Scoobywrx

A good friend, pretty much a cousin bought an 04/04 Production date 545i...It's pretty much loaded with all the options minus the cold weather package which has no use for itself in SoCal...
The car had its software updated to a newer one to enable bluetooth in September, however the car cannot play MP3's in the indash CD player slot? Is this normal?
I know the CD changer cannot play MP3's but after reading on the forums the indash CD player should be able to play Mp3's fine correct?
The DVD player does play MP3's encoded onto a DVD but then you lose NAV.

Rudy

You are correct that a 4/2004 production car should be able to play MP3 discs in either dash slot (not in the changer) but only if the MP3 "retrofit procedure" was run during a software update. (This retrofit procedure only needs to be done on cars built before 9/29/2005.)

If you haven't already seen it, take a look at the service bulletin that talks about all of this:
SI_B65_30_05___updated__MP3_.pdf
The other possibility that you might be running into is that the retrofit procedure was performed but the MP3 disc you are trying to play was not burned with the proper parameters. Take a look here to see if you're burning things correctly:
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=24018

Good luck!

Scoobywrx

When he purchased the vehicle it did not even have Bluetooth (older software) was on the car...
Then the software was updated..Bluetooth worked, MP3's also started to work but only in the DVD slot...
I'm pretty sure the parameters were correct for burning it.

delje08

Rudy

THanks for the SIB info. I didnt know prior 09/05 this option was possible. Luckily my car is at the dealer now getting warranty work done, need to add this in.

Rudy

If the car played an MP3 disc in the DVD slot, then it's likely that the software retrofit was done. There may be disc read issue with the upper slot. What type (and brand) of blank media are you using? In my experiences, the car doesn't like any "RW" type discs, etc.

Again, the burning process can be quite critical to the success of this task. Follow the instructions in the FAQ I posted a link to earlier with quality media and you might have better luck...