[auburnu008]

I just got a 2009 E90. It has idrive, iPod & USB Adapter. What would be the best way for me to play my music collection? I have read some mini-hard drives are not compatible and some are slow. What is the fastest and best way to add my collection (about 40gb's worth) to my car and keep the steering controls and id3 information on the idrive? How about just getting a 64 gb usb stick or a mini-hard drive?

One last thing, I would prefer not to use itunes. All of my music is mp3 and I like to be able to just drag and drop when I want to add music to it.

Thanks for the help in advance!

[mbradlawrence]

I have tried Ipod/Iphone route and gotten decent results. Some research on the web indicated that those devices have lower quality output DACs than older I-pods. In addition, the AUX input has a cap in it that limits surges but will also affect your lower frequencies.

Solution was a 32G memory stick. I dragged my Itunes library into it so the file format is correct (artist/album/song). Make sure the stick is formatted FAT-32 (I have a mac so I had to do this to make it work with the car). The difference is sound is noticable.

Assuming the artist is already on the stick, I can add new albums without going through i tunes. If it is a new artist to my collection, still have to go through itunes to get the right folder setups.

As for speed, there is about a 2-3 minute delay when I first plug the stick in for it to work. But if left in, the time is negligible.

[ctuna]

There should be no difference if they are delivering digital data in the same format.

[mbradlawrence]

Originally Posted by ctuna

There should be no difference if they are delivering digital data in the same format.

My understanding is that the connection is not digital, only analog out. Having looked at the pin outs from the iphone, there are analog level pins in the 30 pins output. The only digital information is for title info and control of the iphone/ipod. I have proved this (quite by accident) by connecting the BMW connector and connecting the usb part but forgeting to hook up the aux in part -- no sound.

Regardless, I have concluded that I think the same files sound much better when played with a USB stick. There a bunch of threads supporting the above but the facts are somewhat irrelevant given that my percieved sound quality difference, right?