Dealer coding was need it. Paid 1 hour labor for it. takes about 10 min to install it yourself. Total cost for me was $570. $420 for the Dension 500 and $150 to the stealership.

 

as a follow up question, dealer says that the AUX input will allow me to see title songs and control mp3 player via Idrive. I am a bit suspicious as he did not say that he would be adding any special hardware beyond the cable. BTW, I am planning to use it with a Blackberry Bold. Can someone confirm?

 

with the IPOD adapter, it is strictly for the IPOD. if you open your glove box, there is a little panel in the back with two plastic knobs. turn the knobs and open the cover. you will see some connection points, the adapter plugs into the one on the right. it will display as "CD1" as a changer control on your I Drive. you can go through playlists ONLY. for example, I am a big dave matthews band person, so i had to make a "Dave Matthews Band" playlist and put all of my dave in there.

this is i-pod specific. i have no clue about the blackberry. the adapter i have is ipod specific. the general AUX input will not allow you to use the i-drive to control your MP3s. you will have to manually control your device, unless this is some USB device i am not familiar with

 

Uhh, yer gettin hosed! BMW dealer I bought the car from was $62 for the part and one hour labor.

 

the aux input will only give you audio input going thru idrive, nothing else. go for the ipod interface.

 

 

i feel bad for our neighbors up north. thats the price everybody should be paying for the aux input.