[joelc73]

I've been using a thumb drive in the center console. I love the flexibility of having a large (relatively) 32GB drive in there rather than my iPod.

I notice the light stays on on the USB drive itself. I'm assuming, therefore, it's drawing power. Is that a problem at all?

The reason I stopped using the iPod was that I noticed it too was also always on. Or at least I assumed it was as the charge indictator was on. It just bothered me that it was drawing power when the car was off.

Thanks
JC

[DrMooCow]

No, it will be fine. The power draw from the usb drive is very small. If you're that worried, you can always unplug it?

[Tee212]

I have a 16g stick in there for the past 5 months with no issues however this flash has no led. Had i known youre able to just use a flash drive for mp3s I would of never bought an ipod and its pretty much worthless to me right now.

[Whostheboss]

Ive Been using a USB flash Stick for over a year now and no problem. It's easier than iPod. If you have a Standard USB cable you can charge Some devices. I can charge my Blackberry and PlayStation 3 controller while car is running.

(The PS3 controller is not essential, but im just saying)

[joelc73]

Cool - it sounds like leaving it plugged in isn't a major concern at all.

Thanks!

[joelc73]

Originally Posted by Whostheboss

Ive Been using a USB flash Stick for over a year now and no problem. It's easier than iPod. If you have a Standard USB cable you can charge Some devices. I can charge my Blackberry and PlayStation 3 controller while car is running.

(The PS3 controller is not essential, but im just saying)

What's the PS3 controller being used for?

[Whostheboss]

nothing, i was just testing and playing with all kinds of devices that the center console usb port can recognize.

The USB port in the center console is 2.0 so by default is passes a 5.0 volt to any device, i can charge the blackberry and even charge a Playstation 3 controller.

the Ps3 controller is irrelevant i was just using it as example

[amullo]

So I could buy a cheapo USB cable, plug it into the USB socket and charge my phone while I´m driving (my phone takes micro USB).

That´ll save me a few bucks on a 12v charger...
Not that it matters much, I´m just asking..

[wren57]

Originally Posted by amullo

So I could buy a cheapo USB cable, plug it into the USB socket and charge my phone while I´m driving (my phone takes micro USB).

I might be wrong, but I don't think the USB drive has enough voltage to power a phone.

[javaperson]

The USB port should be fine for charging a phone. It'll charge the ipod when that is plugged in. The USB port will run at ~5Volts, but the only concern is how much current it can deliver. Not sure about the BMW port, but some USB ports may be limited to delivering 500mA, and some USB devices (maybe some phones) may require 1A.

[ergoyo]

I have a random question for those using the USB flash drives for music.

When playing a song and turning the car off, when you return to the car, I know playback is resumed of the same song, but, can you still return back to the artist/album, etc? When I try going back it sends me all the way to the top, or "A" artists, and this is really annoying since I need to turn the idrive wheel a million times again to make it to the last artists/albums, etc. And then repeat this same routine everytime the car is turned off.

[amullo]

Mine seems to restart on the beginning of the song it was playing when i turned the car off just like yours.. Not sure on the other thing. I´ll have to RTFM..