Dension iPod Interfaces

Icelink- discontinued
Icelink Plus
Icelink DICE

Robert Schneider's Traffic Pro with Icelink in Z3 04/07/07 update: This Dension unit has been discontinued- which is a pity because it worked well and did not need to have a cable run to the trunk from the cockpit. I got the TrafficPro installed into my 2001 Z3 3.0i this weekend. It is so cool - it works great, looks great, and sounds great. I'm so glad I got in on the deal on the BMW models - it matches the orange lighting on the rest of the dash, it worked with my old BMW CD changer, and most importantly it works with my Dension iPod adapter for BMW! All this, for less than a BMW OEM in dash CD player would have cost me (I had cassette before, which I never used). The Dension was an easy install. It has an adapter cable which goes between the stock radio and the wiring harness - I just ran that between the car's wiring harness and the TP to BMW w/ changer wiring harness. I've attached some pictures showing how this all goes together. (See also Dension's BMW Install Manual) TP1: The Dension wiring harness. The small black circuit with the grey label at the top left goes to the Dension iPod dock. The other end ofthat goes to the Dension silver interface box. The Dension interface box has two cables coming out the other side - the smaller one goes to the stock radio's CD Changer controller port, while the larger one goes to the stock radio's main connector, and to the car's wiring harness which normally connects directly into that port on the stock radio. For the TP all these connect to their respective TP adapter cable. TP2: A close up of the Dension connectors which interface with the car and radio. (Without TrafficPro) TP4: The factory stereo wiring, including the main radio jack (note the smaller, white, CD changer jack on the bottom), and the antenna. (Without TrafficPro) TP5: The Dension wiring harness plugged into the factory radio jack shown in TP4 (With TrafficPro) TP3: The TrafficPro's BMW wiring harness, including the changer connector.(ignore the line output RCA jacks I added) (With TrafficPro) TP6: The Dension harness plugged into theTP wiring harness (ignore the line output RCA jacks I added) TP7: Everything tucked into the dash, ready to connect to the TP. From left to right, the main TP harness, the GPS antenna lead, and the radio lead. TP8: Everything wired up and ready to go TP9: The final result. The iPod is in its Dension dock, which is attached to a ProClip bracket mounted on the side of the console. The iPod sounds fine through the TP.There is a 10 second delay changing tracks on the iPod, but they were on the stock head unit too,this is a limitation of the Dension. Anyway, the only thing the head unit changer controls are supposed to do is skip tracks, so its not a big deal - I just do that on the iPod. What would be great is if the song and artist info from the iPod was displayed on the TP's screen. I heard a rumor that Dension was working on that, but not even the BMW factory iPod interface displays track info on the radio. The Alpine IPod interface which is supposed to be coming out later this year is supposed to do that on Alpine head units, so it must be possible. Does anyone know if the BMW factory iPod interface works with the BMW TP? The BMW TP works with BMW OEM CD changers, so there's a chance it might.

Jean Arruda wrote about his Dension IceLink Plus- The Dension IceLink Plus saga.... I had installed the IceLink>Plus over 15 months ago on my M Roadster. I just love it but I couldn't get this annoying engine noise out. They sent me new cables, I bought a 12V filter, and I cut the ground loop interface but no luck... So I decided to investigate a little bit more... the end result it works!!! Looks like the BMW Business CD has a better filter in the head unit itself, the issue is due to the fact that the CD changer cable is routed with the power distribution, this is what causing the noise. dcp_1923 Jean Arruda's 2000 ///M Roadster DCP_1746 Definitely a BMW US Traffic Pro- 4771 DCP_1800 The Ice-Link Plus DCP_1925 The Black cord for the Dension disappears on Jean's black console. No song title display so you have to use the iPod controls to change tracks. DCP_1928 On "pause" you see the the Dension Ice-Link Plus logo- and it's always "OK to disconnect", which is good. DCP_1930 Routing the Ice-Link Plus to the trunk to make the connection at the CD changer DCP_1931 It looks like the access point for the cockpit from the trunk is in the middle here, instead of the driver's side shoulder- unless it is routed from there to here. Jean writes: I just routed the CD changer cable away from the power source by unbundling it from the wires bundle and route it somewhere else. And now I can listen to me favorite music without the engine noise on the background. IF only I could see text display on the TrafficPro 4771 it would be great! But I don't think this will ever work. 5/4/07 update: I am using the TP4771 with icelink plus on a 2000 Mz3 for more then 2 yrs. I have tried the icruze for 1 month but I came back with the Dension unit. No text on the tp but it works great without a glitch.

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