Is This True? Ipod adapter now available??

[rufusdedog]

Just got this from BMWNA Customer Relations:

Thank you for contacting BMW of North America, LLC regarding an iPod adapter for your 2007 BMW X5. We appreciate your interest and enthusiasm for our vehicles.

Yes, the iPod adapter is available for your X5. Information on availability and pricing of this part can be obtained through the parts department at an authorized BMW center. Should you need it, you will find a complete listing of authorized centers, categorized by name, state or ZIP code, on our website at www.bmwusa.com.

We hope this information is helpful, and we appreciate your business. If you have any further questions, please respond to this e-mail or contact the Customer Relations and Services Department at 1-800-831-1117, Monday through Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M., Eastern Standard Time.

Sincerely,


Karie Adams
Customer Relations and Services
Representative

[X5FX]

well the part has been availale for awhile...but it is different from the 6FL option which uses a USB connection in the center console. The option this must be refering to is mounted in the glovebox and uses the CD changer for control.

[rufusdedog]

Can't find much info on this.
Does it charge the iPod?
Do tracks display?

[Mentat]

From what I've read Ipod must be controlled from the iDrive.
Also, it will be charged using the ICE connection.

[photomat]

I have this one. My review that I posted in another thread:
uick review of my Ipod experience:
I have had my E70 4.8 for 3 weeks now, and had the dealer install the dedicated Ipod cable in the glove box. I was told at the time of purchase that there were two options, a BMW labeled product and an after market one. I was told that the after market cable could handle more information than the BMW one (I'm not so sure about that as it seems logical to me that any information limitation would be controlled by I Drive. I chose the after market product but ended up with the BMW one, as they said that they couldn't get the other one to work and it was crashing the system!
This is a black cable that sits in the glove box. My G4 60Gb Ipod connects to it, and the BMW logo immediately comes up on the ipod screen and all controls on it are locked. It is controlled in the CD changer. CD 1 brings up your playlists, CD2 has the artist folder, CD3 I think holds Podcasts. Not sure what the rest hold. Here are some limitations. It will only hold something like 255 folders or playlists, and 1000 songs per folder. That required a big adjustment for me as I prefer to just throw it on an 8000 song shuffle! I can no longer do that. I could set up 8 playlist and alternate between them. There is a "random" option but it doesn't seem to work that well and if you skip to the next track in random mode it goes to the next song in the directory which is a pain. The sound quality is good but there is sometimes distortion at high volumes. Any Ipod EQ settings are disabled as well. Each directory takes from 5-20 seconds to open. All in all it is an OK makeshift option, but a bit disappointing that they didn't build it from the ground up to properly interface with Idrive. This ended up being a no chargeoption for me so I guess I can't complain! FWIW they were trying to sell it to me for CAD$500 and I talked them down to $350. In the end they forgot to charge me for it!

[rufusdedog]

With install........$700! Tate BMW Annapolis MD.

I think I can live with it in the center console.

[PeteM]

Does anyone know which iPod system offers the best sound quality, I have read previous posts but I dont see anything definitive or I have missed it.

Would be grateful for any feedback.

[tnt17]

Originally Posted by photomat

I have this one. My review that I posted in another thread:
uick review of my Ipod experience:
I have had my E70 4.8 for 3 weeks now, and had the dealer install the dedicated Ipod cable in the glove box. I was told at the time of purchase that there were two options, a BMW labeled product and an after market one. I was told that the after market cable could handle more information than the BMW one (I'm not so sure about that as it seems logical to me that any information limitation would be controlled by I Drive. I chose the after market product but ended up with the BMW one, as they said that they couldn't get the other one to work and it was crashing the system!
This is a black cable that sits in the glove box. My G4 60Gb Ipod connects to it, and the BMW logo immediately comes up on the ipod screen and all controls on it are locked. It is controlled in the CD changer. CD 1 brings up your playlists, CD2 has the artist folder, CD3 I think holds Podcasts. Not sure what the rest hold. Here are some limitations. It will only hold something like 255 folders or playlists, and 1000 songs per folder. That required a big adjustment for me as I prefer to just throw it on an 8000 song shuffle! I can no longer do that. I could set up 8 playlist and alternate between them. There is a "random" option but it doesn't seem to work that well and if you skip to the next track in random mode it goes to the next song in the directory which is a pain. The sound quality is good but there is sometimes distortion at high volumes. Any Ipod EQ settings are disabled as well. Each directory takes from 5-20 seconds to open. All in all it is an OK makeshift option, but a bit disappointing that they didn't build it from the ground up to properly interface with Idrive. This ended up being a no chargeoption for me so I guess I can't complain! FWIW they were trying to sell it to me for CAD$500 and I talked them down to $350. In the end they forgot to charge me for it!

say you open a folder with 500 songs is there any possible way to get to the last song without having to scroll thru every song?? seems like a big pain to have to hold the idrive knob for such a long time.

[BG624]

Originally Posted by PeteM

Does anyone know which iPod system offers the best sound quality, I have read previous posts but I dont see anything definitive or I have missed it.

Would be grateful for any feedback.

Either system offers the same sound quality as long as you don't use the earphone plug on the i Pod and only use a cable that connects to the dock connector on the bottom which gives you a line level output signal.
I don't understand why you would want the glove box solution which sounds very cumbersome and slow when an aux. plug in the console comes standard. I would think either get the factory installed 6FL option which makes the integration with i Drive seamless or just use the aux. plug in the console (console aux. plug is for sound only, no i Drive integration).
The sound quality will not be great with most i Pod file formats because they're highly compressed. Some people use less compressed formats or the WAV format which is not compressed at all but the less compressed the file the fewer songs the i Pod will hold.
The bottom line is that if you reduce the file size from 30 mg. to 3 mg. you'll have a reduction in sound quality. It's a balancing act between convenience and quality.

[photomat]

Originally Posted by tnt17

say you open a folder with 500 songs is there any possible way to get to the last song without having to scroll thru every song?? seems like a big pain to have to hold the idrive knob for such a long time.

Spin spin spin the knob! That is the only way I have found that works. You can't even scroll to the end by scrolling through the top files!