iPhone music & BMW Assist Question

[Tamman69]

Hoping you guys can help me.

I'm thinking of getting an iPhone and thoughts have naturally strayed to snap-in adaptors and Y-Cables for my shiny 23i.

Can anyone tell me if I needed to buy the 'BMW assist' in order to make the iPhone play music on the USB channel?

I understand it is probably needed in order to link the bluetooth, but frankly I can sort that out with my TomTom, which at around £200 came in a little less than the BMW nav system at £2000....

I did purchase the USB option, using USB sticks on it at the moment. Have to say it is a pretty poor lookout that they apparently don't accept mp3's over 256kbit, means a lot of fiddling with my library...

Lastly, I saw some forums where people are upset that the newer iPhones will not charge through the USB. Does it need plugging in to the 12v socket too?

Advice appreciated.

cheers

Tamman69

[MikeS]

Hi Tamman69 I picked up my new 35i about 10 days ago and spent some time sorting out the usb issues. I have an IPOD and so also bought the lead to coonect to the USB interface in the armrest. However, it turns out that you only need this if you want to connect an IPOD to listen to its music in the car - it appears that you cannot transfer music from this connection to the HDD. Whereas according to p148 of the car's manual under 'memorising from a USB medium' the usb interface in the glove box is not suitable for IPODs/IPHONES but this is the only place where info can be transferred to and from the HDD. I therefore ignored the claim that this connector was not suitable for IPODS/IPHONES and used by standard IPOD usb lead to link the IPOD to the car. Hey presto all worked and music was transferred to the car all all worked OK. Suggest it should be OK for the IPHONE as its just a usb connector. Hope that helps.

[Tamman69]

Hi MikeS

Many thanks for replying. From the fact you have a 'hard drive' in the car I am assuming you have the nav/iDrive system installed is that correct? I don't imagine there is a hard drive if I didn't purchase those...

[MikeS]

Hi Tamman69 Yes I have the nav/idrive. Sorry I missed that bit of your info. Eitherway a USB connection is just that and they should all be the same so I would expect a IPHONE or IPOD to work OK. We will have to wait for someone else to tell us!

[m999psw]

I tried my Ipod in the glove box USB and it didn't recognise it - which is what it says in the book. Maybe yours is different but I will give it another go. I did go out and buy a USB stick and just copied everything over from my Itunes and then over to the car and that worked fine.

Paul

[Tamman69]

Yes the USB sticks are fine, playlists are being recognised as well. Think I may borrow an iPhone / iPod to see what happens.

I think you certainly need the adaptor cable. From info elsewhere it would seem that you don't get charge from that adaptor cable either...

[MikeS]

m999psw I had no initial problem with it recognizing my IPOD from the glove compartment usb although I did have to go back and forth through the menu a couple of times before the car 'woke up' and recognized it OK. However, it did not transfer all of the songs across the first time. In fact I had to 'import music' 3 times before most of it copied. Then I realized that the car's HDD only has 12gb and I have 13+gb on my IPOD. All now seems to work OK although the car's hdd seems to play an albums songs in alphabetical order! Tried the IPOD in the armrest usb with the required lead and that works perfectly.

[andythescientist]

I picked up my new arrive 23i on Friday. It has the USB interface only (no nav), and the STD cd/radio. I got them to throw in the iPod cable (can't believe they charge for it!).

First impressions are good. In my old z I had a dice silverline which was let's say a liitle unpredictable.. The USB adapter seems more stable, worked well with my nano. Only wired thing is to cycle and select artists/albulms you need to use a knob on the cd player, the steering wheel buttons only work to skip through tracks. Generally happy with it. I tried attatchinv my iPhone too and it seemed fine, and seemed to be charging no problems.

[gannet]

I picked up my new arrive 23i on Friday. It has the USB interface only (no nav), and the STD cd/radio. I got them to throw in the iPod cable (can't believe they charge for it!).

First impressions are good. In my old z I had a dice silverline which was let's say a liitle unpredictable.. The USB adapter seems more stable, worked well with my nano. Only wired thing is to cycle and select artists/albulms you need to use a knob on the cd player, the steering wheel buttons only work to skip through tracks. Generally happy with it. I tried attatchinv my iPhone too and it seemed fine, and seemed to be charging no problems.

Hey welcome to the forum - be sure to introduce yourself and get some pictures up

[Tamman69]

Thanks all

MikeS, the songs do play in alphabetical order on USB sticks as well. However if you create a playlist in something like Media Monkey and then 'send to' the stick, the music gets arranged in individual folders and the Z4 picks up on the playlists. Worked a treat.

Hi gannet, thanks for the welcome, I posted my hellos a month or so back with some pics of my new Z4 on the Stelvio Pass. Look for the 'Complete Noob with photos' thread : )

Tamman69

[Breaker]

Anyone know if the iPhone snap-in holder will hold an iPod touch?