JSpira

I understand what you are saying but I will go back to my source at Apple because they made it quite clear a while ago that they did not have a digital output for audio.

Rudy

I agree that they don't have a digital output for audio. They have an analog output for audio that is available on the dock connector. They also have a digital output for audio files that is available through the USB connection which is how the car can play the music files using drive mode...

Make sense?

UK 5 Series

I feared that this would become rather 'technical' and it has!

So, if I understand the simpler responses correctly, you can NOT upload from ANY device to the hard drive as a 'one time' exercise and sound quality is no better than via 'Aux in'?

The ONLY difference is being able to control the iPod or device from the iDrive menus rather than the device itself?

Also, once you remove the device from the car (as any sane person would when you park), the iDrive retains no memory of the songs and you have to start over again when you next get in the car (connect the device and let it load etc).

Could someone please clarify the above in non-technical terms?

JSpira

Ja, that does make sense. Danke.

Rudy

There is no hard drive on the car to upload to. The car does have some (limited) memory and it will cache directory entries only (not files) for up to 4 individual music sources so when you reconnect, it doesn't take too long to see everything again. (On my 80GB drive, it can take a few minutes to re-index everything but it will begin playing where it left off before the indexing is completed.)

Russ1974

Get the option

Rather than put a big hard-drive in, what I do is use a 4Gb memory stick (about ?20). That's more that enough to put a big heap of music on to and, because it's so cheap, and hidden in the centre console, there is no worry about anybody breaking in and stealing it. The integration with iDrive (all of your music/folders/songs etc appear on screen) is excellent.

The only thing that gets loaded from the USB device in to the car is the INDEX of the songs - that is, the directory names, song names, etc. If you put a new device in, it takes just a few seconds to load the data. Leave a USB stick in the car and although the index gets uploaded, the songs don't. By the time you've started your engine, all of the songs are there and ready to play.

Many people have not gone for this option and regretted it. It's very cheap. It's the kind of thing that would cost you ?1,000 to retrofit but ?100 to buy from the factory. It's a million times better than CD or Aux-Input.

Lancaster

Really? A million times better. That's very good isn't it?

jackstraw

I didn't realize that you could use a USB memory stick. That's pretty cool!! I was actually thinking about going out and buying another ipod, so I never had to take it out of the car.

Right now, if I browse my iPod via iDrive, I can browse by Song, Album, Artist or Playlist. What options do you have to browse with when using a memory stick?


One other related question.... I sometimes have to wiggle the BMW USB/aux cable to eliminate static. Anyone else have that problem?

flipside

You can browse by song, album, artist and playlist with a usb stick too. The playlists have to be in m3u format though.

I bought a 16gb usb memory stick on ebay for $35 and it works great.

kscarrol

Well, I don't have static, but there are times where the connection seems poor and the sound quality is not so good. By pure accident I was literally banging my hand on the center console along with the song playing, above the button used to open the storage compartment, and it seemed to jiggle the cable into a better position. Sound quality suddenly got MUCH better... This has happened on more than one occasion so I'm not sure if it how I plug in the iPod cable, a bad connection somewhere I can't see or just a bad fit with the cable that causes a poor connection.