Hi all,

I have an early 500 Sport with the USB connection between the front seats. I use one of those CD slot mounts for my phone and I'm getting a bit sick of having a USB cable trailing up the dashboard, so I was thinking of either adding a new USB port or moving the existing one. Can anybody tell me where the USB port is connected to, is it the back of the radio or elsewhere?

Think it's the back of the radio. You could get one of the kits on eBay or Amazon. You just need to drill the correct size hole wherever you want to put it.

I believe it actually runs all the way back to the rear quarter on passengers side where the blue and me ECU is!

That's what I was afraid of - i didn't remember seeing anything obvious when I last had the radio out. In that case, do you think it would just be simpler to solder on another one to the back of the existing USB port, or is that a bad idea?

dlk2000 said:

That's what I was afraid of - i didn't remember seeing anything obvious when I last had the radio out. In that case, do you think it would just be simpler to solder on another one to the back of the existing USB port, or is that a bad idea?

Click to expand...

I don't see why that would be an issue just make sure you insulate the usb well. Depending on where you want the cable to run there is a good way through the back of the glovebox/fuse panel which doesnt require any cutting or drilling.

This is where I have located my dension iPod interface. The wire is out of the way and trails up the passenger side of the dash into the phone cradle at the cd player. Not the tidiest but gets it out of the way!

Thanks, I'll give it a go!
Since my phone is mounted in front of the radio, I'm not too sure where the tidiest place for a new port would be. I've been having a look round online and I've seen some people have run a cable out of the air vent, so I'm now thinking of trying that

maybe like this? No idea how easy it is to route a cable there from the cup holder area though

https://www.fiatforum.com/showthread.php?p=4229388


I added a second 12v socket with 2 usb ports. I've a cable running up behind the trim.

I use a cd slot holder for my phone. I do find that when I listen to 5live (909am) there is a little interference when the phone is charging. Clearly a magnetic field cable shielding issue.

I also patched in an aux cable into the blue and me and ran it thru the existing hole that is used to remove the radio. It's a tight fit but it's do-able.

Thats a good solution, thanks for the pics. I'm going to have to wait for some new radio keys arrive before I can do anything, as I seem to have lost the ones I had. Gives me more time to collect ideas though

dlk2000 said:

maybe like this? No idea how easy it is to route a cable there from the cup holder area though

Click to expand...

Behind the radio there is a straight drop into the passenger footwell behind the centre console. There is some metal bars that may get in the way but its not particularly difficult to get wires behind. In terms of coming out of the air vent I'm not 100% sure how you would achieve that as I've not removed the vents and only the headunit.

A black cable would definitely look miles better too! My apple one is white and would look terrible.

Only thing is doing it this way if you dont have the phone on the cradle you have a wire hanging out. Might look a bit messy?

I was wondering if I would end up having to drill a hole in the underside of the vents or something, but if that looks like the only way of doing it then I'll probably try a different idea - I don't really want to start hacking things about.

I've ordered a black right angled cable to try and make things look a bit nicer, but I agree that it's still going to look messy without the phone. The only improvemnt I can think of is cable tying it to the cradle so it isn't just hanging there

dlk2000 said:

I was wondering if I would end up having to drill a hole in the underside of the vents or something, but if that looks like the only way of doing it then I'll probably try a different idea - I don't really want to start hacking things about.

I've ordered a black right angled cable to try and make things look a bit nicer, but I agree that it's still going to look messy without the phone. The only improvemnt I can think of is cable tying it to the cradle so it isn't just hanging there

Click to expand...

You may be able to unscrew the vents and separate it from the pipes and squash the cable between the two. As I say I'm not 100% sure how they are attached as I've not removed them myself.