I've been using the Intravee for few years and it's great for what it is. But really wanted a better way to play music digitally without being bound to my 10 year old iPod. Enter AirEnabler.
I purchased this for my X3 but I realized it's better suited for the Z4. It basically has an audio jack that connects to any aux port. You then plug the microusb cable to any usb port to power the device. The device creates a wifi signal in which your iPhone can connect to. You're probably thinking well it's still feeding off the aux port so isn't the quality average at best? Simple solution is to add cheap DAC. My total cost $86
Here's my setup:
1.
AirEnabler $60
2.
Hardwire kit $14
3.
DAC $9
4.
Audio cable $3
5. Generic wire taps
As always you do this at your own risk. I'm not responsible for you damaging your vehicle. Feel free to watch this video before for removing the trim. It's pretty short but it'll make everything below easier to understand.
1. Remove the ash tray assembly. If you remove the ash tray itself, you'll see a screw that secures the entire assembly. Unscrew it and pull the assembly out. You don't need to disconnect the wire plugs that feed into cig lighter or other buttons (traction, heated seats, etc.).
2. Remove the shift boot. You really don't need to remove the entire center trim like below (Picture is there for reference). I removed literally just the leather boot (which snaps in/out), and the foam by the shifter.
3. Use some trim tools to remove the access panel under the HVAC controls (above the ash tray). My 07 came equipped with an aux port pre-installed here.
The panel is secured via clips. If you pop that open, you can disconnect the aux cable port from the panel.
4. Connect the DAC on USB side of AirEnabler and then connect your 1/8th plug from DAC to the factory aux port.
5. Connect the microusb hardwire kit to AirEnabler and tuck the device and wiring under the trim (as instructed in the YouTube video above).
6. Last thing you need to do is power the device. I posted another thread
here asking how the sport button was powered. I just used wire taps for ground & power onto my sport button (brown/black is ground and green/yellow/blue for power). One thing to note is the button trim is quite fragile so it might be easier to tap power elsewhere. You could use an add-a-fuse from the glovebox and just route the wiring behind the kick panel up to the ash tray.
7. Put everything back in reverse order. Turn on the car, wait 20 second for the AirEnabler to power up. Connect to the wifi network on your iPhone and then choose AirPlay. Switch iPhone to AirEnabler. Set the radio to Aux and start playing your favorite tunes, wirelessly with digital quality! =)