Music via Bluetooth

Just bought a 2013 X3. I am struggling to play music from Nexus 4 phone via bluetooth.

Any tips?

Originally Posted by vishaal1

Just bought a 2013 X3. I am struggling to play music from Nexus 4 phone via bluetooth.

Any tips?

I think you go to the Bluetooth menu, and phone should already be identified. Push the option button next to the I drive controller, and that will bring up a menu to check the box for bluethooth music. I think that's right.....

Thanks! I will try that out.

Not if you have standard stereo without "Enchanced USB and Bluetooth" option... If that is the case, all you will get is hands-free calling.

Since I don't have the technology package, looks like I have missed out on it. What about playing music from Nexus 4 or iPhone 4S via USB? Does that require enhanced USB?

It's possible you have an auxiliary port somewhere you could use. Mine is in the center console.

I think the is another USB port in the glove box.

Originally Posted by Doug in NC

I think the is another USB port in the glove box.

I believe that one is for import/export of data, such as: a) profiles and b) music that will be transferred (e.g. from CD/USB) to/from the vehicles hard disk.

Originally Posted by noka

I believe that one is for import/export of data, such as: a) profiles and b) music that will be transferred (e.g. from CD/USB) to/from the vehicles hard disk.

USB port in center console works just fine, simply plug in your memory stick and then choose media from the i drive, you can also load pictures on there with the track that will display on the screen as an album cover, i have family members and a few wildlife photos (im a wildlife photographer) on mine, sad i no but.. Such fun...

Keith

Has anyone tried using an Android phone to play music via USB port in center console?

Originally Posted by vishaal1

Has anyone tried using an Android phone to play music via USB port in center console?

Yes. My Motorola Droid Bionic works fine - but not immediately.

It took a little hunting to find the music on the phone. When I first connected, an endless series of navigation app turn commands were played, like "In 600 feet, turn left" and "Go straight for 119 miles".

I found that I needed to use the iDrive/Media/External/USB/Search (a magnifying glass icon) function to find my music folders; I searched by Genre and located my tunes. Thereafter, it behaved as expected.

Originally Posted by GTBecker

Yes. My Motorola Droid Bionic works fine - but not immediately.

It took a little hunting to find the music on the phone. When I first connected, an endless series of navigation app turn commands were played, like "In 600 feet, turn left" and "Go straight for 119 miles".

I found that I needed to use the iDrive/Media/External/USB/Search (a magnifying glass icon) function to find my music folders; I searched by Genre and located my tunes. Thereafter, it behaved as expected.

I have the same issue about the navigation commands. I am pretty confident that I have downloaded music on my nexus4 but it seems like it is in the cache folder. Not the music folder. Do you have something similar in your phone?

My /cache is empty at the moment. Try looking in /sdcard/Music with a file browser app on the phone.

If you need a file browser, try ASTRO File Manager. To see files down at root level select All and keep going up if you aren't already at the root, then find /sdcard (really a misnomer; /sdcard is actually in the phone's internal Flash, not on a card), where you should see Music. If you also have an SD card in the phone, you might also see folder /sdcard-ext, which represents the physical SD card content.

You could also plug the phone into a desktop USB port and navigate the phone's files on the desktop. In that case the true phone root won't be visible, so you should see folder Music directly.

I'll need to play with it more but, as I recall, none of those phone folder names appear on the vehicle console screen so navigating the files structure is different on the phone and on the console screen. Still, you should be able to locate the mp3s, even if only by name.

I've done a little more research.

- the folders your devices (tablets, phones) use (e.g. /sdcard, /sdcard-ext) might not be the same as the Motorola products I use - but should be similar, perhaps /sdcard0, /sdcard1). These folder names are not visible on the console Media/External/USB search screen.

- late Android (HC, ICS, JB) devices might not provide Mass Media mode; this mode, which the BMW console seems to require, makes the device behave like a USB thumb drive. Mass Media mode has been replaced by MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) mode on many devices. These devices will probably connect but won't show any content on the console Media/External/USB screen because MTP is apparently not recognized by the console. Some devices have USB transfer options you'll find on the phone in Settings/Storage/USB; others don't offer Mass Media mode at all.

- connecting a true USB Thumb drive takes only a few seconds. Connecting my Motorola Droid Bionic is usually similarly pretty quick, but sometimes it takes forever - or never connects. I don't know why yet. My Motorola Xoom tablet connects pretty quickly but cannot transfer files; it uses MTP or PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) and offers no option for Mass Media.

- if you can't use your phone, copy all of your media from it to a Thumb drive via a desktop machine.

On a Nexus 4 music downloaded from Google is supposed to be stored in Andriod/data/com.Google.android.music/cache/music. Even thought I have 4 songs downloaded onto my phone, the cache folder is empty. But I had a music file saved in my dropbox account. Using a file manager app I moved that music into a new music folder in my phone. I was able to locate this folder via the iDrive and the music sounds great on the standard speakers. I am going to think twice before using Google music to upload and download music.
Thanks a lot for your suggestions.

I'm able to play from the center console USB port, though every time I connect the phone, I have to cycle the connection mode between camera and USB storage device for the iDrive to recognize it. Once connected, I can browse and play from most any folder.
What I'm stuck on now is downloading music to the car. Going to the options menu and selecting 'music data import/export' tells me to connect a USB device to the interface in the glove box, even if I have the nexus 4 already connected there. Has anyone been able to make this work? I have the pre 10/2010 X5 with the premium sound and technology package (I.e. no Bluetooth music streaming). Thanks

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Bimmer App