No need for wire cutting, soldering, and such. Just plug in connectors and run the wire from the trunk to the glove box where you would normally want your Dice adapter to sit, and that is probably the most work if you want to do it neatly and without the wires showing. I did it in my '02 e39. Since my rear bench doesn't fold down, getting the wire from the trunk into the cabin was a bit of work, but not a whole lot.
Dice is OK, but in my case, i am getting some interference that manifests itself as 'whine' when you turn up the volume. I tried an in-line filter/noise suppressor with a dedicated ground wire, but it did not help. I think some BMWs are more succeptible to this than others. Make sure to keep the Dice wires far away from the stock amp which is right there in the trunk next to the cd changer in case of the e39.
Yes. I've done an install similar to Pete's. The DICE wiring plugs into the two CD changer plugs replacing the CD changer. Routing the wiring out of the trunk forward can be a hassle, but its doable. You can leave it all in the trunk, but then you've got 15 feet of cable when you need far less. I have the iPod mounted on a Kuda phone base which makes a very custom look.
The DICE wiring is susceptible to noise, you may need to install an inline filter (what I had to do). There's another DICE option that plugs into the back of the business CD. It's pretty easy to get into that area and remove the panel on the passenger side interior to route the wiring to the glove box or other location.
It will, but I prefer to have the iPod near me so that I can quickly browse/fast forward through songs. What you can do via the steering wheel buttons and radio buttons is a bit limited.
You can't browse (the display is a bit too slow), but you can fast forward.
To be honest, if you're fiddling with the iPod and its click wheel while driving, you're sufficiently distracted to be a hazard to yourself and others.
Until the time you do it while cruising the freeway @ ten over while Mary in the next lane touches up her makeup and Joe on your bumper wades through his fourth call of the minute and Fred up ahead is munching his whopper.
I'm often (although I'd like to change it to "rarely") as guilty as the next guy when it comes to multi-tasking when I should be concentrating on driving. If you truly limit yourself to such distractions only while stopped you're a better man than I and 99.9% of your fellow citizens.
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