iPod Connection

This is the process that I used to get my iPod hooked up to my GTI. I first was running it threw a tape adapter, but found that I had a huge lose of quality. I later found out that the double din Monsoon units were having problems due to a miswired cable. Well, I fixxed that, and it got a little bit better. But it still didn't sound the way I wanted. After doing a few hours of research, I found a website called enfigcarstereo.com. They had a product that would convert the CD changer plug in the back to RCA. Great, I thought. Then I could just plug in a RCA to stereo cable, and just get an extension to the front glove box. That is exactly what I did.

1. Plugged the adapter into the CD changer port in the back.
2. Plugged that into a RCA-to-Stereo adapter.
3. Plugged that into a stereo extension cable.
4. Ran that cable to the front, into the glove box.
5. When ever I want to listen to my iPod, I pull the cable out, and plug it in.
6. Just hit the cd button till it changes over to the CD changer port.

Here are a few pictures of the cable, and the glove box:

iPod Mount

The iPod was hooked up, and sounded great. But I had to have a way to mount it. There is a company called PanaVise that makes custom mounts for basically any car. They have two for the GTI, Jettas as well. One for the upper part, and one for the lower part. I bought the one for the upper part of the dash. I don't have any install pics, but I will tell you that is was pretty easy. The mount just comes with the mount, you need to buy a holder to go along with it. Here are the part numbers from panavise:

Portagrip 2000-Model 702 (the holder)
Indash 75138-499 (the mount)

The mount gets installed in the dash, and you screw the Portagrip to Indash for a perfect fit. Here are some of the final pictures with and without the iPod:

Power to the iPod

Well, I have done everything else to my iPod, why not power it in my car. Though, again, I was forced with a problem of trying to hide all the cables. I could have just used a 12V adapter in the front, and let the cable hang only when I want to power. But, I just don't like to have cables shown. It's just my thing. So, thanks go to Volkswagen on this one, I am going to use the 12V adapter in the back. Here is a list of everything that was used to make it happen:

Griffen PowerPod Car Charger (You can not get any other Car Charger, it must be this one because it has a removable firewire cable)
MacAlly Firewire Repeater
SiK (Power Only) HotWire Firewire Cable
And of course, the step by step set up:

1. Plug the Powerpod in the rear 12V adapter.
2. Plug the 15 ft firewire cable (Included with the MacAlly repeater) into the 12V adapter, and run it to the front, under the glove box.
3. Plug the cable into the repeater.
4. Plug the SiK firewire cable into the repeater and run that to the glove box.
5. Pull the SiK firewire cable out whenever you want to power the iPod.

iPod Audio And Power Cable Run

Running the from the back of the car to the front was a challege. I just had to go threw several panels. I started in the back (Note: This might be different with Jettas, infact, I know it will be, but you should still be able to figure it out):

That will lead it to the back, lower portion before the bumper. Then you just need to pull up that piece and feed it through:

Next, you need to run it past the 12V plug. This time, if you can, you can just push the wires up inside, so you don't have to take the panel off. This works sometimes, other times, you need to pull the panel out:

Now the power is easy because I just kept the 12V plug in the stock place:

Okay, now that you have it out of the back, now it is time to move it to the glove box. The next step in getting there is threw the lower door panels. I was stupid when I did the audio. I removed the WHOLE panel in the back seat to get it under there. I realized later, that I can just run it under the seat, and only have minimal cables showing:

Next, we need to pop out the side lower kicker panels. This is really easy. Just pull up, and they will just snap off. (Don't worry, they snap back in):

Then just feed the cables to the front glove box. You will need to take the glove box off in order to get the cable in there. That is easy, you just remove the three screws on the bottom and the three when you open the glove box, and it should slide off. (It will not come undone on the left side, that is normal) Then just hide the cable behind the piece of plastic under the glove box:

Now, when putting the cables threw the glove box, you have two options. One, you can drill a hole, like I did first:

Or, the glove box already has a hole that you can feed the cable threw. I did this when I did the power:

Groud Loop Isolator

Well, once I had everything set up the way I wanted it, there was a problem. I was getting this horrible noise whenever I had the power hooked up. This was cause by multiple grounds, thus causing a Ground Loop. I just went to the local Radio Shack and picked up a Ground Loop Isolator. I also had to pick up two RCA gender changers because GLI is male, and so it the RCAInput adapter.

Final Notes

This should work with any MP3 or audio play out there. (Except the power, but you can do the idea on how to set it up)

Everything I did in this writeup was for the Monsoon Double Din CD player with Amp in the back. If you have a single din head unit, you just get a different adapter from RCAinput.com. And chances are, you will not have to run it from the back because you will not have an Amp. You should just be able to hook it up in the back of the head unit.

If you want to run this adapter with a CD changer as well, you will have a bit more work. I haven't had to deal with this because I use an iPod, and I don't understand why anyone would want to run a CD changer as well as an iPod. The iPod holds more than enough. Anyway, you might want to check out Sound Gate.

Here are some useful links:

http://www.nebulight.com/ipod/ipod.htm
http://www.panavise.com
http://www.macally.com
http://www.everythingipod.com
http://www.ipoding.com

Here is a simple setup for the docking ipods, since I wrote this article when the iPod first came out and didn't have the dock:

With that setup, you just run the black extension to under the glove box and you'd use the Enfig adapter for behind the head unit instead of the rear CD changer location.

Modified by nebulight at 5:06 PM 1-7-2007

Modified by nebulight at 7:10 PM 2-28-2007

Edit: Also, do you have problems opening up the glovebox with the mount there?

[Modified by GTIturbo6400, 10:20 AM 9-14-2002]

And no, the Mount will let you open the glove box. It works great. Panavise has two mounts for the MK4, one where mine is, and the other down lower, by the AC controls.

[Modified by nebulight, 11:26 AM 9-14-2002]

Gonna have to make sure my new headunit has some sort of AUX input (direct RCA's, CD Changer adapter, etc) to do this too.

What would be even more trick is to mount it hidden (maybe in the arm rest) and just have the remote mounted under the armrest or something.... that would be very clean.

I can see why you want the ipod in view, obviously to change songs and browse playlists, but hidden would be nice also.

And the question with how much did it cost to power it. I paid

$14.28 for the iPod charger Computers Plus NYC
$31.92 for the FireWire repeater Computers Plus NYC
$14.00 for the SiK HotWire cable LST&Store_Code=SS" TARGET="_blank"> iPod Products
Plus shipping.

It was around $75 bucks.

[Modified by nebulight, 12:27 PM 9-14-2002]

It will be a long time before they come out with 40 or 60 gigs. 20GB was a huge step.

Prices:

20Gb iPod: $499
PanaVise Mount and Holder: $30
Blitz Cable: $70
iPod charger $15
FireWire repeater $32.00
SiK HotWire cable $14.00
Shipping everything, rough price $40

HOLY SH!T!!!!!! I nevered added that up before. That's like $700 bucks! I could have gotten my new suspension for that. Oh well.

W O W

is 20 necessary?

quote:

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is 20 necessary?

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I plan for the future, I had a 5GB player, and I filled that one up. Right now, I just have a little over 5Gb, but down the road I will fill it up.

there's a screenshot at http://www.ephpod.com:8000/help/ConfigurationDownload.png that shows the advanced configuration options..

Thanks Nebulight for the excellent write-up, will definitely come in handy next week when i do the install!

[Modified by basscadet, 9:15 PM 9-14-2002]

[Modified by basscadet, 9:15 PM 9-14-2002]

[Modified by basscadet, 9:16 PM 9-14-2002]

quote:

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- it's free!

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Yea, its sorta free. But you still need to buy a program that enables you to read a Mac hard drive, like MacDrive or another program. Why not buy Xplay, it comes with something to sync the iPod and can read a mac hard drive. That way you can use Ephpod. I actually use both. I like XPlay though, cause it works threw windows.

[Modified by nebulight, 11:33 PM 9-14-2002]

I've been considering a Rio Riot or something like it, but wanted to make sure I can use it in my car. Whats the point of downloading 400 albums and not being able to listine to it in the car??

One question for you, where did you run all the cables (both of them)? Its obvious that they come out of the glove box, but did you run them under the carpet? Did you have to remove seats and so forth?

Thanks and kudos to you.

http://www.doggonemanners.com

quote:

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nice man i want to get a i pod but they only have 20 gig out now once they come out with 60 gig or maby 40 gig

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You're a funny guy. Over 300 hours of music isn't enuf for you! Remember this is a portable player. It is not designed to house your entire collection. I have over 450 CD's plus records, r2r master tapes, etc. that I have to transfer to about 50 CD's. And, 10 gb is enuf for me.

Just a word to all who were asking about Windows compatibility, I understand that not everyone has the funding or the inclination to switch to a Mac, but I would encourage anyone who hasn't been to apple.com in a while to check out the Mac, not only the iPods and the other great hardware, but check out the new Mac OS 10.2, it's amazing on my iBook and comes with tons of free software, everything from photo editing/organizing, video editing, mp3 management/cd burning......not to mention that Apple's iTunes software is the best way to transfer the mp3s to the iPod.

One more thing for others to consider, the battery life on the iPod is 10 hours, and can be recharged to 80% capacity in an hour. When I put one in my GLI, I don't think I'll run the power cords. I'll just recharge it in the house from time to time.....

Anyway, just my .02, again, thanks for a great article. About how much to you think you spent on all the mounts and wires?
J

As far as running the cable, they are in by the door sills. If there is enough demand, I will rip my car apart again and take some pictures.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=511739

All for about the same price you paid for the full iPod setup.

However, I found a real easy way to use my ipod in the Jetta. It cost only $20 and no wires. It's a wireless transmitter. Plug into the ipod, turn it on, and tune the radio to any station between 88-95mhz that isn't used, and there you go. Sounds awesome! Since there isn't much distance between the radio and the transmitter, no static, sounds perfect imo. Picked it up at Fry's.

You can find out more about this transmitter here

Previous car: '00 Jetta GLX
black/black/stick

i so want this. I have a 10gb ipod and this would be sweet. I am going to contact panawise for the holders and whatnot. The link to the pics aren't working for me, any chance you can fix that? I'd love to see what the finished product looks like.

Thanks!

Future Car- Black/Black 2003 GTI VR6 (loaded of course)

Currently:
Car: 1994 Honda Prelude Si- With a broken timing belt and bent valves
Sportbike: 2000 Honda CBR600F4 (yellow/black)- 0-60 in <3 secs.

quote:

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I never had good luck with those, I tried two different ones. They never worked as well, but they are a cheap way of doing it.

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Well, after the first drive with it today, my opinion has changed. Maybe it's b/c living in LA, there are so many radio stations and a less populous place won't have this problem. But I got so much interference from other stations in the band. I'm at 88.7 and that's the only station that has nothing on it...but I get bleeding from stations before and after it while driving. Static is also increased. My test last night was sitting in the car not moving.

So this isn't going to work.

Previous car: '00 Jetta GLX
black/black/stick

quote:

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uhhhh, I'm getting red X's

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I don't know what happened, I think my crappy host screwed up. I guess that is what I get for 5 bucks a month for unlimited space and data transfer. Anyway, I can see them. Is anyone else having problems?

I followed nebulight's lead and installed the Panavise mount, and absolutely love it. Here's a question though: Would it be hard to wire up an ADDITIONAL 12V connection an hide it somewhere behind the dash? Is there any other alternative to using the 12V from the trunk/hatch?