Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPod Your BMW Official

I dont think alot of thought went into design...

I think the design for the car audio system could be more sleek and intrgrated to the design of the car. it looks like they just plopped the ipod in the glove box. Hell i have a cigarette lighter in my armrest of my car i put my ipod and chager in. You think apple might have wanted to do more design wise with the integration but bmw might not have been as co-operative as we might have liked. I would not be suprised to see more partnering of apple and other low-mid end car manufactuers.
 
I don't really understand why BMW didn't try to find a better place to put the iPod than in the glove compartment, but, like others have said, it's probably just the easiest place to install it. Despite this, I think the ad is pretty cool, and it's more publicity for the iPod, which isn't ever a bad thing. I'm also glad to see that the no sound quality is lost with this.

I'm looking forward to seeing what other car manufacturers can come up with. :)
 
henners said:
indextop06212004.jpg


This is really not an adequate solution, one has to reach over to plug the ipod in. Then it is not properly secured in. Once in, the user has no real control of the iPod, 5 playlists? What about all the other 40 GB+ music? A vague stab without the expected apple touch. Shame
Click to expand...

Ya, I have to agree here. There really should be some sort of Dock, on the dash board or something. I hope this is just a temporary solution for a better product that is coming in the future.
 
nsb3000 said:
Ya, I have to agree here. There really should be some sort of Dock, on the dash board or something. I hope this is just a temporary solution for a better product that is coming in the future.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt that. Unless they integrate the iPod fully (which I just don't see happening), I doubt that this is temporary.
–Chase
 
Icelink Question: Does the icelink provide for automatic recharging of the iPod? It looks like the BMW solution charges the ipod; if the icelink does not, that is a major plus for the BMW solution; cross country ipod-enabled trips without recharging!

Playlist Question 1: What is a "bmw playlist" in iTunes? Is there a new iTunes or iPod update to cover this, or an update to the BMW stereo system software during installation?


Playlist Question 2: Can you manually select a playlist on the ipod, then control tracks from the steering wheel?

Steering Wheel Controls question: Which steering wheel buttons will traverse playlists, or turn on random shuffle? (I assume random shuffle is throughout the entire ipod, not just the 5 playlists).




Mounting/Visibility: The whole point is to get the ipod out-of-the-way, and just use your bmw stereo console/steering-wheel controls. However, it would be nice to be able to mount it securely *within* the glovebox-- Even the self-recharging flashlight in the bmw-glovebox is nicely mounted; a similar and secure dock-like slot would've been slightly preferable.

Valet comment: You can lock the ipod in the glovebox with your primary key, and the valet key can't open it up... just in case for some reason you want to leave it in the car while valet-parking, you don't have to worry.


Ditto: bmwusa/ipod is not up... tsk tsk. For such a big promotion, the apple partnership should be listed on the *front* page of www.bmwusa.com.

BMW Owners Circle: 1) Apple partnership is not listed after login at oc.bmwusa.com (that The Hire DVD is *still there*), 2) Nor is Apple listed in BMW News (within owners circle).
 
Probable reason they didn't use a dock. . .

While I agree that a dock would have been nice, they probably avoided the dock so that future ipod models would still be compatible. Apple is probably less likely to change the cable connection than the shape/form of the ipod. By only using a cable connection, Apple can make pretty drastic changes to the ipod's form factor. This also makes it so you don't have to worry if you own an mini or reg. ipod or both. Some kind of latch/strap would be nice. . .I would hate to hear my ipod slidding around in the glove compartment.
 
ICELink

I have the ICELink for my Audi, and it works well. It's not perfect, but it's much better than FM transmitters and cassette adapters. I got the version which plugs into the the CD changer connector in the trunk, and it comes with a long wire to allow the ipod to be mounted on the dash. It was straightforward to install, but that wire is a bit of pain to snake around the backseat.

As for not showing more info on the radio display/wheel controls, I think it's a limitation of the radios themselves. I know the Audi radios cannot display text from the CD changer (which is where ICELink plugs in, and probably where the BMW thing does too) which limits it a lot.

I would think future-generation radios will have better interfaces to ipods, but it will take a while for it to happen.
 
good point... both the icelink and the bmw solution have better sonic quality than fm or cassette solution. In fact, the FM has the worst sound; even though the cassette is low-tech, it actually sounds better.


btw if you look at the PDF of BMW Accessories for 3-series, you'll see a glove-box mounted audio connector, which looks like a 1/8" line-in. The photo shows a 2G ipod...


__

oops, I stand corrected: "IPOD YOUR BMW" is indeed listed at the bottom of the www.bmwusa.com front page. Did I miss that, or is it new?
 
MacFan25 said:
I don't really understand why BMW didn't try to find a better place to put the iPod than in the glove compartment, but, like others have said, it's probably just the easiest place to install it. Despite this, I think the ad is pretty cool, and it's more publicity for the iPod, which isn't ever a bad thing. I'm also glad to see that the no sound quality is lost with this.

I'm looking forward to seeing what other car manufacturers can come up with. :)
Click to expand...

The glovebox seems like a good place to me because, as others have noted, if you want to just turn your car off and leave your iPod in the car you wouldn't have to then stash it in the glove box to hide it. There's nothing worse than attracting attention to the gadgets in a nice car. A newer Beemer is already attracting enough attention to itsself.

Also a side note. You have 5 "BMW Playlists" that you can shuffle through OR you can have it randomize through your entire library. So that seems flexible enough for me. Sure would be nice if it showed the song info on the stereo display instead of just Track 01, Track 02... etc..
 
What is wrong with you people complaining about the location of the iPod? Did you think that BMW was going to change all it's car models to make for a dock on the dashboard or something? Do you really want an ipod outside the glove box for thieves to see? The only thing that lets me down is that you don't see track names but that's probably a limitation of the iPod, not the connector or the BMW audio system. If demand for this kind of system is great then I think the next gen iPods will be able to output all that information to car stereos in the future.
 
flyfish29 said:
So answer this for me: What owner doesn't have a CD changer in their BMW (or a DSP cassette player- whatever that means) So what they are saying is this is only for those BMW's that have am and fm radios???????????? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:
Click to expand...

Typically you have an in-dash CD in addition to the changer. For those with existing CD changers, so what? Just disconnect it. It becomes sort of redundant once you have an iPod in there anyway.
 
Bendit said:
...The only thing that lets me down is that you don't see track names but that's probably a limitation of the iPod, not the connector or the BMW audio system. If demand for this kind of system is great then I think the next gen iPods will be able to output all that information to car stereos in the future.
Click to expand...

If it's a limitation of the iPod and not the connector, then a firmware upgrade can overcome the limitation. I would like to see "seemless" integration with iDrive, which will be standard on all new BMW models. This means track names and playlist names appearing on iDrive, ability to replace the iPod's circular touchpad with iDrive's circular controller, and also set the two user-programmable steering wheel buttons to perform various operations such as move from playlist to playlist, or enable Random Play.

By the way, the iDrive controller has the following movements on the E60 (2004 5-series):

1. Rotate clock- and counterclock wise.
2. Slide forward, backward, left and right.
3. Press down.

The iDrive screen/controller combination can replace the iPod's interface completely. That would be a "seemless" integration.
 
JT3MacManiac said:
will someone please tell me the song?
Click to expand...

I don't believe any of the sound clips used in the ad are specific songs. Re-watch the ad, and you'll notice they are all very generic and do not include words. It's still effective, but it's no chubby dude singing along to the Who.
 
w00tmaster said:
Because driving a BMW is in NO way a tempation for the theif to break into your car, but an iPod, well that makes it all worth it :p
Click to expand...

actually, it's true... with the electronically controlled ignition (as well as the unforceable steering column lock) you simply can't steal the vehicle unless you load it into a truck and drive the truck... and no jimmying the locks either due to bmw's lock system-- thief has to break window, and climb in through broken window, and climb out through broken window (interior door handles & locks are TOTALLY non operational when locked from the outside). Most thieves know this, so it wouldn't be as easy/practical to break into the inside of a bmw unless there was something you could just reach in and grab.
 
iSmell said:
The glove box? You want me to hide my iPod in the glovebox?


Ice link looks kind of cool, but over priced. I'm going to try tapping into the CD changer inputs directly on my (parents) volvo.

<edit> Damn, deepkid beat me to it. </edit>
Click to expand...

the icelink uses open ports on the back of the car stereo. it's the same ports that a CD changer would hook into. on my car's stereo, for example, there is RCA inputs and a magic Sony cable that is essentially the data connection between the devices. it transfers the commands for what track etc to play and calls up the CDs track info (if supported).

these adapters are using existing technology, these are not magic car stereo's made to mate with iPods. that's the next step!
 
mount

The whole point of steering wheel mounted controls are so you don't have to remove your hands to control the stereo. Having the iPod mounted near by would defeat this function. This all looks good to me. They did a terrible job of shooting the iPod just laying there though. A gold one sitting straight would look much better. The commercial clip is nice too.
 
jesuscandle said:
I don't believe any of the sound clips used in the ad are specific songs. Re-watch the ad, and you'll notice they are all very generic and do not include words. It's still effective, but it's no chubby dude singing along to the Who.
Click to expand...

SHHHH! those people singing along to their iPods has the legal department all tied up right now......
 
Anyone know what the difference was between the 2001 and 2002 BMW stereos? I have a 2001 330i and was hoping this would be compaitable. This sucks for me. Maybe I'll just go the Icelink route.
 
If you want your windows smashed and your iPod stolen, go ahead and mangle your center unit into a dock. If you are worried about the iPod bumping around, buy an extra dock, glue it (or tape it, whatever) into your glove compartment. I think it's fine for a first try. Notice that no one else has even tried to integrate their MP3 players into cars, only Apple has. Also, BMW probably designed this, so get mad at them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back