How I Achieved An Automotive Dream

"Mathias Rios" (Mars478) 01/20/2014 at 13:58 • Filed to: None

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It's always been a dream of mine to have an iPad in my car. About a year ago, I took it upon myself to make this dream a reality. What ensued was multiple weekends worth of work, bad words, cuts, and many feet of wiring.

(Self Editor Note: Since these editor's notes seem to be so popular, I will do one too. I essentially finished the main portion of this project about a year ago. Check with your state laws before embarking on something like this, and have some confidence in yourself because you WILL be chopping some stuff up. Previously, I had no experience with either car audio, nor "fabrication" or whatever this is called.)

STEP 1: Get a car.

When I reached the symbolic age of 16, instead of selling the car rotting away in our garage due to a set of bad catalytic converters and other issues, I was "gifted" it. It was a 1999 Mercedes Benz ML320. Now this car doesn't have a sterling reputation by a long shot, and it isn't exactly what one might call "exciting". None of this mattered to me however since it was mine.

Now, when I got this car it was in a rather sorry state. It used to be my dads daily driver, but he gave up on it after the exorbitant costs the dealer wanted to fix the issues it had. It sounded like a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . It had ugly headlights and faded bumpers. The battery and alternator were toasted. After fixing the "roadworthiness" issues, I set about the task of making the car interesting.

STEP 2: Make a plan.

My car came with the crappy audio setup back in 99 with 4 speakers and the stereo system acted as the amplifier. It sounded terrible. There was no subwoofer either. This project had been churning in my mind since the second generation iPad was out, and luckily for me I delayed it far enough until the iPad mini became available. Otherwise this project would have failed catastrophically. I chose an LTE iPad Mini 16GB in black. This way I could have streaming radio using AT&T's excellent LTE network in my area, and have navigation using the countless navigation apps.

During the Holiday of 2012 season I bought myself a 16GB iPad mini LTE in black, specifically for the purpose of this project. Ohhhh boy if I had known what I was getting myself into. Stupidly, since I had no idea about car audio I thought I could splice all the speakers that were there, into separate L+R channels, and just wire a 3.5mm jack to them and plug them into my iPad making act as an amplifier. This is where I was forced to learn about car audio once my cars dash was halfway disassembled. I ran out to Wal-Mart in my dads car and bought the cheapest 2 channel amp I could find, which I later blew up by overloading it.

STEP 3: Grab your tools.

The Dremel was the key tool here, along with a handy multi-meter. There were two ways to doing the wiring for this, the right way, and the lazy way. You should always do the right way. I did it the lazy (and harder) way. Since I was (as previously mentioned) completely oblivious to the world of car audio, I cut up my cars DIN harness instead of buying an adapter. Now this could have negative effects on the car in the future but I could replace the harness if I was so inclined. It was pretty simple to set the circuit for the iPad up. I chopped the harness and found switched 12V and Ground. I wired a 2amp high powered car charger to that, and then plugged in the lightning cable to that charger. The iPad would now charge whenever ignition was on, and would draw no power when it was off.

I'm sure you guys don't want to be bored with the specifics of wiring car audio, as I am sure many of you have done it, but as a beginner with zero experience it was pretty freaky. I put an amp under the drivers seat and installed an OEM subwoofer from the upgraded audio kit under the passenger seat. The amp I used was a special amp (not the walmart one), a 5 channel amp that could run in 2-channel mode to accommodate for the 3.5mm RCA cable I was using instead of using a million different RCA Y-splitters. After removing many chunks of molten plastic which had the approximate heat of the core of the earth, I finally made an indent in the plastic deep enough for the iPad to be able to be held in place with the wooden trim piece which clips over the plastic.

STEP 4: Tweak, and tweak again.

Like I said, I didn't know what I was doing. I learned everything I did in the process of doing it. The first few days of driving it a few flaws were immediately apparent. Number one, controlling the volume on the iPad was a hassle and really dangerous. Since it was the most common operation I would be doing on the iPad I then wired a volume control knob in between the iPad and the amplifier so adjusting the volume of the audio the iPad would output would be a safe thing to do while driving instead of fiddling with the screen of the iPad and taking my eyes off the road (I HIGHLY recommend you install a volume knob if you decide to do this modification.) Just leave the iPad on full volume and control it with the knob.

I then re-did the wiring since it looked like this because I didn't know what I was doing.

Not anymore.

STEP 5: Enjoy.

I've been running this setup for a year plus. I love it. This and my projector headlight retrofit are probably the two things that made me love this car. I always get a laugh out of the unknowing people who get into my car and say "Is that an iPad?!". However the project isn't perfect. I tweak things once in a while, I added !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to the car which improved the sound further. I hope this inspires you to complete that project that has been sitting on the back-burner, or the project that you think you can't do. If you have any crazy project stories share them in the comments. Thanks for reading!

MonkeePuzzle > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 15:21

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what app are you running on your ipad for controlling everything?

I had/have an ipad in my car for some years, but find itunes scrolling fairly painful/dangerous

Mathias Rios > MonkeePuzzle 01/17/2014 at 15:23

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I usually just set it on a pandora radio or iHeartRadio before I start driving and leave it on that. I find the stock apps easy enough to use.

MIATAAAA > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 15:23

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Post pictures of your headlights, too!

EDIT: Found pictures. Nevermind. :) Looks great!

TheJWT > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 15:41

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I didn't realize you did that all yourself, it looks really well done!

Mathias Rios > TheJWT 01/17/2014 at 15:43

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Haha yeah... it was all sorts of fun. Thank you!

CobraJoe > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 15:45

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I love this story. Nothing like just diving in and learning it while you're on your way to making the car into what you want it to be.

MonkeePuzzle > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 15:49

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can we get a closer pic of the completed centre console?

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 15:52

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Glad it worked out for you. I've had CarPCs for over 20 years. And the one thing I've learned (this relates to your "tweak, and tweak again comment) is its never really finished. I've been tweaking my current system for 8 years (actually I keep adding new functionality and then have to tweak it to make everything pay nice).

One thing I would add to your step 2 is sign onto MP3Car.com and set aside a few weeks for reading about the build you would like. If it can be done, we've probably already done it, no sense in reinventing the wheel. IPads and Andriod systems are all the rage right now, but none have the limitless interfaces as my PC WinXP system (I currently have 13 USBs active and 4 open slots for camera, phones, additional external components in my car).

Mathias Rios > MonkeePuzzle 01/17/2014 at 15:53

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I will post one tonight, I am going to update the top image with an up-close one but I just wanted to publish this story.

Mathias Rios > Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight 01/17/2014 at 15:55

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That is awesome. Much more technical than my setup. I am an Apple die-hard, so I just wanted the simplicity of an iPad. I have the LTE one which gives me constant connection to the internet, along with navigation ETC. Having a camera would be nice but I'll have to do without it. What devices do you have?

MonkeePuzzle > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 16:03

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my own setup was far more simple, but not as integrated, it does had the advantage of being rotatable.

I am currently saving for an ipad mini, or possibly going for an android tablet, to get one in the 7 inch size that is perfectly double din. I would still like it to be removable. I moved my stereo down to a lower location, so not having the ipad in the car does not limit my listening to music options.

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 16:08

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Saitek X-52 Pro joystick as shifter

Full-time internet, OBDII, TPMS, Parking sensors, AM/FM HD radio, XM radio, GPS and GPS tracking, 16 channel relay control, 8 channel sensor monitoring, follow-me weather radar, 230PSI 8 trumpet air horns, front and rear cameras with motion sensing DVR capability, two way communication to my personal phone for alarms, sensors and automation.

Mathias Rios > MonkeePuzzle 01/17/2014 at 16:12

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I designed my setup for it to be more integrated. It doesn't attract as much attention because when it is off no one notices what it is. I park the car in the streets of NYC and brooklyn with the iPad in place and no one is none the wiser (knock on wood). The iPad replaced my stereo, but I did wire an AUX A/B switch, so my friends can play music off of their devices if they so choose to. The iPad mini is just a touch over Double DIN, but you could do it I think judging from the pictures you posted.

Mathias Rios > Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight 01/17/2014 at 16:14

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Dude that's crazy. Got some in car pics?

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 16:23

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This is the testbed for my other cars, it has over a mile of additional cabling. Tablet rotates landscape or portrait with automatic sensing to change/resize screen image. Same tablet runs in three different cars with varying accessories but it all automatically syncs and goes. Sports car (above) has tablet hidden with external video run into existing OEM screen.

I had someone at SIU-Carbondale ask me once if that was an IPad on my dash, I almost slapped him into next week. IPad my ass. Sorry, not a fan.

@rbalch1 > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 21:40

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Next step... Install exterior roof mounted reversing camera

Great work on the Ipad setup!

Mathias Rios > @rbalch1 01/17/2014 at 21:50

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<3 W163 Camera car setups. I love them!

Thank you

@rbalch1 > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 22:04

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bit off topic,
but i found this merc wagon on petrolicious — thought you might be interested
http://www.petrolicious.com/amg-hammered-o…

I am currently in the market for used car and looking for something to compliment the w163 -270cdi
got any ideas haha

@rbalch1 > @rbalch1 01/17/2014 at 22:05

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hows the porsche going?
cheap to run etctec?

Mathias Rios > @rbalch1 01/17/2014 at 22:26

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Hammers are AWESOME.

Hmmm. Are you looking for Benz stuff? By compliment do you mean a sportier coupe like vehicle, that you can have more fun driving?

The 924 is OK. I haven't actually put it on the road yet, I am still fixing her up and making it safe to drive. Parts are decently cheap, a good chunk of them are VW parts so that helps. How's your 270?

Mathias Rios > MonkeePuzzle 01/17/2014 at 22:33

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I took this photo today in the dark. As you can see, not perfect, but good enough.

@rbalch1 > Mathias Rios 01/17/2014 at 22:49

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not too fussed about brand. but something to have more fun in.
Family owns a Golf 77tsi, polo 1.4 and the merc.
The golf is a nice drive. But not having my full licence means i cant drive turbo petrol for 2 more years :(
Therefore i dont really have anything interesting/new to drive. All Fwd or a slow diesel 4x4.

270 is fine, took her for a run down some windy roads. the 370Nm torque makes it an enjoyable drive but the body roll on the stock wheels is noticeable

Mathias Rios > MIATAAAA 01/17/2014 at 23:29

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Here's a good close up just for you.



Mattbob > Mathias Rios 01/20/2014 at 14:03

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Nice job! That's how I learned a bunch of stuff too. As long as you don't start a fire, right? Just be sure stuff is fused, and you're good.

Mathias Rios > Mattbob 01/20/2014 at 14:06

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Everything is fused :) I blew many of them during this process.

AM3R > Mathias Rios 01/20/2014 at 14:21

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Awesome work! That's so clean. If my E90 didn't come with navigation this is the retrofit I would've done.

Brian, The Life of > Mathias Rios 01/20/2014 at 14:26

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To the Front Page with this!

Stupidru > Mathias Rios 01/20/2014 at 15:24

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Kudos to you! I tried doing this with a Google Nexus tablet in my Legacy GT, but just as I was closing in on filling in the OEM nav-button location with an epoxy filler, I decided to sell the car. It worked perfectly aside from the slight aesthetic discrepancy. I'll definitely do this on my next car with an iPad mini

Stupidru > MonkeePuzzle 01/20/2014 at 15:26

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I had a ProClip setup like this for a road trip. It was great aside from blocking the vents

Mathias Rios > Stupidru 01/20/2014 at 15:28

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That looked really good! Was the screen fully visible there/ not cut off? It look(ed) great. Good job!

MonkeePuzzle > Stupidru 01/20/2014 at 15:32

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yes, vent blockage and access to rear defrost button was an issue.

His Stigness > Mathias Rios 01/20/2014 at 16:16

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For someone that says they have no in car stereo experience, this is one of the best setups I've ever seen because it's all custom and you integrated a device that was not meant to be integrated in with car stereo's. In my time at car stereo shops and as an automotive technician the only "custom" builds I've seen are integrating car audio parts into the car that weren't specifically made for the car.

This builds takes the cake and I commend you on it.

Stupidru > Mathias Rios 01/20/2014 at 16:19

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Yeah the screen was a perfect fit. I mean, it fit like. a. glove. The only problem with this was that the buttons (on the right side, in this view) were hidden behind the plastic so I had to root it and then run a finger-gesture program to get back to the home screen or switch apps. Well that was all honky-dory until Android released an update which un-rooted the tablet, rendering that program useless, and all of the sudden I could enter an app but could not get back to the home screen.

Not to mention that I had to cut into the vents on the right side to get the tablet to fit, so as you can see, I had vertical and horizontal vent control on the left side, but cutting into the vent meant I could no longer fit the vertical vent control back in (as you can see in the picture). It was quite a learning experience

Stupidru > Mathias Rios 01/20/2014 at 16:20

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I assume that the home button is still available and that we cannot see it... correct?

Mathias Rios > Stupidru 01/20/2014 at 16:21

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Nice! I use "assistive touch" on my iPad to lock my iPads screen which is perfect. The home button is indeed usable, it's at the far right. It's slightly covered up but good enough. I also have 5 finger gestures to go home and swipe between apps which are easy to do even while moving and not looking at the screen.

Mathias Rios > His Stigness 01/20/2014 at 16:22

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Thank you :)

Stupidru > Mathias Rios 01/20/2014 at 16:23

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Awesome! Well that confirms it- for the fact that I won't have to root/jailbreak an iPad for those gestures, I'll be putting an iPad into my next vehicle

Mathias Rios > Stupidru 01/20/2014 at 16:27

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Yay! Make a build thread when you do. The only downside to the iPad is the lack of automation stuff, like cameras etc. My iPad turns on when the ignition is turned on because the power for the iPad comes on when ignition is switched on so thats sort of "automation". Ha.

Stupidru > Mathias Rios 01/20/2014 at 17:02

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I had the same thing on the Nexus- I think it was called AutomateIt Pro. Power on and screen stays on until 30 seconds after power-off. Lots of other goodies in there, but that was the main feature

His Stigness > Mathias Rios 01/20/2014 at 18:19

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No problem. I also want to commend you on tackling this build on a Mercedes; there aren't many cars harder to work on. The most ambitious I've ever been with doing anything truly custom on my W202 is cutting a hole in the backseat for the subwoofer. But I didn't just cut any hole, no, I made a cover of sorts (it's perforated metal with AMG spray painted in red and the surrounding black.). It worked though, it really upped the bass in the car.

cazzyodo > Brian, The Life of 01/24/2014 at 15:42

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Finally happened. Well deserved, too.

cazzyodo > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 15:43

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You finally got tossed to the Front Page with this! Very nice. Impressive build.

You learn a lot through trial and error/necessity. Well done.

RyanFrew > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 15:47

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Looks like you set it up so that you can hit the lock button on the screen. Smart. Just adding the annotation because it doesn't look like you mentioned it and some people may not realize it's an option.

RedRoab > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 15:50

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Dude, I could have saved you hours and hours of work.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 15:50

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iPad looks really nice there!
I use iPod in my Kia Sephia, and it's far too small. I think i'll do similar setups on my Kia.

NinjaViper > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 15:51

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hazard for driving... i suggest u run those UNDER the carpet, like all the other stereos jobs out there.... only takes a couple of minutes and the outcome will not only look better but less hazardous

SonorousSpeedJoe > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 15:52

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Wow. I'm not an expert on car audio, but it looks really cleanly done. Great job, and great write-up!

fearisthemindkiller-v2 > Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight 01/24/2014 at 15:52

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I see you are from the St. Louis area. I find it amusing that KSHE is listed as soft rock.

ScreenShot > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 15:53

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I use an iPad in my car.....to control the drone that gets launched out the moonroof.

Maxxuman > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 16:00

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I see you have the camera app visible. Is that an under-dash cam?

Mr-Clutch > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 16:05

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An iPad Mini would fit like a glove.

JustHanginOut > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 16:06

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2008 called, they want their DIY back

David Christopher Sally > Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight 01/24/2014 at 16:10

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Is that a cadillac deville / dts? Looks similiar to mine (2002 base deville). Awesome set up, probably wasn't easy!

TurboLag23 > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 16:12

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Check out the MightyCarMods video on this exact topic. They did it with a 3rd-gen Subaru Legacy/Outback; the cutout for the dash is the perfect size for an iPad!!!

And I have an Outback myself, so this mod is possibly on the to-do list.

DipodomysDeserti > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 16:13

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You need an iPad in that iPad...

iambriancompton > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 16:24

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This absolutely sucks. I've now lost HOURS researching options and I'll lose many more putting one in my car.

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > David Christopher Sally 01/24/2014 at 16:31

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96 Eldorado http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/gimme-your-bes…

Mathias Rios > iambriancompton 01/24/2014 at 16:35

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Contact me if you need help! I'd be happy to help :)

Mathias Rios > TurboLag23 01/24/2014 at 16:36

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I saw it, they did a great job. They took a slightly different direction than I did though. Funnily enough, I watched their video AFTER completing this haha.

Mathias Rios > Mr-Clutch 01/24/2014 at 16:36

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This is an iPad mini :)

Mathias Rios > Maxxuman 01/24/2014 at 16:36

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Haha, yes. I haven't really messed with the icon layout since I have a muscle memory of where the apps are. My passengers sometimes like to take selfies in my car however....

Mathias Rios > SonorousSpeedJoe 01/24/2014 at 16:37

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Thank you!

Mathias Rios > NinjaViper 01/24/2014 at 16:37

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If you read the end of the article, that has long since been done. I ran them under the center console and down the side to under the seat. I did that within a week of doing this mod, just put the picture up to show how dirty these jobs can be when you don't know what you're doing.

Mathias Rios > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 01/24/2014 at 16:38

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Thanks! Let me know if you need any guidance, I'd be happy to help.

Mathias Rios > RedRoab 01/24/2014 at 16:38

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*Sigh* if I had the money, yes. :)

Mathias Rios > RyanFrew 01/24/2014 at 16:39

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Actually, the lock button is hidden. However, this is not an issue, since iOS has something called Assistive touch which emulates the hardware buttons on the iPad (including the lock button) and I use that to lock the iPad when I park the car.

Mathias Rios > cazzyodo 01/24/2014 at 16:39

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Thanks! I am so glad to have been FP'ed as well.

I think it's the best way to learn. I have been learning that way for a while now.

RyanFrew > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 16:42

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Yep - that's what I was referring to. I just don't know how many people realize that's possible on iOS.

UKPDXWRX > Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight 01/24/2014 at 16:43

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Is.... is this real?

If so sir, you march to the beat of your own drum. You're a crazy bastard, but I give you a tip of the hat.

Mathias Rios > RyanFrew 01/24/2014 at 16:44

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Oh yeah haha. In that case yes, thank you for annotating. During the planning stage of this project that was one of the things that I was worried about, until I discovered assistive touch would fulfill my needs perfectly without having to drill an unsightly hole so that I could access the lock button, or use some sort of smart cover/magnet contraption to trigger the magnet lock sensor. (now that I think of that, it might be awesome to do something like that but with electromagnets... hmmm)

Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight > UKPDXWRX 01/24/2014 at 16:51

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Yes, real, and functional, and lights up at night.

Yes I do, always have, always will. My mom and dad were married at the time, but over the years they've called me much worse things; and thank you.

iThinkergoiMac > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 16:54

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Do you use it for anything besides audio? I figure GPS is an obvious choice, but anything beyond that could get distracting.

REALLY nicely done, though, so major kudos to you on that! I've always wanted to do this, but I want to take it a step further and use a jailbroken iPad to control engine mapping and such things.

Mr-Clutch > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 16:55

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My MK4 R32 can fit one with no problem I already sized it up. For an SUV or SAV that is a small opening in your center console, I would think that an iPad air would fit perfectly.

Mathias Rios > Mr-Clutch 01/24/2014 at 16:57

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The hole is pretty much a Double DIN hole. The iPad air may fit with a significant amount of dremeling, but a 2nd/3rd/4th generation iPad definitely would NOT fit.

DIRTEE30 > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 16:59

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Very cool mod. Now, can you remove the iPad when you park, or is it fixed in the dash? My only concern is that some dickwad will break into your car and ruin your hard work. This is a very cool mod, by the way. Thumbs up for having the balls to approach this and learn as you go. I was always too afraid to break stuff.

Mathias Rios > iThinkergoiMac 01/24/2014 at 16:59

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GPS using google maps or Apple maps, pandora, iheartradio, siri. When parked it is amazingly convenient to be able to hop on safari and look up the address of a destination or look up something that may be going on with my car etc etc. Like I said above, when I am driving alone I generally set a pandora or iheartradio station and just let it be. I find it no less distracting than any multi-purpose system on modern cars today.

Thank you! I've considered jailbreaking the iPad but I really like the simplicity of this setup. If you ever do this, there are OBDII Bluetooth scanners that can link up with the iPad which is something I've also considered.

iThinkergoiMac > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 17:02

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Yeah, that could be really neat. They generally just read information, and I'd like to be able to send information back and change things. It would require a custom ECU and more coding knowledge than I can possibly begin to approach right now, haha. I'd likely have to custom design a USB card to give power to the iPad and sent data to the OBDII port, since the current products are unlikely to allow me to send information.

EmotionalFriend > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 17:03

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Me too, only I didn't have to maim my car to do it.

Mathias Rios > DIRTEE30 01/24/2014 at 17:04

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The woodgrain trim can be removed really easily, and that is pretty much what is holding the iPad in place. It is sandwiched between that and the dash plastic pretty snugly. If I so wish I can remove the iPad in less than a minute, but the beauty of this setup is that looking in from a window you really can't tell that it is an iPad. For the whole year that I've ran this setup, I have always left the iPad in the car. I park in the streets of NYC and brooklyn and so far, so good. I see cars with broken windows sometimes and I get a kick out of the fact that there is an iPad staring potential thieves in the face but they're not smart enough to realize it.

I have find my "iPhone" setup on the iPad so if someone ever DID steal it, I would be tracking them immediately. I don't think the thief would know how to remove the woodgrain trim either.

Thank you :) much appreciated.

Mathias Rios > EmotionalFriend 01/24/2014 at 17:09

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I could restore pretty much all of what I did if I so desired, but I really believe the car is benefited by what I did.

Besides, it doesn't really look like your setup is "integrated" with the car, as in charging+audio without having to plug stuff in, and it appears to mess with the view out the windshield. But if that is what works, kudos to you.

Garland - Last Top Comment on Splinter > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 17:14

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I'd rather do the opposite.

But kudos on doing on all that work and making the car the way you want it. My mom has an early 2000s ML500 with the GPS system, so your dash looks pretty familiar to me.

RobertsDP > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 17:22

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Nice! I did an Ipad mini in my car a few months back. I think my was a bit easier, because I didnt have to deal much with as much wiring... I already installed a aftermarket sound system a few years previously so I was all good on that front... Anyways, all I did was get a Sony App radio (MEXGS600BT), connected it to my wiring harness and connected a lightning cable. Then recessed the radio in the dash, create a fiberglass mold of the ipad mini, joined that to my bezel, epoxied the lightning cable to the bezel, then I put a nice micro fiber cloth in the ipad mold to keep scratches away. Now I have a removable in dash ipad entertainment media center (copyrighted, lol)

Your install looks great! very impressed!

Mathias Rios > RobertsDP 01/24/2014 at 17:25

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Thank you! Pics of your setup? I have seen that done, and it's a really good solution to the loss of FM radio. In my area at least iHeartRadio and Tunein Radio both have most of the stations that I would want. I would've loved to create a mold but I had incredibly limited tools :(

Mr-Clutch > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 17:27

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My question is, stock radios can take extreme temperatures. My radio display glitches when changing stations in extreme cold until it warms up. And I left my iPhone in my car in the summer one time, by the time I pulled it out I had to shut it down because it warned me it was too hot. Can an iPad take theses kinds of temperature swings without damaging it. And getting it stolen, no moron would ever steal a car radio these days but an iPad thats another story. If there was some way you can install it so it can be removed but in the photos you posted looks like you probably can't do that.

I wanted to do this to my car but it would want it to be removable.

Mathias Rios > Mr-Clutch 01/24/2014 at 17:37

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It has never overheated on me, regardless of how hot it is. In the winter it takes the temperatures perfectly.

From the outside of the car it is not really easy to tell what it is. It looks like a black piece of glass. I have left it in the car pretty much every time I park on the sidewalk in NYC. It is removable, since the wood grain trim is held in with clips which just pull up and out of the plastic. I can remove the iPad in seconds if I really wanted to, but that was not the main focus of the build.

Some people have made pop up iPad "holders" which pop in to stow it, and then pop up and allow to you slide the iPad out sleekly and easily. That isn't really for me since I want the iPad to be integrated and always plugged into audio + charging, but if that's what you're looking for, it may be your answer.

EmotionalFriend > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 18:02

0

It might affect your view if you're on Little People Big World (or an 85 year old blue hair). It plays through a Bluetooth headunit, charges through a Lightning 90 from SoundmanCA (not shown), completely removable in seconds, and because I didn't have to give up my head unit I can control the volume without a dedicated knob. It's only an iPad Mini but I believe that the same space and mounts would work for a full size iPad as well with no modification. It's a nice, cheap alternative for folks with dash cubbies.

I've been thinking about using a Soundman float mount kit to make it look and feel a little bit more permanent, but that would in essence ruin the affordability aspect of it. Is that what you used to mount yours? If not you should really consider integrating it into your build.

McLarry > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 18:02

1

And here I thought you were gonna tell us about you experience in lucid dreaming or something...

JK, good job - it looks very clean and well done!

md495 > JustHanginOut 01/24/2014 at 18:06

2

2014 ignored that call, who gives a fuck.

JustHanginOut > md495 01/24/2014 at 18:08

1

haha straight to voicemail

harsh

Stang70Fastback > Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight 01/24/2014 at 18:25

0

Have you looked into Centrafuse as a front end? I built a Car-PC many years ago, and if Centrafuse is as up on their stuff as they were back then, it's probably got everything you would need - feature-wise.

Panda Vengeance > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 20:38

1

MightCarMods did a tutorial on how to install an iPad into a car if anyone wants to do it for themselves.

J. Drew Silvers > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 20:45

6

I thought this looked familiar. Mighty Car Mods did it in 2012. Same idea. Good on you for pulling it off.

Chappie > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 20:46

0

Do you have a cover for it? I'd be afraid of it getting jacked while parked somewhere.

Mathias Rios > J. Drew Silvers 01/24/2014 at 20:46

2

Mighty car mods is great, and their setup was cool, I really like the vertical idea (except for videos).

GTJ > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 20:49

1

"It's always been a dream of mine to have and iPad in my car."

....well at least since 2010

Mathias Rios > Chappie 01/24/2014 at 20:49

0

Nope, I rock it coverless and I leave it on the street like that, no incidents for over a year now.

Mathias Rios > GTJ 01/24/2014 at 20:49

0

Good point :)

Chappie > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 20:51

0

You are a less paranoid man than I!

Mathias Rios > Chappie 01/24/2014 at 20:54

0

I have learned to live with the paranoia, find my iPhone reassures that my car hasn't been broken into.

isnewton > Mathias Rios 01/24/2014 at 21:01

1

I know a solution to this problem. All auto manufactures allow use of a video input into a touch screen display. Plug your phone with output into the video input and whala touch screen infotainment phone and you didnt have to spend 10000 hours of labor.