There is an iPhone 3G snap-in adapter

[brian5]

Originally Posted by xDrive35d

My dealer just called me early this morning to tell me that they have been working with BMW and BMW is overnighting the parts to my dealer for install tomorrow. They already have the cradle etc installed. Tomorrow they are installing a special wiring harness that will allow full control of my 3G iphone. I've been waiting over one month for this to be resolved. I've been "guaranteed" that this will allow my '09 (with the old i-drive) to charge, use the external antenna, and control my iphone through the head unit. I know others have been saying this can't be done, but my dealer assures me it can be. As I have said before, my car didn't come with any of the factory options for any of this. I do have the nav system. I don't know if that makes any difference. They have my X5 at the dealership now and they gave me a loaner in the meantime.

I'm not sure what you mean by "control my iphone through the head unit". The normal 6FL option (with Y-cable) does that; it charges the iPhone; it uses the antenna; and that you can control the phone through the head unit.
Are you saying that you will be able to play music too? Like the video that I linked to in the first post in this thread?

[xDrive35d]

Brian,

Mine has the exact same snap-in adapter as the video. The i-drive software is different because the video shows the newer i-drive version. And yes I will be able to control the music. So except for the difference in how the i-drive software is displayed on the screen, I will have the exact same options as far as pulling up playlists etc via the i-drive on the screen of the car. I made absolute sure of all of this with the SA and service department. They had thought they had all the parts they needed to make it work last friday but they found out that there is a special wiring harness that my X5 needs to operate everything the way that it should work. Like I said, my car had none of the options from the factory. BMW has sent that harness overnight to the dealer and it is to be installed later today.

I hope that is clear. By "control my iphone though the head unit", I do in fact mean not only the phone functions but the ipod functions. After all, I already had the phone functions via bluetooth. Like I discussed with my SA from the beginning, I need to be able to control the ipod music via the i-drive on the car screen. He is specifically the one that told me about playlists etc being on the screen of the car as I had not seen it in action.

It does seem that there is a lot of confusion about how to completely retro-fit all this functionality into the cars that weren't ordered with any of the options from the factory. At least that is what has taken my dealer so long to get all this together. They have been working with the "engineers" at BMW to make sure to get the right wiring harness. They had thought it was included with the adapter parts. If they had given me something a little better to drive than a manual 3 series I wouldn't be in such a hurry! No offense to all the 3 series owners out there. Nice car, just too small for me to get into and out of anymore.

[xDrive35d]

Now my only problem will be when Apple comes out with their new iphone. I have a habit of buying everything that "Steve" tells me I "need". So I'm sure to buy it as soon as it is available. Hopefully it will be as easy as changing the snap-in adapter. I'm pretty sure that's why it was designed the way it was.

Dave.

[xDrive35d]

Update on mine. It's still at the dealer. They installed everything including the new wiring harness but can't seem to get the car to recognize anything. All they can get it to do is charge the iphone. They have a request in to "puma". What's that? The service advisor told me that they haven't been having any problems like this and they have tried everything that they know how to do. At least they upgraded me to a very nice white 5 series. Very nice car and sharp looking. I really miss the Sat radio (which is not activated). Two other options that I really miss also are the heads-up display and the Auto-H. I'm so used to not looking down at the speedometer and now I don't ever know how fast I'm going. Especially in this car that feels like it's parked at 80 mph!

[xDrive35d]

OK. It looks like those who said this couldn't be done are the winners! My X5 has been at the dealer for a solid week at this point. They were told that the iphone snap-in kit would work. Then when it didn't work, they were told by "BMW" engineering that they needed a different wiring harness. After installing that, it still wouldn't work (as far as ipod stuff showing up on screen). Then the people at "Puma" were contacted and they initially told the dealer that this should be working. Then they were contacted by someone at Puma who told them that the car had to have the "Integration Option" in order for this to work and that they were going to instruct them on how to install this at the dealer. Then they were again contacted by Puma. This time they told the dealer that there was in fact no way that the option can be installed after the car is built. As the service manager told me "this is a complete "cluster-(*&%".

My question is now, if I use the snap-in adapter for charging the iphone and connecting to the external antenna, is there another way to connect my ipod touch through to the head unit? For example, the cable that some are talking about in the glove compartment or console? Or does the snap-in connector negate that?

Thanks,

Dave

[brian5]

Originally Posted by xDrive35d

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My question is now, if I use the snap-in adapter for charging the iphone and connecting to the external antenna, is there another way to connect my ipod touch through to the head unit? For example, the cable that some are talking about in the glove compartment or console? Or does the snap-in connector negate that?

Thanks,

Dave

Sorry to hear that the whole operation didn't work but can't say I'm surprised based on what I've read. I was hoping that it would work so I could consider the option though!

As far as iPhone and iPhone touch at the same time, I just went out and checked this. This is what I connected:
1. iPhone 3G in snap-in adapter.
2. iPod nano 3rd gen on y-cable (6FL) adapter.
The iPod nano is seen on the head unit and I can play music from there.

So you didn't find out who "Puma" is?

[RxGuy]

Any update on this? Is it still impossible to fully integrate the Iphone 3G or 3GS (i.e. phone, music, charging, etc.)?

Thanks

[brian5]

Originally Posted by RxGuy

Any update on this? Is it still impossible to fully integrate the Iphone 3G or 3GS (i.e. phone, music, charging, etc.)?

Thanks

This has been answered. The 6NF Smartphone factory option that can be ordered on 2009 X5 models gives one this.

[RxGuy]

Thanks, I was asking as a retrofit (for my 2007 X5) not for new cars. Wishfull thinking on my part...

[brian5]

Originally Posted by RxGuy

Thanks, I was asking as a retrofit (for my 2007 X5) not for new cars. Wishfull thinking on my part...

No, no retrofit for 2007 or 2008 models. I don't expect to see one -- it sounds way too complicated to be worthwhile.