ipod vs satellite?
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From: St Pete, FL
My Ride: 2011 550i M sport
Hello all. I am asking your input on a dilemma I am facing. My 545 has sat radio and cd changer with logic 7. The sat radio subscription ran out months ago and I never really wanted to reactivate it as I was planning on adding the ipod adaptor which would mean removing the cd changer. I was about to order the ipod from bmw when I thought "why not just activate the sat radio. Cheap (13 USD a month). WIth ipod, I can attact it but not sure if I still need reprogramming (I had the center cd reprogrammed to play mp3's already...some say yes others say I still need 1 hour labor so im not sure)....So what do you guys think...if you have ipod would you do it all over again or would sat radio be better?
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From: NYC, Rego Park, Queens
My Ride: 2004 E60 530i, 2012 E70 X5 35i
Model Year: 2004
Originally Posted by nikko64' post='826657' date='Mar 25 2009, 05:15 PM
Hello all. I am asking your input on a dilemma I am facing. My 545 has sat radio and cd changer with logic 7. The sat radio subscription ran out months ago and I never really wanted to reactivate it as I was planning on adding the ipod adaptor which would mean removing the cd changer. I was about to order the ipod from bmw when I thought "why not just activate the sat radio. Cheap (13 USD a month). WIth ipod, I can attact it but not sure if I still need reprogramming (I had the center cd reprogrammed to play mp3's already...some say yes others say I still need 1 hour labor so im not sure)....So what do you guys think...if you have ipod would you do it all over again or would sat radio be better?
Also if you have the Dension Gateway 500, you can use your "Iphone 3g" feature to listen to internet radio too.
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From: Western Washington
My Ride: 2008 Space Gray 550i, Light Poplar Wood, Anthracite Head Liner, Sport Package, Sport Automatic Transmission, Cold Weather Package, Front Ventilated Comfort Seats in Black Nasca Leather, NAV, HUD, Active Steering, Comfort Access, Night Vision, Lane Deviation Warning, Active Cruise Control, Heated Rear Seats, Folding Rear Seats, Power Shade w/ Rear Side-Shades, Rear Air Bags, Logic 7, HD Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, iPod/USB Adapter. Car in BMW Body Shop, estimated completion 01/24/07.
I agree with niqxdoof, I have both and enjoy both. IF I had to have one or the other, I'd probably go with the iPod. But I listen to SAT a lot too.
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From: Western Washington
My Ride: 2008 Space Gray 550i, Light Poplar Wood, Anthracite Head Liner, Sport Package, Sport Automatic Transmission, Cold Weather Package, Front Ventilated Comfort Seats in Black Nasca Leather, NAV, HUD, Active Steering, Comfort Access, Night Vision, Lane Deviation Warning, Active Cruise Control, Heated Rear Seats, Folding Rear Seats, Power Shade w/ Rear Side-Shades, Rear Air Bags, Logic 7, HD Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, iPod/USB Adapter. Car in BMW Body Shop, estimated completion 01/24/07.
I agree with niqxdoof, I have both and enjoy both. IF I had to have one or the other, I'd probably go with the iPod. But I listen to SAT a lot too.
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From: Massachusetts, USA
My Ride: 2006 525XI, Jet black on Dakota beige. Premium and winter packages. I consider myself a purist and intend to keep my car absolutely stock and shiny.
2008 328I Convertible, Sapphire black on beige interior. Premium package, NAV, iPod adapter.
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One bad thing about SAT is that if you do a lot of back road driving, coverage gets spotty, once the trees are full of leaves. It seems to cut in and out a lot. Also, you should talk to the customer service at Sirius and see if they'll give you the $70/year rate instead of the $13/month rate. Worth a try and in this economy they're trying to make deals.
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From: The State of Southern NJ!
Originally Posted by nigxdoof' post='826659' date='Mar 25 2009, 05:18 PM
Have both.. Sirius can get repetitive after time.
Also if you have the Dension Gateway 500, you can use your "Iphone 3g" feature to listen to internet radio too.
Also if you have the Dension Gateway 500, you can use your "Iphone 3g" feature to listen to internet radio too.
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From: New Jersey
My Ride: '05 545 Titanium Silver, Black Leather - Nav, Logic 7, Cold weather.
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Originally Posted by luigi524td' post='826755' date='Mar 25 2009, 07:20 PM
I don't have an iPhone but my Omnia is a Windows device ... has anyone plugged a phone like this into the USB port of the DG500 ?? Wondering if I can use it like an IPOD or iPhone afterall it just looks like an external drive when connected to my PC ??
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From: The State of Southern NJ!
Originally Posted by Brit_in_NJ' post='826766' date='Mar 25 2009, 07:31 PM
I don't have a USB interface or GW500 on my car but most windows mobile devices can't act as a USB mass storage device so you can't just plug it in. You can install an program called WM5Storage which will enable this but you have to run the program before you dock it.
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I could not live without my iPod. I tried sat radio with an adapter playing through the FM, it worked, but abandoned it after the expiration of the subscription.
+2 on the leaves and cutoff of the signal.
+2 on the leaves and cutoff of the signal.
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From: St Pete, FL
My Ride: 2011 550i M sport
Originally Posted by porsche911targa' post='826737' date='Mar 25 2009, 07:01 PM
One bad thing about SAT is that if you do a lot of back road driving, coverage gets spotty, once the trees are full of leaves. It seems to cut in and out a lot. Also, you should talk to the customer service at Sirius and see if they'll give you the $70/year rate instead of the $13/month rate. Worth a try and in this economy they're trying to make deals.
thanks for the heads up. I didnt realize the rates varied. Ill look into it.