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BMW and Apple?

ShermDog I have a feeling that they will simply add steering wheel control of the audio device said:
The steering wheel control device is a great feature. My wife has it on her Volvo S360.
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To have factory ready in car intergration with iPods will be great. This means that iPod will become an even greater part of peoples lives, starting with seamless intergation with cars I can only imagine what's next.
 
wdlove said:
The steering wheel control device is a great feature. My wife has it on her Volvo S360.
Click to expand...

Does the S360 have controls that work on external devices, or just the more-standard volume/channel/input device selection buttons that are on a lot of cars these days?

I think the idea of controlling song selection from the steering wheel is great - bordering on necessary - but how would one propose doing it? Simply having a standard next-song/previous-song interface (like for the radio/CD)? Or something more exotic, likely necessitating more buttons and possibly a display?

Of course, it needs to work with the iPod, but no car manufacturer will make something that works only with the iPod.
 
I'm interested in how they will be integrating this into BMWs. Somehow integrating it into the steering wheel would be pretty cool.

I'm glad to hear Apple making deals with more companies also...
 
BMW should take this a step further and have Apple work on their GUI for GPS, etc. I love my 2000 540i, but man the in-dash interface SUCKS.
 
Apple strudel...

i use my iPod in my '04 330Ci convertible, but i would love it to actually be INTEGRATED. i had to have BMW parts technician connect an input to the existing AUX IN in the rear of the head unit, run a wire into the glove compartment, run a wire out into the passenger area where i connect my iPod. it's a little kludgy, but the iPod DOES fit nicely into the ashtray right in front of the 6speed stick shift, so i can click >>| next pretty easily.

i used one of the radio transmitters (iRock) in my last convertible, but it couldn't pump out enough volume when the top was down & i hated that my already compressed MP3/AAC tracks were transmitted in FM quality. sounded like poop.

no idea how you could integrate the iPod's display into the BMW stereo, but i feel sure they would have a better understanding of that than me. even if the head unit could read the artist/track name & display it, that would be pretty sweet.
 
DaBuzz said:
BMW should take this a step further and have Apple work on their GUI for GPS, etc. I love my 2000 540i, but man the in-dash interface SUCKS.
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i really like the new interface in the new 04 7 series.

iJon
 
sinisterdesign said:
i use my iPod in my '04 330Ci convertible, but i would love it to actually be INTEGRATED. i had to have BMW parts technician connect an input to the existing AUX IN in the rear of the head unit, run a wire into the glove compartment, run a wire out into the passenger area where i connect my iPod. it's a little kludgy, but the iPod DOES fit nicely into the ashtray right in front of the 6speed stick shift, so i can click >>| next pretty easily.
Click to expand...

So the only hole that was made was into the glove compartment? I wanted to do something similar, but i couldn't find a good way to get the connection from the back of the unit to the front without making an hole.
 
'03 & '04 BMWs already have Auxiliary Audio Inputs

They already have this adaptor that is available at the dealership for about $45 installed. Ask for the "Auxiliary Audio Input". You'll have a female connector inside the glove compartment and will need a male/male cable to connect to the iPod. You'll need to buy the male/male cable. I got a 4' cable from Monster Cable for about $10 with gold plated ends. Don't get one any longer than this, they are tough to manage in the car. Also, don't get one without gold plated ends. They make a scratching noise through the sound system when you move the iPod. Hope this helps someone out there...
 
techmangonewild said:
They already have this adaptor that is available at the dealership for about $45 installed. Ask for the "Auxiliary Audio Input". You'll have a female connector inside the glove compartment and will need a male/male cable to connect to the iPod. You'll need to buy the male/male cable. I got a 4' cable from Monster Cable for about $10 with gold plated ends. Don't get one any longer than this, they are tough to manage in the car. Also, don't get one without gold plated ends. They make a scratching noise through the sound system when you move the iPod. Hope this helps someone out there...
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Thanks. I had asked my dealership when i first bought my 325, but they didn't know of anything. Now that i can tell them specifically what they need to put in maybe they can.
 
Vector said:
So the only hole that was made was into the glove compartment? I wanted to do something similar, but i couldn't find a good way to get the connection from the back of the unit to the front without making an hole.
Click to expand...

yeah, they cut a little hole into the side of the glove compartment interior to install a minijack jack. that way i just plug a mini jack "extension" cable into the jack and run it into my iPod. i would like to come up w/ a clean way of running that cable out of my glove compartment, but i'm leary of popping panels off the new car to run wires around!
 
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