[325iA]

Hi,

Found this ad on ebay in Germany. As far as I can understand Deutsch (german) it integrates the ipod with the standard BMW radio's. You can browse your ipod from the steering wheel and it displays the tags on the radiodisplay. Maybe our german e90post friends can confirm it's the interface we 've all been waiting for.

[Jibber]

Originally Posted by Imperial

dunno if I missed it in the article, but cars can be updated with this system, right? I mean, you don't have to have it built-in to the car, right?

Yes this is an upgrade.

If the price isn't outrageous I'll be all over this.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by hkj

Take your CD collection and encode them in any lossless format you want and play on iPod. It will be identical to your CD. The only downside is the filesize is going to be considerable larger than a typically encoded (128kbps to 256kbps) mp3. But this is why I have a 60gig iPod.



My point exactly. Hence I encode my own songs at high quality.

-hkj

Yes, I know. That's the problem with MP3, the compression.
If you want to keep high quality sound, then you have to keep file sizes larger, which then negates the whole portability issue.
Granted, storage is getting cheaper, but it'll be some time yet before we get better and cheaper.
I like CD's, and the new SACD is even better and would kill even a modest 60gig hard drive.

For me it's not cumbersome to carry CD's in my car.
That's why I dislike BMW's insistence on single CD players.
Everyone else can manage a 6CD changer in the dash except BMW.
Darn shame. iPod is no substitute for that.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by marmite

I've no doubt that is true, but for many including myself the subtle quality decrease is acceptable over the pure HiFi of CD's - besides if you are after Hi Fidelity - surely road noise + wind noise + traffic are all far more of a factor than the effect of frequency cancellation in the mp3 algorithm ??

NO, they are not. The extraneous "noise" of the road or tires is "heard" as not part of the musical content, and is thus perceived as "noise". The problem with MP3 is that you have a degradation of the audio frequency itself, that is perceived as a loss of audio quality.

The noise is not an equal consequence to the CD quality, as much as the compression algorythm used.

iPod is a storage device and as such will carry that much data.
You can have 1 song that takes up all the space or 1000 songs that take up all the space. Point is, you have a limited space, and if you are impressed more so with carrying 10,000 songs of poor quality audio vs. 100 songs of true fidelity, then one is trading quantity for quality. The problem is that most people opt for the quantity.

There are a LOT of people both young and old that don't have a reference of what good audio quality is. The younger market has been told how great having 10,000 songs on the go is and their point of reference is the MP3 compressed file format. So, they may not know what they are missing to begin with.
I just hope cheap and fast storage space will come quickly along with better compression algorythmns before we have a generation of people who have either never heard a "hi-fidelity" recording, or have forgotten what it truly sounds like.

BTW, people have tried to tell me there is "no" to "very little" difference in the sound quality. Well, there is, by definition even of what "compression" does, the quality can be quite poor.

[Rocket850]

Are you going to carry 200 plus audio CD's in your car??? It’s called compromise. BMW doesn't have high end audio anyway so I'm not sure what the issue is. Throw in road noise and other distractions and I can handle MP3 quality with the flexibility of having thousands of songs at my finger tips.

[LEDZEP]

Jonathan, that is great news indeed! Thanks for the scoop!

My present setup is pretty decent, with the Monster connections and charger, and I just ordered the Air Click so I can flip through tracks on the iPod without weaving all over the road... but this integration will be awesome! I hope they don't make it ridiculously expensive. I'd probably pay $300, but if it's more than that I would have to give it serious thought.

[BMWBMW]

No, they offer this for the E90. I talked to the Passport service department and they explained that they place the iPod connection through the glove compartment and you can control and see the actual songs on the radio screen.

[3aficionado]

I wonder if they are going to do away with the AUX input if someone chooses the iPod integration. I would like to have both just in case I want to plug something other than an iPod into my car in the future.

[spanna2000]

Replying to the napster query - napster to go works with players that have the windows media player "plays for sure" logo - i have a zen micro and download my tunes to that - as long as I pay the subscription every month I can choose as much music as I can be bothered to download

[gr8sho]

Originally Posted by RPM90

Yes, I know. That's the problem with MP3, the compression.
If you want to keep high quality sound, then you have to keep file sizes larger, which then negates the whole portability issue.
Granted, storage is getting cheaper, but it'll be some time yet before we get better and cheaper.
I like CD's, and the new SACD is even better and would kill even a modest 60gig hard drive.

For me it's not cumbersome to carry CD's in my car.
That's why I dislike BMW's insistence on single CD players.
Everyone else can manage a 6CD changer in the dash except BMW.
Darn shame. iPod is no substitute for that.

256bit encoded MP3s are quite good. Most of my 500GB plus library is setup that way.

[330eye]

Originally Posted by mrbelk

Where did you see that? The press release didn't mention anything about it replacing devices on the bus. Is there some other place with more details than the PR?



-MrB

If you go to the link and look at what models are supported it shows that the 2006 3 series will not be 100% compatible. It maybe as someone suggested that the site may not be current. I wait for a while to see who correct.

[3aficionado]

Originally Posted by 330eye

If you go to the link and look at what models are supported it shows that the 2006 3 series will not be 100% compatible. It maybe as someone suggested that the site may not be current. I wait for a while to see who correct.

My guess on that is only iDrive cars will be able to get this interface. Put the info you found together with the PR only listing 3,5,6,7 series vehicles. 5,6,7 all have iDrive as standard equipment and it will only be available on some 2006 3 series (some being the iDrive 3 series ).

This is just a guess.

[bsjd00]

A lot of people (rightly) focus on the compression of the music source, but don't forget there is another consideration - the digital to analog convertor in the iPod.

It will be interesting to see how the iPod actually connects through this BMW kit. If it is through the headphone jack, you will still have a loss of quality from the digital to analog conversion.

The best setup would be using the USB port of the iPod to connect into the BMW kit. That way you pipe a pure digital signal into the car. I'm not holding my breath though...

[hkj]

Originally Posted by RPM90

That's the problem with MP3, the compression

While I do agree that MP3 is a "lossy" compression, I don't agree "compression" is the problem for audio quality.

Compression doesn't equate to loss of quality. There are lossless compression algorithms. For example, any file compression tools (e.g. winzip) you use are lossless. Similiarly, there are lossless audio compression algorithms.

But anyway, I digress, this is going off topic.

Originally Posted by RPM90

If you want to keep high quality sound, then you have to keep file sizes larger, which then negates the whole portability issue.
Granted, storage is getting cheaper, but it'll be some time yet before we get better and cheaper.
I like CD's, and the new SACD is even better and would kill even a modest 60gig hard drive.

A CD stores, what, 750MB of data, correct?

Assuming every single one of your audio CD is filled to last byte (which is a gross overestimation), and assuming you do not want to compress anything (despite having lossless compression audio formats available), a 60gig iPod allows you to carry nearly 80 CDs.

Carrying 80CDs to my car or carrying a tiny iPod? I think I'll take the latter.


What if my CD collection is huge? Like, say, 1000 CDs?

Well, unless you're gonna store 1000 CDs in the trunk of your car, you're going to have to keep everything in your shelf and only carry a select few to your car anyway. So, same thing here, pick 80 CDs and load them to your iPod. You can reload them anytime you want.

Again, iPod seems to beat CD solution in every aspect.

I don't own any SACDs, and I dont' know if your car plays SACDs. How much data do they hold? 5GB?

Again, even with my "anti-iPod" assumption, and assuming E90 plays SACDs, the iPod still holds 12 SACDs. I think I'd rather carry an iPod than carry 12 SACDs to my car.

Either way there's no quality disadvantage in using iPod, and it sure is a lot more convenient than carrying all those (SA)CDs.

From where I came from, this sure looks like a substution for a 6-disc CD changer (or, rather, a way better solution).



BTW I don't intend to start an ipod vs CD changer debate here. I'm just pointing out, that, if these concerns were the reason you held back on iPod, you might want to look into the "iPod craze" again as these aren't real problems with iPod.

-hkj

[3aficionado]

Originally Posted by bsjd00

A lot of people (rightly) focus on the compression of the music source, but don't forget there is another consideration - the digital to analog convertor in the iPod.

It will be interesting to see how the iPod actually connects through this BMW kit. If it is through the headphone jack, you will still have a loss of quality from the digital to analog conversion.

The best setup would be using the USB port of the iPod to connect into the BMW kit. That way you pipe a pure digital signal into the car. I'm not holding my breath though...

If this is full integration as the PR claims and it allows charging of the iPod, changing of tracks, browsing playlists, etc then it would be using the connection on the bottom of the iPod. That would mean fully digital music.

[Mark]

Here are some images of the system in action...

[gr8sho]

Originally Posted by 330eye

If you go to the link and look at what models are supported it shows that the 2006 3 series will not be 100% compatible. It maybe as someone suggested that the site may not be current. I wait for a while to see who correct.

Worldwide, not all E90s are built with MOST. Those would be excluded from this offering. US-spec cars will be fine.

[bsjd00]

Originally Posted by 3aficionado

If this is full integration as the PR claims and it allows charging of the iPod, changing of tracks, browsing playlists, etc then it would be using the connection on the bottom of the iPod. That would mean fully digital music.

Hmmm, judging by those pictures it does use the connector at the bottom of the iPod. So it seems this setup will really be true digital from iPod to BMW?

If that's true, listening to a WAV file on the iPod should sound identical to a WAV file on a CD, with no digital to analog conversion being done on the iPod...

[SCA]

Originally Posted by Jibber

If the price isn't outrageous I'll be all over this.

+1

[irowharderthanyou]

Originally Posted by RPM90

MP3?
Why bother, may as well burn REAL quality songs and get much better sound then MP3.

That's the reason why I haven't taken to the "iPod" craze.
MP3 files simply do NOT sound as good as a CD.
It's good file for when jogging or excercising, but when I'm in my car and I've spent hundreds or thousands on "hi-fidelity" equipment, that last thing I want is poor quality sound source.

Encode your files in apple lossless format; that way you will have the same quality as the original cd and you can listen to it on an ipod.

EDIT: I didn't see the posts on the topic that i just covered. The others beat me to it.

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by BMWBMW

Hi! New guy here....330i waiting to be shipped.
Passport BMW is offering the exact same installation for $299 installed.

No, that is incorrect. They are not.

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by p307

Hi,

Found this ad on ebay in Germany. As far as I can understand Deutsch (german) it integrates the ipod with the standard BMW radio's. You can browse your ipod from the steering wheel and it displays the tags on the radiodisplay. Maybe our german e90post friends can confirm it's the interface we 've all been waiting for.

Was something not clear about my post (the first one in this thread?)

The MOST ipod adapter was unveiled today. It is not being sold yet. It is being introduced in the BMW NA market first. Your link is not for the MOST adapter.