Ipod up and running!!!

[Jontie]

I 'm running the MK3 on the pic's I've posted, albeit with the widescreen monitor!

[Reebs]

Originally Posted by Jontie

I 'm running the MK3 on the pic's I've posted, albeit with the widescreen monitor!

Yes, but yours is the BMW Mk3 not the Rover one. It does give a different display (Black not grey as in the Rover Mk3), but as to any difference in the functionality, I just don't know - which is why I asked for Pete to illustrate it in his set up.

I'm poised to take the plunge, the only thing holding me up is not being able to track down the Soundlinx FWG564 cable. I've got 2 specialist car I.C.E dealers trying to source any old stock still lying around, right now.

Once got, I'll be getting the rest A.S.A.P

Thanks, Jontie for making us all aware of the equipment needed, and the ease of installation (when you can get all the bits that is)

Much appreciated.

[JohnDotCom]

Do you mean this one in stock:

http://soundlinx.co.uk/ProductFinder...wProductID=690

Large listing here:

http://soundlinx.co.uk/ProductFinder/search.php

[pedro444]

My Mk3 sat nav drive is a BMW one so I can't help with pics of how it would look with the original Rover drive I'm afraid.

However if you go to this link:
http://www.intravention.co.uk/index....d=13&Itemid=32
towards the bottom of the page it shows how it would be with the standard Rover setup. Apparently it supports UI5 whereas Mk4 and Mk3 with split screen software support UI6. I don't think that there is much difference between these two user interface modes - but it's worth reading up on the intravention site.

With the "standard" search - what I've got with my BMW MK3 setup - you can only search through artists/albums/playlists and see one item on the screen at a time with an indication of how far through the list you are. I'll try and remember to take a pic of this tomorrow.

With the advanced search facility, only available in conjuction with the Mk4 drive, you can scroll through a list of artists/albums/playlists on your screen much as you would with the sat nav when you're selecting a road from a list of options.

There is a thread that discusses the merits of the MK4 drive over the BMW Mk3 drive here:
http://www.intravention.co.uk/forum/...p?topic=1222.0

There are some user manuals with loads of screen shots on this site:
http://www.toysinyourcar.com/acatalog/intravee.html

I tried to get an adaptor lead from soundlinx but failed - they've been taken over by another company and it appears products have been discontinued despite what their website says!

But it is really easy (5 minutes max) just to swap the pins over to two new connectors - the 6 pin connector is as per the links I put in an earlier post (they just cost a few pence or you may have a spare in your car already if you don't have all the options - it's the same I think as the connector for the cruise control, rear blind or traction control switches) and the 3 pin is a common plug in our cars - you might find a spare one in the overhead light cluster or if not I'm sure a breaker would be able to help. It's the same plug as on the back of a front tweeter, the clock, the illuminated sunvisors etc.

Hope this all helps!

Pete

[pedro444]

I've just spotted an intravee and the necessary alpine kca-420i for an ipod on ebay if anyone is interested (nothing to do with me I hasten to add!)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=170291539809

Pete

[Reebs]

Well it was me who bought the Intravee & Alpine 420i off ebay (the one spotted above by Pedro444), and with thanks to Jontie who was able to supply a spare adaptor lead, I eagerly fitted it to the car this afternoon.

Here is all the kit connected up correctly prior to fitting in the car:



Once connected to the Rover 75 10 pin CD changer plug below:



I switched on, and got perfect sound through the car stereo (when CD was selected), and what da' ya' know it works

The Next/previous buttons will advance the ipod to the next song in the currently playing album / playlist and the ipod itself locks not allowing any of its controls to operate, it simply shows this on its screen:



Scrolling between current song & Artist.

I've only had a few minutes to play with it, but am already impressed.

I'll post up a proper review of how it works in operation on a car with the OEM 4:3 Hi-line sat nav as soon as I get a moment free.

But in the meantime my thanks go again to all that have posted on this thread supplying all that great info.

[Reebs]

O.K, I've had a bit of time to play around with the Intravee as fitted in my original fit Rover Mark III Sat Nav & 4:3 screen.

Firstly, as has been said already, it really is a doddle to fit once you get the adaptor wire (Rover 10 pin to BMW 6 & 3 pin).

Here it is nice and snug in the centre armrest (The auxillary power socket you can see is nothing to do with the Intravee set up)




What I did discover which is relavent to the Rover system specifically, is that all Intravees are shipped with software profile "User Interface 6" which is for use with the majority of BMW radio tuners including the dual tuner BM24, however, the radio in the Rover 75 is the older standard Philips unit, and although "UI6" will work with it, it doesn't do so without issues.

This is an example of what you get:



This is the "Now Playing" screen, and shows the album name "Soul Cages", artist "Sting", and finally track name "All This Time"

There are essentially 2 issues with running "UI6":

1) The top of the screen should display track/album/artist info as well as track duration, except it simply says CD1 Track 01 all the time.

2) When you want to switch from the now playing menu to the search menu, the display doesn't update, so you have to press the "Menu changer over button" on the head unit (above the MENU button) a couple of times to refresh the screen.

But there is a solution.........

by downloading the control programme from the intravee website, you can change the unit's User Interface to "UI5", and this makes the intravee work perfectly with the Philips Radio Tuner.





This is what you get once it's been changed:




The menu switching issue goes away too.

It's a bit involved computer-wise, but the intravee website gives a step by step guide through it.

I have to say, that it's all worth it though, the kit once installed is brilliant, sound quality is ace, text on screen is wonderful, and being able to search your music collection by Album name, Artist, or Song title is brill.

I'm going to post up on a seperate thread a "How to" with photos, and will include screen shots of the system's different menus showing how to use it.

Hope that helps those ipod owning members who are thinking of fitting this system.

[Scarbs]

Originally Posted by AndyJ

I was given an iPod Nano as a present at Christmas, and am following this thread with keen interest. Especially to Reebs' questions as I have the factory installed Hi-Line setup, with standard Mk3? Sat Nav, and 4:3 screen.

I'm very keen to hook the iPod up, but this could get expensive if it was necessary to add mk4 and 16:9 to get enough benefit.

I'm all ears!

How can one tell what version of Sat Nav is installed?

Can the earlier versions use the most recent edition of the Maps CDROM? What is the most recent version? Is there a way of sharing the most recent discs?

Scarbs

[JohnDotCom]

If the front of Sat Nav Computer (where the map disc is) says DVD on it it is a MK4
Otherwise its a MK2 or MK3.
Rover had there own design of the MK2 and MK3 which has limited updating software possibilities.
Slide it out and if it says BMW it has been upgraded.
MK4 DVD units were never fitted by MGR as standard.
All Screens were 4:3 ratio.

[AndyJ]

Brilliant Reebs!
This is now a must for me
Look forward to seeing your how-to in the future

Time for me to investigate those prices, and the infamous adapter cable.

I wonder if the connectors are available easily enough to make your own, I could make a few up then for members that needed them in the future. That is of course if they are not available for purchase somewhere.

Andy