Matthall37

Hi,

Has anyone managed to get a 'y-cable' (attaching iPod to new USB port) for their LCI yet? I've been told by my dealer that this will have to be purchased separately from their parts dept at a cost of ?40!!! They don't know yet when they are gonna get any either.

Talk about squeezin every last drop from your customers........just German efficiency I guess

de_smet_h

my dealer told me (he saw it with his own eyes) that you dont need an Y-cable except if you download from Itunes

cave

Indeed ... I have my new LCI delivered last week with the new USB Integration. (6FL). There was no cable supplied so I connected my iPod using a standard iPod/USB cable. I was able to listen to all the non DRM songs but it took +5 minutes to create the library with artist, albums, playlists and songs. This is the same behaviour as when you connect an USB Memory Stick. Scrolling through the lists is not very fast.
I can't tell you anything about DRM protected media ... my iPod is stuffed with ... euh ... non protected songs.

Since this evening I have the special cable (delivered for free by my dealer after my complaints) and there is a big difference. Now the interface knows it is connected to an iPod and it uses the iPod's database to create it's database (this is within seconds). Scrolling through the lists is also a lot faster.
The sound is also a lot better. This is because now the iPod plays the songs and sends them to the AUX in, while without the cable it is the car itself that reads the MP3 from the iPOD (as if it is a memory stick) and then plays it.

If you don't get the cable for free I still think that the extra ?40 is worth its price.

Greg530

This is interesting and confirms what I suspected. You basically need the Y cable if you have DRM tracks. With the way things are developing at Apple we can hopefully forget stupid DRM soon.

I'm shocked that in USB mode it's still slow. My big complaint with the classic ipod intergration is that it's slow.
From what you're saying it seems USB is even slower.

With that said, it's still a great solution because it means I can connect a HUGE external drive and fill it with stuff.

cave

It is not slow if you use the special BMW Ipod Cable, because then the internal database of the iPod is used ...

JSpira

If you mean a hard disk, that?s not supported by this option

Matthall37

Thanks for the advice, I've asked the dealer to get a cable for me.

pharding

I believe that he was referring to the Ipod as an external drive, which it is in my opinion. The capacity of a large Ipod is enormous.

AlexFW

Have you a pic of new USB port ?

Thank you!

JSpira

Most people would say ,,iPod`` - not ,,huge external drive`` if they meant an iPod. But perhaps not all.