I am about ready to take my car in for service, and I plan to have an ipod interface installed at the same time. I have a question to those of you that already have an ipod interface.

Does the charging of the ipod turn off and on with the key? Or, does the ipod keep charging even when the key is off? I am worried about leaving the ipod in the glove box with the key off and having it run the battery down while charging.

Thanks for any info you can give me.

 

No, the IPOD will be permanent charged and is allways on.
You have to disconnect it from the cable!
Regards
Mike

 

Actually I believe that the car's electrical system shuts down completely after 15 minutes... But if you open a door, it will turn back on. So you have to leave the iPOD visible - or the window down and then check it after 15 minutes. But like I said, I'm 99% sure the system shuts down after 15 minutes.

 

My ipod stays in the car all the time, and I never disconnect it. Never had any problems with it running the battery down. My wife's X5 has the ipod connection and she has never had a problem with it either.

 

Yeah, I believe that the electronics shut down after a period of time. I've left my iPod in the car overnight with no problems.

Why don't you install the adapter yourself? Should only take 30-45 minutes and you'll save yourself a few hundred dollars

 

Thanks everyone for all the feedback.

I have thought about that, but not sure if I wanted to tackle taking the fiber optic cables apart. Have you installed one yourself? My car has "CD Changer Prep", and I was wondering if that makes it easier to install the ipod adapter?

Also, I have read on this board that if you have a CD changer, you can install the ipod adapter and you don't need programming by the dealer to make it work. Does anyone know if this is also the case if you have "CD Changer Prep" but no actual CD changer installed.

 

If you don't have the CD Changer installed already, it may be a problem b/c you may not have the necessary cables. But if you know you have the fiber optic cable, I believe it should be okay.

If so, the install is EXTREMELY easy. I did it in 30-45 minutes. Removing the CD changer and plugging in the iPod adapter took about 10 of those minutes, the remaining time getting the felt/foam and zip ties exactly where I wanted them to secure the unit in the CDC bracket. There is a very good DIY thread on the M5Board here which I used:
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthrea...hlight=diy+ipod

 

bmwbonehead,

Thanks for the DIY thread. Maybe I'll take a shot at doing it myself.

 

Great. Let us know how you make out. It really is very easy and saves you several hundred dollars from getting it installed at the $tealers