I'd be interested to hear about that as well. I think you need to give the specifics of which system your car has. I have the one that has the "BMW Business" logo, with the flip-up wood door, and a 6 CD changer in the trunk.
I've read good things about the dice system. The thought of throwing any new variables into the equation kind of freaks me out though. Anybody have first hand experience to share? http://diceelectronics.com/bmw.html
I just got a Dice unit this past Christmas. I installed it myself and it came out very good. I was doing the installation in my garage in the Chicago area with freezing temps. Took me about an hour, taking my time. It was pretty simple too. First I disconnected the battery, then I opened the panel in the trunk for the CD changer. I disconnected the CD changer and simply plugged the Dice unit into the cables that originally went to the CD changer. After that it was simply a matter of running the Dice cable into the cabin. Fortunately I have the fold down rear seat option so I just folded down the drivers side and ran the cable along the side of the seat. After that I ran it under the rear seat floor mat and then up to the center console. Today I'm picking up a hinged center console armrest with the storage bin and plan on using a Dremel tool to cut a small opening for the cable so that when it's in place, my iPod Touch will be connected and stored safely out of view in the storage tray. By the way, the sound from the Dice unit is incredible, depending on the bit rate of the songs on the iPod. None sound less than CD quality. I have an aftermarket stereo system in my car consisting of MB Quart component speakers up front, MB Quart coaxials in the rear deck, two Alpine amplifiers, an AudioControl equalizer and an MTX subwoofer. To say that this system sounds great would be an understatement. I have almost 1000 songs on my iPod and simply hit "shuffle" and let it do it's thing. The steering wheel controls work just like stock too so I can skip songs or go back if I choose to. The only problem I had with installation is not being able to have the songs scroll across the head unit display. It is probably user error in setting the dip switches on the Dice module, but I'm not messing with it until it warms up a bit. ;^) If you are on the fence on this, I highly recommend getting the Dice unit. You won't listen to your CD changer ever again!
I had tried two different Ipod integration kits, the Dice kit and the Dension Ice link plus, in my 2000 528i w/o DSP. Both offered similar functionality and price. Yes, the sound is pretty good and you can quit carrying around all of your cd's. Neither the Dice or the Dension offer access to all of the functionality of your Ipod. You need to set up playlists, and you can negotiate through them and select what you want. If you're comfortable with playlists, you're good to go. Enjoy, J
I found both the Dice and Dension to be very similar in quality / functionality. I think Dice does a better job with their marketing. Dension is still around, as is their Ice>Link product line as well as an enhanced interface called Gateway : http://www.dension.com/home.php Enjoy, J
I have the Dension Ice Link in my '03 E39, and it works great. The 1st 5 playlist on your ipod are accessible by selecting that specific "CD" button. Pressing the 6th "CD" allows you to scroll through all music by artist/album/playlist, etc. I've had this setup since about 2006. Took out my CD Changer, and fab'd up a little bracket in that cubby hole, and just leave the Ipod in there until I want to change out to some new music.
