Reference - E60 MP3 Playback Functionality Retrofit

I just bought my 545 and I past my warranty and I am nonCPO so would I be charged to do the MP3 retrofit?

I'd say based on the recent experience with my 2004 530i that yes you will. I could not convince them to do any SIB on my car which has @61000 miles on it.

Steve

I'm trying to instruct my local BMW dealer on how to retrofit my car with MP3 capability. Does anything change on the "Entertainment" part of the iDrive once the car is retrofitted to be able to play MP3 CDs? Right now my car is not recognizing my MP3 CD's and I'm fairly sure I burned it correctly. I have a July '05 manufactured 2006 BMW 530xi. The first dealer I brought my car to didn't understand the problem and didn't really help me at all

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.

Should the dealer cover this SIB if my car is out of the standard warranty but still under the CPO?

Has anyone heard anything about or tried the Bavarian Technic product? Saw the ad in the Roundel magazine. Would be pretty expensive for just the MP3 retrofit... http://www.bavariantechnic.com/buy.aspx

So if im reading correctly...basically what this is saying is that if my cd/dvd player is not playing and type of copied/burned media I could go to the dealer and have it retrofitted to play that media? my 06 525i does not play any type of burned media but it plays in pretty much any other car...so if thats the case im on my way to the dealer right now lol

I must be blind.. Where are the SIB you are referring to? Can you link me please?

my car is having a weird problem. whenever i play mp3 off the cd or dvd drive, when i start the car the next time, its automatically on FM. And it takes a few seconds (10-15) for the idrive to recognize the mp3 disc as an actual working disc. Is there something i need to do, like an update at the dealer?

fyi, its a 2007.

Originally Posted by E60orBust

Stream's production date was 11/04. Mine is 9/04 and my dealer attempted the retrofit. Didn't work with my production month/year so it looks like Stream's date is the earliest that would work, either that or his is just an anomaly.

Dealer said over the phone that based on my vehicle's VIN number and production date it was not likely to work but they would attempt it anyway. Took my E60 (09/04) in for the service and after about 5 hours my SA called me and said the computer recognizes the MP3 update but the MP3 discs still won't play. So software is updated but the hardware is not capable to decode it. I made a point to ask if they attempted the retrofit and it failed or if they just didn't attempt at all based on the production date. SA said they attempted but it failed, and given that all my radio presets/memory settings were blanked, I'm thinking he's truthful. Software CIP (22.XX) won't be out until April so there 'might' still be hope for me.

On a related note, I had them activate the AUX input kit I installed and although AUX is now listed in the Entertainment sources of the iDrive, no audio comes out when connected. Time to get my butter knife out again...

Hey just wondering does the dealer charge anything for the mp3 retrofit? if so, how much for the update? I havent tried playing mp3s on mine yet but im sure it needs the update. Do let me know

Originally Posted by cryptor

Hey just wondering does the dealer charge anything for the mp3 retrofit? if so, how much for the update? I havent tried playing mp3s on mine yet but im sure it needs the update. Do let me know

Others will have to chime in on the full price for parts & install. At the time, my dealer discounted the software update since I already installed the harness myself. Somewhere around $40 (normal hourly rate is $90).