Sheik Yerbutay
12-12-2007, 10:54 PM
Just bought and installed the HD DICE module but wanted access to the ipod without it sliding around. I ended up buying one of those big foam rubber #1 fingers you see at football games and cutting it up to fit in the small area with the sliding door.
After measuring the 4 pieces several times I glued them together to form a block that would fit inside the area and hold the ipod snuggly.
After drilling a hole into the back and routing the ipod cable through, I added the foam rubber "dock" into the area. I have the ability to pull out about 2' of ipod cable from the dock if I need to access the ipod while driving and leaving the ipod connected! (it looks messier than it really is.. the pics were taken before a detail)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/sheik_yerbutay/530i/ipod/DSC00180.jpg
After allowing the glue to dry I fit the block inside and glued a piece of black suede over the face of the block to add a finishing touch to it.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/sheik_yerbutay/530i/ipod/DSC00184.jpg
When not in use I can simply slide the door down to hide the dock and the cable and maintain the stock look. Unfortunately the depth of this storage area isn't large enough to hold the ipod with the door down so you need to either store it in the glove box or simply push the armrest all the way forward to make the ipod less obvious to prying eyes.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/sheik_yerbutay/530i/ipod/DSC00185.jpg
Here is the ipod in the dock. It can sit down further (about to the center button) but the fit is so tight that I keep the wheel fully exposed. I took it for a road test and the ipod didn't budge around hard corners and didn't skip over rough roads. With the armrest slid all the way back you can still have a good view of the screen to operate it without removing it from the dock. The ipod also is low enough to avoid being the way while shifting.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/sheik_yerbutay/530i/ipod/DSC00191.jpg
Overall I spent maybe $5 on the foam rubber and suede and about an hours worth of my time to measure everything thrice, put it all together and install.
After measuring the 4 pieces several times I glued them together to form a block that would fit inside the area and hold the ipod snuggly.
After drilling a hole into the back and routing the ipod cable through, I added the foam rubber "dock" into the area. I have the ability to pull out about 2' of ipod cable from the dock if I need to access the ipod while driving and leaving the ipod connected! (it looks messier than it really is.. the pics were taken before a detail)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/sheik_yerbutay/530i/ipod/DSC00180.jpg
After allowing the glue to dry I fit the block inside and glued a piece of black suede over the face of the block to add a finishing touch to it.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/sheik_yerbutay/530i/ipod/DSC00184.jpg
When not in use I can simply slide the door down to hide the dock and the cable and maintain the stock look. Unfortunately the depth of this storage area isn't large enough to hold the ipod with the door down so you need to either store it in the glove box or simply push the armrest all the way forward to make the ipod less obvious to prying eyes.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/sheik_yerbutay/530i/ipod/DSC00185.jpg
Here is the ipod in the dock. It can sit down further (about to the center button) but the fit is so tight that I keep the wheel fully exposed. I took it for a road test and the ipod didn't budge around hard corners and didn't skip over rough roads. With the armrest slid all the way back you can still have a good view of the screen to operate it without removing it from the dock. The ipod also is low enough to avoid being the way while shifting.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a255/sheik_yerbutay/530i/ipod/DSC00191.jpg
Overall I spent maybe $5 on the foam rubber and suede and about an hours worth of my time to measure everything thrice, put it all together and install.