Readers respond to Xeni's "iPod Beemer" post with in-car digital audio tips

Following up on yesterday's post (Link) about my week-long test drive of BMW's new iPod-integrated 330ci convertible, more in-car audio tech pointers from BoingBoing readers. Meanwhile, I'm still mopping up drool around the office. That iPod Beemer was nerd-o-licious.

Michael Morgan says, "One of the better approaches I have seen relies on using the CD changer inputs that many car stereos have. The simpler products, such as the one I have, provide RCA audio jacks. Better ones allow iPod control through the CD changer controls. The sound quality is better than FM or cassette tape adapters although the integration of iPod display and control is either poor or absent." Link

Nik Clayton says, "You should try out Dension's IceLink 1.1. This provides a cradle/dock that you can mount on the dash (damage free). Just drop the iPod in the dock, and the audio's taken from iPod's dock connector (far better quality than the headphone socket) and routed to the stereo, in place of the CD-multichanger. So the steering wheel controls work for changing tracks, and so on. And, of course, your iPod's there on the dash, so you can see all the information it displays. It also works in cars other than BMWs." LinkBoingBoing reader Chris says, "There are two other common solutions; some car radios now have a front panel auxiliary input. Just get a 'stereo plug to stereo plug' cable, and away you go. The other option is one of the FM modulators that plugs into the antenna lead. See the Farenheit EFM-01 or the JVC KS-IF200 – likely found many places but they re listed at Crutchfield. They are a little trickier to install, but as long as your car FM radio has an antenna (!) they should work. Link."

Neil replies to a comment submitted to BoingBoing by reader Becky (Link). He says, "To follow-up on Becky's problem with iPod installations in cars without cassette adapters there is actually another solution. Blitzsafe makes adapters that plug into the CD changer port that lives in most cars, and converts it to an AUX input for your car stereo. Then you can run a regular stereo cable to the front of the car to plug in any device you like (such as an iPod). I used one to install XM Satellite radio in my BMW. Sadly, it doesn't look like they have any for Saturn cars yet :( — Link to Blitzsafe."

Tom Karches says, "A company called Soundgate (Link) makes a number of devices that allow iPods to be attached to factory or aftermarket stereos. Their auxillary input adapters attach to the cd changer plug on cd changer ready stereos and pass the audio through the changer input. If you have a changer already, they have a model that plugs in between the stereo and the changer and provides a switch to select the changer or the ipod. This does not provide ipod control, unfortunately. Perhaps something like this would help: Link. I'll probably put the Soundgate adapter in my minivan. If I decide to equip the honda similarly, I'll probably go with an inline RF modulator like this or this."

Anthony Hall says, "Although BMW claims they are the first car manufacturer with integrated iPod support I actually saw ads for Smart cars shipping with iPod cradles several months ago… I dunno, perhaps it's considered third party but Smart was plugging it in the own ads in the UK. Looks liker a much simpler proposition to me. I agree with you that having the iPod just rolling around loose in the glove compartment is nuts." Link

(Thanks to other readers who sent in great tips, including Wes, Adrian, Josiah, and Brian King!)