Can I install aftermarket iPod interfaces into my BMW?
FWIW there are a lot of people with DICE iPod kits installed, and a lot of help for issues, you could have a look at any problems that have come up.
Oh wow. I had a 2003 BMW 325i too. It had terrible radio performance! Also the CD changer in the back would skip if you hit even the slightest pot hole. I don’t know about voiding your CarMax warranty, but BMW dealerships can install the glove box integration kit. It is not the best, and they’ll charge you up the ass, but I bet a BMW-installed kit will be less likely to void your warranty than something after-market like this. Also rule number one about owning BMWs is not to let them leave their original warranty (you might find this out the hard way, as I did).
It should be fine. Usually that warning for aftermarket electronics is for things like alarm systems and entirely new stereos. But, if the iPod thingy does short out your radio, however unlikely, the warranty wouldn’t cover the damage. It won’t affect the warranty on other parts of the car, though. Federal warranty law says that if they decline warranty service, the shop has to prove that the aftermarket add-on caused the problem. Carmax would have trouble proving that installing the iPod adapter blew up your transmission.
Just go buy yourself a CD player that has an auxiliary input, and get a headphone-to-RCA adapter. Have whoever installs the CD player run the headphone end of the adapter out into the cabin. Your CD player may even already have an auxiliary input, check your manual. I’ve had this in my car for a few years now, and it sounds great. It beats those FM transmitter things. If you are not afraid to pry apart your front console, you can install it yourself for free, thereby making your total cost only that of a headphone/RCA adapter assuming your CD player already has an AUX input. I would assume a BMW has a pretty nice CD player in it, and most current CD players (or recent–mine was from 2003 or so and had an aux input—I didn’t even realize that until I got an IPod, a year or so after I purchased the CD player) have auxiliary inputs on the back. You end up with a cord coming out of the dash, hangin’ round on your floorboard, and you just plug it into your IPod when you’re in the car. It w
