Thread: How-to: Install ICD Direct Control iPod Interface

works with iPad too, and charges it to boot!

NIce work, it definitely is a good option to maintain the factory look, but it's Expensive unit when for the same price you could have an aftermarket unit which controls the iPod directly on the head unit instead of having to touch the head unit. Little bit more and you add bluetooth too...

I like the idea of being able to hide the USB port in the glovebox ..like the Audi A3.... that I don't own but had for a week and got addicted to its great manners and 5L/100km from its wonderful little turbo diesel...blah blah

However, would welcome recommendations on a replacement headunit which would Plug and play in lieu of the existing excellent OEM Alpine headunit, and which doesn't look like a playstation... must be getting old.... and it's a cheaper option than buying an audi A3 Tdi...!!!

Hi twr7cx - in my other P38's that already had after-market head units when I got them, I felt the same way.

In my black 95 P38 I replaced the Clarion TV/CD unit with a JVC DVD/iPod unit and was impressed by the nice sound and "cool factor" of having the iPod. Although the car is now gone, the stereo has been transplanted to our TD4 Freelander and still sounds great.

On my blue 99 P38 "Hard Rangie" I replaced the pretty average JVC head unit with a Kenwood 7" touch screen DVD/GPS/USB/iPod/bluetooth/reverse camera system that puts out some pretty impressive sound, and also lets me play music from my Blackberry Torch phone via Bluetooth A2DP.

As Hoges alludes to, neither of these after-market head units look quite at home in the dash of the Rangie.

Then we got the Black 2000 P38 and the sound quality of the stereo blew me away . I've admitted to not being an audiophile, but I don't skimp on my sound gear either. My home stereo and theatre system is not exactly your average out-of-the-box setup and I prefer it to going to the theatre, and is pretty accurate in re-creating the environment of concerts and gigs I have been to over the years. When I say that the sound quality out of the Alpine head unit, HK speakers and nicely thumping sub in the boot "blew me away" it is relative to other quality sound gear I own.

Perhaps I am just lucky that the speakers in the black P38 are still in very good condition? I know other folks have had issues.

In the past I have encouraged people to swap their original Clarion and Alpine head-units to more modern units with USB and iPod support. Not so sure I would still recommend that given that this iPod adapter seems to work so well.

Side note: my wife took "Rosie the Rangie" to visit her parents down the coast today. She called me after navigating down the Clyde boasting how she used the gearbox to glide down the steep road with total confidence and in total comfort, while "lesser vehicles" rode their brakes, all the time listening to her iPod through the stereo. My dear wife says she now understands and is starting to share my obsession with Range Rovers

Cheers, Paul.

Thanks for the write up Paul.. my package arrived from the UK a couple of weeks ago and installed last night. Finally found a possi for the box on top of the HEVAC unit.. the rest of it was a bit of a squeeze with additional wiring. The iPod patch lead is squeezed between the side panel...am hoping it is not too tight as I was afraid it might wear through..perhaps should have put some tape around it first...

The result is VERY acceptable, especially where a high sampling rate (256) has been used when transferring material to the iPod....
thanks again!
Hoges

recently completed long trip and very happy with iPod interface...except has developed a high pitched oscillation (whistle) which is evident when the volume is upped slightly to a comfortable level needed (e.g) when the driver's window is down at 100kph... don't know if the little black box is too close to something or whether I should move it from on top of the HEVAC and just run the wires through to the back of the head unit.

Also noticed the black box has a second plug outlet called "ext"... any clue what it's for ?

cheers

interesting Hoges, a guy over at RR.net sent me a PM a couple of weeks back with a similar whistling issue.
I put the control box in the hole behind the HEVAC panel and haven't noticed a whistle/whine (Enya is no longer on my playlist ) with the windows up or down.
If SWMBO lets me, I will take the black Rangie for a high speed run with the volume up and the windows down now that the daytime temp in Canberra is reaching double-digits again...

I think I read somewhere that the EXT connection is for another cable, USB perhaps?

Cheers, Paul.

Thread resurrection...
Urgent return trip road trip BNE to CBr and the alternator whine through the ipod connector drove me nuts No sign of it in either FM or AM. In desparation I reconnected the CD player, none there either. So am thinking that this probably eliminates a faulty diode as the cause and is somehow linked to a ground loop.

Was looking to try and ascertain where the earth is on the iPod iso plug so as to ground it on the headunit chassis..... any ideas? I can't easily decipher the RAVE ETM circuit (must have fallen asleep in class that day!)

Anyway the other thing I discovered is that the spare (AUX) mini DIN plug accepts miniDIN- 3.8mm plug for attaching other MP3 players. It will apparently also accept a bluetooth dongle for handsfree phone or music streaming.

A third option is a miniDin -USB plug for attaching a thumb drive but I haven't experimented with this as yet. I also noticed there's a slot for a micro SD card. Apparently one can update the firmware...

Shame it's supplied by a mob (InCar iPod) now out of business. It appears to be a GROM unit made under licence, long since superseded. I'm going to email GROM anyway and see if their updated firmware can be used with this version. I think it's an early BMW-equivalent fit...