E90 & Ipod

[saat]

When I got my 08 E90 325i, I had to fit the BMW interface costing me more than RM2,300.I later noticed a BMW cable at AB costing only RM380.When my misus took delivery of her 09 E90 320i, I braved myself and bought the cable. One end of the cable hooks onto the iPod and the other end has a USB plug and a small headphone jack. The USB plug is plugged into the USB plug and the headphone jack is plugged into the aux plug inside the center armrest. And guess what it works with even better controls.The iPod channel can be selected on the stereo and the steering wheel. The display shows it as iPod instead of multi-cd like my 325.The song selection can also be done on both.The display will show the song being played, the playlist, genre, album et al.Only thing I noticed was the sound is not as good as mine but it could also be the sound system in the 320 being lesser than my 325.I wonder if I could have bought the same cable for my car. I dare not try. I will pluck up the courage later this week. If it does, I greatly recommend it.

 

[Traveler]

Did you buy the cable? I'm having a USB port retrofitted into my early '07 E90 325i Sports, which originally came with an AUX headphone jack only. Later I plan to get that cable you mentioned to hook up my iPod.

 

[saat]

As mentioned in my posting, I did buy the cable and it is in use on my Misus' '09 320 LCI.

I have not tried it yet on my pre-facelift '08 325

 

[Juan Powerblow]

Darn... you really spoiled my day since I had invested in the I-Pod interface in 07 and can't do the same things that this cable purportedly can. I doubt the cable works on our 07 cars. If it does, my SA is not going to hear the end of it.

 

[saat]

Yeah and I paid RM2.3K for my iPod interface barely 4 months earlier whilst I paid only RM380 for the misus.

 

[Juan Powerblow]

The RM2.3k seems expensive and could be a reflection of exchange rate cos I remember paying only RM1k+ for it in 2007. My memory fails me, but it was like RM1.9k I think.

 

[ebby37]

this may be a stupid question.... can you use the same cable for the iphone and access its music library the same way ?

 

[energy]

what is the exact name of the usb cable with headphone jack? does it work with iphone 3GS?

 

[saat]

I just tested the cable on my 325 and damn it works. I wasted >2K. But I didnt pay for it. Damn the AB engineering for not knowing.

So for all those who has the USB/AUX port, buy this cable. The interface is better than my BMW iPod interface. It works with iPod Nano, Classic, Video and Touch. When you select audio, iPod appears in place of the Aux or USB. I think the CDC is still there. The selections for Genre, Artist, Album appears as a menu on the dash display. All steering controls work. In the case of the BMW iPod interface I have, the Genre, Album and Artist appears as 1, 2, 3, 4,....

I dont have an iPhone to test. You are welcome to come over and test it. I won't know if it can work with iDrive or Phone preparation.

It is called "Cable adapter for Apple iPod"
P/No 61 12 0 440 812
Price is Rm380.54
Note: Only suitable for iPods with DockConnector after launch, January 2004.

 

[stanleycck]

Cable

Bro,

I bought a simple cable for my iPod and my iPhone 3Gs......about RM100 from the Apple Shop.......saw a few models which are more expensive.........some ranging from RM200 to RM400. I have a 2009 E90, 323i with the new iDrive. I did plug in and have to use the iPod or my iPhone to control........If I were to get the cable from AV at RM380.......how does it work.........as stated, you can control via the steering buttons.

Please advise.......looking at buying another cable.

 

[energy]

Is there any iphone dock that fits in the center console?
I saw picture of that in the bmw malaysia main brochure (3 series page).
cant seem to find it anywhere.
please advice.

regards,
energy

 

[saat]

Bro,

I bought a simple cable for my iPod and my iPhone 3Gs......about RM100 from the Apple Shop.......saw a few models which are more expensive.........some ranging from RM200 to RM400. I have a 2009 E90, 323i with the new iDrive. I did plug in and have to use the iPod or my iPhone to control........If I were to get the cable from AV at RM380.......how does it work.........as stated, you can control via the steering buttons.

Please advise.......looking at buying another cable.

I do have a similar cable made by Belkin. It cost me only SGD35. For a while I used this with an iPod USB cable to keep the iPod on charge. The problem with this setup is that you can only control it using the iPod. Nothing appears on the dash display. You can only control volume on the radio and steering controls.

As mentioned in my earlier post, with the BMW iPod Adapter cable, the song titles, genre, playlist, album will be displayed on the dash. You can scroll thru the titles and select songs/genre/playlist/album using the radio and steering controls without ever touching the iPod. I keep the iPod tucked away in the centre console and it will stay charged.

Again as mentioned, the installation is simple. One end of the cable is connected to the iPod and the other end there's a split. One is a USB connector which you plug into the USB port in your center console. The other is a mini headphone jack which connect to the AUX port next to the USB port. It is as simple as that.

I figured you can control the songs similarly thru the iDrive.

As mentioned, I dont have an iPhone to test.

You are welcome to come over to my place in Subang Jaya if you want to test the cable before buying. PM me.

P.S.
But on second thot, if you have iDrive, you can transfer your songs from a thumb drive into your iDrive HD and play it from there.

 

[saat]

Is there any iphone dock that fits in the center console?
I saw picture of that in the bmw malaysia main brochure (3 series page).
cant seem to find it anywhere.
please advice.

regards,
energy

I believe, you are referring to the snap-in adapter for the "Preparation for mobile phone with Bluetooth interface" on page 50 of the new 3 Series brochure.

I think it is for Bluetooth connection to the iDrive or Professional radio for the telephone and not for stereo. Cos it uses bluetooth connection for handfree controls. It has a charging and outside aerial connection.

I inquired for one of these snap-in adapter for my HTC HD and there is none. Maybe there is one for the iPhone.

 

[energy]

i found it from Ingress!
its called USB Snap-In Adapter for the Apple iPhone™ 3G S.
P/n: Apple iPhone™ 3G S 84 21 2 158 683

 

[saat]

i found it from Ingress!
its called USB Snap-In Adapter for the Apple iPhone™ 3G S.
P/n: Apple iPhone™ 3G S 84 21 2 158 683

So does it work.

 

[energy]

ordered, will know next week.
pm me your email and i can send you the pdf. too big to upload it here.

 

[energy]

here is the screenshot of the new iphone 3gs adapter product sheet.

 

[ebby37]

looks very good, can seem to do everything !!!
Where can we buy this ??

 

[saat]

Yup, according to the spec sheet, it does have the interface for audio.

Problem is I hate the iPhone and I have resisted the BB. I will prefer my PDA any day.

 

[kensong]

Hi all, my first post. I have been using the iPod USB cable I bought from AB for a year now and it was working perfectly with my iPod Classic until Apple updated iTunes to version 9 and that broke the connectivity. I can no longer see my songs or control them through iDrive :-(. I am not sure if it is a software update issue and BMW has not updated to support it or if there is a song limit as my iPod now has over 20,000 songs!. I remembered I read somewhere it will only support up to 20,000 songs. Can anyone confrim this?

The thing is, my firend's iPod Touch works on my iDrive.