Howto: Setup an iPhone Car Stereo

[Kaido]

Ever wished you could hook up your iPhone to your car stereo and control it through the receiver? This tutorial shows you how...

What you need:

1. iPhone (or iPod)
2. Alpine CDE-102 CD Receiver ($150)
3. Alpine KCE-433iV USB to Full-Speed iPod Cable ($30)
4. Installation appointment (or tools to DIY)

I would HIGHLY recommend purchasing through Crutchfield. Not only do you get free shipping, but they give you a free wiring harness and dash adapter for your particular car. Basically all you need is the tools or an installation guy! Here's the product page for the Alpine unit and the owner's manual in PDF format.

About the Receiver:

Here's the basics on the head unit:

-12 FM, 6 AM presets
-Bluetooth optional (KCE-400BT, $150)
-iPod-compatible (5th-gen, Nano 1st-4th-gen, Classic, Touch 1st/2nd-gen)
-iPhone-compatible (both 1st-gen & 3G)
-iPod/iPhone cable (KCE-433iV, $30)
-Onboard MiniJack (hook up to any kind of player with an audio output jack)
-Onboard USB (play back from a USB stick)
-CD/MP3/AAC/WMA disc playback
-18-watts RMS/45 Peak output
-4-channel output (if you have separate amps)

How to Install:

I'm not going to cover how to install a car stereo in-depth since your car will be different than mine and you can find info all over the place online (plus Crutchfield includes an installation guide for your specific car). If you're not good with DIY stuff or just want a professional to install it, schedule an appointment at Best Buy or a local car stereo shop. If you want to DIY, basically you will have 3 connections: (make sure to disconnect the car's battery before you play with this stuff!)

1. Wiring harness
2. Car antenna
3. iPhone adapter

The wiring harness is what you plug into your car. The car has a special harness built-in, so what you have to do is custom-crimp a cable from the Alpine receiver to a factory harness adapter. It's pretty easy with to do with the right tools (wire crimps + crimping/stripping tool). Next you will need to plug in the car's antenna into the antenna adapter.

Finally you will need to attach the iPhone adapter cable. The cable is pretty long so you can snake it through your car to place it at a convenient location. I lease my car and I didn't want to custom-cut anything, so I drilled a hole in the plastic dashboard adapter that Crutchfield included and snuck the wire through there, pulled it out about 6" so that I had enough to grab with my hand when connecting my iPhone, then wrapped the wire near the hole with a thick covering of electrical tape to prevent it from sliding back into the dashboard. Not the most professional solution, but it works great! I suggest putting the cable in a place where you can drop the iPhone, like near a cupholder or under the receiver if you have a space

From here you can add on other stuff - better speakers, amps, subwoofer, a Bluetooth adapter, HD or Satellite Radio, etc. I pretty much just use FM Radio & the iPhone now - no more fumbling for Music CDs or having scratched discs skip on songs, whoohoo! Plus I don't have to fiddle with the iPod while driving, I can control everything right from the receiver!

Actual Usage:

To use your iPhone, first hook it up to the iPhone cable. It will charge up the phone and the iPhone will recognize the stereo as a certified adapter. You cannot control the iPod part from your phone while connected - it gives full control to the stereo. However, you CAN still use other apps! Which is cool, especially when a GPS app comes out! Next, switch the source input to iPod. Now you can control volume, choose playlists, search through artists, albums, and songs, skip back and forth through songs, and so on.

Pretty nice...no need for a separate iPhone charger, no need for CDs anymore, no messy minijack cable strung across the front seat, and I don't even have to fiddle with the iPhone controls to change a song

 

[chadisawesome]

I have a scion tc with a set up like this, but it's an older ipod set up so it charges over firewire not usb. So the phone is never charging. if anyone has this problem they can get this:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.p...b-for-iphone-and-ipod/

this is the griffen, there is another one by a company called Scosche. This will allow the firewire charge (which most car cables use) and convert it to the USB charge (which the iphone uses)

also, I was planning on upgrading my stereo to one with bluetooth. that way if a call comes in, the stereo will answer it and I won't have to unhook everything to answer the call.

Good write up.

 

[sjwaste]

If there is interest on a double-din unit with GPS built in, I can do a similar guide for the Pioneer AVIC F700BT.

Much will be dependent on the vehicle, but I can give some of the generic steps. I just did an install on a 91 Supra and 04 Passat.

 

[chadisawesome]

this might all be a moot point if you have bluetooth on your car.
http://i.gizmodo.com/5196055/i...udio-to-a-toyota-venza

as long as the quality is good, this beats having to fumble with cables at all... just get in your car, and have the speakers pick up your music over bluetooth.

 

[FP]

Is the output from the iPhone to the deck line level?

I would assume yes as you said the volume controls don't work on the iPhone itself.