[nyc3r]

Looks nice, now just want to see it work on a us spec car and final cost before deciding.

[MusicMan]

Originally Posted by Jackdaw

Also, I'll be testing it soon with a large hard drive to see how responsive it can be. It's no slower with an 80 GB Ipod than the system is with an MP3 cd and so I'm cautiously optimistic it can handle a 250GB hardrive.

Jackdaw,
Have you had a chance to test the 250GB hardrive?

[Jackdaw]

Originally Posted by MusicMan

Jackdaw,
Have you had a chance to test the 250GB hardrive?

Yes - I've tried a Freecom Toughdrive Pro 250 GB http://www.freecom.com/ecproduct_det...sCatID=1146191
As this is bus powered I was hoping that the GW500 could power it. However, it is just on the cusp of sufficient power - sometimes it spins up other times it doesn't. I need to wire up a power adaptor but I just haven't had the time.
As for speed: it was building a database at about 1GB a minute. However, I was able to play files by browsing folders while it was doing this. I wasn't able to maintain sufficient power long enough for it to finish. I'm hoping to sort out power soon but rarely get home in time to do it.
The database is built on the hard drive in the form of .bin files. I have suggested to Dension that they make a PC utility to build this before a drive is connected. I can't think of any reason why this could not easily be done. I am waiting for a response from them. It seems idiotic that they thought it was preferable for the database to be built on the fly.

[zenmaster]

Originally Posted by Jackdaw

As for speed: it was building a database at about 1GB a minute.

Are you sure it is scanning the entire file and not just reading the file name and tags when building the database?

[fidozoom]

This sounds really awesome. I have some questions though:
1. Can this be installed so that I can plug in my ipod and USB key from within the car instead of from the trunk - I use my IPod in other places and like to keep it handy. So basically can I install the gateway unit inside the car somewhere or are the wires long enough for me to plug in the ipod from inside the car (for a 335i sedan).
2. Are there any MOST ports where I can plug this into, inside the car?
3. Can you please compare this to the dealer installed ipod solution?

THanks!

[zenmaster]

$450 here. AFAIK, this is the only product that interfaces your iDrive to large USB hard drives. If they solve their indexing speed problem, I'll buy it.

[baltik]

Jackdaw - what is the approximate wait between starting up the car and the ipod playing music + navigation being functional?

[Jackdaw]

Originally Posted by baltik

Jackdaw - what is the approximate wait between starting up the car and the ipod playing music + navigation being functional?

The first time ever the Ipod was attached it was about a minute.
Since then, even if I've disconected it and reconnected it, the delay is the same as with a CD. This always varied on my car, probably because I have comfort access. I would say on average about 5 seconds, but sometimes almost instant, other times 10 seconds. No change really from how it's always been.

[Jackdaw]

1. Can this be installed so that I can plug in my ipod and USB key from within the car instead of from the trunk - I use my IPod in other places and like to keep it handy. So basically can I install the gateway unit inside the car somewhere or are the wires long enough for me to plug in the ipod from inside the car (for a 335i sedan).
2. Are there any MOST ports where I can plug this into, inside the car?

You can install it wherever you like as long as there is access to the MOST cable. The MOST cables are going into and out of the HU and so you could install it in the glovebox. I do not have the BMW wiring CD to tell you how to access the cables there but others on this forum have it.
The cables are not long enough to run from the boot (trunk) to the front of the car. USB is on a standard male to female USB extension lead and so you could buy a longer one. The Ipod lead goes to a mini-DIN so you get an extension for this from an electronics shop.

3. Can you please compare this to the dealer installed ipod solution?

I don't have this. However, there are lots of posts about it here for you to form your own view.

[babba]

Jackdaw, which version of the iDrive software are you running? I have a March 2005 E90 and cannot get MP3 working on either the CD, DVD or CDC. Perhaps I am burning the disk incorrectly but I have been updated to v26 due to lots of CCC issues.

Did you have MP3 capability before the GW500? Do you access the GW500 as if it is the CDC and then it behaves as if it is an MP3 set of disks?

It sounds so much better than using the iPOD and Aux Input, having no control over the track selection. I'm jealous but worried that not having MP3 capability will stop the GW500 from working.

Thanks for the photos, and I prefer your setup (having iPOD in boot). Maybe see you at a meet and get to see the setup in the metal.

[ntpcrew13]

Originally Posted by babba

Jackdaw, which version of the iDrive software are you running? I have a March 2005 E90 and cannot get MP3 working on either the CD, DVD or CDC. Perhaps I am burning the disk incorrectly but I have been updated to v26 due to lots of CCC issues.

Did you have MP3 capability before the GW500? Do you access the GW500 as if it is the CDC and then it behaves as if it is an MP3 set of disks?

It sounds so much better than using the iPOD and Aux Input, having no control over the track selection. I'm jealous but worried that not having MP3 capability will stop the GW500 from working.

Thanks for the photos, and I prefer your setup (having iPOD in boot). Maybe see you at a meet and get to see the setup in the metal.

i have a pre sept 2005 e90 and i did not have the the option to play mp3 cds until i brought it in for a software update. check the forum for the TIS bulletin and you can bring it in to the dealer to get it updated without hassle.

[Jackdaw]

Jackdaw, which version of the iDrive software are you running? I have a March 2005 E90 and cannot get MP3 working on either the CD, DVD or CDC. Perhaps I am burning the disk incorrectly but I have been updated to v26 due to lots of CCC issues.

Babba - my car is in fact a March 2005 build. I did not have mp3 capability until I insisted on this being enabled in a software update at Williams in Manchester and so Williams in Bolton can do this too. I think you have to specifically request this during the update. There is no reason why a March 2005 car cannot play mp3's after the mp3 software update. It is not a hardware problem, it's purely software related. They did this for free for me because I kicked off on the basis that the user manual said that the professional head unit could play mp3's. After the update I could play mp3's on CD, DVD and CDC. Just be insistent with the dealer, don't be fobbed off and they'll do it.

I don't know whether it would work without the update. I wouldn't take the chance. If Williams fob you off then PM me and I'll give you my details so you can prove it can be done to them.

[Jackdaw]

I've sorted out the power to my USB 250GB Freecom Toughdrive. I'm not sure that you could use a 3.5 inch hard drive because you need the drive to be turned on by a USB signal from the GW500. The Toughdrive has a DC connector for power boost but it still requires a USB signal to turn on and off. The advantage of this was that I could run the power straight from the battery to a female cigar socket. I am using this adaptor from Maplin to get 5 volts: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...0power&doy=2m8

The only problem is that the database build is painfully slow.
This is not a showstopper for me because I can browse the file structure on the hard drive within a minute or two. Luckily, my mp3's are all in a rationally sorted folder structure: Letter\Artist\Album\mp3's, e.g. P\Pavement\Crooked Rain\mp3's. However, because it is still frantically building a database, there can be delay of between 1 to 10 seconds when entering a folder, during which time the "please wait while the cd contents etc." message is displayed. Also ID3 tags are not displayed correctly for the mp3 that is playing until this has been scanned in the database build. Until then it is just the filename. Once a track is selected all successive tracks are played. When it comes to the end it starts playing the tracks in the next sub-folder and so on.
The real lunacy of the database build is that it appears to start from scratch each time the ignition is turned on. This may be because it has never completed the scan owing to the size of the drive.
Also, there is a tendency for the source to have reverted to FM after powering off. I'm not sure whether this is a fault of the Dension or not because this used to occur with the CDC too.
Overall, Ipod functionality is excellent, large USB drive is alright but not as good as it should be. All Dension have to do is scrap the dynamic scan of ID3 tags and let the user create the database on a PC before attaching the drive to the GW500.

[shanmand]

I installed the GW500 on Monday this week. I installed it on the passenger side front panel under the cubby. The cable, USB and AUX are all mounted inside the cubby. I will take photos over the weekend and post them.

First impressions:

Initially the firmware that was shipped with it did not work as expected; it would recognise the GW500 as a non-mp3 compatible CD and only showed 99 tracks. With help from Jackdaw I installed the BMW specific firmware and now it works like a charm.

When you unlock the car the MOST switches on the GW500 and if the iPOD is connected it is put on standby. If the iPOD is not on standby mode, the GW500 starts the iPOD in shuffle mode. The playback is instantaneous, the speed is almost like the DVD Drive.

Whatever song that was playing before the iPOD was connected to the GW500 it resumes from where it was left off.

The display shows on the name of the track playing. If detail is enabled then the first line shows the artist and album and the second line shows the track name.

At the bottom it shows CD5 and the track position. These are grouped into pages and 50 tracks per page. Thus if you're on a playlist that has 120 tracks, you then have 3 pages and if you're looking for track number 110 on the current playlist you'd then go to page 3 track 10. If you have 10000 tracks and you're looking for track 9989, you'd have to go to page 200 and select track number 39. (You'd wish that you had studied your 50 multiplication table ).

The playlists work exactly like on the iPOD. Selecting tracks sometimes seems faster than selecting them on the iPOD's click-wheel.

I have not used any USB HDD with it I have only used the USB 2GB pen and the load speed is approximately 0.01 second

Some issues encountered:

My car's MOST takes about 5 minutes to shut down; sometimes if I return to the car before it shuts down the display on the HU gets stuck on the last track that was playing before exiting the car. In those circumstances rebooting the HU seems to solve the issue. I'm not sure if this is caused by the GW500 starting up faster than the HU.

The GW500 does not remember the last playlist selected when scrolling down the list. There is a builtin 15 seconds auto return to currently playing track, if you get disturbed while scrolling down the list you have to start again from scratch. This behaviour is different from the iPOD's which remembers the last position you were on before it returned to currently playing display.

[babba]

Jackdaw, I have had my CCC replaced twice and other parts (power distribution etc) replaced as well. They have reloaded and updated the software atleast 5 times and on each occasion I have requested that they did the MP3 retrofit. Now as I said, it might be me burning the MP3 incorrectly (any tips?) but I think that they have not done the MP3.

I always find Williams Bolton (ex Ian Anthony) will forget to do something on a service, they never ever get it right, but in this case it has been Bowker in Preston. I will be gutted to have to take it in for another software update as they invariably have it for 3 or 4 days.

Cheers

[nyc3r]

anyone know who can install this in NY?

[baltik]

Jackdaw - one more question on the dension page there is a video adapter as well have you had a chance to stream video from your ipod or dvd player by chance?

[zenmaster]

Originally Posted by baltik

Jackdaw - one more question on the dension page there is a video adapter as well have you had a chance to stream video from your ipod or dvd player by chance?

There is no streaming with this video adapter. Its input is the i-pod mini dock connector, and the outputs are L/R stereo and video RCA connectors - the physical video source is a composite signal (analog).

[xcalibr]

Originally Posted by zenmaster

There is no streaming with this video adapter. Its input is the i-pod mini dock connector, and the outputs are L/R stereo and video RCA connectors - the physical video source is a composite signal (analog).

Then you connect those to some kind of monitor --if you have the nav2go unit, it'd be perfect... I've been waiting for this thing to be e90 compatible...

[drkeng]

Where's the radio unit in E93? Do you have to remove the shelf that the top rests on in the trunk. I remember when I installed bluetooth in my E46, the radio unit was behind the left rear seat and we had to pull out the entire trunk liner to get to it. I'm thinking about seeing if Abt Electronics would be interested in getting the Dension.

[ntpcrew13]

Originally Posted by drkeng

Where's the radio unit in E93? Do you have to remove the shelf that the top rests on in the trunk. I remember when I installed bluetooth in my E46, the radio unit was behind the left rear seat and we had to pull out the entire trunk liner to get to it. I'm thinking about seeing if Abt Electronics would be interested in getting the Dension.

let us know if abt gets it. thanks.

[Jackdaw]

I have identified a further problem with USB hard drives. Because the database build is so slow, the GW500 will sometimes create a corrupt entry in the hard drive's database if the ingnition is turned off and on without the MOST system shutting down properly. This can cause the GW500 to hang which puts it into passive mode causing the CD changer to come back online. If the hard drive is disconnected all is well. Similarly if the .bin files on the hard drive are deleted then the hard drive can be reconnected.
I spoke to Dension today and they have confirmed that they will create a PC utility to build the database on a PC before connection.