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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 BMW 5-Series (F10) Forums General 5-Series Sedan and Wagon (F10 / F11) Forum Smartphone Integration
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      06-09-2010, 11:40 PM   #1
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Smartphone Integration

The F10 smart phone integration should be compatible with the new Iphone 4 right??
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      06-10-2010, 01:41 AM   #2
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they should. if not, there will be software update anyway...
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      06-10-2010, 01:41 AM   #3
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Smartphone Integration requires a snap-in adapter that is custom per-phone which must be purchased separately. I have the adapter for the iPhone 3G which works on my 3GS. From what we've seen online, the 4G will have a different physical form factor. So it's very possible the 4G phone won't work on the current adapter.

The good news is that I know someone (not me) who will be getting a 4G very close to launch and I might be able to convince them to let me try that phone in my adapter to see if it works.

But I wouldn't assume it'll "just work" considering the phones physically are different.
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      06-10-2010, 01:45 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ibimmer346 View Post

But I wouldn't assume it'll "just work" considering the phones physically are different.
the connectors are the same, and the new iPhone is slightly smaller, so it will plug in for sure. if it doesn't work, then it'll be a software issue.

But i am sure iOS 4 has backward compatibility... so else the existing iPhone 3rd party hardware ecosystem would be fxcked lol~
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      06-10-2010, 08:42 AM   #5
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I have the smartphone integration option, but have not purchase the iphone 3G adapter yet. Would like to purchase the adapter only if it also plays music directly from iphone's i-tune program. Does anybody know if it does?
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      06-10-2010, 12:10 PM   #6
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I just verified. iDrive can play songs directly from the phone when it's plugged into the snap-in adapter. I have an iPhone 3GS. The sounds quality was quite nice, leading me to believe the D-to-A conversion was done by the car. That's interesting to me because my phone is in Macintosh format, not FAT format, and it still works. I don't have any DRM audio tracks left, so I don't know if those will play.

If you also have the 6FL (USB port) option, then you must unplug any device plugged into that port to play songs off the phone. That's actually fine with me. I keep a USB flash drive plugged into that port and play music off of that. So normally my smartphone adapter thingie is effectively a fancy iPhone charger.

The claim is that the option will help with phone signal reception. I have no real way to evaluate that claim on the iPhone.

The phone still uses Bluetooth for hands-free speaker and calling control.
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      06-10-2010, 10:28 PM   #7
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I have kind of a dumb question. How do I know if an F10 has smartphone integration?

We bought our new fiver last week and I can see where the custom adapter goes. You push a button and remove a little case where you can snap-in the adapter. But I don't know if that necessarily means I do have the *smartphone integration* feature. I'm also doubtful because the salesman didn't specify that feature when he showed me the car. But so far I've discovered a few perks that I didn't know came with the car. So who knows if that too was included.

I'll take a picture tomorrow if someone wants clarification.
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      06-18-2010, 08:58 AM   #8
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Hi. Im running os4 on my 3gs right now (apple developer). I tested the phone in the car I have just purchased and it worked very nicely via blue tooth.
Roy
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      06-18-2010, 05:02 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ibimmer346 View Post
Smartphone Integration requires a snap-in adapter that is custom per-phone which must be purchased separately. I have the adapter for the iPhone 3G which works on my 3GS. From what we've seen online, the 4G will have a different physical form factor. So it's very possible the 4G phone won't work on the current adapter.

The good news is that I know someone (not me) who will be getting a 4G very close to launch and I might be able to convince them to let me try that phone in my adapter to see if it works.

But I wouldn't assume it'll "just work" considering the phones physically are different.
Although the iPhone should work with the BMW bluetooth system, I suspect it will not fit into the 3/3g cradle for the 6NF option. I have 6NF and the 3/3G cradle in my E92, and the phone is a very snug fit. Even if the iPhone 4 is smaller overall, it is a square back design as compared to the curved design of the earlier models, and I cannot imagine it fitting without modification. Of course BMW will likely release the right craddle for the iPhone 4 right about the time the iPhone 5 is released.

I would also recommend that you do a bit of research before adding the 6NF option, as many people such as myself, believe it to be a complete waste of money.

Hope this helps.
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      06-19-2010, 01:10 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by unit View Post
Although the iPhone should work with the BMW bluetooth system, I suspect it will not fit into the 3/3g cradle for the 6NF option. I have 6NF and the 3/3G cradle in my E92, and the phone is a very snug fit. Even if the iPhone 4 is smaller overall, it is a square back design as compared to the curved design of the earlier models, and I cannot imagine it fitting without modification. Of course BMW will likely release the right craddle for the iPhone 4 right about the time the iPhone 5 is released.

I would also recommend that you do a bit of research before adding the 6NF option, as many people such as myself, believe it to be a complete waste of money.

Hope this helps.

I agree with this... With bluetooth enabled cars, I don't usually take my phone out of my pocket, unless it's a long trip. For in-and-out of the car short city drives, I can't imagine somebody taking the phone in and out of the cradle every time.

Unless the cradle is used for music I don't see the practicality. Then again having an option is usually better than not having.
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      06-19-2010, 07:32 PM   #11
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Everytime I connect my iPhone I forget it in my car. I usually to listen to music or charge it. It's a slow charge
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      06-20-2010, 08:30 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grizzles View Post
Everytime I connect my iPhone I forget it in my car. I usually to listen to music or charge it. It's a slow charge
For me it's, every time I take it out of my pocket, I leave it in the car.

I usually leave it on the little "shelf" in front of the speedo/tach. I have a gel like cover on my nexus one and prevents it from sliding and fits there perfectly.
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      06-20-2010, 11:39 AM   #13
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In the M3 I installed a belt clip case on the door. On longer drives I place the Treo in that. The wallet goes in the center console where I usually don't forget it.

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      06-22-2010, 09:21 PM   #14
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BMW says "can help reception" wtf? does it or doesnt it? tin foil may help too.

i think they are charging strictly for a plastic adapter sleeve.
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      06-22-2010, 11:16 PM   #15
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It's amazing to me that there doesn't appear to be a "straight answer" on the value of this option. I've asked 2 SA's at my local dealer, I've searched on this site, and I've tried to grok the arcane BMW configuration "description" of what it does. The short of it is that a) I have an iPhone, b) I want to sync songs to store them on the iDrive hard disk, and c) I've been using Bluetooth on my 335i for nearly four years now with no issues, and never feeling the need for "enhanced performance" or whatever. If all it does is charge the phone and/or "ehance" the reception, it's a useless option. If it is the only way to get the iPhone (which doesn't behave like an iPod) to "sync" with the iDrive, it's potentially useful.

Anyone have a straight answer on this? Sorry if this seems contentious, but it's absurd that BMW charges for iPod, USB, etc. when even cheap crap-can cars have these as standard features. To make it difficult to figure out whether or not an option is truly useful only adds insult to injury.
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      06-24-2010, 10:48 PM   #16
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It uses the shark fin antenna which improves reception.
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      06-25-2010, 11:23 AM   #17
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It will not "sync" your iPhone with the hard drive and copy stuff into it. If you want to copy stuff to the hard drive in the car, you need to plug something into the glove compartment USB port. I don't know if you can plug an iPhone in. The owners manual says you should plug a flash drive into the glove compartment port to sync stuff to the hard drive.

What SI will do is stream music off of your iPhone, charge your iPhone, and supposedly improve reception (hard to verify this claim). Think of it like the 6FL USB port option except you don't need a cable to plug the iPhone into it. They've included a cradle to do it for you. You control which music to play from the iDrive screen.

The option isn't terribly expensive though. You will have to purchase a plug-in adapter from the BMW dealer on top of the money you pay for the option, too. That's around $150.
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      07-01-2010, 08:26 AM   #18
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Hi all,
Just collected my F10 530D today.. It's fab.. I moved from the E60 m sport with AC schnitzer body kit to the quite elegant 530D se with a few options and love it.

Just one issue. This is to do with the USB interface / Snap in cradle for the iphone 3gs.

I have purchased the snap in cradle and all this seems to do is charge the phone and I've been advised it uses the outside sharks fin for tx/rx. What it doesn't seem to do is allow ipod integration. So I got free of charge for the dealer a y cable which consists of an ipod connector one side, joined to a usb connector and jack plug. These connect to the USB socket and jack socket, next to the snap in connector.

I've done the connection but when I go into the idrive, into external devices. USB interface is not highlighted.

Does anyone have experience with an iphone 3gS running ios4 with this car? are there any issues?

or does anyone have any pointers please?
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      07-01-2010, 09:00 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by uktivo View Post
Hi all,
Just collected my F10 530D today.. It's fab.. I moved from the E60 m sport with AC schnitzer body kit to the quite elegant 530D se with a few options and love it.

Just one issue. This is to do with the USB interface / Snap in cradle for the iphone 3gs.

I have purchased the snap in cradle and all this seems to do is charge the phone and I've been advised it uses the outside sharks fin for tx/rx. What it doesn't seem to do is allow ipod integration. So I got free of charge for the dealer a y cable which consists of an ipod connector one side, joined to a usb connector and jack plug. These connect to the USB socket and jack socket, next to the snap in connector.

I've done the connection but when I go into the idrive, into external devices. USB interface is not highlighted.

Does anyone have experience with an iphone 3gS running ios4 with this car? are there any issues?

or does anyone have any pointers please?
It will not show "usb interface" once you use the Y-cable but "iPod". At least this is what happens with my E90 at the moment. Alternatively I will get back to you in 3 weeks time when I receive my F10. Hope this helps...
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      07-01-2010, 09:05 AM   #20
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Thanks for the quick reply. Meant to say I get the not connected message with or without the Y cable attached.
I've also tried a standard iPod which has no affect either. So to me it looks like the USB option just isn't active. Or just doesn't work
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      07-12-2010, 11:21 AM   #21
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A quick update of my findings and some tips for new buyers.

The USB section of my new F10 was faulty. it had to go back to the dealers for just short of 1 week to get the unit replaced. It's now back and working fine. Here are my findings for reference:

Im using an iphone 3gs with iOS4 installed.

The first mistake I made was to get the snap in cradle adaptor. It really isn't required. All this adaptor does is charge your iphone and "supposedly" connect it to the sharks fin.. but no one in the dealer could confirm this. My advice is don't bother with it..

I got the USB - BMW iphone cable. It consists of an iphone connector with a USB and jack plug on the other side. My dealer told me this didn't charge the iphone.. guess what.. it does.. It also allows the iphone to communicate with the idrive system which allows full search facility and works very well. I can't seem to get album art showing.. no matter what I try.. so I will keep looking for a solution.

The USB socket in the glovebox is used for importing / exporting tracks from a USB stick. This was quite useful... the data it exports, is encrypted to a .b4r file.. from searching, this is quite a simple encryption. I have it on good authority that the encrypted songs are not restricted to the car they were exported from.. i.e. they can be moved to another car.

All in all, it seems a massive leap ahead compared with my E60 electronics..Im pleased with it so far.
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      07-31-2010, 03:26 PM   #22
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Hi

All this now confuses me, i have an iphone 4 and ordered the cradle from BMW which i was told would be available in September (in the uk)

However does anyone have or understand if it is a waste of money

Because

I have ordered the cradle with USB
I have the USB interface (required for having the cradle with USB apparently)

I assume by having this i can... Charge my iPhone, stream my music via the cradle, Intergrate the phone with the car including using the cars aerial

OR have i got it wrong?
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