Ipod & Bmw Questions

[harpax]

Hello,
I got an iPod for xmas, and after my 320i (E46), it's probably the coolest thing I own.
I got the iTrip (fm transmitter) for the car, but the sound quality is really bad. I know BMW can install a cable for it to work with the iPod, but from what I understand, it's not super great functionnality wise. Can someone correct or confirm my affirmations?

1) The iPod has to be mounted in the glove compartment, so you cannot use the controls OF the iPod to brouwse through your music. You need to make 5 playlists and that's it.
2) If I do not have the steering wheel, I can still use the buttons of the radio to change the songs.
3) My car is on lease, so I should be carefull with the modifications I want to make to the car to install the iPod.

If anyone has a link with more information, (other than www.ipodyourbwm.com) please share. Also, if you recommend other options, I'm totally open.

Thanks,
Max

[crazyro]

Max,

I went with Desion USA's iceLink PLUS option (www.densionusa.com), as my 2000 328 cannot use the ipodyourbmw option. Here's a pic of my setup (older pic, does not show the title of the song/artist name):



With any setup I think you'd have to have 5 playlists set up, in order to access them quickly, using the 1-5 buttons on your headunit. "6" is reserved for ipod/icelink setup. I have the steering wheel controls and it's the most awesome thing. But you can control the volume, previous/next song from the headunit also. Now that they are working on the diplay of the ID3 tag, it's even better. So far they have a beta/working version which displays these, but not scrolling - they are working on that. It's great to glance at the headunit and see what's playing.

What I did with mine is plug the harness in the rear of the headunit and ran the cable through the glove compartment, then out to the cradle. I like this setup. You can just leave it in the glove compartment, if you want, or purchase a Euro tray and replace your cupholders. This setup would work well for you, since your car is a lease, as when it's time to turn it in, you just take the icelink out. Also, the icelink works with any E46s, so if you purchase another one, it should be fine. I guess that as long as the rear of the headunit is not different, it should transfer to a different model. Dunno for sure.

Yes, you can still acess the iPod. With iceLink, the display only works when you acess the iPod via the headunit controls (due to iPod design). But, you can swich to iPod mode and then you can control the iPod just like you normally would. However, in this mode, the only thing you can control from the headunit is volume, and not previous/next songs.

I hope this makes sense and I hope it helps. E-mail me if you have any more questions.

[matchan]

crazyro,

Did you say the song's ID3 info is displayed on the BMW CD player's head unit?

[luuser43]

damn....the ipod connector i got from bmw themselves suck. Its just the cable coming out of the glove with no mount. I had to buy the sticky grip thing and let it hang on my dash. The ipod just displays "bmw" and yeah, you have to make playlists. I just go random and go to the next track. Still....im probably never going to make another cd again...so i still like it.

[crazyro]

Originally posted by matchan@Jan 25 2005, 12:25 AM
crazyro,

Did you say the song's ID3 info is displayed on the BMW CD player's head unit?

[snapback]278625[/snapback]

Yes, it does. Right now, in version 1 or beta, however you wanna call it, it only displays the first 8 characters I believe from both artist and song. Still, you get an idea of what you're listening to. But Dension is now working on getting the display to scroll, possibly the same way the headunit does w/ radio information, whenever the stations trasmit it.

I'll try to take some pics and post them later today.

This is way way way cooler than CDs!

[harpax]

Wow, it's pretty sucky to see that BMW's solution is not the best one at all. I'm not sure if i'm supposed to be surprised or not by this... ghead

[sangs]

Before giving up on the wireless FM transmitter approach, try the DLO Transpod. It uses the entire FM spectrum, doesn't require special software and charges the iPod while you're driving. I didn't care for the iTrip either, but love the Transpod. I use it in my 325 xit and Ford Explorer. And it allows your iPod to be fully functional as well. Take a look:

http://www.everythingipod.com/TFM.tpl?comm...dbs/products.db

[Jellybelly]

Speaking of the DLO Transpod, I am looking to sell mine since I have the Dension Icelink. I have all the cables and it is still in great shape. If you are interested, shoot me a message or email me a duffey@cox.net.