Music Sources

[Samurai of 2day]

I started this thread under "General BMW News And Discussions", but after 260+ views, and no replies, I thought I would move my discussion here because most of us are driving the same car, so you would have more insight regarding this matter.... so here goes...

Good Afternoon all,

I am starting this thread just to get an idea of some of your experiences with the different music sources you can use while driving the latest style 6 series.

Question / Situation 1: I just picked up a 2013 650i GC on Feb 28. Should I have gotten Satellite Radio automatically? Was I supposed to ask for it to be activated? Is it only available with certain entertainment packages? I ask because I apparently do not have Satellite Radio available in my car at this time.

Question / Situation 2: When I use the iPod connection located in the armrest console, it works just fine when I connect the iPod touch, but when I try to connect my old iPod (original model with the non-color screen),
the iDrive system cannot seem to recognize the original iPod. Has anyone else tried to connect an older iPod with success? I used to be able to connect with either of my iPods in my 2009 X6 before I traded up. I have also tried to connect the old iPod to the USB port located in the Glove Box, but still no luck. I can't even transfer music from the old iPod to the car's Hard Drive. Wouldn't the old iPod work as an External Hard Drive, if not as a recognizable "iPod"?

If anyone could share some advice on connecting older music devices, or storing music on the Car's Internal Storage Device, I would highly appreciate it. I have a vast collection of music from many sources stored on that thing, so doing the whole "iTunes sync" is not an option for me. Also, If you could chime in about my lack of Satellite Radio, please do. I am starting to get the impression that I should have it available for the 1st year of driving, after reading some other posts on this Forum

Thanks in advance!
__________________

Too smart for my own good...

[dsad1]

I have no clue if the older ipod works with the car, but there is a good amount of software that would get your music off the ipod.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by djsaad1

I have no clue if the older ipod works with the car, but there is a good amount of software that would get your music off the ipod.

Thank you. I was thinking of doing that, just was being lazy... lol. I can always follow your recommendation if worst come to worst.... but I am wondering if anyone else has tried to connect an older style iPod, because I don't understand why it wouldn't be recognized as an External Hard Drive, capable of transferring music to the car's drive, if it can't be recognized as an actual iPod...?

What about Satelite radio...? Any idea why I dont have have the ability to select that option on my iDrive Screen? Maybe it just isn't an option for me, but some other forum members are saying that "1 year free on new BMW purchases"

[ARam]

Originally Posted by Samurai of 2day

Thank you. I was thinking of doing that, just was being lazy... lol. I can always follow your recommendation if worst come to worst.... but I am wondering if anyone else has tried to connect an older style iPod, because I don't understand why it wouldn't be recognized as an External Hard Drive, capable of transferring music to the car's drive, if it can't be recognized as an actual iPod...?

What about Satelite radio...? Any idea why I dont have have the ability to select that option on my iDrive Screen? Maybe it just isn't an option for me, but some other forum members are saying that "1 year free on new BMW purchases"

Samurai!! When i picked up my GC on April 19th it was activated. Sales tells me it's free for a full year.

It's the first time that i use this Technology inside a car and i think is pure GARBAGE.... A lot of drop signals for anything.... Even if a bird fly near your roof the music cuts off.. Better spent the money on a membership SPOTIFY ($9.99 a month) or PANDORA ($3.99 a month) on your iPhone... Music doesn't cut off because it's advance prefetched to the OS system.. just make sure you have a unlimited data plan on the iPhone..

As for and old iPod being not recognized, i cant tell you because i do not own old iPOD but i would suggest you use an 500GB or 1000GB hard drive with music... just make sure you know how to export them from your iTunes library to the external usb drive to retain the PLAYLIST.... It will work just like the OLD ipod.

[m630]

Originally Posted by Samurai of 2day

Thank you. I was thinking of doing that, just was being lazy... lol. I can always follow your recommendation if worst come to worst.... but I am wondering if anyone else has tried to connect an older style iPod, because I don't understand why it wouldn't be recognized as an External Hard Drive, capable of transferring music to the car's drive, if it can't be recognized as an actual iPod...?

What about Satelite radio...? Any idea why I dont have have the ability to select that option on my iDrive Screen? Maybe it just isn't an option for me, but some other forum members are saying that "1 year free on new BMW purchases"

Regarding Sat radio, you would have had to have purchased it as an option to get the 1yr subscription covered, its only included if you choose the option to purchase Sat radio. The premium sound package includes SAT radio as part of the option for example.

Also, if you have CDs, you can store them in the car's internal storage, there is an option when you insert the CD to store internal..

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by ARam

Samurai!! When i picked up my GC on April 19th it was activated. Sales tells me it's free for a full year.

It's the first time that i use this Technology inside a car and i think is pure GARBAGE.... A lot of drop signals for anything.... Even if a bird fly near your roof the music cuts off.. Better spent the money on a membership SPOTIFY ($9.99 a month) or PANDORA ($3.99 a month) on your iPhone... Music doesn't cut off because it's advance prefetched to the OS system.. just make sure you have a unlimited data plan on the iPhone..

As for and old iPod being not recognized, i cant tell you because i do not own old iPOD but i would suggest you use an 500GB or 1000GB hard drive with music... just make sure you know how to export them from your iTunes library to the external usb drive to retain the PLAYLIST.... It will work just like the OLD ipod.

Thanks for the heads up, ARam. It's a shame to hear the BMW satellite receiver is not is not living up to expectations, but listening to you, sounds like I'm not missing much without it. I will continue using my iPod to rock out to. Thanks again!

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by m630

Regarding Sat radio, you would have had to have purchased it as an option to get the 1yr subscription covered, its only included if you choose the option to purchase Sat radio. The premium sound package includes SAT radio as part of the option for example.

Also, if you have CDs, you can store them in the car's internal storage, there is an option when you insert the CD to store internal..

That's the technological reasoning I needed to put this issue behind me. I will go over the list to see if the premium sound package was optioned for my car, which i believe it is. I know i don't have the B&O system, but either way, this car does many other things well, so i can't complain.

[ibimmer954]

Does the satellite radio option even show up in the menu of choices? If not then either you don't have the option or it isn't working properly. If it is there, you should have access to the generic "buy Sirius" channel. Select the "all channels" option. Then select one of the other stations. The radio will show you your ESN and a phone number to call to activate the service. You need to call Sirius and activate directly. The dealer doesn't do that anymore.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by ibimmer346

Does the satellite radio option even show up in the menu of choices? If not then either you don't have the option or it isn't working properly. If it is there, you should have access to the generic "buy Sirius" channel. Select the "all channels" option. Then select one of the other stations. The radio will show you your ESN and a phone number to call to activate the service. You need to call Sirius and activate directly. The dealer doesn't do that anymore.

You are right. The satellite radio i option doesn't even show up on my iDrive screen so i must not have it. Thanks for the clarification. I will just use the iPod touch and my phone whenever I am in the need for some tunes!

[ibimmer954]

Also, it shows up when you select the "Radio" option. (FM/AM/Satellite/etc). Not the Media option.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by ibimmer346

Also, it shows up when you select the "Radio" option. (FM/AM/Satellite/etc). Not the Media option.

Interesting.... I may need to look into that... I always just go strait to the "presets" tab when i use the radio, which is actually very rare. I was about to give up on satellite radio, but you just pointed out a function that i haven't explored yet. Thanks a lot!

[Reeses83]

In the US the Sat radio is part of the premium sound package. I'm not sure what sound package you have but if you opted for an upgraded sound system you should have Sat radio.

[Samurai of 2day]

Hey everyone,

I am bringing up my old thread because I ran into a problem with my iPod connectivity last night.

I know most of you likely just stream music from you phones or just listen to your favorite Satelite Radio station, but when I drive, 98% of the time I connect my iPod touch, and let the tues flow, and I can rewind/skip track at will.

Yesterday, for some reason, my iPod connection under the arm rest seems to be malfunctioning. The track info shows on the iDrive Screen, and so does the album art, but there is no audio.

The CD/DVD player works fine, and so does the radio, but I can't seem to get the audio from my iPod, even though the album art and track info is displyed like normal. I am using the standard, white iPod connection cable, not the "Y" cable I used to use in my former X6.

If anyone has seen this problem come up, and or know a fix to this, please let me know. I got spoiled with the thousands of songs stored on my iPod, so driving without it is not as fun I guess. Beisdes, it worked just fine the entire time I had this car, and I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, so any insight as to what I might have done, or what I can do to fix this problem and prevent it from happening again, would be higly appreciated.

[Kjennern]

Just a little tip, the latest Spotify app integrates with the iDrive. All you need is the BMW Apps feature. Start Spotify and connect your phone with cable. It should show up under Multimedia. Browse playlists etc works fine

[Bönz]

did you try headphones to make sure it's not the iPod?

[Downfourit]

It may be your USB cable, worst case it is the connector on the Ipod itself. Plug it into a computer with the same cable as in the car and try it out, replace the cable and try it again in the car.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by Bönz

did you try headphones to make sure it's not the iPod?

Definitely. My iPod seems to working just fine, because I can get audio with or without the headphones. I think the problem is USB related.

I will try connecting to vis USB to my tablet when I get back to my place later today. If it works fine when i get back, then the problem musr be with the iDrive connection.

[Samurai of 2day]

Originally Posted by Downfourit

It may be your USB cable, worst case it is the connector on the Ipod itself. Plug it into a computer with the same cable as in the car and try it out, replace the cable and try it again in the car.

This is a great suggestion. I will take your advice, that way I can isolate the problem to either the USB Cable, the iPod, or the car itself.

Thanks!

[er130]

try this:
http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-passPO.../dp/B001HN6CVA

[doug_999]

I have been having this issue a lot (no sound) - in fact, unfortunately it also happened in an M3 I was test driving. The issue was that my iPhone was playing something else (might have been spotify, might have been Amazon Music, might have been just music on the iPhone) before it was connected (not just before).

So next time you have no sound, try shutting down all of the music apps on the iPhone/iTouch (double click center button and then swipe up on the open music apps). I bet that fixes the problem.

Also interesting to hear about Spotify - THAT IS GREAT NEWS! Of note, I've been using Amazon Music which also works.

[djcwardog]

Guys,

I am in an older model - E63 - but I am following people who are doing NBT retrofits into these cars. Seems that over time BMW has required more FSC codes to input or to "activate" certain functions. For example, Connected Drive used to be something that you could code your (E-series) car for, but then (after datens 41) you had to obtain an FSC code to make it work.

For Sat Radio I think that this may be your current situation. Ask your dealer and they will likely charge you an hour's labor (or more) and ~$250 for the FSC code to complete the "activation" of this feature. If a new car under warranty, ask the BMW dealership service manager to throw it in as a "goodwill" step, maybe when you next go in for your free maintenance? Yep, the actual hardware is probably built into your current (NBT?) head unit. For those of you who are DIYers and past warranty expiration, there are other ways to get these things activated without dealer involvement. I think you also have HD (IBOC) radio in there for free - no activation or external tuner box required.

By the way, your NBT is one level newer than my retrofitted CIC/Combox, but both use a HD display screen at similar resolution. Your NBT also combines all the Combox (Bluetooth phone and audio, etc.) features into the dash unit and you get a touchpad on your iDrive controller?