iphone 4 cradle

[apw2607]

Originally Posted by ukwildcat

I came across some vague technical document on the web - which was probably obsolete - that it's a direct connection to whatever black box handles "entertainment."

Page 188 of the manual (well, the 2011 X5 manual anyway) says it is the ONLY way to transfer music from a USB device to the vehicle's hard drive.

The rest is quoted verbatim..

"Suitable devices: USB mass storage devices, such as USB flash drives or MP3 players with a USB interface."

"Unsuitable devices: USB hard drives, USB hubs, USB memory card readers with multiple inserts, Apple iPod / iPhone."


"Music from a USB device can be stored only via the USB interface in the glove compartment."

OK, so that's what it's FOR: COPYING music from a USB memory stick onto the vehicle hard drive. Why you would do this? I dunno.. It might be easier for some folks? I'm OK with flexible, even if I don't use it.

The one in the center console is for everything else, and you can play music from anything there: USB memory stick, hard drive, iPod / iPhone. It also can charge the device.

Why would you use it ?

Well ... You might have already ripped your CDs so you can simply now copy them from the USB stick to the car hard drive.

Equally, say you've actually ripped your CDs to the car using the cars CD/DVD drive. However you now want to listen to the tracks on your iPod. You can copy the tracks from the cars hard drive back to the USB thumb drive. Also if theres a issue with the CIC, and it needs replacing this gives the dealer the option to backup a customers music collection.