I gave up on using my old iPods in my cars. Didn't like the hassle of removing my phone from my pocket and hooking it up either. I use the BlueTooth for phone calls but for music, I just don't see the advantage of using your phone or iPod. I find that thumb drives are the best option for me. I don't have iDrive and the menu navigation is instant and quite easy. They read extremely fast, they are cheap and I can fit almost my entire iTunes library on on 32GB drive. The BMW deck has no problem with the AAC files and the Artist/album info pops up right away. It's far less likely to draw attention to would be thieves than an iPod with the cable hanging out. I just leave it in the car plugged in under the armrest. Not as susceptible to heat like an iPod...etc. You can get a 32GB drive for $18.50 right now.
