|
|
|
|
|
|
BMW Garage | BMW Meets | Register | Search | Today's Posts | Mark Forums Read |
|
BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum
>
iPhone 5 compatibility issues with USB port in center console?
|
|
09-30-2012, 01:27 PM | #23 |
New Member
2
Rep 14
Posts |
Why do you guys plug in your iPhones anyway? Why not have an iPod hooked up in your center console...update it once in a while and you're good to go. Just have your iPhone connected via Bluetooth for contacts and phone calls. I understand you use Pandora/Spotify but is it impossible to wait 30 minutes to get to your destination and then turn it on...?
PS: you can sync iPod Touch wirelessly when you're home...so you don't even have to take it out of your car. |
Appreciate
0
|
09-30-2012, 04:15 PM | #24 |
Brigadier General
594
Rep 4,488
Posts |
^ Sometimes we actually need to charge our phones, and some of us prefer to reduce the number of electronic gadgets to keep track of, update, etc. I sell my previous iPhones or give them to family members when I upgrade, so I don't have spare iDevices lying around, which means I'd be buying an additional device to do what you suggest, just to avoid plugging an iPhone in occasionally? That minor convenience definitely isn't worth the monetary and maintenance cost of an additional iDevice for me.
Not sure what you mean about waiting 30 minutes to turn on Pandora though, but if you're suggesting waiting until you reach your destination to turn on Pandora (which you wanted to listen to in the car) it seems like you've missed the point. And whatever your point was there, since when has the standard been "Is it impossible to....?" These are all CONVENIENCE features. Of course it's not impossible, but that doesn't mean we don't want them. We don't NEED Comfort Access, rain-sensing wipers, one-touch windows, iDrive shortcut buttons, automatic headlamps, High Beam Assist, etc, but some of us still like and want all of the above.
__________________
'16 Cayman GT4 (delivery pics, comparison to E92 M3 write-up)
Gone but not forgotten: '11.75 M3 E92 Le Mans | Black Nov w/ Alum | 6MT (owned 5/2011 - 11/2015) Last edited by jphughan; 09-30-2012 at 04:27 PM.. |
Appreciate
0
|
10-01-2012, 01:23 PM | #25 |
New Member
2
Rep 14
Posts |
^ A bit sensitive are we? I'm just saying that this is not THAT important and I'm sure they will release a Y cable that will work. And hopefully no one will die without Pandora until then. BTW, you can still charge your iPhone 5 in your car. Need instructions?
If BMW will make a new Y cable, it will cost you $100+(which is about the same as used iPod Touch) because of apple's active pin technology that backed into your lightning cable. I'm not trying to sell iPod idea, I'm just saying there are alternative ways of doing things. |
Appreciate
0
|
10-04-2012, 04:24 PM | #26 | |
Brigadier General
594
Rep 4,488
Posts |
Quote:
__________________
'16 Cayman GT4 (delivery pics, comparison to E92 M3 write-up)
Gone but not forgotten: '11.75 M3 E92 Le Mans | Black Nov w/ Alum | 6MT (owned 5/2011 - 11/2015) |
|
Appreciate
0
|
10-07-2012, 04:10 AM | #27 |
Lieutenant Colonel
109
Rep 1,951
Posts |
So I'm a new BMW owner (09 328i) and just got an iPhone5 as well (long time iPhone user). My understand as it is now is that, using the black Y cable, you get steering wheel control of the attached iPhone (track skip forward/back) while line-level audio from the dock connector is sent to the AUX in. Is that correct? Or does the cable only serve to charge the phone while also getting line level aux out?
Next question: If you have an iPhone 5 and are currently using the USB lightning cable and a separate headphone cable to aux in, do you currently have track control? I ask because that's my setup now, and I don't. USB is basically useful only for charging for me at the moment. I'd like to have some degree of certainty that, if I get a Y cable AND the lightning to 30 pin adapter when it's out that it'll work as I expect, i.e. headunit control with audio input. |
Appreciate
0
|
11-15-2012, 04:03 PM | #28 |
Registered
0
Rep 4
Posts |
I have an iPhone5 and an 2009 E92.
Using the 30pin adapter as shown on that BMW report, definitely doesn't work. The only way to get my iPhone 5 playing music is using the aux input, which isn't ideal as it means I have to change track on the actual phone rather than on the BMW screen. |
Appreciate
0
|
11-15-2012, 06:11 PM | #29 | |
Lieutenant Colonel
109
Rep 1,951
Posts |
Quote:
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
11-16-2012, 06:40 PM | #30 | |
Registered
0
Rep 4
Posts |
Quote:
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
11-16-2012, 07:19 PM | #31 |
Lieutenant Colonel
109
Rep 1,951
Posts |
Now, this may be a stupid question, but you've tried using the cable WITHOUT the adapter - with an older model iPod or iPhone, right? There are certainly fake or otherwise ineffective BMW Y cables out there.
Full disclosure, if you're into the technical aspects: the 30pin connector has USB, analog audio out, and two pins (TX/RX) of RS232 serial bus on it (and other pins, but not relevant here). Lightning is its own bus and format, with electronics in the plug to translate to other things like USB. In the case of the 30pin adapter, it has translation chips for USB, RS232, and a DAC to output audio on the aux out. The Y cable from BWM, rather than doing all the audio and control transmission over USB as in newer Hyundais and the F30s with 'advanced bluetooth' has the aux plug wired straight to the aux out on the 30 pin connector, and a USB-RS232 chip. It presents as a serial port to the computer controlling the show (I'm pretty sure it's embedded linux, definitely running in the MULF unit whatever it is), and the computer sends serial commands for track play/skip/control to the connected iPod. So needless to say, in the translation from MULF to RS232 chip to RS232 lightning chip to iPhone, there's a LOT of stuff that can go wrong. My theory is that sometimes, if you leave the adapter cable plugged in, the RS232-Lightning chip in the cable remains powered by being plugged into the car, which could put it into an indeterminate state where it can't talk over the lightning bus and thus can't produce good replies to the car's electronics, but it CAN still talk to the car's electronics, confusing the car. Again, I'm not sure if that's the cause, but that's why I suggest unplugging/replugging stuff arbitrarily. But alas, if you've never tested your Y cable with a normal ipod, there's a lot of chance you simply have a bum Y cable. |
Appreciate
0
|
11-18-2012, 04:16 PM | #32 |
Registered
0
Rep 4
Posts |
Thanks for taking the time to reply Alex, it's appreciated.
The Y cable I'm using is the same one I used for my iPhone 4 so the cable definitely works. All I've literally done is added the adapter and plugged in my iPhone 5. |
Appreciate
0
|
11-18-2012, 04:21 PM | #33 |
Private First Class
9
Rep 166
Posts |
Bluetooth streaming is also a great solution. I like being able to change songs on the iPhone directly as it's quicker for me that using the BMW audio interface. I can also stream Pandora this way. Here's my recent thread on adding this functionality;
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=771045 |
Appreciate
0
|
11-18-2012, 05:42 PM | #34 |
Lieutenant Colonel
109
Rep 1,951
Posts |
Yeah, I specifically prefer to have the steering controls. It prevents me from having to use the phone probably 8/10 times I'd otherwise have to, which is definitely preferable. And there's sound quality.
I may try to custom-design a Bluetooth dongle for the Y cable that allows track control etc etc and has good quality, but then I like my current wired situation, so I may not. |
Appreciate
0
|
03-24-2013, 09:37 AM | #35 |
Private
16
Rep 78
Posts |
Do this
__________________
|
Appreciate
0
|
Bookmarks |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|