iPhone Mouting & Charging

[Anonymous]

Okay so currently there is a cable in my glove box which is a Dension dock for a 30-pin iPod or iPhone. The cable looks damaged but with a 30-pin to lightning adapter from Apple my music plays through the AUX option of the stock radio, but the phone doesnt charge. I'm not sure if the phone is supposed to charge or not because this cable was there when I bought the car and was always in that condition.

I am wanting to find a mounting solution and cable solution so that I can mount my phone to the right of my steering wheel, but still have it connected to the radio. Initally I am thinking that I can get a nice vent mount for the phone, a new cable and route it through vents from the centre to the right of the steering wheel.

Not sure if that would work, routing the cable through the vents, so was wondering if anyone had either another way or can confirm that would work?

 

[Thunderous One]

Do you have cup holders?
If not, then perhaps there is a way of wiring the iPhone via the blanking plate of the cup holder?
It’s easy to prise away, a hole can be drilled through for the wiring and if/when you come to sell, the car or change phone location another blanking plate can be purchased at minimum cost.

Also, it might be easier if possible to use this route rather than heating vents.

 

[Chris_D]

Bluetooth is the way to go I'd suggest....with a BT connector dongle that sits on the 30 pin connector. A la.....

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have cup holders?
If not, then perhaps there is a way of wiring the iPhone via the blanking plate of the cup holder?
It’s easy to prise away, a hole can be drilled through for the wiring and if/when you come to sell, the car or change phone location another blanking plate can be purchased at minimum cost.

Also, it might be easier if possible to use this route rather than heating vents.

No I don't have cup holders and was thinking the same thing, I've never taken the blanking plate off so wasn't sure how the wire would be routed, I guess I need to take it off and have a look!

 

[Anonymous]

Bluetooth is the way to go I'd suggest....with a BT connector dongle that sits on the 30 pin connector. A la.....
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Photo 08-09-2016 20 57 09.jpg

This is a good idea, I do need to get a new AUX connector though as due to the damage the connection can be intermittent! Can be going driving along, hit a small bump and the music goes off!! Do you know where I would be able to get a new cable/what I am even looking for?

 

[mmm-five]

Bluetooth is the way to go I'd suggest....with a BT connector dongle that sits on the 30 pin connector

Would that not still have the same problem of not charging the phone?

 

[Anonymous]

Bluetooth is the way to go I'd suggest....with a BT connector dongle that sits on the 30 pin connector

Would that not still have the same problem of not charging the phone?

Yeah this would be a nice problem to solve!

 

[Chris_D]

Bluetooth is the way to go I'd suggest....with a BT connector dongle that sits on the 30 pin connector

Would that not still have the same problem of not charging the phone?

Yeah this would be a nice problem to solve!

You could charge separately via ciggy socket and cable and still stream to the bluetooth dongle, which is what I do.
Or rather, used to do. Since migrating to a decent Android phone with 4000maH battery I dont worry about battery dying. lol

 

[Anonymous]

So, I got up today and decided that I needed to find out exactly what was in the glove box. I took the glove box out to find a Dension Ice Link. According to their website this was supposed to charge the device as well as pass through audio to AUX but allowing the use of the radio or steering wheel controls. I think that the Dension dock that's is connected to the Ice Link is broken and therefore not charging. I have therefore just ordered one of these:

https://www.dension.com/automotive/products/accessories/single-ipodiphone-dock-cable

Hopefully this will connect to the Ice Link and a 30-pin to Lighting adapter will then surface for the audio playback and charging...

While I was in there I managed to re-route the Ice Link and have gone from the radio, around the back/underneath of the steering wheel over to the cup holder as suggested, which I think is going to work perfectly after I drill a whole in the plastic cover.

Ordered one of those vent phone holders from Belkin, but this one has a little cable tidy to hold the cable when I'm not using it!

 

[Anonymous]

Would that not still have the same problem of not charging the phone?

Yeah this would be a nice problem to solve!

You could charge separately via ciggy socket and cable and still stream to the bluetooth dongle, which is what I do.
Or rather, used to do. Since migrating to a decent Android phone with 4000maH battery I dont worry about battery dying. lol

If these cables don't do the trick then I think I will have to resort to this, just don't like the idea of cables everywhere on show!

 

[Thunderous One]

I could r3alky do with visiting a site member to get advice or see for myself how they have connected their ICE
I love playing music in the car but the Z4 I purchased has the satnav package and I cannot change the head unit without losing the control of the display.

That’s fair enough as I don’t use it anyway, however, should I go and instal my Alpine headunit would the screen still pop up?
Would it display anything?
I’m aware I will have to find a route, as recommended by a forum member via the Center console for the sub i want to install in the boot.

Any advice is welcome
I basically want to put a sub in the boot and use my iPod classic
That’s all

 

[Monaco84]

Would that not still have the same problem of not charging the phone?

Yeah this would be a nice problem to solve!

You could charge separately via ciggy socket and cable and still stream to the bluetooth dongle, which is what I do.
Or rather, used to do. Since migrating to a decent Android phone with 4000maH battery I dont worry about battery dying. lol

are you satisfied with the sound quality?

 

[Chris_D]

Yeah this would be a nice problem to solve!

You could charge separately via ciggy socket and cable and still stream to the bluetooth dongle, which is what I do.
Or rather, used to do. Since migrating to a decent Android phone with 4000maH battery I dont worry about battery dying. lol

are you satisfied with the sound quality?

SQ is tip-top. The phone/dongle combo utilises the aptX codec which means that even playing back high bitrate FLAC files or even native DSD files through USB Audio PLayer Pro on the phone is totally feasible.
However, I mostly stream Bassdrive.com which at 128kbps still sounds surprisingly good!

Unfortunately, as my amp has died I have had to resort to using headphones in the car if I want to listen to music these days :|

 

[Monaco84]

The phone/dongle combo

thx for the answer. Unfortunately, I cannot find any mpow dongles on amazon :-(

Is the Bluetooth dongle always powered by the battery or only with ignition on?

 

[Anonymous]

Okay so, the cable I ordered is the wrong one. Turns out Dension changed from an 8-pin connector to a 9-pin but don't tell anyone that on their website! So now I am having to rethink. I think I am either going to have to buy a Dension Gateway Lite and a Lightning connector for this, which is about £120 in total, or buy a new radio with a facia plate.

I just don't want cables all over the place so would have to get a radio with USB on the back for a lightning cable to be ran inside the dashboard. But I would definitely like the phone to charge so....

 

[Chris_D]

The phone/dongle combo

thx for the answer. Unfortunately, I cannot find any mpow dongles on amazon :-(

Is the Bluetooth dongle always powered by the battery or only with ignition on?

You could try this one. I think I also bought this as a backup in case the MPOW dongle failed, which it hasnt.
https://www.amazon.de/Layen-i-SYNC-Bluetooth-Receiver-Adapter-Schwarz/dp/B00903LFMU/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1540574262&sr=8-16&keywords=ipod+bluetooth
You will need the voltage converter dongle too which sits between the ipod cable and the dongle. I don't have a link for that unfortunately as it came with the car when I bought it.
Works a treat when all hooked up though.
I think it activates on ignition. I have left it connected permanently and bundled into the rear cubby without any issue.

 

[Monaco84]

The phone/dongle combo

thx for the answer. Unfortunately, I cannot find any mpow dongles on amazon :-(

Is the Bluetooth dongle always powered by the battery or only with ignition on?

You could try this one. I think I also bought this as a backup in case the MPOW dongle failed, which it hasnt.
https://www.amazon.de/Layen-i-SYNC-Bluetooth-Receiver-Adapter-Schwarz/dp/B00903LFMU/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1540574262&sr=8-16&keywords=ipod+bluetooth
You will need the voltage converter dongle too which sits between the ipod cable and the dongle. I don't have a link for that unfortunately as it came with the car when I bought it.
Works a treat when all hooked up though.
I think it activates on ignition. I have left it connected permanently and bundled into the rear cubby without any issue.

thanks for the link, but unfortunately the seller says "not for Cars" in his description

 

[ph001]

The bluetooth module listed above does not stream digital audio out via the 30 pin connector. That's why it's not compatible with some docks and presumably why they says doesn't work with cars. It still sends out analogue line level audio out through the 30 pin connector. Anyway, I kind of thought you'd given up on the 30 pin connector idea as it's not really necessary.

The most cost effective way of doing what you want is to have a simple bluetooth dongle which sends audio to the aux in on your existing stereo and then just have a single charging cable to your phone on the windscreen mount. This is pretty much what I did on my post here (jump to halfway down second page for the install).... https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=104224&hilit=iphone