[LEONE]

The idea is to compare software versions of pre and after September produced cars with navi pro.

[Costa]

In case anyone was still doubting cdxp about the secret menu, I tried it yesterday and it DOES work.

1. Go to main menu.
2. Hold down mouse for 10 seconds. By this time you should be in the INFO menu.
3. Turn mouse 3 clicks right (clockwise)
4. Turn 3 clicks left (counter clockwise)
5. One click right
6. One click left
7. one click right
8. Press and release mouse

Diagnostic window appears.

Unfortunately I am one of those with a pre-October car, so I am waiting to see what version info is posted on working Prof Navi cars.

[magamaga]

Someone here said BMW would have a software release update to get all of our Pro Navi. to play MP3 cds. Has anyone gotten theirs updated yet? Today is Dec. 13, any news on this?

[greg2]

Originally Posted by bimmer4me

Okay, I felt like a total loser, but I tried these steps on my e90. No luck. When I'm on the "Display Off" menu choice and then perform the first step, hold down for 10 seconds, the display simply turns off. I can then no longer turn the knob by "clicks". I even verified by ignition was on by opening and closing the sunroof. I know the car was off because I was in my garage with the garage door closed and I'm still here to tell about it. I need further proof to believe this one.

I got it working on mine too. Didn't work if I started off in the Display On/Off screen first. I started on the main menu, ignition key in, engine off, held the knob down for 10 seconds (the car then goes into the info menu with with Display On/off, etc options), then start to do the sequence, and it works! So you are therefore running through the 'clicking' sequence in the options menu. Must say, the info is not very useful though!

[CardinalZeus77]

Hi,

I got this working too. You have to hold down the knob for at least 10 seconds. After the clicks you get the information come up on screen. I would be interested to see what the software/hardware versions are for the people who have Prof Nav where MP3 works.

[natalia]

Originally Posted by Hitman999

Hi,

I got this working too. You have to hold down the knob for at least 10 seconds. After the clicks you get the information come up on screen. I would be interested to see what the software/hardware versions are for the people who have Prof Nav where MP3 works.

I'll try mine during my lunch break and let you know. My MP3 works, I have a Nov. production. Does that matter?

[RedStripe]

This indeed works, and it gets you to a screen with a blue background and technical information to look at. I will take pictures and post them online later.

Natalia, please post your information because mine is a pre-September e90, and we can compare to see if we can get any closer to specifying the mp3 capabilty difference. Thanks.

[NeutronBMW]

I found my I-drive screen shown "BMW" logo for about 5 minutes and then got blank, and this cycle again & again...... the dealer told me they need to replace the computer module?! And the I-drive of my car is pre-Sep. Nav Professional, do anyone think mine will play MP3 after replace the computer?

Thanks

[wrestleSBA]

Hey guys,

I am going to try and use Nero 6 to do my burning. I was wondering if someone could give me what options they choose and don't choose and where they can be found.

Also what is everyone using to edit their MP3 tags? Any good programs out there?

Thanks

[tirtaps]

Originally Posted by wrestleSBA

Hey guys,

I am going to try and use Nero 6 to do my burning. I was wondering if someone could give me what options they choose and don't choose and where they can be found.

Also what is everyone using to edit their MP3 tags? Any good programs out there?

Thanks

I post nero settings I use in this topic:

no multissession mode
mode 1
ISO 9660 + Joliet
31 characters
character set (ISO): ASCII

I use kmp3 to edit (and find on internet) id tags

[wrestleSBA]

tirtaps,

Thanks it was actually your instructions that made me swap over to try Nero. However, I don't know where to select some of those options... I can find multisession and mode 1 but I am not sure where to change teh character settings. Thanks for the editing software too.

[greg2]

Some news.....got an email from my dealer today regarding the MP3 compatibility on Nav Pro. He reckons the CIP v20 DVD is available from the factory - they expect to get it end Dec/early January (its in the mail I believe!).

Other news - the dealer now has now reportedly got 100% confirmation from the plant that CIP 20 will play MP3s. So lets hold thumbs!

Will follow up later during the week to see if its arrived.

[RedStripe]

Thanks for the update! If this is true, then this will definitely be great Christmas news!

Originally Posted by greg

Some news.....got an email from my dealer today regarding the MP3 compatibility on Nav Pro. He reckons the CIP v20 DVD is available from the factory - they expect to get it end Dec/early January (its in the mail I believe!).

Other news - the dealer now has now reportedly got 100% confirmation from the plant that CIP 20 will play MP3s. So lets hold thumbs!

Will follow up later during the week to see if its arrived.

[Barry626]

Originally Posted by greg

Some news.....got an email from my dealer today regarding the MP3 compatibility on Nav Pro. He reckons the CIP v20 DVD is available from the factory - they expect to get it end Dec/early January (its in the mail I believe!).

Not sure what CIP v20 will be for but not for MP3. Maybe non Nav cars?
Cars with Navigation has to have CD changers to play MP3's.
I was @ my dealer today & got 19.2 update which finally gave me RDS.
Amazing enough it updated my "Profile" by adding my Lic. Plate #.
Anyway for 6 months since I bought my car going nuts trying
to get dealer to get me MP3.
Finally regional Manager came today & after many calls.
They confirm there are actually 2 different changers being installed.
One gives MP3 and other does not. Guess which most people been getting.
Long story short: they ordered me the correct CD Changer & we will see?
When new changer is installed & I get MP3's? I will post all info. here later.

[Costa]

Originally Posted by Barry626

Long story short: they ordered me the correct CD Changer & we will see?
When new changer is installed & I get MP3's? I will post all info. here later.

I think everyone will be very interested to see the outcome of this, because AFAIK, every CD drive ever produced has been capable of reading data off a CD disc, whether that data is raw music (.wav), MP3 or otherwise. How the software interprets and presents this data at the software application level is a different story.

Hence the only way that one CD player could play MP3 and not the other is if the drivers and application software for the two CD systems are different - which I am 99.9999999% sure is the case here.

Don't let the dealers sell you this BS story about MP3 being a hardware issue - ALL CD drives ever made are capable of reading MP3 data (the CD drive does not care - as far as it knows it's just all bits and bytes), but not all software is written with the capability to process all of the various music data and file formats stored on CDs ...

[seamoon]

Originally Posted by greg

Other news - the dealer now has now reportedly got 100% confirmation from the plant that CIP 20 will play MP3s. So lets hold thumbs!

Will follow up later during the week to see if its arrived.

sorry guys, but I´ve got bad news. Several guys got the sw update to CIP 20.0 and MP3 DOESN´T work. I´ve got the same MP3-problem, Nav-Bus. produktion date 04/2005 and I can´t play MP3 in the mounted DVD-player. Changer in the trunk is also unable to read such data. Regardig the Changer, IMHO Barry626 is right, ther are two different item# at the BMW sparepart catalouge; one number for the first generation (untill september 05) and one number for the second generation.
I don´t believe this crap will ever work...

merry x-mas so far...

seamoon

[cdxp]

Originally Posted by Costa

I think everyone will be very interested to see the outcome of this, because AFAIK, every CD drive ever produced has been capable of reading data off a CD disc, whether that data is raw music (.wav), MP3 or otherwise. How the software interprets and presents this data at the software application level is a different story.
..

Actually not quite true. Most CDRom drives come with an analogue and a digital output. Theoretically if they only bothered to plug through the analogue output cos they couldnt get digital to work it would only play "normal" audio CD data. Hard to see how they would do track navigation and disk changing without some kind of digital connection though.

If anyone has access to part numbers I would be interested to know what kind of 6 CD changer goes in with the Business Navi. That one works pre- and post September so why would they need a different changer for Pro-Navi ?

[jcoo085]

Originally Posted by cdxp

If anyone has access to part numbers I would be interested to know what kind of 6 CD changer goes in with the Business Navi. That one works pre- and post September so why would they need a different changer for Pro-Navi ?

As mentioned by myself and others in various threads, the hardware for business nav is completely different from professional nav. Also, as pointed out by Tierfreund in another thread, each system is also made by a different manufacturer. The business nav system is made by Harmann/Becker, whereas the the pro nav is made by SiemensVDO.

Originally Posted by Tierfreund (in another thread)

The Business nav is actually technically better (albeit with less features). It boots a lot faster, crashes less, calculates faster and has WAY better FM reception. It´s made by Harmann/Becker, one of the oldest and best manufacturers of mobile radios (and actually aviation navigation and communications equipment). The Prof Nav is made by Siemens (Or VDO or they may be the same, not sure), anyway by just another OEM and not good quality.

[greg2]

Originally Posted by seamoon

sorry guys, but I´ve got bad news. Several guys got the sw update to CIP 20.0 and MP3 DOESN´T work. I´ve got the same MP3-problem, Nav-Bus. produktion date 04/2005 and I can´t play MP3 in the mounted DVD-player. Changer in the trunk is also unable to read such data. Regardig the Changer, IMHO Barry626 is right, ther are two different item# at the BMW sparepart catalouge; one number for the first generation (untill september 05) and one number for the second generation.
I don´t believe this crap will ever work...

merry x-mas so far...

seamoon

Thats dissapointing to hear. Are these guys on the forum? I'd like to confirm that this is the case so we can finally stop wasting time with these false hopes and try find a solution to the real problem!

I have seen an October build car with Prof Nav and it plays MP3 through the front loading CD player (it didn't have a CD changer). Whether its got the same hardware as my pre-Sept car Im not sure. Theoretically, as a number of people have indicated, the MP3 can be decoded through software, so there should be no need to upgrade hardware, assuming the idrive system has enough processing power to decode mp3s and navigate at the same time! I thus eagerly await the CIP 20 upgrade and am very cautiously optimistic.

[Costa]

Originally Posted by cdxp

Actually not quite true. Most CDRom drives come with an analogue and a digital output. Theoretically if they only bothered to plug through the analogue output cos they couldnt get digital to work it would only play "normal" audio CD data. Hard to see how they would do track navigation and disk changing without some kind of digital connection though.

CDXP, I can confirm that although my car (with September build Prof Navi) cannot play MP3, BUT, it does display track information for normal CD tracks that are tagged using burner software. I have not sat down to tag all of my CD tracks, but a few have come up, so I think it is pretty safe to assume that BMW were not completely stupid, and are in fact using the digital output (phew).

Hence, as I said before, it is definitely a software issue. It must be a pretty serious problem/limitation they have run into, because it really is a pretty simple thing to decode MP3 and display song titles.

Someone else mentioned that maybe there is not enough CPU capacity to decode MP3 and do the NAV stuff. If that's the case, then BMW have CHOSEN to disable MP3 so that the whole computer system remains responsive - that would be pretty sad

Can anyone with post September Prof Navi comment on the responsiveness of the iDrive user interface, with and without MP3 and Navigation running ?

[nawtyxes]

my CCC was replaced last month due to the I-drive malfunctioning. I received CIP 19.2 and no it wont play mp3s. I just bought a 30 gig black video ipod, tired of waiting on this mp3 update and tired of burning audio cds.

[LEONE]

I have readed on post in Spain that BMW´s customer service called a client and told him to contact the dealer as the software update that allows navi-pro to play mp3 is from now available. I just called BMW Spain to confirm. The guy did not know and will call me back with an answer tomorrow.