Hi all,

I am trying to figure out which options I should take for my iPhone which I also use as my iPod... I am also planning to plug a radar detector at all times as well as a small navigation system when I need it so I am trying to avoid clutter as much as possible.

First, I would like to know what the available plugs are on the standard model and where they are located:
- Where is the audio jack?
- How many AC plugs and where are they located?
- Is the armrest adding an AC plug? an audio jack?

Second, I must admit I can't really figure out which option I need:
- The standard $500 Bluetooth and USB/iPod Adapter --> Is the USB located in the glovebox in this package?
- The $1000 Comfort Bluetooth with USB/iPod Adapter --> Is there also a USB located in the armrest in this package? (on top of the one in the glovebox?) Does it add anything else?
- The $100 Smartphone Prep with Comfort USB... I read somewhere that this option actually costs $1000 and that it is a typo. --> What does this do that the Comfort Bluetooth with USB/iPod Adapter does not do?

Finally, like I said I have an iPhone so do I just need the Smartphone prep and to plug my iPhone in the audio jack (which is hopefully in the armrest)?

Thanks!! I'm really lost here!!

franck-

 

The $500 option (which I ordered) connects the IPhone to the USB port near the cupholders. You can just rest the IPhone in one of the cupholders or get a mount. The $1000 option simply puts the IPhone in a cradle in the armrest. So for $500 more the connector gets moved to the armrest....that's it. My MA went over this with me and said that the extra $500 really wasn't worth it, and I believe him. Get the regular connection and save/spend the extra $500 on something else.

 

Does the $1000 option add the $250 armrest option as well or do you have to pay extra for that?

 

If you want bluetooth phone and use the iPhone for music you can't use the armrest thing. That requires not only the armrest but a $140 sleeve for the iPhone that goes in the armrest. The sleeve merely charges the phone, you can't play music from it. Pretty useless. Just use the usb/aux input for the iphone and you have bluetooth phone connection and iphone music connection. The only power connection in the front of the car is the one by the cupholders. There's none in the armrest unless you buy a sleeve, and that will only charge the phone that snaps into the sleeve. To power a GPS many buy a Kuda mount and wire it to the fusebox. There's nothing in the glovebox. The usb connection charges the iPhone.

 

On the top of the cubby below the temperature controls, behind the cup holders. It's mounted kind of flush and is easiest for me to get at it by touch.

If by AC plugs, you mean cigarette lighter/power jacks? They're 12V DC, and there is two regardless of your options. One between the cup holders in front of the gearshift, and a second in the boot on the top left hand side.

I can see how you're confused!

• Standard with all cars is the AUX input, a 3.5mm audio-in jack.

• USB/iPod adapter:

• Comfort Package:

• 'Secret Compartment' iPod connector, above the glovebox

• [EDIT] SmartPhone Preparation

If you're okay with just plugging in the iPhone from the headphone jack, you don't need any of the packages, just a 3.5mm stereo audio cable. The quality will suffer a bit since the signal is amplified before it leaves the iPod and you won't get steering wheel controls.

Adding either of the iPod connections (either the USB/iPod or the secret compartment) would bump the audio quality up (it's then a line-level analog connection for the audio) and would allow control of the iPod through the Multifunction Steering Wheel Controls (if you have them).

 

Actually you need the new $100 smartphone prep package (new for 2009). That's what this is made for. In order to get this package you must get the $1000 comfort bluetooth with armrest. This will let you snap your iphone into a cradle in the armrest to charge the iphone and connect to the audio system via USB for ipod functions. Telephone functions will be via bluetooth. Cradle sold separately.

 

Confirming the above is the word I received from my MA yesterday when confirming my 2009 MCS build. For me the addition is worth it as I only listen to podcasts, albums, and playlists on my iPhone. I wouldn't have it any other way

 

I was considering that if I had gone with an '09 however it wouldn't work with the iPhone in a case. I'd rather have the case and just hook it up to the front...

 

That is true. An iPhone in a case will not fit into the sleeve. 'Tis fortunate that my case slips on and off quite easily. Then again I typically carry my iPhone in my purse which is just a big leather case that happens to carry other stuff

Speaking of sleeves ... You will need to purchase the iPhone sleeve for the armrest in addition to everything else. This, of course, only pertains to 1st and 2nd gen iPhones. As I understand it the 3rd gen iPhone has a different connector but I have not confirmed that.

I do have to say that feel somewhat nickel and dimed to death with the constant add this and that just to get the iPhone to work as it naturally should do. Mind you it is world's above my poor sad Saturn that I currently have

 

Ah, thanks. My usual sources for news didn't have anything on it yet, but the configurator update shows it now. Looks like it provides the capability for the USB connection, but charging and antenna would still be available without the SmartPhone prep, but with the armrest and appropriate snap-in?

Hopefully MiniUSA provides a flow-chart for Bluetooth capability soon.

It was tough enough before the new 09 options. I was hoping the USB in the armrest stuff would just be an upgraded snap-in only.

 

Just ditch the case. I have a day-1 iPhone that has never seen a case, and it's perfectly fine.

My dealer wants me to get a 2008, but I'm holding out for 2009 due to the smartphone armrest setup. (well, that and the new sports package...)

 

My case has saved my iPhone too many times. No way I'm ditching it.

 

I'm wondering how hard it can be to simply add the new $100 Smartphone option to the 08 models after the fact, assuming you have the Comfort Package. I mean all they are doing is changing the phone charging plug to a USB plug so that you can play music from your iPhone in the center armrest. The part will now be available since it will be on 09 models. Anyone have any thoughts on this. I think I remember seeing someone on this forum do a DIY hookup so that he can put his iPod in the armrest. The only thing would be if adding the part to an 08 model, you still get the charging and access to the antenna.

 

That's what I was going to do ... until I heard 2009 models would have the option from the factory.

 

I thought the smartphone prep was doing digital audio, so it'd need upgraded software, if not a totally new head unit.

 

Well, if you already have the ipod integration under the center console, I'd hope that the software would be installed properly.

 

A warning to those with the new iPhone 3G. Apple, in all their confused wisdom, has made the charging compatible with ONLY a USB 5V line, whereas the first iPhone could work off a USB 5V or Firewire 12V line. Same pinout, but limited compatability.

Not many car options are available just yet for being able to play and charge from the 3G just yet.

 

This will take more work than snapping in a new cradle. Right now there is no audio connection from the armrest to the headunit so at a minimum you'd have to run some type of new wiring harness from the armrest area to the dash.

 

Apple have been very clear about the power story of iPod accessories, that new designs should not be using the FireWire power. The accessory makers seem to have been less clear in the the story they hear.

 

The software would be for the old adapter, which was just a USB-serial converter for control and the audio coming back as analog. If this is indeed the digital audio BMW promised when the iPhone first came out, then it'll need totally different software than there's already. There's a big difference between doing the audio by analog and digital, so I'd be very surprised if you did have the software installed.

There may also be some authentication which needs to happen which may need extra hardware. The old method doesn't require authentication between the iPod and the head end, digital audio does.

 

USB is a digital interface... it's very difficult to send analog audio over a digital serial data interface.

 

Well he was kind of right. The previous adapter used the line out pins of the dock connector, which wasn't digital and wasn't USB. But the reason for the limitations of the playlists and number of songs was due to the fact that it tricked the system into thinking the iPod was a CD changer.

Now the Mini will be using a direct interface with the iPod, and will require new software.

 

Which is why there's a spec for it, which the iPod conforms to. The music on the iPod is in digital form anyway so digital audio is theoretically quite a big win.

 

Just out of curiosity, where do you see that they've promised digital access to iTunes stored music?

Technically, there's digital access to music stored on the iPod now, when it's used in Generic Storage mode, just like all the other USB mass storage devices that work with the 2008 USB system.

I think that to expect MINI/BMW to license encrypted AAC is a bit much, especially when digital access already works with virtually every other USB device out there. It's far more likely that they'll use exactly the same system that's available in the 08's, just with a snap-in interface for the armrest.

 

License encrypted AAC? They won't need to do that. The iPod unencrypts everything for the system.

From what my MA has said and what I can gather on the website, the armrest connection is completely different from the front connection or glove box connection. Which leads me to believe it's a direct iPod interface, not fooling the car to think it's a CD changer.

And fyi, that front USB connection doesn't put the iPod into a "generic storage mode", as that is simply not available on the iPod. That is why you have to use the extra 1/8" connector with the iPod - it uses the line out pins of the dock connector to get the audio. Which is analog, not digital.