Anyone here know about a Phatbox?
08-31-2010, 05:36 AM
#1
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I'm taking delivery of an '07 530xi later this week and have a question about the radio. I know it has an iPod port, but I had a 20 Gb Phatbox installed in my old '97 528i that gave the radio a "CD player" emulation so I could have 500 MP3s at my command. I removed the unit when I totaled the E39 last week.
Phatnoise went out of business a couple of years ago, but I believe there are 3rd parties that still carry adapters for the unit. My question is, does anybody have experience hooking up a Phatbox to a newer Bimmer? Short of that, I'd also like to hear any experiences you've had using your iPod connected to the stereo in your car. Is it seemless? Can you make song selections relatively easy using the iDrive control? How about the steering wheel controls? Thanks.
Phatnoise went out of business a couple of years ago, but I believe there are 3rd parties that still carry adapters for the unit. My question is, does anybody have experience hooking up a Phatbox to a newer Bimmer? Short of that, I'd also like to hear any experiences you've had using your iPod connected to the stereo in your car. Is it seemless? Can you make song selections relatively easy using the iDrive control? How about the steering wheel controls? Thanks.
08-31-2010, 06:21 AM
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My Ride: 2006 530i, Jet Black, Tan, Premium, Steptronic
Your E60 uses fiber optics to transmit data to and from components (CD-changer/SAT radio/iPod) to the stereo. Also, every time you add a component to the stereo system it requires programming at the dealership. In short, there's no way to use the Phatbox with the 530xi.
There are several posts on the forum concerning the iPod adapter. It apparently works pretty well. Alternatively you can use a the Dension kit.
There are several posts on the forum concerning the iPod adapter. It apparently works pretty well. Alternatively you can use a the Dension kit.
08-31-2010, 10:01 AM
#3
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I figured something like that. Time to move on...
Maybe I can sell it to someone on the E39 Forum.
Maybe I can sell it to someone on the E39 Forum.
09-01-2010, 09:33 AM
#4
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Your E60 uses fiber optics to transmit data to and from components (CD-changer/SAT radio/iPod) to the stereo. Also, every time you add a component to the stereo system it requires programming at the dealership. In short, there's no way to use the Phatbox with the 530xi.
There are several posts on the forum concerning the iPod adapter. It apparently works pretty well. Alternatively you can use a the Dension kit.
There are several posts on the forum concerning the iPod adapter. It apparently works pretty well. Alternatively you can use a the Dension kit.
09-01-2010, 12:04 PM
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Thinking out loud, I have a USB cradle for my Phatbox cartridge. That's how I get music onto it from my computer. Since the Dension adapters permit you to read from a HDD device via USB, I wonder if there is a way that I might be able to use one of the Dension adapters to read from the Phatbox cartridge. Dension says that they can read from any hard ISA hard drive as long as it has a FAT file system, which I believe the Phatbox cartridge is.
09-01-2010, 06:51 PM
#6
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Would I be able to select genre, artist, album, etc. like I used to through the Dension? Another nice feature the Phatbox has is spoken announcements when you make a selection or when the selection changed.
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