Music Options for base stereo with Idrive

TechieCarGuy · 11-23-2015, 05:45 PM

Just picked up last week my 135i with Nav, bmw tele services, etc and the data card for this car indicates I have USB/Audio Interface and Sat Tuner Prep. I found the below cable online, ordered it and surprisingly got it today, but when I connect my ipod, all that happens is it reads my ipod like a hdd? Is my car not Ipod ready?

I read that I can put MP3's on a usb memory stick play them from there, but you can't do apple lossless from a usb. Does the same apply to an ipod? All my music is encoded lossless...do I have to buy and install a separate control box to get ipod? would my car be pre-wired for this?
What would does one need to do to get Sat radio working? do these cars just come pre-wired but you need the little box to activate?

As a side note, I'm an old Car audio installer so know my way around 12volt products, but only having this car for two days has me trying to gather way to much information for the time period...

TechieCarGuy · 11-24-2015, 07:34 AM

interestingly enough... I looked at this picture (which was from the retailers website) and it is not what I received. Mine is a Y-cable without the little box... am I correct to assume that the BMW OEM cable has circuitry in that box which does something the regular Y cable does not... when I connect my ipod it only sees it as a HDD. Although additional research shows I might need the advanced BT package. USB audio does work though from a thumb drive...

Horigan · 11-25-2015, 08:55 PM

I have a 2011 with base stereo, no bluetooth or Nav, and the BMW harness works fine with full iPod controls. I can easily see there being electronics in the BMW version to fully enable the function.

11-23-2015, 05:45 PM	#1
TechieCarGuy Private First Class 134 Rep 170 Posts Drives: 2011 E91, 2008 Z4 Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Florida iTrader: (0)	Music Options for base stereo with Idrive Just picked up last week my 135i with Nav, bmw tele services, etc and the data card for this car indicates I have USB/Audio Interface and Sat Tuner Prep. I found the below cable online, ordered it and surprisingly got it today, but when I connect my ipod, all that happens is it reads my ipod like a hdd? Is my car not Ipod ready? I read that I can put MP3's on a usb memory stick play them from there, but you can't do apple lossless from a usb. Does the same apply to an ipod? All my music is encoded lossless...do I have to buy and install a separate control box to get ipod? would my car be pre-wired for this? What would does one need to do to get Sat radio working? do these cars just come pre-wired but you need the little box to activate? As a side note, I'm an old Car audio installer so know my way around 12volt products, but only having this car for two days has me trying to gather way to much information for the time period... Attached Images
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11-24-2015, 07:34 AM	#2
TechieCarGuy Private First Class 134 Rep 170 Posts Drives: 2011 E91, 2008 Z4 Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Florida iTrader: (0)	interestingly enough... I looked at this picture (which was from the retailers website) and it is not what I received. Mine is a Y-cable without the little box... am I correct to assume that the BMW OEM cable has circuitry in that box which does something the regular Y cable does not... when I connect my ipod it only sees it as a HDD. Although additional research shows I might need the advanced BT package. USB audio does work though from a thumb drive...
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11-25-2015, 08:55 PM	#3
Horigan Private First Class 23 Rep 110 Posts Drives: 2011 135i M-Sport Join Date: May 2013 Location: Seattle WA, USA iTrader: (0)	I have a 2011 with base stereo, no bluetooth or Nav, and the BMW harness works fine with full iPod controls. I can easily see there being electronics in the BMW version to fully enable the function.
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