Hey Phil,

Other than the Audi iPod adapter grief, I hope the car is treating you well.

As my thread reads, this is the second time I have fallen for buying this ridiculous option and the second time I am kicking my own a$$ for doing so. (Actually its the third time if you include my girlfriend's Golf.)

To go along with what the other guys are saying, here are a few tips on making your USD $250 / CAD $300 option worth something.

First off you have to think of the Audi iPod adapter as a CD changer emulator. It uses the CD changer controller functions in the head unit and thinks of the iPod playlists as CD's in the changer. It allocates CD positions 7 to 11 on the head unit to the first five playlists on your iPod and uses CD position 12 to play your entire iPod. (CD positions 1 to 6 on the head unit remain allocated to the in-dash CD changer.)

If you want to take advantage of this, the next best thing to do is create five playlists in iTunes specifically for your Audi. Since the iPod adapter will play the first five playlists on your iPod and both iTunes and your iPod will sort them alphabetically, I suggest using the numbers "1", "2", "3", "4" and "5" as your playlist names.

You can add descriptive names after the numbers if you so choose. This helps in remembering what is in the playlists, since the head unit does not display that information. Some examples:

1
2
3
4
5

1 Pop
2 Rock
3 Rap
4 Country
5 Soundtracks

1 Madonna
2 Foo Fighters
3 Run DMC
4 Willy Nelson
5 Ironman Soundtrack

Now you can associate those playlists and the music you placed in them with the appropriate CD position on the head unit.

Installing your iPod should be relatively easy. Your car should have come with a small plastic bag full of different sized plastic adapters and rubber shims to help fit the different sized iPods into the Audi iPod Adapter. Mine was in the glove box when I took delivery of the car.

I have the older, larger 60GB iPod photo and it fits the adapter perfectly without any other plastic adapter pieces or shims. My 8GB Nano (as CL has pointed out) doesn't fit any of the adapters...well. I did manage to make it slide very tightly into one of the adapters, but it is difficult to get out.

There should be a specific sized adapter for your iPod. If not, have a go with slipping the different sized shims underneath (as ebusch suggested) until you find the one that supports your iPod the best. CL is likely right about your iPod coming unseated and causing the head unit not to see it. The slightest gap will cause this.

ebusch also has another great tip from a glitch in the Audi iPod adapter: If you have been listening to your iPod before plugging it in to the Audi iPod adapter, the head unit will begin playing where you left off listening previous to plugging it in. Just pick whatever playlist you like on your iPod, (if you prefer something other than playlists 1 to 5,) press play on your iPod and then plug it in to the iPod adapter.

Something else to note (if you haven't already read it here) is that sometimes the iPod will keep playing after you have shut the car off. There's been mixed feedback from different members and their various iPods but I am personally relating it to charge and/or age of the iPod and therefore it's battery strength. I leave my 8GB Nano plugged into the Audi iPod adapter almost all of the time. On a few occasions I had turned on the head unit and it has displayed the same "NO CD" message. At first I thought it was a connection, but later realized it was because my iPod was flat. When the iPod is completely flat it requires a certain amount of charge before it can play again. Just running the car with iPod plugged into the Audi iPod adapter hasn't been enough in my experience. Pulling the iPod out and fully charging the unit has since remedied the problem. My Nano hasn't run flat since.

Now for the good part: After dealing with all of this crap with my Audi iPod adapter I have just recently ordered and received a Dension Gateway 100 iPod controller. It plugs right into the head unit and will replace my Audi iPod adapter. According to their website it will emulate the iPod (not a CD changer) and give you access to all playlists and other means of organizing your music. It will also display track information on your head unit and DIS. If you navigate around their site there's another unit with more options and other accessories to allow for more functionality, but the Gateway 100 seemed nice and simple. Oh yeah, and for about CAD $180.

Once I have it installed later this week, I'll let you know how it goes. Other than that, enjoy your new car and don't let your Audi iPod adapter get you down. Just turn off the head unit, put the top down and listen to that sweet sounding 3.2! That's better music than you will get from any stereo...

No rings at the moment...