[Markee]

Thanks m@rk that's a really really useful update as I am just starting out on this road myself (although I do have bigger fish to fry at the moment, see my thread.....).

I've tried my ipod classic with the standard Apple cable and it just doesn't work at all. I hear that BMW have changed things so you don't need their Y cable, but it just doesn't work at all.

Your result with the iPhone 4s correlates with what others have said about an iPod touch working (as an iPod touch is basically an iPhone without a phone).

I've got a 64Gb USB stick so am trying that out at the moment. I found a nifty little utility that syncs an iTunes playlist to any folder on a system, including a removable USB drive. It's called Middleman but is Mac only and will only sync one playlist (there are Windows equivalents out there too).

I will also look into your Amazon Bluetooth device for streaming.

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by Markee

I hear that BMW have changed things so you don't need their Y cable, but it just doesn't work at all.

From what i can work out, if you have enhanced bluetooth then you can also just connect your iPhone etc using a normal Apple USB lead (thus not needing the Y cable) but of course if you have this then why would you not just use bluetooth streaming anyway

It all seems a bit backwards and poorly documented

BTW do you have a like for that Middleman software?

[Markee]

Originally Posted by m@rk

From what i can work out, if you have enhanced bluetooth then you can also just connect your iPhone etc using a normal Apple USB lead (thus not needing the Y cable) but of course if you have this then why would you not just use bluetooth streaming anyway

It all seems a bit backwards and poorly documented

BTW do you have a like for that Middleman software?

...and also when the glossy brochure and web based sales portals say you can connect iPods. I've also read that with business Nav you can use the "send to car" facility in Google Maps. When I signed up for ConnectedServices the email says that send to car is not available.

I must admit, in general the level of detail on what is included and what you can't and can do is very limited. For example, I went for the folding mirrors option but only knew about the passenger side dip function when in reverse from BMW forums as there's no mention of this functionality in the brochure or online Configurator.

The Middleman software seems to work well. The only criticism I have at the moment is that it creates folders named "artist - album title" with the tracks inside, which on the iDrive screen doesn't have enough characters to display the album title, just the artist. So, if you have a number of albums from the same artist it's difficult to see which album is which.

I would prefer to have folders titled by artist, then sub-folders for each album then tracks inside the sub folder, but then there's more menus to navigate through.....