Lomag

What are the best settings to use when burning a MP3 CD?

First and foremost make sure to use a CD-R disc and not a CD-RW disc! Also make sure you use a higher quality CD-R disc, not the cheapest you can find. I first used a CD-RW disc and noticed that songs would just randomly stop playing, others started before the one playing finished, and other strange blips while songs were playing. I thought this was the CD player skipping due to bumps on the road but it happened on flat roads too. I then thought it was because my of my older car being enabled per MP3 against BMW's recommendation. However, re-burning my music on a CD-R disc with the settings below seems to have stopped all of that!

In terms of CD burner program settings I'm using Nero Burning ROM with these settings:

Normal Data CD-ROM (ISO)
No Multisession
Data Mode 1
File System ISO 9660:1999 (this is a KEY setting)
File Name Length Max 207 chars (will automaticly set when you select the file system above)
Burn Speed 8x -- don't burn your CD's at max speed because there's more room for error
Disc-at-Once write method
Make sure to check off "Finalize CD" before burning

So, burn your CD as you like it. If you want to make changes it's best to toss the old CD and burn a new one. These CD-R discs are only pennies now-a-days. I imagine these settings can be set by any CD burning software you may use.

Other than CD burner settings you should also lookout for specific MP3 settings in terms of the bitrate of the MP3. It's possible that the cars computer doesn't officially support bit rates higher than 192 Kbps. I personally only download 192 Kbps encoded songs (CD quality) when available but sometimes get stick with 128 Kbps which is OK too. One other thing to avoid is VBR (variable bit rate) MP3's. I think those cause the computer to get confused sometimes hence random skipping and other possible wierdness. VBR MP3's can be converted into fixed bitrate MP3's though so if you have any I'd highly suggest doing that.

The iDrive computer will display the filename of the MP3 on the screen. There won't be any underscores and the text won't be in all capital letters. They'll be in plain normal print like "Artist Name - Song Name" just without the ".mp3" extension. The ID3v1 and ID3v2 tags in most MP3's are not used here unless you select "Details" however there's no need to use Details when setting the original file name to what you want displayed.

In addition, the MP3's will be displayed (and played) in alphabetical order unless you choose the random function in iDrive. If you want them to play in a specific order, the only way to do this that we know of, is to prefix each file name with a number. For example, "01 - Artist Name - Song Name.mp3". It'll display two numbers on iDrive however atleast the MP3's will play in the order you wish them to play in.

As I've mentioned the key to displaying the song artist/titles properly is the ISO 9660:1999 file system setting. If you don't set that properly you're going to see your files like the following two pictures:

The below picture shows ISO 9660 + Joilet file system mode with Level 1 file name length (generally the default of most CD burning software):



The below picture shows ISO 9660 + Joilet file system mode with Level 2 file name length:



And finally, the below picture shows what your MP3 cd will look like if you've used the ISO 9660:1999 file system mode I recommended above. I also strongly recommend following all the other settings too!

SolarFactory

Lomag, what version of Nero Burning Rom are you using?? Mine doesnt have the File System ISO 9660:1999 setting...All I have is File System ISO 9660.

ricky

Nero Burning Rom 7.0.0.0
In the picture setting for ISO9660:1999

SolarFactory

Thanks Ricky!! I was on version 6. I just upgraded.

Lomag

I was acctually also using 6, version 6.6.0.14 so the program says. Just make sure your using the full Burning ROM program and not Nero Express.

Fenix1

Many thanks for the information. At long last I can now display filenames.
The software I used was "Sonic DigitalMedia LE v7" which came with my Dell Laptop

Rudy

To add one small (but cool) detail to what Lomag already posted, the same instructions apply to burning an MP3 DVD for use in the slot where the Nav DVD goes.

If you burn it using the same file system settings Lomag mentioned (ISO 9660:1999) you'll be able to see the song names, etc. the same way as pictured above.

xexyus

If all I have is nero express version 5.5, how do I burn MP3s so I can see it in the car? Song titles and all?

Tommy

I could it only get it to work when I limited the name of the folders to 8 positions - strange, but with the full lenght of the folder name, the cd would not play.

Second, I found out thatnot the entire characterset is supported on the idrive. I happen to mp3 a grench song from France Gall: D?brance, but the char ? was not recognized in the file name and instead a square box shows up. But worst of all, the song would not play and idrive would just skip it.

So, now I have to remember:
- keep folder name up to 8 char max
- get rid of special char in the file naming

Funny enough when I did this, the ? did show up in the ID3 tag info.

or did I miss some special settings?

BMW#7

Has anyone got the titles to display on Non Nav cars?

I have no problem playing the MP3 tracks but they are just numbered in the normal way as when playing a standard audio (.wav) CD.

Thanks in advance?