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9 minute read
Auxillary Input Installed
Compliments of E60orBust @ bimmerfest.com
2-15-2006
This DIY should answer a lot of questions regarding the E60 and having iPod or any other mp3 player play through the car's speakers without the use of an FM transmitter.
Of course, the part number. Good for a teaser pic. I hate teaser pics. Don't be a tease, just get straight to the meat!.
The project car, front angle. Ain't siver grey pretty?
Rear angle's not to shabby either. Notice the rear red reflectors. Big improvement over the stock black inserts.
Interior. Let's get crackin!.
I think it was user Stream who popped this panel off to route the audio cable back to the arm rest for a hardwire mod. This panel comes off much like the E46 side turn signals. It does not come straight out. If you pull in that direction you will most likely break something. Give it a gentle lift with a butter knife and slide towards the trunk. All of the posts will come out.
Again, the install process is very much like an E46. Start with the wood trim that goes across the dash on the passenger side. This wood trim scratches very easy so be gentle. I suggest starting on this side because if you do scratch it, the trim will be hidden by the door handle when the door is closed. Once you wiggle the trim up enough to get a good grasp on it, start wiggling towards the driver side.
Once you get the wood trim off, the lock/hazard switch pushes out by depressing two pressure springs. Once you have it like the picture, disconnect the wire and switch and then place the trim in the back seat.
Trim removed, driver side. The screw (not bolt) is one of the mounts holding the climate controls in.
Trim removed, passenger side. The big black claw is primarily what is holding the trim on.
Here is an overhead shot of the climate controls. So far, so good. At the top left and right of the climate controls are two screws not pictured. Unscrew these and the climate controls will now have some wiggle room. Do not remove anything yet.
The wood trim below the cd bays. Using a butter knife, gently pry up at the four points indicated. If you don't use even pressure, i.e. pry too much on one side before the next, you will break the bottom tab mounts that hold the heated seat/dsc controls in.
Final stage. Unscrew the four screws indicated and the "brain" can then slide out. You will need to move the shift lever back to drive (or 2nd, 4th, or 6th gear) to give the brain enough room to slide out.
Behind the unit is the "mega connector" on the right side. Squeeze the tab and lift the lever to slide the connector out. Take a look at the connector on the end of your Auxillary input and you will see it looks exactly like the white and black connectors.
But there are two of them. So which one does it replace? Well since the aux wire has a black connector, I merged those two together. Push the squeeze tab together on the black connector and pull it out. Once out you will see a little slide tab to pull out the internal wire harness that holds the push pins inside. Using a narrow, pointed object, slide the pins out and put them in the corresponding spot on the auxillary input harness. Reassemble the harness and plug it back into the mega connector. Then route the aux wire down behind the passenger foot well for a mounting place of your choice and push the brain back into the docking bay. Reverse the process to reassemble the radio, climate, door locks and dashboard trim and you are done.
After reconencting the mega connector, AUX was not listed on the entertainment options when I had it in the black port, so I tested it in the white connector - still no Aux, so I put it back with the black box to keep with color matching.
You will still need to have the input activated by your dealer, which can be done during a scheduled maintence or software CIP update for free.
Other notes:
If you are uncomfortable doing this, get a quote from your dealer and pay to have it done.
If you follow this DIY and royally screw up your E60, don't blame me, you used this DIY at your own risk.
I personally did not disconnect my battery and my I-drive screen was actively showing something when I pulled out the mega connector and did not suffer any ill effects. Then again I'm a registered lunatic (see under my username) and I could just have a fluke car that could care less when I pull its plug. Your car may differ so if you want to be on the safe side, disconnect the battery.
This DIY was done using only a butter knife and a leatherman for tools.
If you do follow this guide and complete it successfully, congrats. I just helped you save you $200+ 
Note to mods: I posted all the images locally on Bimmerfest instead of using a service like imageshack so that the DIY would always be intact. I noticed on a few (really) old threads of some people showing their car's new shoes, etc no longer had the associated picture. I figured if I upload to bimmerfest, the files will be here for years to come.
10-24-2006
Originally Posted by jasman29
When you disconnect the mega connector, are you replacing any? of the cable pins or are you just adding them to the appropriate slot and then reconnecting the "mega harness"?
The reason i ask is becuase in the instruction it says - WS/BL cable to PIN 7
WS/RT cable to PIN 2
WS/BR cable to PIN 8
then connect the plug back to the unit?
You instructions for taking the dash apart were very helpful and made it extremely easy to remove, THANKS!!!
Praise the admins for thread subscription otherwise I would have never seen your post 
It's been a while so here goes. When I first did the write up, I goofed and simply transferred the corresponding pins from the car connector into the harness of the aux input. Incorrect.
What I should have done (as stated in the PDF write-up somewhere on this forum) is transfer the AUX wires INTO the car's original harness. Sort of A into B not B into A as I did originally.
My screw-up resulted in the aux-input not working after my dealer activated it. They did their end right but I had my plugs wrong. There was no damage to anything, but there was no sound either.
So to answer your question, You should be adding pins to the existing harness by removing them from The Auxillary Input harness. The harness that was already in there was to my Sat radio. The aux input metal tabs fit in the corresponding slots within the Sat radio connector and all that plugs back into the "mega harness"
Hope this helps, if not post again and I'll try to clarify it some more. Glad my picture write-up made dismattling your $50K car a little less nerve racking.