CIAbot

Hi all

I have a 2007 E61 530xi. I'm currently using the AUX port on the center console for audio from my phone, but I'd really like to get better sound quality that goes with a direct USB connection. I found this on BMW's site: pn 84109237656 https://shop.bmw.ca/p/BMW__/USB-sock...109237656.html



The image on that link doesn't seem to be the right one - it's a USB port. It seems obvious that this would work for audio phone calls, but has anyone installed it for music?

JayArras

There's an extensive thread here on this topic. I installed the Sure board in my '07 530xi several years ago and it works great.

seanjordan20

I installed a Bluetooth 5.2 chip on my aux line behind the dash. It's been perfect for the last 3 years. When the phone rings it stops playing so you can answer the phone. The only thing is you can't change songs with your steering wheel. It didn't bother me because I hardly use the wheel buttons. I don't even know if there's a USB solution for music. I would assume the signal wouldn't be able to be read but the CCC

JayArras

I used to have a Phatbox in my E39, which was basically a hard drive that played MP3s. You could select songs by artist, album, genre or shuffle, all controlled by the steering wheel. I had over 700 songs on it. When I upgraded to the E60, the Phatbox wasn't compatible, so I looked at the Dension Gateway so I could do the same thing, but just never pulled the trigger. Once I discovered Bluetooth, it was a much cheaper solution, and I decided that having a dash mount for my phone worked nearly as well.

donpb

I'd lose my mind if I couldn't change songs via the steering wheel buttons.

CIAbot

Hm. The Denison Gateway is interesting. It says it doesn't work for Japanese models though so it probably won't work for me unfortunately. I have a Japanese import left hand drive E61 obviously meant for sale in Japan with Japanese stickers and a Japanese manual. I'm not sure if the LHD models were just Euro models exported to Japan or if there is something specific to them.