Since I’ll be spending a lot of time in my car during clinicals, I needed something to keep me going during the long commutes. Unfortunately, my car didn’t come with an iPod interface, and the dealership was going to charge me an arm and a leg to install an add on module. After quickly perusing the Internet, I came across a significantly cheaper option – the USA SPEC PA12-BMW.
This module works by “hijacking” the prewiring intended to be used for a multidisc changer. As embarassing as it is, out of the 45 minutes it took me to install the device, a solid 20 minutes went into searching for these wires. 😳 I was flying blind with my fingers trying to separate out cables until I found the right 3 pin and 6 pin connectors. The rest of the installation was straightforward. I passed the module cable from the trunk into the cabin via the rear passenger speaker cutout. Using the molding to hide the cable, I was able to route it to my console (where the SPEC PA12 module currently resides), and then pass the iPod and auxiliary cables out near the cigarette lighter.
So how’s the iPod’s sound quality? Well, quite frankly, it’s fantastic! The track title and artist properly display on the console, and I can use the toggles to skip through songs in a given playlist. The only drawback to this set up is that the CD player will no longer function. That’s fine though, because now I’ve got hundreds of songs at my disposal and a much more enjoyable commute. I just wish I made this investment years ago! 🙂
