General FIAT 500S 2018 Adding an external CD Player to CarPlay

[Lottiebroom]

Just bought a 2018 Fiat 500s love it but it has Carplay with no CD Player - is it possible to add an external CD Player I notice there is both USB and AUX plugs under the Carplay in central console. I tried my computers USB Player but it says "not recognised" Any suggestions ??????

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

I would expect an external CD player would only work via the AUX input. You would not be able to control the device (play, pause, skip) with the car's audio controls. The USB socket in my older 500 will only accept a USB flash drive with pre-loaded music files and it is next to useless for charging late-model phones or such.

The ideal solution would be to change the head unit for one with an inbuilt CD player.

 

[Lottiebroom]

I would expect an external CD player would only work via the AUX input. You would not be able to control the device (play, pause, skip) with the car's audio controls. The USB socket in my older 500 will only accept a USB flash drive with pre-loaded music files and it is next to useless for charging late-model phones or such.

The ideal solution would be to change the head unit for one with an inbuilt CD player.

Thanks for your reply - will try and find a CD Player with an AUX lead and try that, think changing the whole carPlay module may be a bit expensive.

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

There seem to be any number of portable CD players around these days in the Sony 'Discman' style. All should have a 3.5mm headphone jack you can connect to the AUX input with a suitable cable. The downside is finding a secure location for the player.

In my last car I had a mount on a gooseneck that was fixed under the passenger seat bolt but I doubt you'll find such now. A cigarette lighter adapter to provide power/charging and you're away.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Why not just burn your CDs to MP3 format and put them on a usb stick which will be read by the car, also then you don't have the hassle of swapping discs.

Or if you have carplay and use an iphone you can rip the CDs to iTunes on a PC and upload that to your phone for use in the car.

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

I'm planning an upgrade to my FIAT's audio and would prefer to include a physical CD player. I do have a USB drive with some 80 albums on it but sound quality is variable. Mostly doesn't matter for Heavy Metal in a moving car environment of course but Wagner's music at high volume levels sounds better on CD...

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I'm planning an upgrade to my FIAT's audio and would prefer to include a physical CD player. I do have a USB drive with some 80 albums on it but sound quality is variable. Mostly doesn't matter for Heavy Metal in a moving car environment of course but Wagner's music at high volume levels sounds better on CD...

If the MP3 is encoded at anything above 128kbps then you wouldn't notice any difference.

 

[A3jeroen]

320... And Wagner would sound better in a concerthall than a 500C anyway

gr J

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

320... And Wagner would sound better in a concerthall than a 500C anyway

gr J

Agreed, but in the absence of a roadworthy concert hall...

Those CD's I've ripped myself are generally at 256kbps; I'm not worried about file size in this application. The 16Gb USB drive is only about half full with 80 albums/folders. The files I've downloaded via Clipgrab are set to "original quality" which could be anything. Those I've lifted from my old vinyl I think are mostly 128kbps - the best that was available on the device I was using at the time.

I'd have to say that nothing sounds good once you crank the FIAT stereo volume past '30'...

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I'd have to say that nothing sounds good once you crank the FIAT stereo volume past '30'...

To be fair I have yet to meet any fiat with any decent quality audio set up, they don’t even add sound proofing to deaden road noise on most of their cars, speakers are very much an after thought

 

[John202020]

I'd have to say that nothing sounds good once you crank the FIAT stereo volume past '30'...

For a true audio file you really need to basically start again, yes use the head unit provided it has "line out" then a proper amplifier, rewired to speakers with 79 strand ofc or higher spending a good £400 on the speakers inc/and a sub, I'd go with 4x60w rms, 2 to the front and 150w bridged to the sub, wouldn't bother with rears.
And a 60Ah battery

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

My requirements are little more modest. In a couple of weeks time the Twinnie's going in to have an Alpine 9" 'floating screen' single-din unit fitted with 50W per channel. Speakers will have to wait till the available funds build up again but the extant under-seat subbie will be incorporated. It's not a powerful subbie as they go but adequate I think for the confined volume of a 500C. I didn't want a double-din because I don't want to mess with the ventilation and also because the angle of the dash would play merry hell with reflection when the roof's open. The floating screen can be set almost vertical and is also nearer one's hand.

Gonna be expensive; the people doing it specialize in high-end installations, but at least they've done 500's before...

 

[John202020]

My requirements are little more modest. In a couple of weeks time the Twinnie's going in to have an Alpine 9" 'floating screen' single-din unit fitted with 50W per channel. Speakers will have to wait till the available funds build up again but the extant under-seat subbie will be incorporated. It's not a powerful subbie as they go but adequate I think for the confined volume of a 500C. I didn't want a double-din because I don't want to mess with the ventilation and also because the angle of the dash would play merry hell with reflection when the roof's open. The floating screen can be set almost vertical and is also nearer one's hand.

Gonna be expensive; the people doing it specialize in high-end installations, but at least they've done 500's before...
View attachment 459516View attachment 459517

For the front perhaps try these if available over there? Higher sensitivity means more volume per watt as they are 3 ohms, jbl generally are more bass oriented it's not hard to run new cable into the door I found when retro fitting heated mirrors

https://amzn.eu/d/gbxvtTn

 

[PuntoHowTo]

My requirements are little more modest. In a couple of weeks time the Twinnie's going in to have an Alpine 9" 'floating screen' single-din unit fitted with 50W per channel. Speakers will have to wait till the available funds build up again but the extant under-seat subbie will be incorporated. It's not a powerful subbie as they go but adequate I think for the confined volume of a 500C. I didn't want a double-din because I don't want to mess with the ventilation and also because the angle of the dash would play merry hell with reflection when the roof's open. The floating screen can be set almost vertical and is also nearer one's hand.

Gonna be expensive; the people doing it specialize in high-end installations, but at least they've done 500's before...
View attachment 459516View attachment 459517

I like that a lot.

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

For the front perhaps try these if available over there? Higher sensitivity means more volume per watt as they are 3 ohms, jbl generally are more bass oriented it's not hard to run new cable into the door I found when retro fitting heated mirrors

https://amzn.eu/d/gbxvtTn

Thanks John;
Yes, those are available here, fortunately from a supplier other than Amazon with whom I will not deal under any circumstances.

My main concern with the Alpine is the size of the screen which will certainly block the view of the dashboard switches for Eco, hazard and foglights. I use the Eco switch frequently to lighten the steering weight when parking. The hazard switch doesn't get used often at all and the foglights virtually never in this climate. All can be reached easily of course.

At this stage I want to retain the Blue&Me. It's working properly and the FIAT Tomtom connects to it. Yes, the Tomtom could be considered somewhat redundant but I like that satnav because it's loud and clear (the best I've ever used in that respect) and I have Brian Blessed's voice on it along with Billy Connolly and Peter Sallis of Wallace & Gromit - hate to lose them.