2011 X5 iPod Download

I looked in the manual and tried to download our iPods into the X's hard drive. I get to the screen to IMPORT, it says to plug the cord into the USB port in the glovebox and....nothing. The glovebox....center console or dash compartment? The reason I ask is nothing happens from the center console port and the dash compartment port did not register anything on the X's screen but locked up my iPod....had to wait for the battery to die and recharge to get the iPod back.

The X's hard drive is empty.....any suggestions? CD's store into the X ok but can't get the iPod to download.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Hmmm....maybe it's not what I asked, but how I asked it. I'll try again:

Has anyone downloaded their iPod to the music storage system on their X5?

I've tried it, via the center console USB port and the screen just says "Plug the USB... ..".

The owners manual says to plug in the cord into the USB port in the "glovebox'.....is that referring to the compartment in the dash or the center console? The dash compartment locked the iPod up. I can play the iPod through the center console USB port but it will not download into the X:

I have, but did it differently than you are trying to. On mine, I sync'd everything in iTunes, burned everything to a DVD and then loaded it that way to the HD.

Hope this helps some...

In my 2013, I have downloaded music from a USB drive to the hard drive in the X5.

Originally Posted by Fleetman

Hmmm....maybe it's not what I asked, but how I asked it. I'll try again:

Has anyone downloaded their iPod to the music storage system on their X5?

I've tried it, via the center console USB port and the screen just says "Plug the USB... ..".

The owners manual says to plug in the cord into the USB port in the "glovebox'.....is that referring to the compartment in the dash or the center console? The dash compartment locked the iPod up. I can play the iPod through the center console USB port but it will not download into the X:

I don't believe an iPod is a "suitable" USB device for storing music to the system. Here's an excerpt from my 2010 manual: "Unsuitable devices: USB hard disks, USB hubs, USB memory card readers with multiple-inserts, Apple iPod/iPhone.". It goes on to say: "Music from a USB device can be stored only via the USB interface in the glove compartment.".

So, although the system can read MP3, WMA and AAC (AAC is Apple's encoding used in iTunes), you can't use an iPod as a USB storage device. So, your options are what a couple of the others have suggested: Burn the AAC/MP3 files to a DVD and load via the CD/DVD drive or export the AAC files from iTunes to a USB drive and plug it into the glovebox USB interface.

The BMW iPod/USB interfaces.
Everyone has their favourite driving track or two. And now with the BMW iPod and USB interfaces, you can have a couple of thousand. Simply connect your iPod, iPhone, MP3 player or USB stick to the on-board system and choose your favourite songs from your entire collection. Once your device is plugged in, you can access your music library and control the volume using either the radio, the multifunction steering wheel or the iDrive Controller. Now you can have endless musical enjoyment without being distracted from driving.

iPod and iPhone is a registered trademark of Apple Computer.


This is from the BMW website....this change was incorporated, IIRC, in November 2010 for the MY2011....my build date is 2/2011. Prior to the change, my understanding is it required a special interface cord to allow downloading.

I'm going to try again tomorrow and if it doesn't work, I'll try downloading iTunes to a USB stick.

When you get to the prompt where it says something in the lines of import music.. press the "option" button near the idrive knob and click import and you should be able to.

Originally Posted by Fleetman

The BMW iPod/USB interfaces.
Everyone has their favourite driving track or two. And now with the BMW iPod and USB interfaces, you can have a couple of thousand. Simply connect your iPod, iPhone, MP3 player or USB stick to the on-board system and choose your favourite songs from your entire collection. Once your device is plugged in, you can access your music library and control the volume using either the radio, the multifunction steering wheel or the iDrive Controller. Now you can have endless musical enjoyment without being distracted from driving.

iPod and iPhone is a registered trademark of Apple Computer.


This is from the BMW website....this change was incorporated, IIRC, in November 2010 for the MY2011....my build date is 2/2011. Prior to the change, my understanding is it required a special interface cord to allow downloading.

I'm going to try again tomorrow and if it doesn't work, I'll try downloading iTunes to a USB stick.

You're mixing playback with The Store in Vehicle capabilities. I think those are two completely diffent things. Everything you described above is for playback and I believe it's accurate and covered many times in different threads. (ie. Combox vs. no Combox, etc.). Store in vehicle means you've got to give the system raw MP3 or AAC files on a USB/DVD and then they're being stored in the vehicle.

I didn't think I was mixing playback and store but I did cut-n-paste the wrong article....BMW's Product Planning & Strategy Bulletin # B-1-0710-11-All, dated July 9, 2010 states that effective September, the BMW-supplied Y-cable is no longer needed and music can be downloaded directly from an iPod to the system....I tried it again today and success!

Somewhere however, I read that you must use the iPod's original cable so I used it instead of an iPhone cable I had purchased. I don't think it makes a difference though.

A word of advice might be in order too....it also downloaded movies and games which are not viewable on my system and they take up a large amount of HD space so I think the aforementioned USB stick would still be a better idea in order to weed out the unwanted "stuff".

Either way, we're looking at 4k+ individual songs.

Originally Posted by BMWOO7

I sync'd everything in iTunes, burned everything to a DVD and then loaded it that way to the HD..

I did the same. As a side benefit, you then have the DVD as a backup if the BMW service department messes-up and wipes the disk doing service/reprogramming of the vehicle.

Originally Posted by Fleetman

I didn't think I was mixing playback and store but I did cut-n-paste the wrong article....BMW's Product Planning & Strategy Bulletin # B-1-0710-11-All, dated July 9, 2010 states that effective September, the BMW-supplied Y-cable is no longer needed and music can be downloaded directly from an iPod to the system....I tried it again today and success!

Somewhere however, I read that you must use the iPod's original cable so I used it instead of an iPhone cable I had purchased. I don't think it makes a difference though.

A word of advice might be in order too....it also downloaded movies and games which are not viewable on my system and they take up a large amount of HD space so I think the aforementioned USB stick would still be a better idea in order to weed out the unwanted "stuff".

Either way, we're looking at 4k+ individual songs.

Glad to see you accomplished what you wanted! Clearly, I didn't help...

A question for future reference and for others: What sort of Apple i??? did you use?

Reason I ask: The older iPods had the capability that you could turn on to allow the device to act as a USB drive. (i.e. Act as a USB stick.) I'm just curious if it was one of these sorts of devices and whether that might have anything to do with it. (If it was a more recent iPod Touch or iPhone, then this aspect would be null and void...)

My previous response was obviously just based on paper...which, BTW, I went and looked at the Owner's Manuals for the 2011 and 2013 X5s and they both still refer to the notion that an Apple iPod/iPhone is not a suitable USB device for doing the store to vehicle stuff...So, it's interesting that it worked for you!

Originally Posted by Fleetman

I didn't think I was mixing playback and store but I did cut-n-paste the wrong article....BMW's Product Planning & Strategy Bulletin # B-1-0710-11-All, dated July 9, 2010 states that effective September, the BMW-supplied Y-cable is no longer needed and music can be downloaded directly from an iPod to the system....I tried it again today and success!

Somewhere however, I read that you must use the iPod's original cable so I used it instead of an iPhone cable I had purchased. I don't think it makes a difference though.

A word of advice might be in order too....it also downloaded movies and games which are not viewable on my system and they take up a large amount of HD space so I think the aforementioned USB stick would still be a better idea in order to weed out the unwanted "stuff".

Either way, we're looking at 4k+ individual songs.

Which USB port did you use, the one in the glove compartment? can you detail the steps you followed to get this done? Thanks?

I used the USB port in the dash compartment....plugged it in, selected Music, External, and pressed the Option switch (next to the dial)....and selected Import. It took a minute or two before it "read"...I actually thought it wasn't working but gave it a minute or so and it started to download. It took mine a little over an hour for 4k songs. As mentioned though, it also downloaded (I'm assuming games/movies) which may have taken longer.....that's why I think the USB stick may be a better idea although in my case, I don't have a way to do that.

Good luck and as I posted earlier, builds after 9/2010 don't need any additional cables, interfaces, etc.

Thanks! I am going to give it a try.

@ kkratochvil- hey, thanks for the reply. You did try to help and that's more important than anything....I appreciate the effort. I'm using an older iPod but didn't do anything different other than turning it on. My salesman is the one that told me an iPod could be used to directly download it to the X....of course, he had never performed it himself. My generous service department offered to look at it....naturally at a cost.....lololol!

I do want to export the music to a thumb drive in case everything gets wiped at some point.

@ Mars hotel - I hope I've outlined each step for you....I was going to try to download again so I could document each step but, no, I think I better leave well enough alone. The service and strategy paper I mentioned earlier says what it will do.

It's probably pretty obvious I'm not real computer literate so this stuff is confusing to me...especially, downloading iTunes to a USB stick.

I think I actually was properly set up to download my music several times but didn't give it enough time to "read" my iPod.....give it a minute or two once you select IMPORT and see what happens....good luck and I'm sure you'll be successful.

The iDRIVE IPod control isn't very well managed so it's best to simply playback from a play list otherwise it's (to me) difficult to go from album/artist to album/artist....almost easier to just let your companion select it (shudder.....entirely different music tastes! She likes soft rock, I don't!).

Anyway, Savoy Brown, Grateful Dead, Stones, Blue Cheer, and etc, etc, and etc are ALL along for the ride now....onboard and ready to go!