big_ipaq

My CD-Changer does not play MP3. Both in-dash slots play them all right.

Bigfoot

I have a 2004 545 and my car does not play mp3 in neither the main console nor the cd changer. Is there any way I can get mp3's to work at least on the center console?

Rudy

Don't know what year or production date your car is but the following may help you figure out if you can get things retrofitted for in-dash MP3 playback. Keep in mind that many of us got things working even though our cars were built before the dates on the bulletins.

Also, it seems clear that the matrix showing that the CD changer would support MP3 playback after 3/07 production is not correct...

SI_B65_30_05___updated__MP3_.pdf
MP3_drives.pdf

thedreamshop

I have some experience with this and I will share what I know with you. The radio control unit or CCC does not support MP3 or text on pre 03/05 E60 cars. Also the CD changer used in a 03 or 04 is the same CD changer that is used in the new cars. The difference is that in order to play MP3s in your changer you must first have a MP3/ CD text in dash CD player and also have the MP3 activation software installed as well. All you guys that have MP3 in the in dash CD slot but not from the changer need to have the CD changer MP3 activation program installed.

So an example is this: I can not play MP3s or get CD text at all in my 04 545i. During an iPod installation ( Gateway 500 not OE BMW ) in a 06 530i that did not have a CD changer I had to take my 04 changer and install it into the customers 06. When the car gets programed you first have to perform the CD changer install in the Retrofit menu and then go to a seperate section and find the MP3 activation menu in order to create a MP3 CD changer. The part number for the 06 changer is the same as my 04 changer, the difference is the software program installed in the changer and the capability of the CCC.

Russ1974

That's not correct. My first E60 was a 2004 model (one of the first), with "professional tuner", and it _DID_ play MP3s in the dash. It wasn't on the standard stereo, we had to pay to upgrade to the one with dual tuners (I mean the actual tuner/radio, not the speaker upgrade which was separate), which also included MP3 playback. It was tricky to get it to work as you had to encode the MP3s in a specific way, but it definitely did work.

elyk

i thought retrofitting a cd changer was basically plug and play, except for the fact that the dealer needs to reprogram the idrive. i thought that could be done free or is it, you must make an excuse for a program update?

Russ1974

A software update does _not_ automatically add CD changer! There are two types of software programming that can be done by BMW (in vague terms);

1) - Main software upgrade. If you are a Microsoft user, imagine this as being a security patch/bug fix.
2) - Additional functionality programming. Again to use an analogy, imagine this as being a driver installation.

You can have software upgrades if you are being affected by a bug, but unless they install the "driver" for your new hardware, which is in effect a simple reprogram, even the latest software will not see any new devices.

Bug fixes are free. If you want the new software just for the sake of having the new software, you have to pay (or lie that you are being affected by one of the bugs...!). If you want a "driver installed", you have to pay. I have heard people quoting up to ?200 just to have the iDrive programmed to see a CD-Changer... I guess it depends how well you get on with the staff at your local dealer. I would argue that the car was sold as "CD-Changer Ready" which implies everything is done to make it plug and play with no extra cost.