I want to be able to play MP3's through my car's audio system. My dealer tried to enable MP3 playback through the CD drive while upgrading the software for bluetooth, but no dice. I have NAV, but my car being maunfactured in 7/04 it was incompatible.

The "aux input" would be useless to me since I could not use the idrive to control the mp3 player, and I have read posts on here saying the sound quality through the aux sucks.

That would make an ipod connection the last option, but after doing a search of posts on here, I still don't know if my car is compatible. The posts and threads about the subject seem to offer conflicting information.


Can my 04 545i with nav and CD changer be retrofited with an ipod interface so I can control the ipod through the iDrive?

What is involved hardware and software-wise?

Do track titles from the ipod show on the screen using this option?

Does an ipod play regular MP3's (not just apple "itunes" as all my music is MP3, not iTunes)?

Thanks!

 

Yes, you can get the iPod adaptor. And yes it is controlled through the iDrive interface, the Ipod itself stays connected in the glove box. The hardware connection goes through the cable for the 6-disc changer so you will lose that in place of the iPod. Software depends on when your car was last updated, but I suspect you'll need an update as well.

Track titles and artist are displayed on the iDrive screen. The system is far from perfect, really a patch for our older cars. To access the iPod, you'll still go to the CD options where you will see CD1*, CD2* etc. These now correspond to different views of your music. For example, CD1* is a list of you Playlists, CD2* is alist of artists. Thses are the two I use all the time, along with CD6*, which is a list of all songs. You can play anyone of these "CDs" randomly for variety. As for you last question, that one I can't help with. I've always just downloaded songs from iTunes and played those but I'm sure others will chime in to help...

 

The answer to your last question is "yes". You will need to use iTunes as it is the only way to manage music on your iPod, but you can import all of your existing mp3s into your iTunes library once you have installed it. This is what I did - transferred my entire collection into iTunes and then loaded it up onto the iPod.

As for your other questions, do have a look at the following links:
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=42827&hl=
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=40930&hl=
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=40054&hl=
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=39770&hl=
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=38625&hl=

I'd start with the last one and work my way up that list. Should answer most of your questions.