I currently use a tape adapter to connect my iPod to my Passat’s stereo, but I’m getting tired of the grinding noise from the adapter. So I went looking for information about hooking it up directly to the stereo through an aux input.
What I found is that there are people who will spend a lot of money to get a perfect iPod install, including a built-in iPod holder and charger. It appears the answer to my question is: it’ll cost about $75 and some labor to pull the head unit and install a line in adapter, then some additional cables to run from the line in to the iPod. An alternative is to use a device designed to plug into the CD changer connector in the trunk and fool it into accepting input from the iPod.
Looks like a full weekend project… sometime later.