E46Fanatics Official DICE iPod integration kit Q/A thread

Originally Posted by noqlew

regarding a unit i bought from tom (fast shipping, thanks!)

I connected my dice connector to the 6 pin and 3 pin connectors in the trunk (which were tied together) but haven't run the wire yet because I wanted to test it. I removed fuses before the connection and reconnected them, all with the key out of the ignition.

But the cd changer won't come up at all when i press the cd button to switch to the cd changer. Also, the ipod doesn't show like its charging when connected to the dice unit and all connections seem snug. the dice unit is also not warm (should it be?). Is this the sign of a bad unit or bad cable?

I haven't tried unhooking the battery yet.

I have an 01 330i business cd ....

Try removing the battery cables - this is most critical part of the install.

no "dice".

i left the battery disconnected for ~10 minutes - the clock is now reset. I also tried an ipod nano and an ipod video, both with firmware 1.2. Neither shows any kind of charge occuring when connected to the cable coming out of the dice adapter. and, it's as though there is no cd changer. any other suggestions?

Originally Posted by noqlew

i left the battery disconnected for ~10 minutes - the clock is now reset. I also tried an ipod nano and an ipod video, both with firmware 1.2. Neither shows any kind of charge occuring when connected to the cable coming out of the dice adapter. and, it's as though there is no cd changer. any other suggestions?

Check the inline fuse on the DICE kit's wiring harness to see if it has blown.

the 2 (amp?) fuse on the bmw connector seems fine. i'm not 100% on what a blown fuse would look like but I assume it would be either fried inside (brownish) and the metal connection would be broken.

I took it out and inspected it. any other ideas?

do you think the unit is bad?

Originally Posted by noqlew

do you think the unit is bad?

It's too early to tell. Give me a call from your car and we'll go over some troubleshooting steps in real-time.

Hi Tom,

I'm experiencing a problem that it seems a handful of others on this forum have reported as well. During song playback through DICE, there is a background noise that can be described as a "dit-dit-dit" (as a past poster mentioned) or "tsch-tsch-tsch" (like a muffled clock ticking). During playback of most non-classical music, the noise is not that noticeable and fairly unobtrusive. But during playback of classical music (which has more moments of quiet/low volume), the noise is very noticeable and rather annoying. The sound and volume of this background noise doesn't change with the music; it is just more noticeable when listening to classical or quieter music.

A few observations from my troubleshooting: The noise seems to coincide with the scroll of the letters displayed on the radio. I'm wondering if somehow the DICE module's text data output signal (song information) is bleeding into the music output signal. However, if I disable text display (disc 6, track 99), the dit-dit-dit sound is still present, though perhaps quieter.

Also, when I have the iPod's "sound check" set to ON (volume set to a consistent level from song-to-song), the iPod's output volume is lower; as a result, I have to turn the radio volume higher, which makes the dit-dit-dit sound more audible. Though the solution might seem to be to turn sound check to OFF, this isn't a good solution, because during louder moments of some songs, there is some distortion, as happens when line levels are maxed out. Furthermore, even with sound check OFF, I can still hear the dit-dit-dit sound enough during classical or quieter songs that it is annoying.

Finally, this seems to happen with the engine both on and off.

Is this something that can be corrected? Is this a sign of a defective unit? Or is it "normal" to have background noise with DICE that can be heard (at a not insignificant volume) during quieter songs? Thanks for your help!

(This is installed on a 2002 325i, standard business cd radio.)

Originally Posted by eric2006

Hi Tom,

I'm experiencing a problem that it seems a handful of others on this forum have reported as well. During song playback through DICE, there is a background noise that can be described as a "dit-dit-dit" (as a past poster mentioned) or "tsch-tsch-tsch" (like a muffled clock ticking). During playback of most non-classical music, the noise is not that noticeable and fairly unobtrusive. But during playback of classical music (which has more moments of quiet/low volume), the noise is very noticeable and rather annoying. The sound and volume of this background noise doesn't change with the music; it is just more noticeable when listening to classical or quieter music.

A few observations from my troubleshooting: The noise seems to coincide with the scroll of the letters displayed on the radio. I'm wondering if somehow the DICE module's text data output signal (song information) is bleeding into the music output signal. However, if I disable text display (disc 6, track 99), the dit-dit-dit sound is still present, though perhaps quieter.

Also, when I have the iPod's "sound check" set to ON (volume set to a consistent level from song-to-song), the iPod's output volume is lower; as a result, I have to turn the radio volume higher, which makes the dit-dit-dit sound more audible. Though the solution might seem to be to turn sound check to OFF, this isn't a good solution, because during louder moments of some songs, there is some distortion, as happens when line levels are maxed out. Furthermore, even with sound check OFF, I can still hear the dit-dit-dit sound enough during classical or quieter songs that it is annoying.

Finally, this seems to happen with the engine both on and off.

Is this something that can be corrected? Is this a sign of a defective unit? Or is it "normal" to have background noise with DICE that can be heard (at a not insignificant volume) during quieter songs? Thanks for your help!

(This is installed on a 2002 325i, standard business cd radio.)

Great troubleshooting on your end - very well explained.

BTW - does the iPod's backlight being on or off have an effect on the digital noise on your end?

Originally Posted by eric2006

Hi Tom,

I'm experiencing a problem that it seems a handful of others on this forum have reported as well. During song playback through DICE, there is a background noise that can be described as a "dit-dit-dit" (as a past poster mentioned) or "tsch-tsch-tsch" (like a muffled clock ticking). During playback of most non-classical music, the noise is not that noticeable and fairly unobtrusive. But during playback of classical music (which has more moments of quiet/low volume), the noise is very noticeable and rather annoying. The sound and volume of this background noise doesn't change with the music; it is just more noticeable when listening to classical or quieter music.

A few observations from my troubleshooting: The noise seems to coincide with the scroll of the letters displayed on the radio. I'm wondering if somehow the DICE module's text data output signal (song information) is bleeding into the music output signal. However, if I disable text display (disc 6, track 99), the dit-dit-dit sound is still present, though perhaps quieter.

Also, when I have the iPod's "sound check" set to ON (volume set to a consistent level from song-to-song), the iPod's output volume is lower; as a result, I have to turn the radio volume higher, which makes the dit-dit-dit sound more audible. Though the solution might seem to be to turn sound check to OFF, this isn't a good solution, because during louder moments of some songs, there is some distortion, as happens when line levels are maxed out. Furthermore, even with sound check OFF, I can still hear the dit-dit-dit sound enough during classical or quieter songs that it is annoying.

Finally, this seems to happen with the engine both on and off.

Is this something that can be corrected? Is this a sign of a defective unit? Or is it "normal" to have background noise with DICE that can be heard (at a not insignificant volume) during quieter songs? Thanks for your help!

(This is installed on a 2002 325i, standard business cd radio.)

FYI I have the same issue, I've had 3 replacement units and every single one of them has the same issue. I wouldnt waste the time getting a replacement unit if thats your only issue.

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

Great troubleshooting on your end - very well explained.

BTW - does the iPod's backlight being on or off have an effect on the digital noise on your end?

Are you asking if the noise is worse during the few seconds when the iPod's backlight is on (due to a key press on the iPod, etc.) before it automatically turns off? If so, no, the noise is the same when the backlight is on or off.

Or do you mean I should try disabling the backlight in the iPod's settings menu? I haven't done this but I can try if that's what you mean.

Originally Posted by eric2006

Are you asking if the noise is worse during the few seconds when the iPod's backlight is on (due to a key press on the iPod, etc.) before it automatically turns off? If so, no, the noise is the same when the backlight is on or off.

Or do you mean I should try disabling the backlight in the iPod's settings menu? I haven't done this but I can try if that's what you mean.

Yes - try disabling the backlight to see if this changes the noise.

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

Yes - try disabling the backlight to see if this changes the noise.

I'll get back to you on your question later this afternoon (I don't have my iPod with me at the moment), but I have noticed the following:

If I turn on the radio with the iPod disconnected and go to CD changer (DICE) mode, if I turn the volume up, I can hear the same "dit" noise, but it is less frequent and I think it may be quieter. (The radio displays "* *".) Though this is pure speculation, I wonder if I am hearing some sort of bleed into the audio output when the DICE unit is sending the asterisks to display on the radio. It makes sense that it would be less frequent as less text information is being sent to the radio.

(Note: I only get the "DISCONNECTED" message on the radio if I disconnect the iPod with the radio turned on.)

Originally Posted by eric2006

I'll get back to you on your question later this afternoon (I don't have my iPod with me at the moment), but I have noticed the following:

If I turn on the radio with the iPod disconnected and go to CD changer (DICE) mode, if I turn the volume up, I can hear the same "dit" noise, but it is less frequent and I think it may be quieter. (The radio displays "* *".) Though this is pure speculation, I wonder if I am hearing some sort of bleed into the audio output when the DICE unit is sending the asterisks to display on the radio. It makes sense that it would be less frequent as less text information is being sent to the radio.

(Note: I only get the "DISCONNECTED" message on the radio if I disconnect the iPod with the radio turned on.)

The DISCONNECTED message is normal operation, let me know what you find out tonight.

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

Yes - try disabling the backlight to see if this changes the noise.

Disabling the backlight on the iPod does not change the noise.

Originally Posted by eric2006

Disabling the backlight on the iPod does not change the noise.

Contact me directly at tom@europeanautosource.com and we'll work on getting you a replacement DICE module.

Hey Tom, I wanted to follow up on these forums now that a couple of months has gone by since my last post. First of all, thanks for helping me deal with my "Zoltan problem". I eventually got a replacement unit but it fixed nothing. I've gone about as high-end as I can go in terms of audio cables and ground loop isolators (total of about $120 spent) and I have completely eliminated any kind of alternator whine or other noise issues with the exception of the infamous "dit-dit".

The sound pretty much goes away when I turn off the text display or switch my unit into "ipod" mode. However, this is no solution since half the reason I switched from the BMW interface to the DICE one was to get ID3 tags. With the exception of those two options, no combination of fuse pulling, battery disconnecting, or iPod resetting fixes it. I'm convinced, at this point, that this is a design flaw inherent in the unit itself based off my experiences and the experiences of other people on this forum. I'm willing to put up with it but I've had to cut audiobooks out of repetoire as they are too quiet to mask the dit-sound and I can't enjoy them.

At one point you mentioned something along the lines of bridging a cable to a ground on the BMW side of the connector harness for the CD changer? Do you think this could potentially mitigate this problem? If so, can you post a picture or a more detailed set of instructions on how to do this?

Either way, my christmas wish is that the DICE people can get their act together on this problem. It is a real black eye for them and I have three friends that also own e46s whom I have talked out of getting the DICE unit until this problem is resolved.

Originally Posted by tyroneshoe

Hey Tom, I wanted to follow up on these forums now that a couple of months has gone by since my last post. First of all, thanks for helping me deal with my "Zoltan problem". I eventually got a replacement unit but it fixed nothing. I've gone about as high-end as I can go in terms of audio cables and ground loop isolators (total of about $120 spent) and I have completely eliminated any kind of alternator whine or other noise issues with the exception of the infamous "dit-dit".

The sound pretty much goes away when I turn off the text display or switch my unit into "ipod" mode. However, this is no solution since half the reason I switched from the BMW interface to the DICE one was to get ID3 tags. With the exception of those two options, no combination of fuse pulling, battery disconnecting, or iPod resetting fixes it. I'm convinced, at this point, that this is a design flaw inherent in the unit itself based off my experiences and the experiences of other people on this forum. I'm willing to put up with it but I've had to cut audiobooks out of repetoire as they are too quiet to mask the dit-sound and I can't enjoy them.

At one point you mentioned something along the lines of bridging a cable to a ground on the BMW side of the connector harness for the CD changer? Do you think this could potentially mitigate this problem? If so, can you post a picture or a more detailed set of instructions on how to do this?

Either way, my christmas wish is that the DICE people can get their act together on this problem. It is a real black eye for them and I have three friends that also own e46s whom I have talked out of getting the DICE unit until this problem is resolved.

Have you tried removing the DICE harness from the vehicle and testing that way (while still connected)? It sounds like the DICE is picking up some type of interference in the vehicle

Originally Posted by tyroneshoe

I have completely eliminated any kind of alternator whine or other noise issues with the exception of the infamous "dit-dit".

Did your original unit make this "dit-dit" noise as well as your replacement? I am considering sending my unit back for replacement, but I am reconsidering as it seems like a lot of people have done so but not had this issue resolved.

Thanks!

I'll also confirm that the "dit-dit" noise is directly related to the scrolling ID3 tags. Unfortunately, now that I've realized this association, it's even more annoying as I can now see the scrolling text, and hear the tapping static as it scrolls by. I have noticed that if you press "3" during a song, to set it to "album", the text does not scroll and the noise is not prevalent.

I agree that the DICE people really need to get their act together on this one, as it's almost unenjoyable to use this unit during any soft-level of music.