As much of an inconvenience this solution is, it's actually something that I appreciate a LOT...Here's why...

My previous car was a 2005 Volvo S40 T5, and it had a "MOST" fiber optic sound system. Incredible sound quality, of course, but there is absolutely no way to integrate an iPod or XM/Sirius into this sound sytem. The CD player isn't even mp3 ready, making it even more annoying to NEVER be able to play your mp3s in your car...

Compared to that, this system is awesome...

 

Yep, sure can... So I guess I shouldn't be complaining so much..It could be worse

 

I guess in your case you have something to about.

 

Yeh, me too. My kids got me a Nano and a Monster (fm transmitter) for Christmas and when I compared that to one of my rip-cds, I said forget about it. It has something to do with the limited frequency range of the fm...that's as technical as I am able to get.

So I returned the two items and for $20 more I traded up to a 30gb iPod. Now I'm looking at a new head unit: either the new Alpine cda9856 or 9857. They're both iPod ready without need for the iPod adaptor...just an interface cable @$29.99. I read a few reviews for the '56 on Crutchfield, and they're all positive.

The kids do know my birthday is in March

 

I asked the MINI dealer why the ipod adapter would sometimes let me have control of the ipod itself and other times wouldn't and they said it simply had to do with the charge. If the ipod is charging it won't let you scroll the menus, but if you plug it in fully charged then you're good to go. I could have sworn it was more than just that but we'll see. I'll start making notes of when it doesn't work. If anybody else found this problem let me know, i'm curious if you got the same answer.

 

The thing that helps to remember is that the iPod adapter was designed as a simple way to use your iPod as you would have used the OEM CD changer. It works exactly like the CD changer does, no track names etc, but does the job of playing and charging the iPod for around $100 (if you buy it discounted and install yourself; the CD changer parts are actually more expensive).

I still think that fiddling with the iPod while driving is no better then using a cell phone, it poses a big distraction from driving when focusing on it, so having no direct iPod control is not neccessarily a negative in my book as it removes that temptation/risk. Seeing the song titles on the HU would be nice, and more control over the content via the steering wheel controls would be a benefit, but the current solutions that offer more bells and whistles are more expensive and have the potential to mess with your car warranty, so it all depends what its worth to you or if simply being able to select playlists and listen to music or books or whatever is enough. I'm sure they will develop something more comprehensive for BMW/MINI but have a feeling it will cost more and perhaps require different equipment based on future models.

Anyway, here's a link to the Apple FAQ, hope it is of help to people:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93879

Cheers

 

Are you trying to pull the songs directly from your IPOD? I don't think that will work. You'll have to pull them from your library... Hope this helps.

 

Actually the ipod is probably worse than the cell.

But then again trying to find any song as the ipod controls are now with the OEM ipod adapter is even worse yet. The thing is that it takes so long to find a song that it distracts for a much longer period of time making it substantially more dangerous. In my opinion.

 

That's just it, I don't go to find a song when driving; didn't even do it with the CD changer before - I leave that detail of song selection to when I'm at home. With 20 gigs of our music and such I have no need to do anything but listen to random and enjoy the variety - if I want to narrow it down I use the playlists. Random can be very funny, I have some David Cross in there and it cracks me up everytime a bit of his emerges through the tunes

 

Agree.

I do the same. I just go random. I listen that way but then if it lands on an artist that I am in the mood for I will tun off the random and stay with that artist.

 

David Cross is funny as *****.
But I think I'm coming to grips with this ipod thing...I was still new to this and I think i was just expecting more. I too usually just drive and like it to play randomly... I think I only became concerned when a song came on and I couldn't remember who it was or what the song was. But thats mainly due to me downloading obscure stuff I don't have a clue what it is yet. But i'm getting used to this setup and it really does make life easier than fumbling with the ipod while driving..and whats nice is that it charges while not in use so it's always ready to go and take with you when you go to work or where ever. I'm warming up it now ..and once I get some playlists set up, I think i'll be just fine with it

 

Good to hear

And since you like David Cross let me just say

"Seatbelt for my head"

 

I have the MINI iPod connector and I have to say it did take some getting used to. I had the AUX connector on my last MINI and 90% of the time I just found myself just clicking to the next song. It was always dangerous trying to navigate through my iPod while driving, so I just didn't.

As for my playlists:

MINI1: Mostly a grouping of my newer music
MINI2: Used for whatever artist I'm in the mood for that week
MINI3: Used for whatever artist I'm in the mood for that week
MINI4: Used for whatever artist I'm in the mood for that week
MINI5: My go-to faves for driving

I basically use 2-4 for switching out artists. It's not very interactive, but then again, we should be watching the road not our iPod screens.

If you have your iTunes Library sorted by artist, another solution for finding them on you iPod is to play channel 6 (not random) and click and hold the forward button. It should skip 10 songs at a time, which is usually the amount of songs on a cd. If you don't have too many songs on your iPod or you're not in the mood for ZZTop, you should eventually get to your artist.

I admit, it's not perfect, but it does keep your cabin clean.

 

Here are some pix of my HK DrivePlay system installed: http://www.taylorsmith.biz/Galleries...lay/index.html