Well, this install has become an Odessey. The service manager who OK'd the connector recovery out into the trunk, reneged. My SA told me that once he saw what I wanted, he said it was too expensive and, anyway, they wouldn't install a non-BMW. Obviously, he didn't get the message and when I came in to pick up the car, I was ready to do battle. However, coolness ruled over brute strength. When I had a chance to explain to him that I only (here I backed off my original "do the right thing demand" of reinstalling the console) wanted to have trunk access to the two CD cables, and that I had done almost all the work but needed a little tech expertise for the final removal-which should only take about 3 minutes, he got the tech manager out to help me. The tech worked the front and I worked from the trunk. One connector came out easily, but the other one was tougher. The wire was no longer jammed against the firewall, but the connector itself seemed to jammed against something and wouldn't budge. But we persisted and out it came. I'm writing this up because I think there are few lessons to be learned:
1. The help on this board is great. If I didn't have the confidence that the info gleaned here was spot on, I would not have persisted with this DIY
2. Be nice to your service manager when a confrontation is in the offering
3. When the connector wires are really jammed tight between the box and the firewall, no need to remove averything. Just get some one to work it from the other side and be gently persistant in playing the wires until they come out.
Tomorrow I will hook the iPod and Dice up and make sure all works well before closing things up. I do intend to drill a passage hole in the rear of the box for the CD connectors so that I can place the iPod in the storage box.
Special thanks to pvr for his excellent hlp and for sticking with me on this.
