09 iDrive not recognizing USB

Hello everyone.

I have quite a dilemma and searched but found no answer. I have an 09 328 with iDrive and the USB port in my glove box does not seem to recognize my USB drive. I have tried multiple drives (which some have worked in the past). When I plug in the USB drive, the light on the drive illuminates and then goes dark.

Not sure what I can do to try to get this to work. I had music on the drive in folders and was hoping to transfer it to my car, but its not working! Any suggestions as to what I can do?

Regards!

Do you have the USB/i-Pod option? The USB port in the glove box is used for updates, and will be (i believe) on every car regardless of the iPod/USB option. IF you have the USB option, there should be a port in your center armrest which is where I plugged in my music.

Originally Posted by Corren

Do you have the USB/i-Pod option? The USB port in the glove box is used for updates, and will be (i believe) on every car regardless of the iPod/USB option. IF you have the USB option, there should be a port in your center armrest which is where I plugged in my music.

You do not need the Ipod adapter if you have Idrive. The USB in the glove box is all you need. You can upload music files from that. That is why I did not order the Ipod adapter on my Idrive car. It just becomes redundant.

Originally Posted by BMW_Fanboy

Hello everyone.

I have quite a dilemma and searched but found no answer. I have an 09 328 with iDrive and the USB port in my glove box does not seem to recognize my USB drive. I have tried multiple drives (which some have worked in the past). When I plug in the USB drive, the light on the drive illuminates and then goes dark.

Not sure what I can do to try to get this to work. I had music on the drive in folders and was hoping to transfer it to my car, but its not working! Any suggestions as to what I can do?

Regards!

I'm in the same spot. Plug a USB stick into the glove box (iTunes mpegs). Go to My Music Collection on iDrive. Nothing there. No matter how many times I've tried or how long you leave it plugged in. I need to bring it up with the dealer, but don't want to make a trip just for that.

Originally Posted by MattieB

I'm in the same spot. Plug a USB stick into the glove box (iTunes mpegs). Go to My Music Collection on iDrive. Nothing there. No matter how many times I've tried or how long you leave it plugged in. I need to bring it up with the dealer, but don't want to make a trip just for that.

Hi MattieB

Just wanted to check to make sure you are looking under External Devices when you plug in your USB device. The music will only show up in Music Collection once it has been uploaded from the External Device. Both options under the CD menu.

Regards

Make sure your USB device is not formatted as NTFS. I don't have an 09 car but I'm sure it only supports FAT or possibly FAT32.

Originally Posted by drwtsn32

Make sure your USB device is not formatted as NTFS. I don't have an 09 car but I'm sure it only supports FAT or possibly FAT32.

Huh? Layman's terms please.

NTFS stands for New Technology File System as found on Windows XP and Vista hard drives.

FAT stands for File Allocation Table origionally used in Windows 98 and older versions of Operating Systems.

The file system on the BMW may only accept FAT formatting if that is the case you may be able to copy all of the files off of the USB stick and reformat it to FAT if it is formatted in NTFS.

Be careful though some sticks do not like to be reformatted at all and you will destroy the stick.

Thanks. I'll give it a shot. They sure don't make this very easy.

Originally Posted by JMC335I

Be careful though some sticks do not like to be reformatted at all and you will destroy the stick.

Um, formatting will never destroy a storage device. If it stopped working it was either formatted incorrectly or it coincidentally failed.

Originally Posted by MattieB

Thanks. I'll give it a shot. They sure don't make this very easy.

Assuming you're using Windows, connect the USB drive to your computer. Go to My Computer, right click on the USB drive (not your C: drive), and go to Properties. It will say if it's NTFS or FAT.

I have a 2010 535i that I just took delivery over the weekend and I had a similar problem with mine.

My flash drive also is not recognized in the usb port that is in the glovebox. However that same flash drive is recognized in the center consol usb port and retrieves the music files, but won't allow me to download the music into my car's hard drive.

I don't have an 09, but the fact that the light goes out indicates that there may not be power to the port.... Did you try with the engine running? Shouldn't matter, but maybe ACC isn't enough?

Have not had any issues on mine. Here is my process:

-Used a 1gb USB Thumb Drive formatted in FAT.
-Copied MP3 files over to the drive. Note it imports the file structure (folders/files) so if you want to organize your files by album/artist do it with folders on the thumbdrive ahead of time. For example, mine looked like this:
--Artist
-->Album
---->Songs
-->Album
---->Songs
->Artist
-->Album
---->Songs
-Plug flash drive into glove box USB
-Go through CD/Music to External Devices, click on the USB, then do an import (cant remember exactly the steps here, but it was self explanatory)

The glove box USB is for importing/exporting music files from the iDrive. The armrest USB is for connecting things like iPods.

Originally Posted by Grentz

Have not had any issues on mine. Here is my process:

-Used a 1gb USB Thumb Drive formatted in FAT.
-Copied MP3 files over to the drive. Note it imports the file structure (folders/files) so if you want to organize your files by album/artist do it with folders on the thumbdrive ahead of time. For example, mine looked like this:
--Artist
-->Album
---->Songs
-->Album
---->Songs
->Artist
-->Album
---->Songs
-Plug flash drive into glove box USB
-Go through CD/Music to External Devices, click on the USB, then do an import (cant remember exactly the steps here, but it was self explanatory)

The glove box USB is for importing/exporting music files from the iDrive. The armrest USB is for connecting things like iPods.

Perhaps the issue is making sure the drive is formatted to FAT. I will check this out later and confirm.

just checked my flash drive and it is formatted in FAT and it gives an option to formatted it in FAT32. Maybe I need to formatted it to FAT32 to make it work?

Reformated to FAT32 and nothing.

Oh well I guess I need to get a better Flash Drive or something.