iPhone owners - 2.02 update fixes BMW iDrive problems [but not all problems] - Page 3 - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

TahBOSS · 10th September 2008, 00:30

new update coming out this Friday anyone hear any news about this fixing our address books?

edit: update 2.1

TahBOSS · 12th September 2008, 17:44

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5C1 Safari/525.20)

anything with the new update?

Malden · 22nd January 2009, 21:21

Scoopz,

I have a couple of questions that I hope you (or anyone else who really knows what they are talking about) can answer.

1. I want to get my CD changer replaced by the iPod connection with full iDrive and steering wheel integration. The parts guy at the dealer showed me a flag on his screen saying this unit is NOT comaptible with the iPhone 3G. Can you confirm? For you reference the part number is 65410415655 and costs £190.85.

2. I used your fix (2000 fake contacts under Z)to get my contacts to sync and it worked a treat and has continued to work. Will this stop if I upgrade to software version 2.2 for the iPhone?

3. BMW want to charge me about £400 for installation of the said unit and claim they need to upgrade the software in the car after the installation so only they can do this. Is this true?

Would be very grateful if you can shed some light on these issues for me. Cheers.

scoopz · 22nd January 2009, 23:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malden

1. I want to get my CD changer replaced by the iPod connection with full iDrive and steering wheel integration. The parts guy at the dealer showed me a flag on his screen saying this unit is NOT comaptible with the iPhone 3G. Can you confirm? For you reference the part number is 65410415655 and costs £190.85.

Hmmm I don't know the answer to this one as I don't have the iPod interface I just have the 6CD changer and burn MP3's to DVD to play on longer journeys.

I do know that the iPod interface won't charge the iPhone 3G though. There were two different protocols for charging older iPods/iPhones, USB & Firewire, each protocol used different pins on the connector to charge but with the iPhone 3G Apple no longer support charging via Firewire protocol which is what the BMW iPod interface used. Even Apple's own HiFi (which I now regret buying) can't charge the iPhone 3G.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malden

2. I used your fix (2000 fake contacts under Z)to get my contacts to sync and it worked a treat and has continued to work. Will this stop if I upgrade to software version 2.2 for the iPhone?

I'm glad the fix worked for you but it's no longer necessary. Update to 2.2 and all your troubles will be gone, Apple seemed to have fixed all the problems syncing to the iDrive, I have a Dec 2005 UK car and I deleted all my 2000 fake contacts and updated to 2.2 and not had a single problem since.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malden

3. BMW want to charge me about £400 for installation of the said unit and claim they need to upgrade the software in the car after the installation so only they can do this. Is this true?

They do normally need to upgrade the iDrive software after installing the iPod interface as far as I know but £400 sounds excessive. Phone around a few of the nearby dealers and ask for competitive prices. I have an independent BMW garage near me and they seem to have all the equipment to program up iDrive, etc I've not used them yet but I'm sure they'd be less than half the price.

VirtualRain · 22nd January 2009, 23:30

Malden,

1. The iPhone 3G changed the charging scheme from Firewire to USB (different pins) and therefore many charging accessories such as the BMW Ipod interface will not charge the iPhone 3G.

You may want to consider the Dension Gateway 500... for about the same money you get the same or better functionality, full iPhone 3G charging support, and can retain your existing CD changer.

2. Once you upgrade to 2.2 you will no longer need Scoopz workaround. The phone will pair just fine and transfer your contacts without needing all the fake ones.

3. Again, I suggest the Dension GW500. It's a fairly easy DIY (remove glove box and CD Changer to access the wiring and then it's pretty much plug and play).

I have the GW500 and the 2point5 ashtray dock. It's a very nice piece of kit!

scoopz · 22nd January 2009, 23:32

VirtualRain, great minds and all that..sorry beat you to it by a few mins.

Malden · 23rd January 2009, 00:09

Scoopz, VirtualRain, thanks a lot for your responses. You both said pretty much the same thing which is reassuring. Anyway I'm def going to upgrade to v2.2 on my iPhone and will look into both, getting the official kit installed from an independent garage and the Gateway 500, before making my mind up. A question around the GW 500. Does it look 'aftermarket', in that are there messy wires to contend with and is it controllable from iDrive and the steering wheel? Thanks.

VirtualRain · 23rd January 2009, 01:05

The GW500 sits "in-line" between the car and the factory CD changer. To install it, you basically unplug the fiber optics from the CD changer and plug them into the GW500 and then (if you want to keep your CD changer) you plug the supplied fiber optic patch cables from the GW500 into your CD changer. You then just flip a switch on the GW 500 to have it run in pass-through mode to use the CD changer (and also so when you service your car, the shop computer doesn't find some unrecognizable device on the MOST bus)... or you keep the switch flipped to GW500 mode to use your iPOD. The only other connection required is for power and ground... I used simple taps into the existing CD changer power/ground lines. The GW500 is fairly compact and you can tuck it up under the dash or in my case, I stuck it to the roof of the glove box for easy access.

Added features of the GW500 are that it has a USB port and can read MP3's off an attached USB stick or even a USB drive. You could load up a 60GB drive with your entire collection and put it in your glove box using this feature.

In terms of UI, I think it works very similar to the BMW iPod interface in that it takes the place of your CD changer on the iDrive menu. For example Disk 1 is playlists, Disk 2 is artists, etc... I'm not too familiar with the BMW interface, but from what others have said the GW500 is superior in a couple of ways. One major point is that the factory ipod interface has a maximum song count for playlists, etc. The Dension gets around this with pages.

The GW500 is fully managed using the iDrive controller and/or steering wheel and dash controls.

It has more features than BMW's device (which is likely made by Dension's competitor... DICE) and it also works seamlessly with the iPhone 3G so it was a no-brainer for me.

Malden · 24th January 2009, 05:05

VirtualRain, thanks for the info so far. I've been looking into the GW500 and so far can't see a down side. I am hoping you can answer a few more of my questions as you have this set up in your car.

1. On some forums, people claim that the GW500 is only compatible on E60's that can play MP3 files through the standard system. Is this true? If so how do I test? Do I burn some MP3's on a CD and simply see if the CD plays?

2. I'm probably not going to go for the ashtray dock (although it looks cool) so I take it, I will have to connect the iPhone to a cable in the glove compartment. Can I do this to listen to music and also sync to bluetooth for making / receiving calls at the same time? So for example if I'm listening to a track and I get a phone call, will the music cut out until the call is finished then automatically resume?

3. Since you have had the GW installed have you had any negative experiences with it?

I reckon I'm probably going to go for this set up over the BMW official kit, but your feedback will be a big factor in my decision making process. Cheers.

VirtualRain · 24th January 2009, 10:51

1. I think the GW500 is compatible with nearly any vehicle, but to get all the benefits of track names, etc. on the iDrive you do need a car that is programmed for MP3 playback. Incidentally, the same prerequisite applies to the BMW ipod kit. You can test by burning an MP3 CD and seeing if it plays from the single in-dash player (it won't play from the changer, just the single in-dash drive - the changer is not capable of MP3 playback no matter what). Instructions on how to burn the disc properly are somewhere on the e60.net forums. There's also a Service Bulletin posted there you can take to your dealer to have MP3 playback enabled... The SB says that the programming should be performed under warranty on a customer complaint basis. I think only pre March 06 cars will need this. Mine was an April build and was fine but had the iDrive software reprogrammed in 07 as part of an emissions recall which may have updated the MP3 playback so I can't be sure. Either way, you can get to the bottom of it fairly quickly.

2. The dock is only a convenience item... it's not necessary to enjoy the full features. With the GW500, you can charge your phone, play music, and the phone will continue to sync with the iDrive via bluetooth for phone features... all at the same time. One other thing is that I'm told that the GW500 will sync with the phone/ipod for music playback (i.e. downloading song info) much faster than the BMW kit... which is handy if you are removing it from the car often.

3. I did a lot of research before going this route and it's lived up to my expectations and been a great piece of kit. There is tons of material on e60.net if you search around there. The only odd thing I've noticed is that if I'm listening to music on my iPhone through the GW500 and then I make an outgoing call, following the phone call, it won't resume playback of the song automatically. I have to hit track back to restart the song to get it playing again. I'm not sure where fault with this lies though. It also doesn't happen with incoming calls... playback resumes fine after an incoming call. It's a minor issue with a simple work-around.

Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.