iPod ED Cable or no cable???

[GrussGott]

Hi all,

Hoping someone can give me a definitive answer as I've ran a search and am seeing conflicting info.

I ordered an E93 M3 for ED with every option. Do I need the iPod/USB adapter cable or no?

Thanks in advance!

[97X]

You no longer need the "y cable" that BMW used to provide. Your new M3 will ONLY need the standard white cable that came with your iPod/iPad/iPhone. BMW will NOT provide this to you.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Hi all,

Hoping someone can give me a definitive answer as I've ran a search and am seeing conflicting info.

I ordered an E93 M3 for ED with every option. Do I need the iPod/USB adapter cable or no?

Thanks in advance!

If your iPod is a recent version (less than 2-3 years or so) then the Apple white cable will work. If it is a older version then only the BMW iPod cable will work.

[goldminer]

I did ED in May with an 18 month old (approximately) Ipod Nano. I only used the white Apple cable it came with and it worked just fine.

[immiketoo]

PLus if you have an iPhone 4, you can do it all through bluetooth, including music.

[dirtyfreebooter]

Originally Posted by Technic

If your iPod is a recent version (less than 2-3 years or so) then the Apple white cable will work. If it is a older version then only the BMW iPod cable will work.

Not true, I have a iPod video 5G from 2005 and I've used it everyday since I got my m3 in this January and I've only ever used the standard white iPod cable.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by robackja

Not true, I have a iPod video 5G from 2005 and I've used it everyday since I got my m3 in this January and I've only ever used the standard white iPod cable.

Good to know...

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Technic

Good to know...

Thanks guys for all the responses! Last question: can I just bring everything on a USB stick? just plug it in and go? Sounds like I can in mp3 or AAC format ...?

Sorry never had a BMW before, not even test drove the M (did drive the new 6 but didn't mess w the audio) so I have no idea what's in there beyond reading the manual. Wondering what the real world experience is.

[dirtyfreebooter]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Thanks guys for all the responses! Last question: can I just bring everything on a USB stick? just plug it in and go? Sounds like I can in mp3 or AAC format ...?

Sorry never had a BMW before, not even test drove the M (did drive the new 6 but didn't mess w the audio) so I have no idea what's in there beyond reading the manual. Wondering what the real world experience is.

All your questions are answered in the manual. Log onto bmwusa.com and download the PDFs. In 2011_M3series_ownersmanual_withidrive.pdf, start with page 177. Explains iPods, iPhones, USB drives, etc, etc.

[mr_xtian]

Slight variation to GrussGotts question. I checked the manual, but I wanted to be sure-- I didn't order the navigation, so I don't think I can control the iPhone 4 via iDrive. However, will the iPhone still integrate via bluetooth and still be able to be controlled through the phone? Or do I need to use the standard white USB cable?

[PhillyNate]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Thanks guys for all the responses! Last question: can I just bring everything on a USB stick? just plug it in and go? Sounds like I can in mp3 or AAC format ...?

I just bought a USB flash drive/stick and IMHO this is the best possible way to introduce music to our cars.
1. USB requires little to no power.
2. Just plug it in and forget about it.
3. No worry about theft of Apple device.
4. No worry about burning out Apple device battery.
5. No need to transfer Apple device between car and wherever.(see 2,3 and 4)
6. If there is a degredation in sound quality, I sure as hell can't hear it.
7. Almost forgot, the menus are arranged better for USB usage than for Ipod. More user friendly. Go figure
I'm sure there are drawbacks to USB that forum members are welcome to point out but I haven't run into ANY yet. My ipod will most likely never see the inside of my car again.

[dirtyfreebooter]

Originally Posted by PhillyNate

I just bought a USB flash drive/stick and IMHO this is the best possible way to introduce music to our cars.
1. USB requires little to no power.
2. Just plug it in and forget about it.
3. No worry about theft of Apple device.
4. No worry about burning out Apple device battery.
5. No need to transfer Apple device between car and wherever.(see 2,3 and 4)
6. If there is a degredation in sound quality, I sure as hell can't hear it.
7. Almost forgot, the menus are arranged better for USB usage than for Ipod. More user friendly. Go figure
I'm sure there are drawbacks to USB that forum members are welcome to point out but I haven't run into ANY yet. My ipod will most likely never see the inside of my car again.

Because of this post, I decided to do some experimenting this weekend with a USB thumb drive. I would have to agree with all the above (except for #7, for me, the menus are exactly the same, I get the same interface for USB or iPod, USB you can browse the directory structure, but all my media is organized and tagged, so the regular search works great, no need to browse by directories).

I would add this, the USB thumb is instant on, the HDD based iPod often auto-shuts off (and I have to lift the center console to toggle the power back on) or takes a few extra seconds to communicate with the iDrive, and by then, the iDrive is displaying "All songs", but is playing from the last playlist I had selected. Then I have to go to another playlist to get the display to update correctly. Annoying.

Also, a 64GB thumb drive is 1/4 the price of an iPod touch 64 GB. I was experimenting with an older 4GB drive, now I am thinking of getting this 64GB Patriot Xporter Magnum drive. Looks small enough to plug in without an extender cable and still be able to close the console.

As far as syncing my thumb with my iTunes library, I found out that you can export m3u playlists from iTunes and put them in the root of the drive and they'll show up on the iDrive playlists. I used rsync to gracefully sync the media files from my Mac's hard disk to the thumb drive. I spend 15 minutes writing a bash script to sync a directory of m3u playlists and all associated media files referenced in the m3u playlists. (My library is > 64GB so I can't just sync my entire library).

[PhillyNate]

Originally Posted by robackja

As far as syncing my thumb with my iTunes library, I found out that you can export m3u playlists from iTunes and put them in the root of the drive and they'll show up on the iDrive playlists. I used rsync to gracefully sync the media files from my Mac's hard disk to the thumb drive. I spend 15 minutes writing a bash script to sync a directory of m3u playlists and all associated media files referenced in the m3u playlists. (My library is > 64GB so I can't just sync my entire library).

I just hit select all from my Itunes playlist on my Mac and dragged and dropped onto the flash/thumb/usb drive. It took about 7 minutes to write the music to the drive. I thought that was pretty fast actually. Everything works flawlessly.