e39 Aux in for peanuts

[martyyyn 102]

Not wanting to spend $150 plus for a simple aux-in solution I made myself the cable shown in this thread.

http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f8/2002-e39-530d-aux-t76557/

I have a couple of units to try but none were fooled into thinking there was an aux-in option. So I tried the CD changer pins instead and everything worked really well. I cant select the next/previous track on the steering wheel but the volume works obviously and I can select everything from my phone anyway.

After a while I noticed the smell we all fear so I pulled it apart and double checked everything. It turns out the resistor I was given was only 300 Ohm and not 300K Ohm so by my dodgy maths I was putting through twice what it could handle. It might also explain why the radio didnt think there was any aux-in but Im only guessing.

Anyway, I'm going away for a few days so cant get the correct resistor but have also seen cables where they've simply hooked up audio left and right to a male 3.5mm so I tried that quickly and that also works but its not using the ground.

Would that be a simple solution for now, or am I wasting my time ? I've always thought if there is a ground you should use it, but Im no sparky.

So far the total cost is under a dollar for the caps and resistor, a dollar-something for the grounded female 3.5mm and for the wiring I'm using simply using an old cd-rom cable as the female blocks on them fit the radio pins perfectly.

Cheers