Installing Music Player (iPod) Interface Tequipment

After months of reading and research (thank you to the many on this site and others) I have decided to install the official Porsche Ipod interface in my 2997 Cayman s, I have the CDR-24 non-bose. This equipment was just released, my dealer received the first one yesterday. I had attended a Sport Drive Event sponsored by Porsche in St Louis this past Monday and spoke to the company representatives. Supposidly this is more advanced than a normal fm modulator. We will see if that is true. The one deciding fact for me is that it remains all Porsche parts, that should maintain re-sale and warranty. I will let you know how it works. I know the limitations and the expense ($316 dealer cost for parts and then labor, so over $900.) I am hoping the interface will be clean and will give me a quality sound (good fm will be ok) with a large selection of music from the ipod without having to change current parts.) Again thanks for the many posts on this subject. RedTango

keep us posted!

So far I would say FANTASTIC! It appears to be flawless. For a sound test I put in a CD and I-pod, Lex Zeppplan "Whole Lot of Love." I ran the same song back and forth from CD to I-Pod, I did notice the loudness from I-pod was less than CD and a slight loss of dynamic range (if I can actually tell such a thing), I more noticed it on the bass. But with a little boost of volume it was nearly as good and much better than any FM signal. A couple of nuances, You do not select an FM channel (i.e. 89.5) but it is installed to an FM signal and shows up as AUX. Because the signal is so strong you are unable to use your CDR-24 AS (Auto Store) Feature (the 9 current stantions strongest signal auto stored) since the AUX is the strongest feature. I haven't tried the BEST FM but I am sure it will be the same. It does appear when I am in AS I can still manually move up or down the dial (a dated term I know, it shows my age) and find the next strongest channel, so not sure this is a big loss....and why would I be listening to FM other than traffic or weather? I know this is obvious but one other note, with the CDR-24 you only control volume, all other functions must be controlled from I-Pod. The service manager told me that a PCM would have more capabilities with this unit, but I have no way of verifying that. WHen I turn car off the I-pod stays on. If I turn it off it shows the Charging Symbol. But after a minute or so it appears to go out all together. I still can't determine if it is staying on and if I have worries on battery drain, no mention in the manual that it came with on needing to disconnect. If anyone knows this answer I would appreciate hearing back. For me this is a great solution! Sorry STLPCA, I do not have enough credits to respond to your PM Hope you see this notice here, and best of luck in your install. Hope this helps anyone out there looking. I am about to travel to airport tomorrow, a two hour drive, so I will have better sense of capabilities.

Tell us more! Can we see a picture of this somewhere? KJ

The service manager told me that a PCM would have more capabilities with this unit, but I have no way of verifying that. I can't see how the PCM would make a difference, am I missing something? Its a one way interface. G.

I'm going to be making a decision between this and the GW500 in the next couple of months, I'm probably in the minority in that I prefer having the ipod mounted on the dash within reach and controlling it directly, so really the only deciding factor for me is sound quality, since all I need is an aux port.

RedTango, Unit alone cost $316 and you paid $900 installed. Did the labor alone cost you $600? If not, did it require any other parts for the install? $600 for the just a labor sounds too expensive even though it was installed by the Porsche dealership...

The rest was labor...I didn't question it and am sure you could get it for less, but for me the ease of mind of having someone work on my 65k car was worth it.

Ever since I updated to the iPhone software 2.0 and have been using Pandora I have a renewed interest in getting my iPod hooked up to the car. It is like having personal satellite radio where ever you are. Do you have the part numbers for what needs to be purchased? I think 300 bucks is a deal, even if the quality isn't stellar. Hell, the radio quality isn't stellar either. this is the unit that goes in the center armrest correct?

Honestly, the same thing can be done to any car. All your dealer did was run your ipod through the cars FM wire. So you have to tune to the radio/aux station and play your ipod. Once your ipod begins playing, it cuts off the FM signal and starts playing. The unit is directly connected to your headunit, it just cuts off the radio signal and replaces it with your ipod audio. I think you just got ripped off by your dealer and you let your guard down when he said this is a "Porsche" product, as mentioned above, the same thing can be done to several other cars, and your dealer probably gave it to a local shop to do the work for you, which is why the labor charge is SO high. My dealer does the same thing. If the above is not true, then this is honestly a half assed approach by Porsche to address an issue. If you cannot control your ipod from the headunit, what happens during hard braking, does your ipod fly forward? The fact that you are unable to control the ipod from your headunit should not have anything to do with you not having a navigation unit. Ask any Dice/Denison user and they will tell you, there are some around you have installed it in their non-Nav cars and can control it too.

I totally agree. I just installed the Dension Gateway 500 in my non-PCM Cayman S and it was the best solution for me, although about $300 more than it was to do in my Silverado, 4Runner, and Lancer. But that is due to the Porsche use of the MOST fiber-optic bus. With the help of this group and reading the poorly written instructions about 10 times I was able to install the GW 500 in about 1 hr. I put all of the equipment including the iPod in the front compartment where the CD changer would be located. The MOST bus connectors came apart easily and it was not difficult to "re-wire" them to add the Dension in the loop. And, the existing CD changer power cable was the perfect place to get 12 volts. I mounted everrything with Velco on the shelf. Now I control about 24 playlists from the CDR24 headunit. It is not difficult once you get used to the technique. I lamintated a cheat sheet card to list the playlists that correspond to the track numbers on the CDR24. It sounds great and is a very clean install with no cables dangling in the cockpit. In retrospect I wouldn't do it any other way, especially Porsche's solution which requires operation of the iPod instead of the headunit. Porsce fell way short on this one, IMO.

I downloaded the tech article for insptalling the iPod adaptor -- but it was for the PCM. Does anyone have the tech instructions for hooking up the adaptor to the CD24 radio unit. I'm just sort concerned about any differences in mounting, DIP switch configurations, etc. Thanks in advance. D

I have the factory fitted Porsche iPod interface and it's RUBBISH. It hisses like frying bacon between audio tracks because it's still an FM modulator wired to the radio arial. The iPod lives in the centre console arm rest so it's impossible to change tracks safely while driving. I urge anyone contemplating this iPod solution to forget it. Go with a Dension Gateway.

Just as I thought, this is another half assed approach from Porsche... That's why I installed a Pioneer Avic-D3, since I wanted total iPod control and navigation.

My PM inquiry was which dealer did your installation. I considered, but have now rejected this option considering its cost and significant limitations.

sorry, what I meant to say in the simplest terms is that it is not a typical RF modulator that people attach to their iPods and tune to a specific radio frequency to hear the audio. This is just a unit that is installed between the antenna and the headunit, and once the ipod starts playing, it cuts off the signal from the antenna, and plays the ipod audio to the headunit. Am I making sense to you here? This type of device is almost universal and can be installed in many cars for a lot cheaper than what this guy paid. I did not want to confuse anyone with all the jargon, but this unit does not broadcast audio at a particular FM frequency, it just cuts off the FM antenna when you start using your ipod. I do not know how to put it in any terms more simple than that, instead of confusing everyone with all the techno mumbo jumbo! Once again, my main point was that this is NOT a average device/RF modulator that you attach to your ipod and tune the radio to 88.9 FM (or whatever) that so many users have been buying for less than $30 bucks, it is a directly connected to the headunit, which should improve the audio a bit more than the cheap RF modulators that make you tune to a particular frequency. Sorry for the confusion.