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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > AUDIO/VIDEO + BLUETOOTH + Electronics/Alarm/Software > iPhone 5 compatibility issues with USB port in center console?



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      09-30-2012, 01:27 PM   #23
HENNK
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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.
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      09-30-2012, 04:15 PM   #24
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^ 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.
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      10-01-2012, 01:23 PM   #25
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^ 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.
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      10-04-2012, 04:24 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hennadiyk View Post
^ 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.
Not sensitive at all, just making a point. While BMW might make a new Y-cable with a native Lightning connector, I doubt it. Given that they stopped producing cars that used Y-cables over two years ago, I suspect their answer will just be for owners of those cars with iPhone 5s to get the normal Y-cable and attach one of the Lightning adapters Apple offers (which includes the authenticator chip and active pin management) to the dock end. That will get you charging and analog audio output.
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      10-07-2012, 04:10 AM   #27
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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.
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      11-15-2012, 04:03 PM   #28
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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.
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      11-15-2012, 06:11 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maybes View Post
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.
You might be running into the same problems a bunch of iphone 5 owners have been experiencing. Basically, BMW's implementation of iPod Accessory Protocol is really crappy (for that matter, they've only done the right thing and used the proper USB protocol in the 'advanced Bluetooth' option in the newest cars). Unplugging and replugging the adapter, y cable, and phone seems to sort out the lack of recognition.
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      11-16-2012, 06:40 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexwhittemore View Post
You might be running into the same problems a bunch of iphone 5 owners have been experiencing. Basically, BMW's implementation of iPod Accessory Protocol is really crappy (for that matter, they've only done the right thing and used the proper USB protocol in the 'advanced Bluetooth' option in the newest cars). Unplugging and replugging the adapter, y cable, and phone seems to sort out the lack of recognition.
Tried that a few times, still non the wiser. Rrrrrrrrrrr
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      11-16-2012, 07:19 PM   #31
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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.
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      11-18-2012, 04:16 PM   #32
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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.
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      11-18-2012, 04:21 PM   #33
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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
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      11-18-2012, 05:42 PM   #34
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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.
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      03-24-2013, 09:37 AM   #35
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Do this

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=819305

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