Sorry to hear about the issues, I think most if it related to your dealer not doing a good PID (pre inspection delivery) The CEL is a known issue and is usually fixed with a software update. Hopefully the dealer will solve the issues and you will be back on the road worry free.
You didn't hijack the thread, only reason I posted was for people thinking about the Ipod adapter or ones having issues with them.

 

Tharkun - Congrats on the iPod adapter. I had EB Mini install mine before I picked it up ($488 installed). One thing to note for anyone considering it, the iPhone currently does not work with the adapter. It will hopefully be fixed soon (in the iPhone), but until then I can't use it. I may end up buying a separate iPod anyways since it would be more convenient, if someone were to call me Also, is the secret compartment not available in the Convertible? I don't remember seeing it and since my MINI is at the dealer for its CEL.. I can't run down and look.

 

The convertible MINI is a 1st generation car. Thus, it doesn't have the secret compartment (which is unique to the 2nd generation MINIs).

 

Thanks for clearing that up!

 

Thanks for all of the information. Ever since I got my car in the middle of April, I've been considering getting the Ipod interface. It wasn't available, yet, at that time, so I didn't have to make up my mind immediately.

Based upon your information, I decided to go ahead and get one installed. With the sat nav system, there should be added convenience. Thanks again.

 

I got my car in March with the adapter installed. To me, it makes a worthwhile addition to the enjoyment of the car (unlike things like white turn signals or anthracite headliner, which do nothing for me).

 

I didn't understand it, but some dealers had the connectors early and others didn't obtain them until much later.

I've looked at all of the threads about the white turn signals with amusement. They really got steamed over the orange lens and lamps in Britain. Said it destroyed the whole look of the car. I admit, I've never been a turn signal watcher.

The anthracite seems to make the interior too somber. I'm just glad those items are optional and that everyone gets to choose their own options.

Thanks for your input on the Ipod interface.

 

I forget exactly what added featurs you will have with the nav system, I passed on it as we have a Garmin portable that we use in the three differant vehicles and used the money for the onboard nav system for other options.

We have always added mega players in the new cars, last one was a 10 disk. But the cost of them was close to what the Ipod 80gb and Ipod adapter has cost. I like having the entire CD collection available in the car and ends the problem of taking off in the car and after 10 miles down the road one rememebers that it was time to swap out discs/magazines.

So coming from the era of 8 tracks, the Ipod interface is progress, hopefully in time Mini will update the software with added features, one being a good search tool.

 

I have been thinking about getting an ipod adapter myself but I'm concerned about keeping an ipod locked in a glove box on a hot day (100 plus temps in the car unattended). Or just does everyone take their ipod with them everytime they leave the car? Or am I just paranoid and that the ipod can withstand 120+ temps in the car? Thanks!

 

Apple specs show operating temps of 32 -95 degrees and non-operating temps of 4-113 degrees, and the general line of thought is concerns of battery life.

Since our Ipod is used at work it is removed, but usually is left in Skeeter when in the garage. I would not leave the Ipod in the the storage compartment, Skeeter parked in direct sun light with high temps for extended times, it is just not that difficult to remove the pod.

 

OK - My MINI is due for delivery in about 1.5 weeks and my dealer called yesterday to finalize the options I want. I had been kicking-around the idea of having the iPod interface installed and when decision time came, I said, "No," thinking I would save myself the $519 (as quoted by the dealer) and make use of the standard AUX input. I figured I can just control the iPod directly, but am not so sure about my decision (which can still be changed). Is it worth the cost? Is the AUX jack reliable/convenient? Is there anywhere to place the iPod when being used with the standard AUX jack? Honestly, will I be kicking myself if I don't install the interface?

 

I think the motivation to do it right away is the opportunity to roll in the cost with your car purchase financing. Otherwise you can try out the aux input first, and you always have the option to add the adapter later.

I am using the aux input and it sounds great with the iPod. For best sound, you need to use a cable that connects to the dock port (not the headphone jack). Get a cable like this or a similar one from eBay. You may also need to adjust the aux level setting on the stereo to match the volume from the radio and CD. The problem with controlling the iPod directly is that I find it dangerous to drive while trying reading the little screen and manipulate the touch wheel accurately. Now I usually pull over when I want to do something on the iPod. For this reason, I'm interested in the adapter but I've held back because I don't know how long I'll be keeping the car (thinking of a Clubman).

 

If you do a search here on NAM you will find lots of info about useing the AUX input, along with ways of holding an Ipod. The cost for the Ipod adapter seems to be the main issue for most owners. The price dealers are charging for it has started to lower, when I ordered Skeeter on 6/16 the dealer was charging $595, as I stated above now it is $475.

As for you regreting not getting it, only you can make that decision, myself....I think it is worth the cost simply becasue of the convience and having an expensive Ipod out of sight when ever I leave Skeeter. Good Luck on your decision.

 

i

 

I plug mine in using the headphone jack. Sound sounds good to me. I hate the fact that it doesn't charge the ipod using the aux input. Does the adapter charge?

I bought I think from Belkin a ipod/cell phone/pda holder that fits in the cup holder. It holds the ipod snug in place and easily able to see the display and don't feel totally unsafe trying to skip songs while I have my ipod on shuffle.

$475 isn't too bad. I was quoted $650. It amazes me that dealers charge different prices for the same thing.

 

Yes the Ipod interface keeps the Ipod charged, another reason I like it, no need to connect it to my imac and have it in the way.

Seems now that the Mini dealer I use is now in a seperate building from BMW, they are able to lower prices from what BMW owners are charged. Like Mini was controled by the BMW side when in the same building,dumb as it it sounds, I can believe it.

 

After living with the iPod interface for the past three months, I must ask for clarification on the second to last paragraph above: What do you mean by access to "any album, any song"?

I have over 1000 CD(s) loaded into my iPod. The Mini iPod interface in my car will only load 255 items (folders) into its buffer at any given time. What this means to me is, when chosing option #2 "Artists", I am only able to scroll through the first 255 artists (each artist is represented by a folder) in alphabetical order that I have on my iPod. In my case the ability to access any artist whose name begins with a letter greater than "J" is unavailable to me. If, for example, I wanted to listen to one of my Stone Temple Pilots CDs, there is no way for me to scroll through the list of artist (folders) to get to anything beginning with the letter "S".

Using option #1, "Playlists", I have to scroll through every song in the order that iTunes made entries into its database. If you notice your display when first starting up the iPod interface, the database entry reference number is the one being displayed by default (an example for a fairly full iPod will display numbers like 11539 which I assume is the record indicator in the database that iTunes uses internally). The challenge with this option is that iTunes does not seem to assign its recorder indicators in an alphbetical order (in fact, I believe they are organized by timestamp). Therefore, I am unable to easily scroll through to the higher numbers assuming that they correlate with the alphabet.

If you have found a way that I can easily access "any album", please share. As a fairly robust user of this interface, I find it lacking in usability and greatly appreciate any information that can improve my user experience.

Thanks for your help,
Rob

 

I also had my IPOD adapter installed at East Bay Mini, (mine was the first they did), and its worked fine since installation...One frustrating thing I find is when if I'm listening to a song and turn the engine off; when I start the car up again the song starts from the beginning again, instead of where it was when the engine was shut off. Has anyone found a way round this, later software perhaps?

 

None that I know of. Not an issue with me.

 

LOL! And I've had to CUT my MF addiction to fund my MINI!!!

 

If I use option #2 it takes 45 seconds to upload the albums from the Ipod. Then by using "LIST" all of the albums are in alphebitical order, I can scroll thru them and choose any album.

If you have each of your albums stored on the Ipod as a folder, then yes you will have the issue you are having. At the present out of the 600+ albums, I have 253 artist, once I add two more artist then I will need to store the alubums on the Ipod and not let Itunes do it for me.

I don't have the same issue, when I use option #1 it lists all song in order of albums from A-Z. As I mentioned earleir, the system is lacking a good search function, it does not access the Ipod search function at all. Hopefully Mini will update the softwater in the future and solve this issue.

I'm not an Ipod expert, Apple has a "unigue" way of doing things on the Ipod, all I have showed is how my Ipod works with the interface. Good luck on finding a solution, check out some of the Ipod forums, they have people with way more knowledge on the Ipod than myself.

Thanks for your help,
Rob[/quote]

 

iPod playlist issue

I don't know if anyone else is seeing this, but hopefully some outside experiences can help me out.

I have the 160GB ipod classic, and planned to have issues accessing all the artists on it, so I made playlists. I figured if I pick my favorite artists, make "best of" playlists, as well as a bunch of mix playlists, I should be fine. Sure enough, made 'em and had around 90 playlists, none in excess of 255 tracks. I figured I'd connect up and be good to go!

Well, surprise, surprise, only half the playlists showed up. I was getting around 55 instead, and weird thing is that the last playlist would cut off part-way through.

So, last Saturday I spend a lot of time running back and forth between my Mac and my car rearranging the lists and trying to find the rhyme and reason behind what I could access in the interface.

To backtrack, I have the Sat Nav, and just got Sirius installed last week as well. The software is definitely as up-to-date as it can get for now.

Anyway, to make a long process a shorter story: it turned out the playlist list (CD 1) is not solely based on items inside the folder. I don't have the exact number, but the number of playlists is based upon the number of tracks in them, up to around 5000. For example, if I added tracks to a playlist that appeared earlier alphabetically, it would cause the number of songs in that last playlist to decrease by the number of songs I added. If I shorted or removed lists from the top of the order, the number of lists added at the bottom was based not on the number of lists I deleted but the number of tracks in those lists.

Anyway, this wasn't what I expected, and so I give the warning to those with very large libraries that there really is no good way to access all your music without a great deal of advance planning, and even then the best you seem to be able to do is access 5000 of your tracks. Which is actually a ridiculously large amount of music, unless of course you have 11,000 on your iPod and got the interface expecting to be able to access just about everything. However, for most users, it is still a pretty great product.

If anyone finds they have a different experience with their ipod adapter, I'd love to hear about it. I sure hope it's not a situation specific to my car. My Mini has had enough of those in its short life already.

Jmelrose

 

It does indeed seem that the iPod adapter has limitations on the amount of songs/playlists it can deal with. I would imagine that this has something to do with the fact that it is really mimicking itself as a CD changer and so the system limitations on the changer are also affecting the iPod adapter.

On the other hand (as you mentioned), 55 playlists and 5,000 songs is a LOT of music. Thus, it should be more than okay for the non iPod power users out there (i.e. 99% of all MINI owners I'd imagine).

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

BTW... I'm not sure if any of this will ever be fixed since I'm starting to seriously doubt that the iPod adapter is firmware updatable. It would be great if it is, but somehow I really doubt it.

 

http://www.ipodxtras.com/product_inf...roducts_id=248

It blocks access to the cubby hole a bit, but it works well. I can easily reach down to skip to the next track or touch the ipod to turn on the display then glance down to see what song is playing.

The above link is just the first one goggle found. I bought mine in an apple store.

 

My question is, does the car STOP charging the iPod when you turn the car off? I know the instructions recommend you remove said iPod after turning the car off (due to possible heat reasons), but I also noticed that the iPod stays "on" even after I turn the car off. Is this on a timer? Or does it keep doing its thing after the car is turned off?