Ok, my wife has a 2014 R57, without the nav. Her current phone won't charge via the factory USB socket. That and it's not an iOS device (and this isn't the thread to discuss that).

I've seen there are aftermarket gizmos to allow making a Bluetooth audio connection using the 30 pin connection of various iOS compatible devices, like speaker docks and the like.

Just what does the factory steering wheel control buttons do when using an iOS device docked to the factory supplied cable (which we have)?

I'm wondering whether one of the 30-pin to Bluetooth adapters might potentially be usable for doing at least simple prev/next commands. I'm guessing it'll require something like:

Car USB & audio to factory iOS cable. Plug the Bluetooth gizmo onto that cable. Then make a Bluetooth paired connection to that and her phone. The big question is whether or not the steering wheel controls would be passed along, assuming the Bluetooth gizmo and the phone supported the right A2DP protocol for such things.

I'm specifically NOT looking to make a Bluetooth connection straight to the radio for streaming, because I already know the radio supports ONLY the Bluetooth phone profile. It does not support Bluetooth streaming audio. Which is profoundly stupid, but such is the mysterious way of BMW's accessory selections.

The next question is which aftermarket hard-wired USB power supplies are worth considering? If I'm going to go digging into the dash I might as well get something decent. Otherwise I'd have to do something like rig up another accessory (aka cigarette) socket somewhere and plug an actual 12v to USB adapter into it. If I did, where's the best place on the wiring harness to extract sufficient wattage? For USB power, which course of action has been most effective for others here?

So, two questions, aftermarket USB power and Bluetooth to iOS cable functionality. Any thoughts?

 

For R57s Convert: so my car is at dealership being repaired due to vandalism. They put a new center console in the car and now I have two auxiliary ports. The original one under the toggle switches and now a second one in the center console? I know that there is probably no easy answer but it's there a way to switch one of those ports to a USB so that I can play my music and charge my phone? The dealership doesn't seem to have any answers as to whether this is an option! Any help would be really appreciated.