I was just wandering where you guys keep your ipod while driving. I have it a little ghetto at the moment and still have it sliding around in the cup holder. Some of you guys have special, unique and cool looking set ups. Show pics of your ipods relaxing in the car. I need some ideas.

Here is where my ipod is set up at the moment.

 

Put it under the center armrest??

 

eye pod, let me take a picture reel quick

 

i know its not an ipod, but you get the idea ...

http://img165.exs.cx/img165/4493/image0018sl.jpg

 

 

Oh, and I have a 512mb iRiver that I love. I don't have enough mp3's to warrant owning an ipod yet.

 

What works for me is the Belkins Ipod cup holder with a Griffin FM transmitter plugged into the Ipod this is mounted in the rear cup holder for easy access. Then I have my powercables both for my cell phone and the Ipod coming out of the center console (each corner has a slot filed, so the cables can be strung through with console door closed (I have them taped down also) and plugged into a power outlet splitter (in the lower center console)

Now my Ipod is powered (there is a cable slot in the bottom of the Belkins cup holder unit) and my Cell phone can be charged off the other power cable if need be.

The Griffin defaults to FM 87.9 where I get NO static or cross interference from other FM stations. Works like a charm. There is one fly - it seems the Griffin is prone to fail if your Ipod battery runs out while transmitting. I've replace three of them until I learned the problem. Hence, my Pod is always powered when playing. Good lLuck . . .

PS My wifes BMW has the best solution. It has an aux cable plug in the glove box so we can just plug the Ipod directly into the Stereo system. But I also us the Belkins Ipod cup hold there as well and it's even looks cool.

 

Was this fairly east to set up or did you get some audio shop to help you. Does XM radio become disabled and can you controll the Ipod through your dash knobs or steering wheel.

 

 

I did this myself, it involved running the wires through to the trunk where the XM receiver is mounted on the right side of the trunk under the carpeting back there. I patched cable to this XM receiver and brought it up to the center consoler (hid all the wires nicely). When I unplug that gray wire you see in the picture and plug in my mp3 player, it effectively connects the mp3 player to the headunit directly (albeit it has to travel back to the trunk and then back up to the front of the car via the stock XM wires). When I plug both male ends of the gray wire into each headphone socket that you see in the pic, then my XM works again.

I was gunna invest in a nice electronic switch, but I became impatient looking for one online, and I decided to just go w/ this solution.

 

nice

 

Dang dude....thats a neat set up

 

dont worry, no amount of mp3's can justify owning an ipod

 

Pennies in the coin holder...hahaha!!! I throw mine away or put them in a jar at home. What can you buy with pennies???

 

Very inventive! Hell, I did subscribe to XM with the $60/yr package was offered BUT now at $12.95 a month and rising I can do without XM. Soooo, I would consider your configuration (and lots of others would too I'm sure). How about some photos or wiring diagrams of your setup. I suppose if XM wasn't an issue we could eliinate the loop back wiring. . . How much of the seating needs to be disturbed to route the wiring? You made it sound simple but I bet it took a lot of labor. . .??

 

I beg to differ my friend. . . The cost of Ipods arent a real issue anymore. They aren't $500 how bout ($200). AND I store all my names and address + plus download books to play on long drives + plus store my entire music collection on my 30gig unit. It is just awesome to have that capibility. If you don't really listen to music or have a collection or like verbal books then you are correct, it would be a waste of money. . .

 

I already posted a detailed post on my install, guess no one saw it... here it is:

https://acurazine.com/forums/ramblings-12/girlfriend-broke-up-me-110413/

 

It did take quite a bit of time, however, I cannot see how I would live without having an integrated MP3 player... and the sound is phenomenal w/ my inline headphone amplifier (Radioshack, $12.99)

 

The pennies are to throw at G35's that kick my ass at stop light races!!!

 

Ipods are great. Hold tons of songs, are durable(mine has falled down the stairs countless times) good battery life, small, sleek, etc.

 

I have come up with a mount that holds the iPod completely flat in the cup holder area. Sure, the flat mount makes it difficult to read the display, but I usually just hit the next button if I don't like what's playing. I don't read the display much when it is in the car. If you're driving, you really don't want to be reading the display.

I'd post a picture, but I haven't figured out how to post a picture through a second source.

If you send me an e-mail at BLeahy@Leahynewsletter.com, I will send you a picture of what it looks like. I used dense black foam to hold the iPod rigidly, and to hide the docking wires. I then used a piece of styrofoam to support the front of the platform. It's basically a second generation. I came up with a prototype, used it for several weeks, and then made a second one with different materials and changed what I did wrong on the first one. (I used to be in charge of production control for the AIM 9-L Sidewinder missile, and have been infected by engineers.)

Whatever you do, don't try drilling through the back of the cup holder and into the console. You will put a nice big hold in the sliding cover that covers the cup holder area. Instead you will have to put a series of large holes (you can't believe how big the dock connector is until you've drilled a series of holes for it to pass through) in the left or right sides of the cup holder. I'm still trying to determine an elegant way to cover these holes.

Use the Belkin car power supply. The cassette adapter plugs into it, and it has an adjustable built-in pre-amp. You can use it to adjust the strength of the signal that goes out to the cassette adapter. If you set it too high, your loud/high frequency signals will sound distorted.

If you use the Belkin adapter, you need connect only one wire - the docking connector - to your iPod. It looks neater.

 

why not just post the pics here, bleahy, and let us all appreciate your work?

 

he doesnt know how

 

www.imagehosting.us upload your pics, then use this forum feature:

"[iimg]http://www.mypicture.com/image1.jpg[/iimg]"

 

except, the iimg is actually img.

 

i bought this car adapter, and it DID not work for me at all, the attachment kept swaying left to right when I made u turns, and turns faster then 15 mph. How is this thing working for you? Any static?

 

I'm still praying for a simple direct connection resolution, but otherwise I was waiting till April for this one, but hope it won't have the same "sway" problems. THey make both wireless radio and non-radio versions

http://www.dvforge.com/podbuddy.shtml

 

Here's an ipod mounting option sold by Kuda that I might just try out...



The mounting base comes in parchment, quartz, camel or black leather especially made for the TL (and many other cars). The "universal" holders are sold seperately. There is one that is adjustable from 1.7 to 2.5 inches and would be appropriate for the 2.4 inch wide ipod.

At least until some genius provides a fully integrated ipod solution where we can control the ipod from the Navi display (and I can keep the ipod in the glovebox like a BMW...I'm not holding my breath), I'm going to be stuck using the cassette adapter. Seems like the Kuda option will give me a pretty clean looking installation.

 

chuck, any reliable retailer for this option? Google search only brings up eBay auction sites.........

Website would be helpful

thx

 

That Kuda mount looks pretty nice actually. If it'll mount to the left of the console, I will definitely get one. Thanks for the info.

 

I saw this first on eBay and was intrigued. I did an internet search to get more info on the product and ended up at the Kuda website:

https://order.kuda-phonebase.com/html/shopindex.htm

When I went back to eBay 15 minutes later, it was already sold.

I sent some questions to the company such as are there any plans to sell a dedicated ipod holder that would angle the ipod towards the driver. I also asked the shipping time on the product since they claim to have bases for a zillion different cars, some in multiple colors. It seems like an awful lot of stock for a relatively unknown company to carry.

 

I finally figured it out!

This is the way I've mounted my iPod.

 

Thats another idea i could use

 

ok folks, how's this placement...ok, i know i need to take more pics, and daytiem pics, but this'll do for now. it's a belkin holder, with sound and power hardwired into it from a dock. a power switch is on the dead panel near the window switch, admittedly there's a small whine when the iPod's on, and the power's on, but i suaully don't need to charge anyway.

it was my idea, but someone else's installation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51035583094@N01/6975880/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5103558...n/photostream/
dunno why it doesn't show, i thought i did it right. any help would be great!

 

Picture links work fine, just tough to see any details with night pictures. Is it hardwired into the head? and if so, how?

 

take some daytime pics. Looks nice though

 

ok, links to day pics. it's actually hardiwred to FM modulator. the sound sis good, much better than the cassette, but when ya blast it ya can hear the distortion..so when there's a real hardwire solution i'm doing it. but in the meantime it's damn clean, easy ta snap the iPod in, out of my way, and sounds so much better than the cassette.

i'm really happy with it, despite the buzz when charging, and the distortion when blasting...

daytime pic 1

daytime pic 2

 

the FM modulator route sucks, IMHO. i had it and i was sick of all the static. Have you tried blitzsafe? i got one and just installed it in my '00 TL and the sound is CD-quality.

 

ok, everyone say it together...there is no blitzsafe mod for Nav equiped 3G TL's....there is no...

i just reread my post, and think i overstated the static. with quiet music i usually don't hear any. it's only when i blast the music i hear a lil clip in the front speakers.

it's always much MUCH better than the cassette adaptor, or any iTrip or non-hardwired FM modulator.

 

My setup is CD-quality, no static, cost me $25.00 and about 3 hours in labor.