Hi all.
Just bought my first BMW (2006 520d) and this is my first post as a new member so please be gentle! I'm not technology illiterate but don't have much electrical or car mod experience so bear with me. My car has aux connection but no usb connection for my ipod. My local BMW dealer wants almost £700 to fit an Ipod adapter that sits in the glovebox! I'm not willing or stupid enough to pay this and have been looking for other options.
My question is can an aftermarket stereo with built in ipod connectivity be fitted that keeps the steering wheel controls and shows the songs and playlists on my idrive screen? I've been looking at the Sony DSX S100 as the ipod is housed inside the stereo so there's no loose wires and the ipod can be accessed easily. I've had conflicting advice from some car modification outlets if this can be done or not and at the moment i'm just confused.
Any answers or advice would be very welcome and if I need to supply any more data about my car i'll do what I can.

Thanks in advance. Beermonster

 

Can it be done? Yes. However, our cars have everything integrated into the iDrive system. In the end I bet it will be more expensive to fit a snew stereo head unit and still find a way to maintain the other iDrive functions than it would be to just retrofit an iPod adapter. Sorry

 

If I decided to go down the aftermarket stereo route i've been told that all I need in addition to the new stereo obviously is a connection cable to keep the steering wheel controls, a sony patch cable and a new fascia surround. Is this correct as the prices for the stereo (£90), connection cable (£30), patch cable (£5) and fascia (£30) mean that unless fitting costs over £500 this would be a cheaper option than the retrofit ipod adapter?
I may have this completely wrong so I apologize if thats the case but the BMW dealer doesn't want to know if its not one of their genuine parts and i'm asking because I don't know.
Thanks, Beermonster.