Hi, I'm a new/first-time BMW owner and I had the iPod adapter installed in my '07 328xi. When it works with my iPod it works great but, as you can tell by my posting, it does not work all the time. About half the time when I try to access the iPod through the iDrive it will says "loading contents" and never find songs, playlists, etc. When I look at the iPod itself it appears that it is not even connected; when connected properly it shows the BMW symbol. I've tried disconnecting, reconnecting and resetting my iPod but none of those make the car recognize it. Any ideas from experienced BMW/iPod users? Note: my iPod model is a few years old but it is one of the supported models. In my previous car I installed a head unit and iPod adapter and only occasionally had a problem but resetting the iPod always fixed it right away. Is this something to have the dealership look at? Thanks
First of all welcome, you have great automobile taste. I have an 08' 328i coupe. I do not however have the Ipod adapter or idrive but I vaguely remember another post on bimmerfest.com that stated that the Ipod should be connected via adapter PRIOR to vehicle start-up. The poster was having the exact same problem or one that was very similiar. Always check out bimmerfest if you cannot find answers here, it is the only other BMW website/forum I am subscribed too. I hope this helps out and again welcome aboard.
Thanks for the replies and welcoming me to the site. I usually hook it up before starting the car so that does not seem to be the solution. The iPod connector manual says to turn on the iPod before hooking it up and I've tried that too but with no success. I have an iPod Color and it is the 40GB model so it has a lot of songs. I realize that can make it slower to load but I don't think that is the problem. The real issue seems to be that the car only temporarily recognizes it. I plug it in, the proper message displays saying that it is connected then, within about 10 seconds, it resets my iPod (goes black and shows the Apple symbol) then the iPod reboots and is no longer connected.
I would try two things. 1.) Try another iPod. Esp. one with fewer songs on it. If possible I would try both an iPod similar to yours AND a 5th or 6th gen. iPod. This will help narrow down compatibility issues. IThe retrofit iPod kit is a bit sensitive sometimes to size issues. If that works... 2.) Try reformatting your iPod. Although older iPods are still supposed to be compatible, we just found the 6FL option would not work with a 4th gen. iPod (iPod Photo) but worked fine with a 5th or 6th (classic) gen. iPod.
