Thread: Recent Experiences - iPod integration, and Air Suspension

I thought some others may be interested to hear of my recent adventures in trying to get iPod integration working, plus I had an "on the bumper stops" suspension experience.

First the suspension. I was doing some rough road driving in a local State Forest on Australia Day. Things were going well, my 02 TD6 was great on the rough stuff as usual. As I was proceeding down one dirt track I became aware that the front had started to feel awfully bouncy and harsh. I got out to have a look to find the front had obviously lowered itself to the bumper stops - the back was still at off-road height. Couldn't hear any leaking air, but I was unable to get the front to come up. So I carefully limped home - other motorists must have thought it was some kind of weird modification - back way up and front way down.

Back home I drove the front up onto ramps and confirmed nothing had broken off or come loose on the front suspension. So next morning it was a phone call to Cremorne Prestige at Artarmon who told me I could bring it straight in (a very careful 90 minute drive). After discussing it with Greg there, I thought it might be a crook sensor that was telling the ecu that the front was fully up and needed lowering, so it had let air out at the front (all of it!) but the sensor was saying it was still fully up, so no air was released at the back. Apparently the system always lowers the front first, and raises the rear first, to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers at night. I was getting no suspension errors or chimes - the car thought it was at off-road height the whole time! It would give the 50km/h speed warning and the light would flash to show it was trying to lower, but nothing happened. However the compressor may have been running all this time?

Anyhow, Cremorne Prestige discovered that both front air bags were leaking. Probably had slow leaks for a while, and the off-road articulation on that day had finally made them go. They replaced both front struts/airbags by the following day, but of course it was very heavy on the wallet....

Now my iPod integration story:
My TD6 HSE has the MID type stereo head unit, with a single CD slot, as well as the 6 stack in the glovebox. I had for some time wanted to work an iPod integration solution, and after having a CD stuck in the changer and having done the glovebox removal nightmare to fix it (see previous posting), I was determined to try an iPod kit. I had deliberately left the CD changer box loose in the glovebox so I could get it out again easily when required.

I did a lot of research on websites and especially various Land Rover forums and decided to get the Intravee II. I was able to pick up a second hand Alpine KCA420i on eBay, and a second hand iPod as well (the Intravee/KCA solution will not work with late model iPods). But I had to pay full price for a new Intravee. Their website made it sound like a pretty good way to go.

It arrived from the UK. It comes with no instructions or manual, but these can be found on their website after a bit of searching. The installation was pretty easy and I was pleased to get really good sound from the iPod in the car. However the menu and control system didn't work, and after playing a song for about a minute the thing would just stop. After more searching on the Intravee website, I discovered all the stuff about selecting the correct user interface for the vehicle, whether or not to update the firmware, etc. I had to borrow an old laptop with a serial cable, download software (after registering), search through numerous forum articles to find out what to do, and generally frig around with the thing for hours. I spent easily 25-30 hours trying to get it to work - internet time, computer time, in the car, borrowing stuff, etc. The email support from Intravee was poor, the vendor offered better support but I still had to do endless mucking around. It never worked.

Far from being a consumer device, this thing is more like a hobbyists project. Eventually Intravee said that the MID stereo in a Range Rover was not necessarily supported (apparently most overseas models all have navigation), although the MID type head units are supported in many BMW models, and their website lists L322 Range Rovers. Certainly an overly complicated device and ultimately one of the worst buying experiences ever. Just bloody horrible. I gave up and asked the vendor for a refund, which I did eventually get.

So I thought I'd try again and ordered a DICE Silverline from the USA. It has a bit less functionality that what the Intravee was supposed to have (but didn't!), but is much less expensive especially when one considers you don't need the Alpine KCA. It arrived last week and took about ten minutes to install. It comes with a manual and is configurable by means of dip switches on the unit (rather than needing hooking up to a laptop). It works exactly as advertised and sounds good. Beauty! Amazing contrast to the Intravee experience.

PS: I was able to sell the Alpine KCA420i on eBay and got more for it than I paid (amazing, I finally had a win!)

Maybe these tales will be of interest and/or help to some of you!
davros9

Yes, from eBay:
I-BMW-T iPod / iPhone Car Adapter Silverline - Dice - eBay, Car Kits, iPod MP3 Accessories, Electronics. (end time 26-Feb-10 07:28:55 AEDST)

This vendor advertises a 30 day money back guarantee, which is why I chose that vendor. I am happy with the device - it is somewhat slow changing tracks, etc, but does work and it's good enough for me. The Intravee didn't work.