Attention iPod DICE Users

[swenpro]

As some of you know I purchased/installed a CD43 and DICE module from Jimmy Herrold through the group buy he put together this spring. The CD43 has been my best upgrade to date and I am extremely happy with it.

My DICE integration, however, while having the potential to be a great upgrade, has so far been a waste of $145+ with no return. So please, if your DICE setup functions properly, maybe you can shed some let on my situation... Jim, aka 95///M3, has decided to permanently ignore my e-mails after initially being so helpful.

The Problem: After I've had the battery disconnected for a little while, and after rechecking the wiring going to the back of the radio for the 5th time, I connect the battery, turn the ignition key to power accessories, and connect my iPod Video (has latest firmware). On this first attempt to connect, it usually powers up as it should, screen cycles through "disconnect," etc, then its ready. It plays my iPod tunes through my car speakers, pretty sweet and I'm very excited. I follow the directions to turn text display on, some parts of a song appear stationary on the headunit for an unreasonable amount of time, but this is not too disconcerting. I proceed to turn on the car, and begin doing a little test drive. 5 min or so into the test drive, I'm suddenly listening to the CD in my headunit, NOT my iPod! Just like that, it switches over.... sometimes I just press "CD" on my head unit and it will jump back into the iPod song like nothing happened, but after this switching back and forth between iPod and CD automatically, the iPod soon just stops connecting altogether. At this point, it doesn't matter how many times I do a iPod reset (menu+center button) or turn off the car, the DICE refuses to recognize it has anything connected to it.

So one might assume this is a problem with the DICE module. I thought so, and so did DICE customer support. Thus they sent me a new module, and I paid to ship the old one back. But there's no change! With the new module installed, I quite simply have the exact same problem going on!!

This is so odd, that I really don't know what to make of it anymore... if my wiring was bad, it wouldn't connect for a few minutes, right?? I've never heard more than 10 min of playing time at one sitting before this setup just chokes.

Sorry for the long post, guys, but since I know some others of you bought the DICE too, I was hoping you could shed some light. Thanks in advance!

[Macv]

You explained my problems perfectly. I don't care enough to try to fix it. I just listen to the CD when it wont switch back. However if you DO find a fix. I wanna be the first you email. I guess I'll aid in trying to fix it now as well.

[Macv]

Oh, and in Jim's defense. He's out on business.

[gale]

Did you use T-tap connectors to tap into the 3 wires on the back of the harness? I just put a Grom iPod adapter in mine last week and tapped into the +12v, ground, & the #7 i-bus wire. I noticed the i-bus wire is pretty skinny and could make an intermittent connection so I stripped about 1/16" of the insulation off of it to expose the bare copper & packed a few more shards of bare strands into the T-tap with a small screwdriver to make sure it was making good contact. So far so good.

http://img-europe.electrocomponents.com/largeimages/C531352-63.jpg

http://gromaudio.com/bmw_instructions.pdf

[Macv]

everything in mine is connected well and working. i just dont think the dice likes the business radio as well as everyone says it does (in the e34)

[PScalfano]

Did you check the DICE Q.A. thread on bf.c? Here it is: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=634582

I can't identify with your problem because I drive an E36, but occasionally I have the problem of the DICE not being recognized, so I can't even put the CD43 on CD changer mode. A quick battery disconnect fixes the problem for me. This has only happened twice. I hope you find some answers though.

I give Jimmy props for the kit he put together for the group buy. He went above and beyond expectations by fabricating the wiring harnesses for us.

Good luck!

[swenpro]

You explained my problems perfectly. I don't care enough to try to fix it. I just listen to the CD when it wont switch back. However if you DO find a fix. I wanna be the first you email. I guess I'll aid in trying to fix it now as well.

Well, at least it's a relief to hear that I'm not the only one suffering from the same issue. I just sent an e-mail to Tom at EAS, I'll see if he has any ideas


Oh, and in Jim's defense. He's out on business.

There's no question that Jim kindly went out of the way to help us get set up, but "out on business" from June 27 to September 29?? That's odd...


Did you use T-tap connectors to tap into the 3 wires on the back of the harness? I just put a Grom iPod adapter in mine last week and tapped into the +12v, ground, & the #7 i-bus wire. I noticed the i-bus wire is pretty skinny and could make an intermittent connection so I stripped about 1/16" of the insulation off of it to expose the bare copper & packed a few more shards of bare strands into the T-tap with a small screwdriver to make sure it was making good contact. So far so good.

gale, do you have a CD-43 or some other unit? That's great yours is working, I'll have to check my t-tap connections again too.

[gale]

gale, do you have a CD-43 or some other unit? That's great yours is working, I'll have to check my t-tap connections again too.

I have the C43 cassette version of the Business head unit. Should function the same as a CD43 for aux. input. The Grom works well but wish it would do streaming iPod song/artist text, just shows: disk-no, track-no.

[Macv]

There's no question that Jim kindly went out of the way to help us get set up, but "out on business" from June 27 to September 29?? That's odd...

I believe he recently got a new job that requires him to travel some distance to get to. It was hard to get ahold of him for my stuff... but I got it.

[Macv]

what settings are you using on the dice unit itself? (switch positions)

[swenpro]

what settings are you using on the dice unit itself? (switch positions)

without running out to my car, I want to say they're both in the off/up position (if those correspond to the same position...) I believe this is what is recommended in the manual if I remember correctly.

[Paul in NZ]

i sure hope we can figure this out,i havent put mine in yet but my main motivation for getting it was to get the ipod so i could eliminate my skipping cd stacker....

[95///M3]

Just checked in here and saw the post.

I have new employment and have been travelling for the past few months.

If you would like a refund, I will be glad to refund your full amount. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I dont know the solution to the DICE unit. Mine works and thats all I can say for it.

Email me at jwherrold@gmail.com if you want to go the refund route.

Jimmy

[swenpro]

ah, THERE we go... really good to hear from you, Jim. I didn't think you would be the type to just run away after setting everything up so nicely as you did with the group buy, but I was beginning to wonder :D

I just got an e-mail back from Tom at EAS, here's what he says:

Greg,

Some CD43 radios reject the DICE module – we’ve seen this happen only a handful of times. Sometimes it can go as long as 2-3 months, or 5 minutes.

Unfortunately, since the reaction happens very rarely, it has been next to impossible to get a vehicle in house for datalogging in order to find the source of the issue.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Tom G. | european auto source (eas)

tom@europeanautosource.com
www.europeanautosource.com

toll free 866.669.0705

direct 714.369.8524

So, the CD43 "rejects" the DICE... very odd. Jim, if I can't figure this out any other way, I may take you up on the refund offer... that is, only if you are able to refund the units too. If this just means you'll be stuck with a pile of DICE modules, then no, I don't think you deserve to be put in that situation.

But I will be speaking with DICE customer support directly again soon, they were helpful the first time in allowing me to exchange the DICE module for a new one, so hopefully they can help work out the issue here. If they need an incompatible CD43 to play around with, maybe I'll need to ship mine to them.

All for now, will update when I know more.

[95///M3]

ah, THERE we go... really good to hear from you, Jim. I didn't think you would be the type to just run away after setting everything up so nicely as you did with the group buy, but I was beginning to wonder :D

I just got an e-mail back from Tom at EAS, here's what he says:

Greg,

Some CD43 radios reject the DICE module – we’ve seen this happen only a handful of times. Sometimes it can go as long as 2-3 months, or 5 minutes.

Unfortunately, since the reaction happens very rarely, it has been next to impossible to get a vehicle in house for datalogging in order to find the source of the issue.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Tom G. | european auto source (eas)

tom@europeanautosource.com
www.europeanautosource.com

toll free 866.669.0705

direct 714.369.8524

So, the CD43 "rejects" the DICE... very odd. Jim, if I can't figure this out any other way, I may take you up on the refund offer... that is, only if you are able to refund the units too. If this just means you'll be stuck with a pile of DICE modules, then no, I don't think you deserve to be put in that situation.

But I will be speaking with DICE customer support directly again soon, they were helpful the first time in allowing me to exchange the DICE module for a new one, so hopefully they can help work out the issue here. If they need an incompatible CD43 to play around with, maybe I'll need to ship mine to them.

All for now, will update when I know more.

Ok, Let me know what you want to do. I unfortunately dont have anymore CD43 units at the moment to see if that is the cause. I will make some calls to see if we can possibly have yours swapped out for a brand new unit.

Jimmy

[Denton]

I really want to do this upgrade but...

Could the problem be that we're K-Bus and not I-Bus?

[Macv]

I wouldn't refund mine anyways. I drive short distances and the ipod usually works for my trips.

Maybe someone will figure it out.

[swenpro]

UPDATE:

I e-mailed DICE support today regarding our problem with the DICE unit disconnecting, and I received the following reply from Adam:

"Hello Greg, unfortunately, the information Tom forwarded to you is very accurate. We would have to have a vehicle with this exact issue tested on and "datalogged" for reprogramming. If you know of anyone in the Southern California area that would be willing to have this tested, we may be able to come up with a fix. It would have to be scheduled for a later time this year. The last option is returning it for a refund. Let me know if you any questions or concerns. Best Regards, Adam"

So, they need someone in SoCal (I think just south of L.A.) with a CD-43 head unit exhibiting this problem so they can do some testing "later this year." I live near Chicago, so unfortunately this is not an option for me. MacV, I know you were experiencing this issue too, but I have no idea where you live. Does anyone know of someone in SoCal area who might be able to do some testing on this issue?

[Macv]

I live in Muncie, IN. My car gets garaged in the winter, if nobody speaks up and does this, I'll consider sending mine in.

[Elekta]

I have the same issue, mostly with pushing the CD button and having it read NO DISC instead of initializing the ipod. Are there any presetups to getting it to work? Like should the ipod be disconnected first? Then start the car, then turn on the radio?

This is a bummer, as I have the Sirius Radio, and sure a **** when my installer packs up and leaves, I can't get it to work...

where's Jimmy?