How to - BOSE PHONO / IPOD " hack " - guide

[Husky]

I know it seems like we have 50 guides for this same mod but when I came to do it i found i needed to bounce about different threads all over the place and half way through build threads which just got confusing. So I have compiled the relevant information here in an easy to read guide. Credit to the original posters and if you want to see the original threads they are listed at the bottom. Also the pictures are posted in this thread as attachments so the links cant go dead.

 

 

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

 

small flat bladed screw driver

Philips head screw driver

soldering iron

solder

flux

Wire strippers

common sense

 

good quality phono lead OR phono end and suitable cable

 

 

cable tie (optional)

 

 

REMOVING THE HEAD UNIT

 

1) Head Unit

 

2) unscrew the gear knob and pull the surround up and backwards.

 

3) Unclip the white ribon from the heater control unit.

Edited April 28, 2014 by Husky

[Husky]

4) Unscrew the two lower screws which retain the centre console

 

 

5) Remove the four lower screws from under the white box... this loosens the white box and lower section of centre console.

 

 

6) Open the cubby hole and remove the rubber lower mat

 

Edited April 28, 2014 by Husky

[Husky]

7) Remove the two small black screws shown

 

 

8) now remove the two that retain the centre console down the sides.

 

 

Edited April 28, 2014 by Husky

[Husky]

before pulling the centre console out any further i suggest you tape a rag in place over the gear shift thread as it can damage the face of the stereo.

 

 

9) Now with a little power you should be able to pull the whole centre console toward you, be careful not to snap the tab behind the triple gauges. There is a connector going into the right hand side of the triple gauge, unplug this by pressing the tab in and gently pulling on the plastic of the connector (do not pull on the wires).

 

10) Pull the whole centre console toward you, revealing 8 screws, 4 on either side, holding the stereo in place. Remove these.

 

 

11) placing the plastic trim to the side you will be left with the stereo on its own still wired into the car.

 

 

12) Remove the wiring connectors from the back by using a small flat bladed screw driver to press the tabs in on the connectors, they should slide out easily when pressed correctly (you may need to flip the stereo upside down to access them). Disconnect the aerial connector gently using a pair of pliers so you don't pull on the cable.

 

13) Take the stereo inside to work on it in an open and well lit area.

 

 

DISMANTLING THE STEREO TO ACCESS THE TAPE DECK

 

14) With the head unit in front of you release the plastic tabs which hold the front face panel on.

 

Edited April 28, 2014 by Husky

[Husky]

15) The front should come away as shown, place it out the way so it doesn't get damaged.

 

 

 

16) Turn the stereo over and remove the 4 screws shown. emake sure to keep track of where each screw came from as they may be different lengths and sizes.

 

 

 

17) Remove the two shown from the back of the unit.

 

Edited April 28, 2014 by Husky

[Husky]

18) Remove this screw located in the heat sink.

 

 

19) Remove these two screws from each side ( four screws in total)

 

 

20) Remove the four screws from the front as shown

 

Edited April 28, 2014 by Husky

[Husky]

21) With those screws removed you should be able to gently pry the bottom cover off.

 

22) The large silver section in the picture below is the tape deck, this needs removed. Unscrew the 4 screws shown and take the deck out being careful not to bend any of the connector pins.

 

 

 

 

 

SOLDERING YOUR AUDIO CABLE ON

 

23) Cut your audio cable to give a nice clean end to work with.

 

24) strip back the outer coating, i recommend a pair of these as they do least damage to the wire and make life easier, well worth the money.

 

25) You will then find two separate cores, most likely red and white, wrapped in grounding copper.

 

Extra info!

If your cores are not coloured use a multi meter to buzz out the different wires to the sections of the jack.

the gnd is the bottom section of the jack (the sleeve)

the left channel is the tip

the right is the middle section (ring)

 

26) Wrap the Grounding copper together into one wire and pull to the side.

 

27) Use the stripping tool to strip a section from the tip of each of the red and white wires.

 

28) now you need to use your soldering iron to tin the wires.

for a much better tinning job use soidering flux on the wire before applying heat

soldering flux link

 

 

29) The finished job should look as below.

 

 

30) Line the wires up as shown in the above picture. One at a time place the tinned wire ontop of the solder pad and aply a small amount of heat to make the join. once complete make sure none of the wires touch. you can, if you wish, place a cable tie over the join.

 

Edited April 28, 2014 by Husky

[Husky]

31) Use a sharp blade to cut these three tracks, make sure you do not cut any other tracks in the process.

 

INFO: By cutting these tracks you will disable the tape playing ability of your head unit. If you never plan to listen to a cassette again, then go ahead and cut these. These lines were originally cut to reduce noise, however many people have left them intact and had no issue. It is your choice.

 

 

 

32) Now remove the spring circled in red in the below picture.

also remove the metal slider circled in blue.

This removes the need for a tape to be present

 

INFO: Again, removing these will disable your tape player, if you do not remove these you will need to trick the player into thinking a tape is present by either: once fully installed use a pen or similar in the tape slot to push/engage the mechanism until it locks in like it would with a tape being pushed in. OR, find an old cassette, pull out all the tape so it's empty, then leave it in the slot. The bay door will remain slightly open with a tape in, which some find unappealing. All three methods achieve the same goal, tricking the unit into thinking a working tape is present.

 

 

 

33) Slot the tape deck back into position being very carefull to line up the connector underneath correctly, do not bend any pins.

Replace the four screws on the tape deck.

 

Edited April 21, 2016 by Husky

[Husky]

REASSEMBLY

 

34) Run the cable out of the rear hole where the small black plastic cover came out of.

 

35) Now reassemble the unit using the guide in reverse making sure to use the correct screws in each location.

 

 

36) you now need to put the stereo back into the car, again follow the guide in reverse, when you do this you need to thread the newly added cable into the centre cubby through one of the two small square holes in the back of it. if the cable is too big you can get creative with a knife, drill or soldering iron to enlarge it. Also you may wish to cut a small notch in the rubber mat that lines up with the hole to allow the mat to seat properly with the cable present.

 

when reassembling REMEMBER the connector for the triple gauges

 

 

The completed mod:

 

 

 

HEADUNIT ERROR RESOLUTION

 

When you first turn the ignition on the stereo will load up and most likely encounter an error.

Allow it to finish its start up routine.

turn the ignition off and remove the keys.

Hold the tape eject button for 60 seconds.

release the button and turn the ignition on again.

select "tape" and attach a device for test.

 

END

 

 

This guide was rewritten by me referenced from the following threads:

 

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=33982&start=30

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=29312&hilit=alexz&start=75

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=29312&hilit=alexz&start=120

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=34534&hilit=ipod+hack

 

Credit goes to Sparky350z AlexZ Dcash5 R35LEE

The majority of the pictures were supplied by AlexZ

Edited April 28, 2014 by Husky

[sparky370z]

nice one!!

 

that makes it much easier for people to understand

[rabbitstew]

Excellent.

 

I got my lead through this morning in the post, so if i get time this w/end i`ll be trying this out. Ive got the Sat Nav in mine, so am thinking about running the lead through to the storage compartment next to the handbrake instead if its long enough.

[SunGodRA]

thanks Husky - I am doing this weekend so your timing is impeccable !

[dangerman]

Good guide good guide!

 

Is the extraction method the same for 07+ models i.e. with sat nav as opposed to the cubby hole?

[rabbitstew]

Good guide good guide!

 

Is the extraction method the same for 07+ models i.e. with sat nav as opposed to the cubby hole?

 

I was wondering that as mine has satnav in it also - so im not sure yet how i would access the top screws on the bose unit.

 

If I get time at the w/end i`ll try and fit mine and let you know how it goes.

[DoogyRev]

Its the same method for the +07 models

 

John, why did you cut the three tracks? I did not see that on any guide when I did mine and it seems to work ok

[Husky]

cheers guys, there was me looking for an early night but this took waaaay longer than i expected to write

 

John, why did you cut the three tracks? I did not see that on any guide when I did mine and it seems to work ok

 

This should reduce background noise, they can always be joined back up again at a later date if you wanted to break out the tape collection.

[Husky]

oh, and im going to take it apart today to see if i can just cut the power to the motor, you cant really hear it going round when its on but it bugs me anyway that its spinning, should reduce electrical noise and the sound of the tape deck going round will be gone. Also I may have forgotten to reattach the triple gauges

 

Also i'm going to hook up a power supply for my phone in there

[sidekickdmr]

Thanks for this, just done 90% of it but now my stereo is asking for te code, I can't see it in my service pack anywhere, any ideas?

 

And pls hurry as no tunes in the meantime lol

[Husky]

mine never asked for a code

 

this should help

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=28290&start=0

[Husky]

just got off the phone to r35lee, throw him a pm he should be able to help you :pmr35lee:

[sidekickdmr]

Brilliant, thanks

 

However I can't find him, do you have a link to his proile?

 

Also the reason mine is asking for a code and not yours is mine isn't a Bose!

[sidekickdmr]

Ignore me, I found him!

 

Cheers mate

[rabbitstew]

Good guide good guide!

 

Is the extraction method the same for 07+ models i.e. with sat nav as opposed to the cubby hole?

 

I was wondering that as mine has satnav in it also - so im not sure yet how i would access the top screws on the bose unit.

 

If I get time at the w/end i`ll try and fit mine and let you know how it goes.

 

Didnt get time this w/end to have a go at this, but looking at my unit, where you say "pop up the tray in the cubby hole and undo the 2 screws holding the top of the bose unit in". On mine, cos its got sat nav, im guessing id have to crowbar out the sat nav controls which should then give me access to the screws holding the top of the bose unit in. But, i dont want to end up damaging the sat nav controls. Anyone have any idea how these come out? Can i just slide a credit card around them and pop them out?

[bigmonkey712]

I have just done this hack and it works fine. However the engine malfunction indicator light has come on once I started the car. Is this a coincidence, I.e. I have knocked something or do I need to get to a garage?

[Husky]

I don't have a satnav model myself so not sure, hopefully someone will come along who knows.

 

can someone link the thread with the response from abbey regarding sorting the warning light, cheers.