Once you’ve decided to purchase an iPod car kit, inevitably you’ve chosen the Gateway Lite produced by Dension. You only have one further obstacle to hurdle, the installation. There are two options available to you for installing the kit. The first option, Pay a professional engineer to install the kit, either travelling to them or they can travel to you. The second option, is to install the iPod car kit yourself. Which is by far the more cost effective option and probably most convenient too. See below an installation guide to judge whether your capable of the installation, should you choose to go ahead.

The installation of the Gateway lite is fairly simple and pain free. Although this is a generic installation guide, it will suit 99% of vehicles.

Before you begin the installation, please remove the keys from the ignition and check that any radio codes are recorded for future reference.

Step one is to remove your car stereo, this will usually involve radio removal tools which will vary depending on what vehicle you have. Radio removal keys are readily available and the majority of online shops or traditional vehicle based retail outlets stock them. Radio removal tools are extremely convenient and can save you a lot of time and energy. This should take between 1-5 minutes

Step two is to remove the harnesses from the back of the stereo, Most vehicles have a Quadlock connection, this is a fairly large connection block that houses the wires to and from the stereo. If the Harness is a Quadlock connection the Dension harness will usually replicate the original harness exactly. The Dension Lite harness simply fits into the vehicle harness and then back to the stereo, basically a link between the vehicle and the stereo.

If the vehicle doesn’t have a Quadlock connection, the gateway lite harness fits into the CD changer port on the the back of the stereo. Usually located in the top right of the stereo as your looking at the back of it. Most of the time the harness simply connects straight into place, however occasionally the harness may have to be connected into the original harness then re-connected. This stage should take 2 minutes.

Step three is to connect the Gateway Lite PCB (the little black box) to the dension harness, its the most straight forward step of the installation. This will take 30 seconds.

Step Four is to connect the iPod dock and USB extension cable to the PCB, again very straight forward. Once this stage is done its usually a good idea to turn ignition on to check the system works. (Follow the user manual to perform the operations for iPod/USB track selection) Again this will take 1-2 minutes.

Step five, Route the cables through into position within the vehicle, this is usually the most time consuming part of the installation. Depending on the vehicle this can be a complex job and may require the removal of some of the fascia / Dashboard. This part of the installation may take up to 30 minutes depending on difficulty, especially if you want a professionally installed look.

Step Six, replace the stereo into its fittings. Read the operational instructions from Dension and enjoy the use of your iPod and all of your music while your driving.

In today’s customer case study update we will be telling you how easy it is to integrate an iPod into an Audi Vehicle. iPod Integration doesnt get easier than this.

John Cafferty purchased from us a while ago but it was a perfect example of how simple it is. No contact was made prior to the sale, John simply ordered from the website. He opted for the Dension Gateway 100 for Audi because he wanted an iPod cradle mounted on his dash.

John filled out a questionnaire after his purchase so we know what he was happy with. He was delighted with the amount of detail that the website went into which allowed him to make his decision on which iPod Car Kit he wanted to purchase. The order arrived at 1:30pm and was delivered at 10am the morning after. John had booked an installation with our recommended installers the day after it was delivered.

John sent us a letter a few days after that to let u know how happy he was with the service & that his iPod kit was working excellently. The installers arrived at his work place and installed the kit within 30 minutes. John was delighted that he had saved nearly £700 when comparing the kit to Audi’s own kit.

iPod Car Kit

Audi iPod Kit

Another happy customer! If you want your case study adding to our blog then please let us know.

Its time to tell you about another of our customers. Andy Crawford from Leeds contacted us around a month ago and was more than happy to share his story.

Andy purchased a new (09) VW Golf from his local VW dealership, he was told be the salesman that an iPod integration kit was included in the price of the vehicle. Andy was delighted as he was also looking at a Renault Megane which didn’t have the option for iPod Integration, hearing this news tipped the decision towards the VW. Andy drives alot for his job and can average 200 miles a day in some weeks. He ordered and eagerly waited for his new car to arrive.

3 weeks later he got the call to collect his car and swiftly popped down to the VW Dealer. He was delighted with the car in every aspect but within a few hours (after playing with all the gadgets and getting used to it) he got around to testing the iPod kit. To Andy’s disbelief the only visible iPod connection was just a 3.5mm jack in the glove box. He scoured the vehicle manual and couldn’t find any information so he called the dealer and was told that the 3.5mm jack was the iPod Integration kit that he was promised. Andy pointed out that 3.5mm jacks cannot integrate an iPod with a stereo, it can only provide a simple audio signal. He was after hoping that his iPod would stay charged and have the ability to be controlled from the car stereo.

After a 30 minute conversation the VW Dealer finally decided to offer an integrated iPod solution to Andy for free of charge. The car was booked in and the iPod kit was installed. It turns out that the kit they were installing was a very poor, very old version of a Dension In Car iPod kit (infact, one of the very first versions produced nearly 8 years ago). It wouldn’t charge his iPod, it would only map 5 playlists on the stereo (he couldn’t control it via albums, artists, tracks or any other means), he couldn’t revert the controls back to the iPod, the kit didn’t send track information (ID3 tagging) to the stereo. All in all, Andy wasn’t happy!

We received a call at 3:30pm on a Friday from Andy, our first contact with him. He asked what could be done and if any of the features he wanted were possible. We confirmed that ALL the features were possible & infact very simple. He could even install the kit himself easily. Andy ordered & we received a call on Monday morning from Andy. Andy received the kit on Saturday at 8am, had it installed by 9am and all the features he was after worked just as he had hoped.

Andy was just another happy customer of iPodCarKitDirect. If you want iPod integration or an In Car iPod then give us a call, see what see can do for you!

Dice Electronics are at the forefront of the iPod Car Kit market in the US & have pushed themselves into the limelight in the UK market over the last year. Dice Electronics have a huge development team and are always trying to better their kits.

The latest update is something called "SMART" mode. SMART mode is a new way of operating your iPod. It allows you to switch between iPod control and stereo/steering wheel control without going into your boot to change the dip switches around.

This new mode makes the Dice iPod Integration kits stand out above others & really pushes them towards what the consumers want.

Currently, the SMART mode kits are only available for BMW but more vehicles are due soon. Watch this space!

We were contacted by a customer at the start of this month who was desperate to get his iPod working in his car. He had already been given false information by 4 companies and he saw his only logical route to be through his dealer (who you would expect knew his car and its options inside out & back to front). £1400 and two weeks (without his car) later, the only thing that he had extra to before his vehicle went over to his dealer was an even bigger headache!

The dealer had sold him a kit for nearly triple the price that we charge (we charge £140, the dealer charged £400) and then charged a whopping £1000 for installation which took an entire two weeks! When this was complete it turned out that the iPod car kit didnt even work! He took it back and had it tested, they agreed to swap it over. Still no joy! In the end, 3 kits were tested and none worked. Our customer managed to get his £400 back for the iPod Car Kit but they wouldnt pay up for the installation costs. This has obviously left sour grapes in the mouth of the customer who was understandably very annoyed. This is where iPod Car Kit Direct come in, proving that we are a long way ahead of the game when it comes to getting an In Car iPod.

We had a call around 9:15am asking if we could offer any advice. We obviously knew the vehicle very well having successfully integrated around 5000 iPod Car Kits into thus far. We knew exactly what the issue was and suggested we could sell the Dension Gateway 100 kit at £140 and install it for £50. Our installers went over to our customers place of work two days later and installed the kit within 1 hour. Fully tested and fully working.

Needless to say that our customer was extremely pleased that he could now play his iPod in his car. He is also pursuing the lost £1000 with trading standards and is very close to a happy ending.

This story goes to show that there really is no replacement for expereince. We dont like blowing our own trumpets but we have twice the experience than any of our competitors and have ben the only company to have been dealing with iPod Car Kits since the very first iPod Car Kit was designed.

The installation of the Gateway 100 & 300 units are usually trouble free, in fact the most troublesome part of the installation is removing the head-unit. We have listed a few features regarding the installation that will help you when deciding whether or not you should try it yourself. (Please remember that The Gateway 100 & 300 products are car and radio specific and have different pin setting for different units)

Preparation,

Disconnect the head-unit (stereo) from the battery. If you have a security code applied ensure that you have it recorded.

Remove the Head-Unit

Often the radio will have a specific radio Key that will need to be used when removing the Stereo, (available at http://www.ipodcarkitdirect.co.uk/iPod_Car_Accessories/Radio_Keys/). Simply insert the keys into the slots and pull out the head-unit.

Remove the Original Harness

Remove the harness that is attached to the stereo, these harness look different in different car models and manufactures.
Replace the Dension Harness
Attach the Dension Harness to the stereo and then re attach the old harness to Dension harness. The Denson attachment should then be connected to the Dension PCB (black box).

Attach & route the application

When the harness have been connected together, connect the Dension application (Dock Cable or Active cradle) to the PCB and rout into the position that you would like it to be kept, (for dock cables this is usally in the glove box, active cradles are usually attached to the Dashboard)

Insert the head-unit

Insert the head-unit back into the original position and re connect to the battery.
Remember,
The Key code for the radio, updated iPod software & Dension software also resolve 99% of installation problems

For more detailed instruction refer to the Manual when purchased, or visit http://install.dension.com

Brodit and iPod Car Kit Direct have been working very hard on producing the highest quality iPod mounts and passive cradles for a very long time indeed. The latest batch of items will hold all the new iPods into a passive cradle in your car without damaging the dashboard.

The cradles will work with the following Apple iPods:

The Apple iPhone (all hard disc sizes)
The Apple iPod Classic 5th Generation (All sizes)
The Apple iPod Nano 3rd Generation (All sizes)

To view these items just simply click “iPod Mounting” on the left hand of our website underneath the “products” bar. Then click “Passive Cradle”

A question we get asked many times through the Support Centre is “i’m not technical how hard is it installing an iPod Car Kit, and can you recommend anyone to install it for me?”

OK i’d recommend you first take a look at the iPod Car Kit Installation Guide in the Support Centre as this details the different iPod Car Kit designs and options and how to install them.

But here’s a quick overview:

Cars with CD Changer port:
If you have a car radio that has a CD Changer socket/port on the rear of your radio then you’ll need the ice>Link Plus for Factory Fitted Radios or Aftermarket Radios.

To install you simply connect the ice>Link Plus car kit into this CD Changer socket and the car radio acts as though a changer were fitted, but controlling the iPod Car Kit. You can then mount the cradle option on a Dashmount or Brodit bracket for easy access of your iPod, or if you go for the Dock Cable option, run this to your glovebox or other discrete location.

To remove your radio to access the changer port you’ll need Car Radio Keys

Cars without CD Changer port or if you have a changer fitted and wish to keep the changer:
If you have a car radio that does NOT have a CD Changer socket/port on the rear of your radio then you’ll need the ice>Link FM option.

As above the car radio is removed but with the FM verison you connect this inline with your aerial connection. Then you need to power the iPod Car Kit with an ignition and an earth wire, dead Simple! Now mount the cradle as above using the Brodit or Dashmount brackets. The dock cable is not currently an option with the FM version.

UK iPod Car Kit Installers: 

3 Options:

1) Install the car kit yourself.
2) See InCar-Installer.com for a Nationwide Professional Installation service.
3) Find someone in the Yellow Pages or on Yell.com in the Car Audio and Car Electrics sections.

For more info see: iPod Car Kit Direct, Contact Us, view the Support Centre or Call us 0845 430 3355 Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm