D4 Ipod Connection

[Sailfish]

Spoke with the LR dealer today and he stated that to get an IPod connection you also have the inboard sat nav installed as well, this sounded a bit strange not to mention the $5000 price tag that goes along with it. Can anyone confirm that this indeed true ?

Cheers, (potential new owner and first time poster)

[Ashes]

Welcome:D

I'm not sure about the D4 but one of the most popular home mods to the D3 is found below

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/77817-d3-ipod-connection-pics.html

Very easy to do. I ran a cable into my glove box for the co-pilot to operate the iPod on long trips. Not sure though if the D4 has the same setup though.

[CaverD3]

I am sure you can still connect to the aux on the D4 but you don't get full connectivity on the head unit.
If there is a way to do it I am sure someone on www.disco4.com would have found out.

[Beamin]

Hi Sailfish

I discovered after delivery (back in January) that the iPod connection definitely can't be retrofitted if it's not installed in the factory. I was somewhat dismayed by this news and the dealer was caught out as well, as they didn't know about this trap and had to hunt down other options to make it work for me.

A simple and much cheaper alternative they found and fitted is the Kensington LiquidAUX for iPhone and iPod ($100 from apple store online). It plugs neatly into the rear cig lighter and Aux input. The iPod end of the lead can then be run into the back of the centre console bin where the LR iPod connection goes anyway. See if you can get your dealer to provide the neat little tray for the iPod to sit on in the top of the console bin.

You don't get a display to show what's playing and the regular stereo controls or steering wheel buttons won't operate the iPod, but the unit does come with its own remote control that is designed to strap onto the steering wheel using a velcro strap. It looks stupid on the steering wheel and gets in the way, but it's quite neat and unobtrusive strapped onto the door handle and works well from there to control play/pause, skip forward and skip back; I think there's a shuffle button as well, but I'm not sure what that actually does.

Apart from those basic controls, you don't get any other way to navigate playlists so if you want to search for a particular song or change playlists you'll have to rely on your co-driver or stop the car to operate the iPod directly. I generally let it shuffle randomly through the whole collection and use the skip button on the remote whenever the music doesn't match the mood.

The volume is a bit lower than the radio and CD inputs but this may be an iPod issue as I noticed this in my previous car as well, using a different input method. The volume is still adequate, you just have to crank it up a bit further. The sound quality is good and it charges the iPhone/iPod while you're driving, although some older iPods won't charge from this connection.

I have recently started using the TomTom app on the iPhone and it generally has no problem finding the satellite signals from this location in the centre console bin with the lid shut. The spoken directions come through the stereo after it fades down the music to the background. The directions have generally been good enough that I don't need to see the screen display. The TomTom/GPS function sucks a lot of battery power, but the Kensington power supply keeps up with the demand - not sure yet whether it will actually charge the battery up from flat while running the TomTom app. At $90 the TomTom app is again a much cheaper alternative to LR's price for providing a satnav system, although the in-car system may have more bells and whistles.

The iPhone also pauses the music during phone calls, which are handled via the Bluetooth system in the car.

Apart from the iPod connection, I have found that there are a couple of other things you miss out on if you don't have the touch screen stereo (which might or might not be the same as the satnav, I'm confused a bit about that distinction). The most annoying is the address book for the mobile phone - without the touchscreen this is essentially useless as your only option is to scroll through every entry in alphabetical order using the up/down buttons on the dashboard. Very poor design, which could easily be improved by enabling alphanumeric addressing on the existing number pad (I believe this worked on the Disco 3, but it doesn't work on the D4).

The voice command button on the steering wheel is also just a dummy button if you don't have the satnav/touchscreen installed. This button would provide another way around the ridiculous address book problem, but it doesn't do anything.

All in all, I would avoid the expense of the LR satnav option and put up with a few minor inconveniences by using the much cheaper alternatives that are available.

Hope that helps.