simple test would be to use speaker cable only from aux in to phone speaker out (if iphone has one) and see if it plays ok.
if ok various options to have y cable that also goes into USB and aux in from just being able to change tracks or to get track info onto Idrive if car has it.
 
Some clarification please...
PointedMarlin said:
I’ve only tried to play music through the Aux attached to an iPod once & it started then cut out AUX from the iPod to the AUX socket only I assume?

At the weekend I tried playing music through my phone attached via USB & again it very quickly cut out Again, USB only, and not the AUX? Also iPhone or Android?

I read a topic a while ago about the Aux connecter being temperamental but I wonder if both my Aux & USB are suffering from a loose connection under the armrest

Does anyone know if this is the likely problem & if so is it an easy fix?

For reference here is my under armrest set up
Click to expand...
For that set-up the cables from the AUX/USB are about 9" then go to another plug connector and then from there onto the MULF/Combox in the boot. But to get to these connections you need to lift the whole centre console, I've attached a link to my video showing how to remove the centre console that'll give you the info on how to gain access to see the cable connections underneath.

Removing the upper trim...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYQgNDj4Fac&t=434s

Lifting the main console...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYQgNDj4Fac&t=1087s

Hope that helps :thumbsup:
 
[ref]AnubisZed[/ref], Hi Dave, I was waiting for you to show up :thumbsup:

Yes you are right in both cases -
Aux to Aux only on an iPod
USB to iPhone only

What I was finding both times was that the songs would start & play for a bit then cut out so I just assumed it was a loose connection somewhere along the line

Some further info that might help was that if I used the idrive menu to reselect the Aux or iPhone then the music would briefly start before stopping again

So I wonder if I’m stuck with 📻 or 💿

I don’t suppose connecting my phone to the usb in the glovebox would help - but I haven’t tried it
 
Hmmmmm, strange that both should be playing up at the same time, but there is a common connection here, and that is the MULF/Combox (depending what you have) as both of these signals go to these before being relayed to the headunit via the MOST fibre optic lines.
Does your Bluetooth work properly? Have you disconnected anything recently either in the cabin or boot area or someone has worked on your car?
Now if your Bluetooth isn't working properly either then this'll be the answer (but if the Bluetooth does work you still can't rule it out though).
The MULF/Combox is on a mount behind the carpet against the bulkhead in the boot to the left of the through hatch. Other than that it's going to have to be checking connections, but my money is on the box.
 
Sorry not got back to this thread in a while

Bluetooth works fine as I’m able to make/receive phone calls

I’m going to try again at some point & use the usb in the glovebox but if it plays up then I’ll temporarily admit defeat as I’m considering totally replacing the speaker set up anyway or just leaving it as is depending upon costs because I’m not going to do it myself - I’d get a professional job done
 
The USB in the glovebox is not for playing music, it's for transferring music to the hard drive and updating the maps.
Try playing music from a memory stick in the centre console USB and see how that goes, it could be an issue with a compatibility problem with the phone (maybe :? ).
I'll explain a couple of problems with your fault...
Potential AUX/USB socket fault - The AUX and USB are separate parts within the combined socket, hence no common parts for this fault.
Potential short wire (the 9" first connection) connection fault - If this was loose then you'd expect it to be faulty all the time and not allow you to play for a while then pack up, and then do the same next time.
Potential MULF/Combox fault - This is more likely as the bluetooth side will be a separate part of the internal PCB to the audio processing, so although you are getting your bluetooth through this may be the case. Now checking your car I see it's a 2011, so I'd assume it won't be a separate bluetooth module (TCU) and unless you have bluetooth music then it'll be a MULF (for bluetooth music streaming it would be a Combox). Now MULF's are cheaper to get hold of, and I believe a used unit "should" be plug-n-play as you already have all the correct coding there for it.
Working on that assumption, here is a relatively close dated version (cross referenced that it is suitable for the E89)..... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265532462623?hash=item3dd2f7d61f:g:gAQAAOSwTdth~EUP

Now if it's not a MULF and you do have bluetooth music streaming then you'd need one of these instead, as you can see a bit more expensive (actually this one is very well priced)....
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265532451106?epid=3025445313&hash=item3dd2f7a922:g:P4EAAOSwT4dh~ELq

Obviously I'd suggest checking everything first before buying a replacement, but it gives you the idea as to how cheap MULF's are.
 
Ok an update …

Today I used the usb in the armrest to connect to my iPhone & play Amazon Music through my car speakers fine

I wonder if when it was breaking up before it was because I was using the sat nav & the car couldn’t cope with the sat nav instructions as well as using the phone to play music

Anyway problem solved :thumbsup:
 
PointedMarlin said:
Ok an update …

Today I used the usb in the armrest to connect to my iPhone & play Amazon Music through my car speakers fine

I wonder if when it was breaking up before it was because I was using the sat nav & the car couldn’t cope with the sat nav instructions as well as using the phone to play music

Anyway problem solved :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Excellent, glad you've sorted it :thumbsup:
 
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