Originally Posted by schoeny

I have found a low mileage well taken care of E61 but need some experienced advice before I make the purchase. I hope I'm in the right place. This wagon does not have Navigation which I can live without but I was wondering if there are other unintended consequences to not having the Navi option.
The other item is that it has no USB port in the armrest compartment only what seems to be an audio port. It also has the audio port in the rear seat area just below the vents.
What can be used via this audio port and how is the sound quality?
Those are the only 2 items that I wish were different on this wagon but everything else is exactly what I want.
Thanks for your help!
Pete

Originally Posted by E61FUN

The USB/Aux iPod inputs under the center console armrest still rely on the analog audio coming from an iPod's headphone jack, so it's essentially the same thing as an Aux-only input, right? If that is the case, then consider the quality of your audio files.

I've noted a large difference between MP3 and AAC files vs Apple Lossless source material (or similar lossless formats). My car's audio system is still currently stock, but the output gain alone from the lossless file format seems to really help with overall sound quality.

In fact, I recently bought the newer "Y" cable which has the 1/8" (3.5mm) and USB to lightning plug connector (P/N 61122287642) and found that the lossless files were distorting (clipping) the D-A converter in the cable dongle.

So, while you may only have an Aux input, consider what you feed in there.