USB Flash drive question

shaunmed · #1 09-05-2011, 01:32 AM

i have 08 E70 and i connect my iphone with the Y cable which works fine.

i would like to just have a memory stick with my songs on it that i keep in the USB port in the center console.

i know BMW sells one but i would like to just buy one at staples, etc.

QUESTION:
will any flash drive work or do i need the BMW flash drive?

do i have to format it in any soecific way?

thanks.

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TI Master · #2 09-05-2011, 04:20 AM

I'm going to guess that most of them work, I put a PNY brand 8GB one in mine and it works fine in my 2009 E70. I dont recall changing whatever the default format is, but my guess is FAT32 works.

GPSnV1 · #3 09-05-2011, 11:58 AM

My brand-name USB (Memorex?) works fine in my 2008 but I use an extension cord as I get into the console quite a bit.

Syndicate · #4 09-07-2011, 03:38 PM

FAT 32 format, and so far, every USB drive has worked fine. What has been everyone's experience with load times? By that I mean where the entire drive is searchable by either artist, album, song, etc. I want to get a 64gb or 128gb flash drive but am worried that it would take it 10 minutes to index the drive every time.

Cheers,

ECS Tuning · #5 09-07-2011, 04:18 PM

We carry the BMW 8 Gig Flash Drive, it is formatted fat32 out of the box, and works with the USB systems in the X5, 550i, and M5 from my personal experience. On my 8 gig flash drive I can put nearly two thousand mp3s, the load time isn't even worth considering. Something to take in account when going to a large drive such as a 64 gig is load times. I have a 32 gig flash key at the house with a lot of mixed media on it, that particular key took a noticeable amount of time to become ready to use.

two-five boy · #6 09-07-2011, 04:54 PM

I use an 8GB generic thumb drive in my center console and it works fine. Load times are quick and never had an issues with file reading.

shaunmed · #7 09-07-2011, 05:54 PM

I got a 16mb card and it works flawlessly.

apw2607 · #8 09-07-2011, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syndicate

FAT 32 format, and so far, every USB drive has worked fine. What has been everyone's experience with load times? By that I mean where the entire drive is searchable by either artist, album, song, etc. I want to get a 64gb or 128gb flash drive but am worried that it would take it 10 minutes to index the drive every time.

Cheers,

It only indexes when you make a change to something on the drive.

Jim E. · #9 09-08-2011, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by apw2607

It only indexes when you make a change to something on the drive.

Using a 1 TB Toshiba USB drive and going strong. Very quick too.

Syndicate · #10 09-09-2011, 02:46 AM

last year I put in a 500gb external hard drive and it is painfully slow. It takes about 10 minutes to become searchable, and I've not made any changes to it. I'm just hoping to avoid the same wait time if I put in a high capacity USB stick.

I'm amazed that the 1TB drive is so quick. How is your file structure set up?

Cheers,

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