The more I looked at the dash of my car with all the "crazy gizmos" on there, the more I thought maybe it was time to consider a different approach.

I found Pioneer CD-IB100II iPod Adapter for a fraction of what it's worth. Since it works with my head unit, a Pioneer DEH-980BT, I figured it was worth the fiver to see how it compared with the Drive + Play.

I removed the Drive+Play and Roady XT XM Tuner, and all associated bracketry, wires and power leads.

In a nutshell, the control box goes in the ample space under the passenger floor, power from my auxiliary fuse box, IP-BUS connector to the back of the head unit (with another socket to add other Pioneer IP-BUS compatible devices), and the iPod cable tunneling to the console box under the console.

The display on the DEH-980BT supports all the info displayed on the iPod display. The **** on the DEH-980BT acts just like the iPod control pad so operation is very intuitive. The sound is as good as it gets.


I liked the idea of hidden gear so much I ordered the XM box for the head unit and will be taking all the "crazy gizmos" off the dash, leaving only the GPS unit. That will really clean things up.

I will move the Drive + Play to the Jeep (which is full of "crazy gizmos" anyway).

Thanks for making me really look at the mess I had made of my cabin!

The write-up for my Pioneer Head unit install has been updated here with the new wiring diagrams and additional comments about the install.

6/19/2008 - Here is a picture of the updated install with both the iPod and XM units integrated into the Pioneer Premier DEH-980BT via IP-BUS connections. The head unit display provides access to iPod and XM operation. Fewer crazy gizmos!