In car X5

[Dark Helmet]

I'm going to be purchasing an X5 60GB in the near future for use in the office (getting Shure E3 headphones this week to be used with my U2 and then the X5 when I get it) and in the car.

I have a 2000 VW Golf with an Alpine 9812 head-unit and Nokia car kit I fitted myself so I'm not afraid to tackle this at all (In fact I'm kinda looking forward to it :)).

My current plan is to do the following:

Build a cradle out of some thinnish sheet metal lined with felt to hold the X5.
Mount the cradle in the car somewhere. I'm actually having great difficulty trying to figure out where would be convenient.
Build a connector with 2 wires going in: one carrying power in and one for line-out.
Mount this connector in the cradle so that I can just slide in the X5 and have the connections automatically made.
Connect the line-out into the aux-in on the Alpine.
Connect the power wire to a transformer and then tap the power from the wires going to the Alpine in the same way as the Nokia car kit currently gets it's power.


I have a couple of questions that I would appreciate some help with.

Can I get a connector without the clips so that I can just slide the X5 down onto it (ie. the same way the subpack works)
Can I use the connector for line-out and power at the same time (ie. one connector with seperate wires going in & connected to the relevant pins)?
Where can I source a transformer to reduce the 12v to the correct voltage for the X5?
Does anyone know where to get these connectors or, at least, ones that will work in Ireland/UK/Europe? I also intend to make up a USB 2.0 cable so I need a couple.



What do you think? Am I mad to attempt this? Any suggestions on improvements?



When I do get around to this I will put up a thread on it in case anyone is interested. I kinda figure if it works out some may well like to copy the idea :)

[Killerbob]

I have the same car. ow ya cool project lol. Tape adapter for me all the way! :winker:

[bitboy]

A couple of things: I can verify that you can use the Line Out/Power functionality simultaneously, since that is how my Cowon FM Adapter works. However, you may be overthinking things a bit, in my opinion.

Have you considered just buying a second subpack, mounting it permanently in the holder you described, and then just run the wires to it?

[Sirronikae]

I have built cables like the one you describe for myself and a few others. It requires a total of 5 solder points. If you use the Gomadic connector, you will need make sure the line-out and power cables are thin enough to fit the connector, although I suppose you could customize the connector if need be.

Here is one with a line-out input and retractable car charger:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b257/Sirronikae/X5_Car_Combo.jpg

The clip arms on the connectors can definately be snipped off to work like the subpack.

[kingb7]

I have a 2000 Jetta (VR6) & am interested in how you're going to do this.
What about a pana-vise type holder instead of building your own?

I'd LOVE to find a cable to the sub pack to charge & use for a line in (I have the stock NON monsoon stereo).

[Dark Helmet]

Well thanks for the comments all.

Have you considered just buying a second subpack, mounting it permanently in the holder you described, and then just run the wires to it?
The main reason I want to avoid using the subpack is to keep the cradle as small and tidy as possible. The custom cables are only the size of the Gomadic connector and are simple to make. I will be putting some heat shrink around the two cables for tidiness between the cradle and where they come out of the centre console.

I have built cables like the one you describe for myself and a few others. It requires a total of 5 solder points. If you use the Gomadic connector, you will need make sure the line-out and power cables are thin enough to fit the connector, although I suppose you could customize the connector if need be.

The clip arms on the connectors can definately be snipped off to work like the subpack.
Soldering is no problem. I had thought that the clip arms should not prove difficult alright. I would rather use a transformer, which I could hide behind the centre console, provided I can get one with the correct output voltage rather than that bulky connector which will have to be plugged into the cigarette lighter socket.

What about a pana-vise type holder instead of building your own?
I want to build my own so as I can fix the connector to it.

The way I'm planning it all I would have to do is slide the X5 into the cradle and it would be instantly connected to the head-unit via line-out and charge at the same time. I will post up some preliminary drawings of the cradle next week when I get a chance to do some thinking on the design.

[kingb7]

That sounds promising!!
You'll have to show us some pics!!