Reference - E60 MP3 Playback Functionality Retrofit

My 545i was built 11/04. I had my car in today for an oil service & other misc. items (door seals replaced, etc.) and I asked the dealer to try the MP3 retrofit on my car, even though the BMW SIB says it will only work on E60 cars built 3/05 forward. The good news is, my dealer, great as they always are (Peter Pan BMW in San Mateo, CA), attempted the retrofit, and it worked. Now I can play MP3 CDs in the in-dash CD player, and MP3 DVDs in the DVD (nav) drive. The great thing about the DVD drive is I burned a standard DVD w/ 4.5 gig of MP3s, and I'm going to get some dual layer DVDs (since my PC DVD burner is dual layer capable), which will fit around 8 gigs of MP3--more than a lot of iPods!

Related BMWNA SIBs attached.

Great to hear!

Originally Posted by stream

My 545i was built 11/04. I asked the dealer to try the MP3 retrofit on my car, even though the BMW SIB says it will only work on E60 cars built 3/05 forward. The good news is, my dealer, great as they always are (Peter Pan BMW in San Mateo, CA), attempted the retrofit, and it worked.

Mein God man! I swear our 5's are twins. That's the same build date for my 545i. Great news as I was hoping to add the MP3 functionality to my 5. Entertainment overload - FM/AM/CD/CDchanger/Sat/Aux-in/dual-layer DVD MP3 disk

I guess this means that the MY07 E60 should be able to play MP3 CDs and DVDs without a problem. I guess only time will tell. Lets see what the new production brings.

Originally Posted by BIG _AL

I guess this means that the MY07 E60 should be able to play MP3 CDs and DVDs without a problem. I guess only time will tell. Lets see what the new production brings.

Since September 2006, in the USA, all BMW's have been able to play MP3 CD's and DVD's. Prior to that, only non-NAV cars have been able to play MP3 CD's as long as they had a fairly recent CIP.

Originally Posted by stream

My 545i was built 11/04. I had my car in today for an oil service & other misc. items (door seals replaced, etc.) and I asked the dealer to try the MP3 retrofit on my car, even though the BMW SIB says it will only work on E60 cars built 3/05 forward. The good news is, my dealer, great as they always are (Peter Pan BMW in San Mateo, CA), attempted the retrofit, and it worked. Now I can play MP3 CDs in the in-dash CD player, and MP3 DVDs in the DVD (nav) drive. The great thing about the DVD drive is I burned a standard DVD w/ 4.5 gig of MP3s, and I'm going to get some dual layer DVDs (since my PC DVD burner is dual layer capable), which will fit around 8 gigs of MP3--more than a lot of iPods!

Related BMWNA SIBs attached.

Please keep us posted on how successful you are with the dual layer DVD's....

Originally Posted by Me530

Please keep us posted on how successful you are with the dual layer DVD's....

When I got this PC w/ the dual layer DVD burner last year I was shocked at how expensive the dual layer DVDs were, so I didn't buy any. I'll check prices again this weekend--hopefully they've come down.

Originally Posted by stream

When I got this PC w/ the dual layer DVD burner last year I was shocked at how expensive the dual layer DVDs were, so I didn't buy any. I'll check prices again this weekend--hopefully they've come down.

I have a pack of these, got them on sale for $25 though. So far haven't use any. I save them for special projects where a 4.7 disc isnt big enough.

Depending on what brand name you prefer, NewEgg has a lot of options for cheap.

How many mp3's can fit on a disc? I have an 05 545 and am grappling with the ipod thing.

Originally Posted by Rick545i

How many mp3's can fit on a disc? I have an 05 545 and am grappling with the ipod thing.

A typical 4 minute song, ripped at 192Kbps, should be around 5.6Mb. I don't recommend ripping anything at less than 192 Kbps. A DVD has 4.7 Gb so that works out to about 8,392 4 minute songs.

Mromero, you forgot to carry a zero or something. That should be 839 songs, not 8392 songs.

I have an 05 545 and I cannot listen to mp3's. Stream are you saying that my dealer should retrofit my car? Do I just show them the attachments that you included if I recieve any hesitation on their part? Or should this be a, "bring it right in and we appologize for your inconvenience" situation.

Originally Posted by Rick545i

I have an 05 545 and I cannot listen to mp3's. Stream are you saying that my dealer should retrofit my car? Do I just show them the attachments that you included if I recieve any hesitation on their part? Or should this be a, "bring it right in and we appologize for your inconvenience" situation.

MP3 playback functionality was not available when the MY05 cars were built, so unless you went to the dealer and specifically asked them to follow the steps in the SIBs above, you won't have MP3 playback. And as the SIB says, the dealer is to do it on a customer complaint basis, so if you haven't asked for it, your dealer hasn't done anything wrong by not doing it.

The SIB says that MP3 playback can be retrofitted on E60 cars built from 3/05 forward. I asked my dealer if they would try even though my car was built 11/04, and it worked. So unless you ask for this, the dealer won't do it, and if you car was built before 3/05 you dealer might refuse to attempt the retrofit (I've heard of some that have).

Thanks Stream my 545 is a June 05 build so hopefully they will ok it. I will let you all know.

Guys one more thing. I don't have the premium sound package or the navigation. Are those packages required for mp3's to be played in the head unit? Your help and expertice is greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by Rick545i

Guys one more thing. I don't have the premium sound package or the navigation. Are those packages required for mp3's to be played in the head unit? Your help and expertice is greatly appreciated.

If you looks at the MP3drives.pdf doc in my post above, for the E60/E61, it says M-ASK, MY06 only. M-ASK applies to non-nav cars, where CCC (the next column to the right) applies to nav cars. Strictly reading that doc, it seems like it won't work on your car, but the same would be said for mine (w/ nav) & it did work, so my advice is to ask your dealer to try.

Thanks I will keep you posted.

Originally Posted by Rick545i

Thanks I will keep you posted.

They needed to update my car to 20.02 due to a service action regarding incorrect oil service interval so they didn't charge me for the MP3 retrofit. Most dealers will charge you for CIP/progman updates unless there's a legitimate reason for the upgrade. Refer them to SIB 121105 for the oil service interval issue, which hopefully applies to your car. iDrive freezing up intermittently is another common reason for S/W update.

Good idea. Did you post that SIB somewhere? What should I say is happening to the SA.

Originally Posted by Rick545i

Good idea. Did you post that SIB somewhere? What should I say is happening to the SA.

I don't have the SIB--I got the number & description from the dealer paperwork. I didn't even know about it--my dealer is great at proactively addressing things like this.

I'd be upfront and say you heard about this SIB and would like your progman updated to address the issue. Then ask to have MP3 retrofit...

I am just getting to know my dealer. Lets just hope that the people at Sterling BMW in Newport Beach are as proactive as your dealer.

Originally Posted by Dave T

Mromero, you forgot to carry a zero or something. That should be 839 songs, not 8392 songs.

Damn, I even had a calculator out.

Update on MP3 functionality. Playback with CD drive is great, but the DVD drive is hit-and-miss. It takes a long time for the DVD to be read, and the DVD drive makes all kinds of noises. And switching between tracks also takes far too long. I've given up on using the DVD drive. I'm guessing that since my car was built before the magic 3/05 date, either the CCC processor speed or memory isn't up to the task.

Has anybody with a post 3/05 car had success with MP3s in the DVD drive?

Originally Posted by stream

Update on MP3 functionality. Playback with CD drive is great, but the DVD drive is hit-and-miss. It takes a long time for the DVD to be read, and the DVD drive makes all kinds of noises. And switching between tracks also takes far too long. I've given up on using the DVD drive. I'm guessing that since my car was built before the magic 3/05 date, either the CCC processor speed or memory isn't up to the task.

Has anybody with a post 3/05 car had success with MP3s in the DVD drive?

I have an Apr 05 530i (one of the 1st 190kw models) with the standard (in Australia) Nav. MP3s play well in the Nav DVD drive - no problems with speed of any kind. The display and navigating of tracks using iDrive is great.

The only problem I have is the car only recognizes the 1st gigabyte of the DVD, i.e. I only see about 20% of the tracks on the display. I have the car booked into the dealer to see if they can fix the problem.

My SA called me today and told me that he found the service bulletin and scheduled me an appointment. I will let you know next Wednesday of the results. To play or not to play...that is the question.