The Ultimate iPod Info Thread

Originally Posted by ianbjor

My dealer has a few of the new iPod adapters in stock (1 is tagged for me ), but the parts dept. did not have info on the labor cost for install. I would have thought that this info was included on the bulletin that BMW sends to the dealers with the part numbers, etc.

They passed me on to the shop foreman to get the labor estimate, but I want to make sure I'm not getting hosed because I'll have the first install into an E60.

Anyone know what the install time should be? Jspira?

The dealer bulletin attached above says where they should get the install times:

Suggested installation time for this accessory will vary depending on vehicle model
(Please refer to installation instructions on ASAP for suggested install time)

Originally Posted by ianbjor

My dealer has a few of the new iPod adapters in stock (1 is tagged for me ), but the parts dept. did not have info on the labor cost for install. I would have thought that this info was included on the bulletin that BMW sends to the dealers with the part numbers, etc.

They passed me on to the shop foreman to get the labor estimate, but I want to make sure I'm not getting hosed because I'll have the first install into an E60.

Anyone know what the install time should be? Jspira?

The dealer bulletin attached above says where they should get the install times:

Suggested installation time for this accessory will vary depending on vehicle model
(Please refer to installation instructions on ASAP for suggested install time)

Something I read stated that either a CD changer or CD changer prep was required for the iPod kit, which makes sense based on how it works.

I just ordered a 2007 530xi with the Logic7 upgrade (without the changer); does anyone know if my car will have the CD changer "prep" necessary for the iPod kit?

Originally Posted by stream

The dealer bulletin attached above says where they should get the install times:

Suggested installation time for this accessory will vary depending on vehicle model
(Please refer to installation instructions on ASAP for suggested install time)

FWIW my dealer's service tech today quoted me $1000 for labor. He agreed that the bulletin prices were correct for parts ($ 319 if harness required) but said removing the CD player and installing the Ipod harness requires them to "re-order" the car. He indicated this is a 5 hour complete reprogramming of the vehicle. Also said if they were "re-ordering" the car for another reason such as a recall problem that this would not be able to be bundled in with that. Either this was not planned very well or he didn't get the plan.

Originally Posted by volley8

Something I read stated that either a CD changer or CD changer prep was required for the iPod kit, which makes sense based on how it works.

I just ordered a 2007 530xi with the Logic7 upgrade (without the changer); does anyone know if my car will have the CD changer "prep" necessary for the iPod kit?

The CD changer is no longer installed at the factory, it is a dealer installed accessory, as is the iPod interface. All E60 cars come with CD changer prep (and satellite radio prep).

Originally Posted by badaz

FWIW my dealer's service tech today quoted me $1000 for labor. He agreed that the bulletin prices were correct for parts ($ 319 if harness required) but said removing the CD player and installing the Ipod harness requires them to "re-order" the car. He indicated this is a 5 hour complete reprogramming of the vehicle. Also said if they were "re-ordering" the car for another reason such as a recall problem that this would not be able to be bundled in with that. Either this was not planned very well or he didn't get the plan.

Find another dealer.

Attached is the iPod interface install instructions. Install time is 0.75 hours, excluding coding.

While it's true that coding the car can take 5 hours, and also can take a day or 2 if it freezes during the process, the coding process does not require a tech to watch and wait while the coding takes place. In other words, once the coding process is initiated, the tech can work on another item on your car, or on another car, so you should not be charged for the total hours it takes to code the car.

Originally Posted by stream

Find another dealer.

Attached is the iPod interface install instructions. Install time is 0.75 hours, excluding coding.

While it's true that coding the car can take 5 hours, and also can take a day or 2 if it freezes during the process, the coding process does not require a tech to watch and wait while the coding takes place. In other words, once the coding process is initiated, the tech can work on another item on your car, or on another car, so you should not be charged for the total hours it takes to code the car.

Thanks, Good Stuff!!! I look forward to asking him for a requote in the morning after sending him the .PDF.

The IPOD info on Owner's Circle says the IPOD interface cannot be installed on the 3-series or the X5 if you have the Sirius Satellite Radio option.

Is this also the case for the 2007 E60?

Originally Posted by kurjan

The IPOD info on Owner's Circle says the IPOD interface cannot be installed on the 3-series or the X5 if you have the Sirius Satellite Radio option.

Is this also the case for the 2007 E60?

That must be the first gen iPod adapter (which wasn't MOST based). The new iPod interface is compatible w/ Sirius--see press release below.


Press Release
Source: BMW of North America, LLC
BMW Announces New Interface for iPod With Expanded Model Availability and Features
Wednesday April 12, 10:43 am ET

System will be Available for new 3 Series Sedans and Sports Wagons as well as 5, 6, and 7 Series

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- BMW today announced the debut of a new BMW Interface for iPod that will enable seamless integration of the iPod for the newest generation of BMW models. With the new BMW Interface for iPod this means that seamless iPod connectivity will be available for every current BMW model.

Source: BMW of North America, LLC

BMW announces new iPod Interface with new features.

The new BMW Interface for iPod will be available for owners of the new BMW 3 Series Sedans and Sports Wagons as well as the 5, 6, and 7 Series. It will also be available for the new M5 Sedan and M6 Coupe. It will enable audiophiles to bring their entire music collections with them, plug directly and effortlessly into a superior sound system while maintaining uncompromised control over their driving experience. Since the new Interface is compatible with SIRIUS satellite radio as well as the recently introduced HD Radio, owners will be able to enjoy a broad selection of high fidelity broadcast music sources as well. The original BMW iPod Adapter will continue to be available for 2002 and later BMW models: X3, X5, Z4, and previous generation 3 Series.

The original BMW iPod Adapter was the world's first seamless integration between iPod and a vehicle audio system. The new Interface will also allow users to incorporate their iPods directly into their car's sound system, but with the newly available capability to sort their music according to their own playlists, as well as by artist, album, genre, podcast, and finally, a random selection of 500 songs from the user library. Artist, album, and song title will appear in the Display Monitor.

The seamless integration of iPod makes it effortless for drivers to control their music through their existing audio system and the multifunction steering wheel. The new BMW Interface for iPod enables drivers to easily access their entire music library, shuffle songs, skip between tracks and adjust volume -- all of this with no loss of sound quality or driving control.

The new Interface is compatible with all iPods with a dock connector, including the iPod nano and the fifth generation iPod. The BMW iPod Interfaces integrate the iPod through a direct connection in the BMW glovebox, providing outstanding sound quality and constant power to the iPod all while your iPod remains protected and out of view.

The new BMW iPod Interface will be available for customers to purchase at BMW centers beginning in July 2006. Pricing has not been determined.

Features and operation may vary depending on vehicle model and option content. Consumers should check with their BMW centers for specific application restrictions or log onto www.ipodyourbmw.com. Installation is performed by authorized BMW centers only. iPod players are sold separately. Please visit www.ipodyourbmw.com for additional information.

BMW Group In America

Here is an attachment from e60.net that has the IPOD interface install instructions. It states that labor is for the install is .75 hours.

Repost - Stream did not see your attachment.

OK - got the new BMW iPod adapter installed in my car today, and it works really well.

A couple of notes after about an hour's usage:

• I have the Pioneer iPod interface attached to an AVIC-Z1 in my other car, and the BMW adapter with iDrive is MUCH better -- and easier to use.
  
• When you first plug in the iPod and browse one of the 6 "discs", it takes a while for the iDrive to pull all of the song information off of the iPod. (I have over 4200 songs on my iPod)
  
  However, once it's "cached" the info, then scrolling through playlists, albums, artists, etc. is very fast. (In contrast to the Pioneer iPod interface, which could take minutes to scroll through all of artists or albums.
  
• One thing I did notice is that I can only see 500 songs in one playlist. (This is documented in the iPod interface manual for cars that have iDrive without Navigation. The guide also mentions that you can only see 255 albums or artists, but I didn't notice this).
  
• The part was $299.95 (-10% BWM CCA), and for my car (I have a 530i with a Feb 2006 build date, and did not have a changer), install was 2 hours labor. The install guide references 0.75 hours to install the part, but remember they do CIP programming.
  

Originally Posted by ianbjor

OK - got the new BMW iPod adapter installed in my car today, and it works really well.

A couple of notes after about an hour's usage:

• I have the Pioneer iPod interface attached to an AVIC-Z1 in my other car, and the BMW adapter with iDrive is MUCH better -- and easier to use.
  
• When you first plug in the iPod and browse one of the 6 "discs", it takes a while for the iDrive to pull all of the song information off of the iPod. (I have over 4200 songs on my iPod)
  
  However, once it's "cached" the info, then scrolling through playlists, albums, artists, etc. is very fast. (In contrast to the Pioneer iPod interface, which could take minutes to scroll through all of artists or albums.
  
• One thing I did notice is that I can only see 500 songs in one playlist. (This is documented in the iPod interface manual for cars that have iDrive without Navigation. The guide also mentions that you can only see 255 albums or artists, but I didn't notice this).
  
• The part was $299.95 (-10% BWM CCA), and for my car (I have a 530i with a Feb 2006 build date, and did not have a changer), install was 2 hours labor. The install guide references 0.75 hours to install the part, but remember they do CIP programming.
  

Good info--thanks

What happens if you have more than 255 albums or artists? Does it only display the first 255 in alphabetical order?

When you're in the artist category, does it list the albums, then songs within album (like the iPod hierarchy)?

Any chance you could scan & post the users manual?

Originally Posted by stream

Good info--thanks

What happens if you have more than 255 albums or artists? Does it only display the first 255 in alphabetical order?

When you're in the artist category, does it list the albums, then songs within album (like the iPod hierarchy)?

Any chance you could scan & post the users manual?

If there are more than 255 Albums or Artists, it only shows the first 255. For example, I have 372 artists on my iPod, but I can only see up through "Nelly Furtado". This isn't a big deal for me (since I use playlists a lot -- I have too much music!), but the 500 songs limit is a bummer.

When you select an artist, it displays all songs for that artist, not by album like on the iPod.

Also, to clarify my earlier comment on the delay to "cache" info from the iPod: When I go to "MP3 2" (aka Artists), it takes nearly 1 minute to load the info off of my iPod and put it into the menu. However, then I can scroll quickly through the first 255 entries. However, returning to the menu after the initial load is much faster. The other display options (MP3 1 - Playlists, MP3 3 - Albums, etc) have similar load times, but returning is better. As I said, this is a LOT better than my Pioneer head unit.

Originally Posted by ianbjor

If there are more than 255 Albums or Artists, it only shows the first 255. For example, I have 372 artists on my iPod, but I can only see up through "Nelly Furtado". This isn't a big deal for me (since I use playlists a lot -- I have too much music!), but the 500 songs limit is a bummer.

When you select an artist, it displays all songs for that artist, not by album like on the iPod.

Also, to clarify my earlier comment on the delay to "cache" info from the iPod: When I go to "MP3 2" (aka Artists), it takes nearly 1 minute to load the info off of my iPod and put it into the menu. However, then I can scroll quickly through the first 255 entries. However, returning to the menu after the initial load is much faster. The other display options (MP3 1 - Playlists, MP3 3 - Albums, etc) have similar load times, but returning is better. As I said, this is a LOT better than my Pioneer head unit.

Oh My! I have over 800 artists, 1200 albums and 9,000 songs. If I understand you correctly, the 60 gb iPod can easily handle it but the I-Drive can't. I'm thinking I may as well continue using the AUX path with the iPod directory rather than forking out big bucks for the I-Drive connection.

Originally Posted by ianbjor

OK - got the new BMW iPod adapter installed in my car today, and it works really well.

A couple of notes after about an hour's usage:

• I have the Pioneer iPod interface attached to an AVIC-Z1 in my other car, and the BMW adapter with iDrive is MUCH better -- and easier to use.
  
• When you first plug in the iPod and browse one of the 6 "discs", it takes a while for the iDrive to pull all of the song information off of the iPod. (I have over 4200 songs on my iPod)
  
  However, once it's "cached" the info, then scrolling through playlists, albums, artists, etc. is very fast. (In contrast to the Pioneer iPod interface, which could take minutes to scroll through all of artists or albums.
  
• One thing I did notice is that I can only see 500 songs in one playlist. (This is documented in the iPod interface manual for cars that have iDrive without Navigation. The guide also mentions that you can only see 255 albums or artists, but I didn't notice this).
  
• The part was $299.95 (-10% BWM CCA), and for my car (I have a 530i with a Feb 2006 build date, and did not have a changer), install was 2 hours labor. The install guide references 0.75 hours to install the part, but remember they do CIP programming.
  

You mention these limits are in the manual for cars w/iDrive but not Navigation. Do you know if cars with Nav have this same limit?

iPod interface instruction manual (easier to read if you increase display size to 125%):
right click and save as

Originally Posted by stream

iPod interface instruction manual (easier to read if you increase display size to 125%):
right click and save as

Thanks for posting this!!!

I've seen a lot of posts about with which cars the new iPod interface will work but almost nothing about this limit of only 255 artists or albums being visible. It seems to me that this could be a major drawback for many people. Granted, 255 albums is better than 6 CDs but I think most people are naturally expecting to be able to see ALL artists, albums, or tracks since BMW hasn't, to the best of my knowledge, mentioned any of this in their marketing information. One of the beauties of the iTunes music store is that you can download single songs from an artist. Over time, it's very easy to accumulate a library with many artists and each one have a relatively few number of songs. This limit really needs to be publicized. If someone pays ~$500 only to find out about these limits after-the-fact there are going to be some very upset people.

Originally Posted by ianbjor

OK - got the new BMW iPod adapter installed in my car today, and it works really well.

I just called my BMW Dealer today and he said it's not out yet. When I told him I've seen others like yourself say they got it and the BMW internal announcement of availability has been posted online, he still tells me it's not available yet and has no idea when it will be.

I'm in Southern Cal - anybody know of a dealer in the Orange County/LA area that knows what's actually going on and has this thing to install?

Below is a link to a post by a member of another forum who installed the iPod interface himself. Used in conjunction with the BMW install instructions in my post above should make this an easy DIY (except for some of us who have to wait for the retrofit software due to the production date of our cars ).

iPod interface DIY install instructions

Originally Posted by stream

Below is a link to a post by a member of another forum who installed the iPod interface himself. Used in conjunction with the BMW install instructions in my post above should make this an easy DIY (except for some of us who have to wait for the retrofit software due to the production date of our cars ).

iPod interface DIY install instructions

Thanks Stream for posting this. It actually looks like it's easy enough for me to install. But one thing that's confusing me is in a previous post of yours, you talk about the install taking .75 hours, but coding can take up to 5 hours. The BMW install instructions also state you need to do coding. But in the DIY instructions you posted, he didn't do coding and it worked fine.

So is coding necessary or just some kind of precautionary step that's not actually required? I'd love to do this myself, but don't want to find out once it's too late that coding is necessary. Thanks.

Originally Posted by eddieb3

Thanks Stream for posting this. It actually looks like it's easy enough for me to install. But one thing that's confusing me is in a previous post of yours, you talk about the install taking .75 hours, but coding can take up to 5 hours. The BMW install instructions also state you need to do coding. But in the DIY instructions you posted, he didn't do coding and it worked fine.

So is coding necessary or just some kind of precautionary step that's not actually required? I'd love to do this myself, but don't want to find out once it's too late that coding is necessary. Thanks.

The DIY link was an install on a relatively new M5, which didn't require and coding. I suspect for newer E60 cars (who knows what the cut off date is) and/or for cars with newer Progman versions, no coding would be required. For older cars with older Progman versions, coding would be required. Similar to MP3 playback capability working one newer cars when delivered, but older cars needing coding/retrofit.

What's interesting is that when the MP3 retrofit SIB was released, it said it would only work on cars produced after 9/05. Mine was produced 11/04 but my dealer tried it anyway at my request, and guess what--it worked. The iPod interface bulletin also says it will only work on E60 cars built after 9/05 (if you have nav), but given my success with MP3 retrofit, I'm half tempted to to try installing it and see if it works (I have Progman 22.0 installed).

Originally Posted by eddieb3

I just called my BMW Dealer today and he said it's not out yet. When I told him I've seen others like yourself say they got it and the BMW internal announcement of availability has been posted online, he still tells me it's not available yet and has no idea when it will be.

I'm in Southern Cal - anybody know of a dealer in the Orange County/LA area that knows what's actually going on and has this thing to install?

Crevier BMW in Santa Ana is taking names. They are guessing that the labor is between 1-2 hours. The SA said she knows that the stated labor is .75 for the installation but they have never done it so she wanted to guess on the high side. Crevier is usually pretty competitive on pricing. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Rick545i

Crevier BMW in Santa Ana is taking names. They are guessing that the labor is between 1-2 hours. The SA said she knows that the stated labor is .75 for the installation but they have never done it so she wanted to guess on the high side. Crevier is usually pretty competitive on pricing. Good luck.

Thanks. I called Irvine BMW yesterday and they said they have it in stock ready to go. I'm gonna get it and try to do the DIY install. It appears that to just connect it to see if it works without "installing" it is a pretty simple process. Then, if it doesn't work and needs coding, I can get a service appt. and have it done.

They quoted me $299.95 for the part(s) which is what the MSRP is on the BMW Service Bulletin.

Originally Posted by eddieb3

Thanks. I called Irvine BMW yesterday and they said they have it in stock ready to go. I'm gonna get it and try to do the DIY install. It appears that to just connect it to see if it works without "installing" it is a pretty simple process. Then, if it doesn't work and needs coding, I can get a service appt. and have it done.

They quoted me $299.95 for the part(s) which is what the MSRP is on the BMW Service Bulletin.

FYI--most dealers offer a 10% BMWCCA parts discount.

Eddie,
Post what happens on your install. Also, do you currently have a CD changer?