iLounge

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Finally I can buy a car to go with my new iPhone.

Posted by hamster on June 30, 2007 at 12:24 AM (PDT)

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so I cannot already use my $600 iphone with my 40k car???

nor can I use my bluetooth integrated in my car?

I should have stuck with my pearl and bought a new ipod…...

Posted by Whitney Sterk on July 1, 2007 at 8:39 PM (PDT)

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BUYER BEWARE! (yes, i’m shouting.)

i recently paid extra to have ipod-integration added to my new 7 series—and i’m extremely disappointed with it. here’s why

(1) unfortunately, the bmw software imposes a 250-item *cap* on any ipod list that it accesses. in other words:

when viewing songs, even though i have 6,000 on my ipod, the bmw lists only the first 250.
when viewing artists, the bmw lists only the first 250.
when viewing albums, the bmw lists only the first 250.

...and so forth. (and i’m told it’s the same for *all* bmw models.)

as a result, i’ve been forced to create special playlists, just for use in the car. but if i happen to want to hear something that i haven’t already placed into one of the “special” playlists, i’m simply SOL. it’s literally impossible to hear anything else.

as a result, i find i rarely even use the ipod in the car, because it’s just too cumbersome having to customize playlists, just for the car.

frankly, i wish i’d never paid to have it installed, because i hate it. had i known what i know now, i would have gotten a different make. (ironically i decided against another car, because it did *not* have ipod integration. instead, it simply had a *audio jack* into which you could plug an ipod—via a cable—but no steering-wheel integration; you had to operate the ipod by hand…. at the time, i thought that was inelegant, so i bought the bmw instead. but now i realize that at least that other vehicle would have allowed me access to the ipod’s full contents.

i’ve driven bmws for 20 years, but if they don’t improve the ipod integration, this will be my last one. this is a dealbreaker.

(2) unfortunately, each time i start the car, the car assumes i’ve made changes to the ipod. so any list you select (songs, artists, albums, etc.) has to be scanned before it will play. unfortunately these scans can take up to 2 or 3 minutes. so before you hear a sound, you have to wait for the scan—a new scan for each list that you choose to access.

(3) finally,  let’s say i want to view songs by artist. when i select the artist list, as soon as the list is available (after a scan, if necessary), the system starts playing the first song in that list—before i’ve even made a selection! the same goes for the “song” list, the “album” list, etc…. i want to be able to *view* the list, then make a selection. instead, it just starts playing, before i’ve even made a selection. so unless you change the contents of your ipod frequently, there are 3 or 4 songs that you’re gonna hear over and over again, while you’re scrolling through the list to find what you *really* want to hear.

i love apple, and i love bmws. but people need to know about these issues - and bmw really needs to improve the integration software.

unfortunately, i fear that not enough people will care about these issues to complain. although i have 6,000 songs on my ipod, most people i know have only several hundred—so they probably wouldn’t be greatly affected by the limitations. my dealer promised to pass along my concerns, but unless they receive many complaints, i doubt there’ll be improvements any time soon.

Posted by soundsgoodtome on October 2, 2007 at 3:02 AM (PDT)

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I’m not sure why your 7 series is having issues, but my 2008 X5 with factory ipod integration works fine with my iphone, ipod 160g and ipod 80g.  It also works with my girl’s 8g nano, and my previous generation 40g.  Im not suffering from any of the issues you are having. 

The iphone gives a notice that its not compatible, but this typically means the device hasnt been programmed to say “hey, I’m shielded and I wont be subject to your GSM phone’s noisy transmissions.”  However, you dont need to airplane-mode your iphone, and there is no GSM noise.  It uses the iphone through the ipod connector, and when a phone comes in the iphone interrupts the music (just like if you are using headphones) and everything works fine. 

Voice dialing through the BMW also works excellent on the iphone.  BMW has this built in, independent of the phone you are using.

My iphone is also working great on my Mobridge bluetooth/ipod interface I installed in my 997.

Posted by RTAllison on May 31, 2008 at 9:37 PM (PDT)

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2008 BMW 335xi with Y USB cable and the new iPhone 4 does NOT work.

It connects but shows the device as empty, major problem.. any solution in sight?

Posted by Ami on June 26, 2010 at 11:59 AM (PDT)

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Not sure I’ll get any replies this considering it’s now Feb 2012 but I am very dissapointed that I cannot access my messages and calender options on my new Iphone 4s in my brand new X5 35i. My previous phone a Nokia accessed all of my mesaages and calender/office options and the car even read the detail out to me - perfect. Is the lack of “office” compatibility due to the Microsoft/Apple competition. If so I wouyld think that BMW should solve the problem. Any comments from officialdom ??

Posted by Paul Hopwood on February 6, 2012 at 11:27 AM (PDT)