Couple of quick mods

[jimf15e]

Got a couple of quick mods done today to my E70. I've been frustrated by the phone dock since we drove the car home from the dealer brand new. In principle it sounds great, but in practice... to simply listen to Pandora via the dock I have to: get in car, open console, take iPhone out of case, put iPhone in cradle, start car, wait for nag screen to go away, start Pandora on iPhone, select Apps from iDrive menu, select Pandora, drive away. With bluetooth... get in and start car, push shortcut 3 for BT Audio, Pandora resumes where I left off. Much, much easier. Forget all the other 'features' of the dock - definitely not worth the loss of storage space.

So I followed this guide:
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-cradle-2.html

I bought the blank cover plate from Tischer, and 30 minutes later it's complete. Soooo much nicer inside the console! Just remember, unless you have more plastic skills than I it's not a reversible mod!

While I was at it, I ordered the non-smoker's package storage tray. It replaces the ashtray with a longer, deeper storage cubby. Big enough to hold a phone, leatherman, etc. The ashtray is pretty silly IMO, a throwback to a 70's era Cadillac. Too bad you can't option out the lighter and ashtray.

Anyway, a nice couple of mods and highly recommended if you a) don't smoke in your car, and b) don't use your phone dock at all. Pretty cheap couple of parts as well, total of around $35 with shipping I think.