Continued Problems with iPod

I have continued problems making my F10 and my iPod like each other.

As I explained on previous threads, my iPod classic (a recent iteration of same) continued to loose power and stop working while plugged into the F10 USB port. On occasion, I have also had to restore the iPod to make it operational.

In an attempt to avoid the continued problem, I attempted to turn a negative into a positive. I used the situation as a reason to go out and buy a new iPod touch.

Much to my surprise, the new device did not solve the problem.

Mysteriously, the iPod touch stopped working and the NAV screen said the device was not connected (just as with the iPod classic). I was able to figure out what was going on, however, because the more advanced iPod touch displayed a warning that the device was too hot to operate. Perhaps the real reason that the iPod classic stopped working was not because of a loss of power, but rather it ceased functioning because it was left in the car and left exposed to extreme temperatures (such as heat).

Also, there is a new problem. The new iPod touch interacts with the F10 at a snails pace. Rather than having instant reaction to my attempts to operate the iPod through iDrive, the NAV screen says to wait and it takes way too long for the lists of artists, albums, etc. to display.

I am sure that Apple would say this is a BMW issue and I am sure that BMW would say this is an Apple issue.

Is any one else experiencing these problems with iPod touch?

I would guess you are the only one who waste a touch hidden in the arm rest... The classic is the right model to do that duty. I have had mine in three different bmws now including the F10 and it works 99% of the time. A hanging with a reset needed happens about every 6 months or so.

Originally Posted by solstice

I would guess you are the only one who waste a touch hidden in the arm rest... The classic is the right model to do that duty. I have had mine in three different bmws now including the F10 and it works 99% of the time. A hanging with a reset needed happens about every 6 months or so.

I see your point, but from what I recall on the other threads, others are having the same or similar issues with their iPod classic devices when the classics are used in the F10. To avoid the problem, I bought the iPod touch. I do not feel that I am wasting the touch because I have synced it with my MacBook Pro and iPhone, and I no longer leave it in the vehicle.

Yeah and it's not expensive anyway, it just feels wrong with that nice screen and my guess is that most rather back down to a nano than going for a touch if the classic is giving them troubles so there might not be many touch references out there.

I'm using a Nano hidden in the arm rest and it works fine 100% of the time.

Originally Posted by solstice

I would guess you are the only one who waste a touch hidden in the arm rest... The classic is the right model to do that duty. I have had mine in three different bmws now including the F10 and it works 99% of the time. A hanging with a reset needed happens about every 6 months or so.

If you have a newer model with iPod Out then that functionality can only be accessed with an iOS device. It doesn't work with a classic.

I have a full-time touch in my Lexus for the same reason. When the her arrives though I will probably just count on the iPhone if BMW is quick to release the iPhone 5 cradle.

Originally Posted by solstice

Yeah and it's not expensive anyway, it just feels wrong with that nice screen and my guess is that most rather back down to a nano than going for a touch if the classic is giving them troubles so there might not be many touch references out there.

I went with a Touch rather than a Nano because the Touch could hold my entire music library whereas the Nano could not. Also and as I said above, I was attempting to turn a negative into a positive. I really wanted a new iPod Touch anyway and this gave me the reason to buy one. It is unfortunate, however, that the Touch also seems to have issues in the F10.

I've had the iPod Touch overheat once, when I left it my current car (black interior, parked outside on a sunny California summer day) all day at work, and I tried to use it on the drive home. Started up after I took off the case and held the metal body up to an A/C vent for about 5 solid minutes.

Originally Posted by CRMESQ

I went with a Touch rather than a Nano because the Touch could hold my entire music library whereas the Nano could not. Also and as I said above, I was attempting to turn a negative into a positive. I really wanted a new iPod Touch anyway and this gave me the reason to buy one. It is unfortunate, however, that the Touch also seems to have issues in the F10.

To summarize: now that you're taking the Touch with you, the issue you're having is response slowness, right?

Anything else? My own delivery is 7 weeks away, but I'm curious what to look/test for.

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

If you have a newer model with iPod Out then that functionality can only be accessed with an iOS device. It doesn't work with a classic.

I have a full-time touch in my Lexus for the same reason. When the her arrives though I will probably just count on the iPhone if BMW is quick to release the iPhone 5 cradle.

I do not keep my iPhone 4 in a cradle, nor could I use it in lieu of an iPod, for three reasons. First, I did not order that option. Second, if I have to call a company with multiple extensions, I need to have the iPhone out in the open so that I can dial the extension from the iPhone. (Is there a way to do this through iDrive?) Third, just as with the Nano, the iPhone can not hold my entire music library.

Originally Posted by planet

To summarize: now that you're taking the Touch with you, the issue you're having is response slowness, right?

Anything else? My own delivery is 7 weeks away, but I'm curious what to look/test for.

I only started taking the Touch out of the vehicle during the past week. This has solved the problem with overheating, but I think that it is too soon to tell whether or not there will be other problems. Right now, the only problem that I am having is with the speed. It is taking a very long time for the NAV screen to display a list of the Artists, Albums, etc.

Hmm. Can you estimate what a normal time is (that you presumably experienced with the Classic, when it worked)? Was it ~instant? And how long is the Touch taking, compared to that? 5 sec? 10?

Originally Posted by planet

Hmm. Can you estimate what a normal time is (that you presumably experienced with the Classic, when it worked)? Was it ~instant? And how long is the Touch taking, compared to that? 5 sec? 10?

The Classic was lighting fast. I need to perform some tests with the Classic because Apple recently did a software update and I thought that the Classic was now operating slower (like the Touch) when I used the Classic in our X5.

The Touch is very slow. I have not timed it, but it could take about ten seconds for the NAV screen to display a list of the Artists.

I have used an older iPod touch (2g) albeit with updated software and it has worked very well overall. One time when I put some new music on it required a full hard reset before it would display the new album artwork. Apart from that episode it works well and quickly. OP, seems strange the flash memory iPod touch is slower than the hd based classic. Seemingly an integration issue I guess?

I have similar issues to the OP's with regard to my old iPhone 3G which I converted into my designated car iPod about two months ago. Now that it's warmer, I periodically find that the device is absent from the iDrive menu after the car's been sitting at work all day. I also find it to be much slower and periodically lame with album art (wrong art, missing art) than my brief experience using my current gen Nano for the first couple weeks I had the car.

Today both my Verizon iphone 4 and my new iPod Touch received software/firmware updates from Apple. Only time will tell what happens as a result of this.

The software/firmware update seems to have solved the problem. I used my iPod Touch today while driving in my F10 and I did not experience the slowness. I am suspecting that the previous Apple update caused the problem and yesterday's Apple update solved the problem.

While BMW electronics are always prone to be finicky, it seems that apple software/firmware is usually at the root of most problems...on a side note, doe anyone else get annoyed with the seemingly weekly apple updates?

I read in the user manual over the weekend that the first time or two that the iPod connects to the car, it needs to send to the car a bunch of metadata -- the indexing of which can take a long time, and scales (apparently) with the number of tracks stored on the device, up to a maximum of around 30,000. It's a stretch, but I wonder if you experienced this slowness perhaps while this operation was going on? You mentioned slowness specifically with the menus and navigation, which seems somewhat related.

Of course, it could be that it was an iOS problem, as you say. Glad it seems to have cleared up. I was doing research on high capacity (64, 128GB) USB thumb drives last night as a contingency.

mine doesnt work right either, the scroll wheel on the steering wheel only shows the selection playing, no others are available for some reason. I'm not going to bother trying to figure out why, I just press the next button repeatedly until a number comes on that I want to listen to. BMW claims all these great electronics, but sometimes they are more of a pain than anything.

Emailing Google Maps, works infrequently at best. The Ipod issues, it's annoying.

My iPod worked fine while I was at the BMW Welt taking delivery. I also put a USB stick in the socket in the glove box and uploaded from it. When I tried to go back to playing the iPod, it didn't work. I tried unplugging it (both ends of the cable), and even left it for an hour while I had dinner in a lovely little guesthouse in Kreuth (recommended by someone here!). Came back out, and tried the iPod. Nada.

Finally, I pulled the iPod out and and realized that it had frozen up. I rebooted it, and it's been running just fine since then. I wonder if synching the metadata confuses somebody about something since it worked so well initially, then was problematic. I haven't added/changed anything since then, and it's been fine since that time (which is approaching 36 hours).

And...what a frigging car!! No issues here with the steering or handling (ESPECIALLY ON SPORT), and my basis for comparison includes E39 540i/6, E39 M5, E92 335i, and E90 M3. FYI, my 550i is RWD, 6-speed manual, M Sport package.

Originally Posted by FPNY

mine doesnt work right either, the scroll wheel on the steering wheel only shows the selection playing, no others are available for some reason. I'm not going to bother trying to figure out why, I just press the next button repeatedly until a number comes on that I want to listen to. BMW claims all these great electronics, but sometimes they are more of a pain than anything.

Emailing Google Maps, works infrequently at best. The Ipod issues, it's annoying.

Do you have random selected in the i-drive interface, that worked for me and now all the songs show up with the steering wheel scroll.

I don't know if I've said this yet but I'd always wait a week or so before I let my Iphone/Ipod update to the latest software/firmware. All too often a problem comes about with trying to send music out of the 'data' port and not the earbud port. I was stuck for 3 weeks one time until they released the next update. I always wait awhile and check the forums before I let it update.