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iPod Your BMW Officially Launched
chasingporsches writes "Apple today announced the iPod Your BMW campaign on their front page. According to the iPod Your BMW page, 'Connect with music like never before behind the wheel of your BMW 3 Series, and X3 and X5 SAV, Z4 Roadster or MINI. With the installation of an integrated adapter developed by Apple and BMW, you can now control your iPod or iPod mini through the existing audio system and multi-function steering wheel. Which means no loss of power. No loss of sound quality. No loss of control.' There is also a QuickTime TV ad available for streaming. Apparently it only works with 2002 or later BMWs and Minis, and the iPod connects to a cable in the glove compartment."
Rejoice!
All this effort into integrating the iPod into the car, but you're just supposed to toss it in the glove box? Please.
Perhaps BMW will take some design notes from the iPod's controls into the next revision of their iDrive system.
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
Why not make one for my vintage VW Beetle, you insensitive clod!
So, when's the iPod, 1994 Honda Civic campaign coming?
The perfect sig is a lot like silence, only louder
Look out for the BMW's with white wing mirrors ;)
liqbase
the most expensive iPod accessory ever!
I can count to 1023 on my hands. Ask me about #132.
Become the 600th advertiser to mention iPod to get onto the front page of Slashdot.org!
The iPod doesn't even have a fancy cradle or slot to slide into. They just want you to lay it in your glove box. I suppose that BMW owners might be different than me but I don't have any room in my glove box after all the paperwork for the car, the manual, and the road maps (GPS is great, I use it all the time, but it doesn't solve ALL problems), I don't have room for that.
As a MINI owner, I have been aware this has been possible for quite awhile. It was just done via a third party company who built a custom interface by hacking up the alpine i-bus CD changer interface.
:(
... oh well.
My fear now is that this company is getting ripped off of all their work by this venture with Apple and BMW.
I opted for Sirius over buying an iPod for hopes of having a greater selection in diffrent generes, but
Justin
I hope they're not thinking about the same one I'm thinking of...
From the photo on Apple's web site, it looks like the iPod plugs into a wire in the glove compartment and that's it...there is no special cradle to hold the device. They should have come up with something to secure the iPod inside the glove compartment and prevent it from whipping around.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
why do they have the ipod flopping around in the glovebox?
Really, is it so hard to make an in-dash stereo have a slot-loading ipod?
Just slide your ipod into your stereo like an 8-track tape.
Plus, that way you don't need to buy a BMW to use it.
iPods and Beemers. Somehow it all fits (and not for the better).
I miss the old Apple days (before they became a fashion statement)
this kind of stuff. what other portable MP3 device can integrate with your BMW?
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
most car stereos (OEM and aftermarket) have controls for CD changers. looking at a pin-out, it should eb pretty easy to make one that controls your own IPod or other device, as long as it has an input.
Nothing more then rich, liberal, elite, yuppy, eurotrash, scumbags. Which is exactly why my 2002 325 is getting one as soon as my dealer has them in stock!
This story is probably most likely to incite BMW owners to get an iPod to go with their car, but in my case it's actually inspired me to get a BMW to go with my iPod. :) I was close to getting one anyway, this just finalizes things for me...
dmiessler.com -- grep understanding knowledge
i really had no reason to drive my BMW until i read this... thanks apple!
My boss, with this announcement, is suddenly *really* interested in purchasing a BMW. He'd never talked about BMW before this... it's exactly the type of thing that luxury car owners use to decide which car to buy. BMW knows their market.
Peace
First we had morons fumbling for their cell phones, now we'll have morons fumbling for their iPods.
Do Not Eat iPod Shuffle
sounds just like it
read about it here
it will allow the same thing this article talks about on alpine receivers. i can't wait for it!
i saw the baby, and the baby looked at me
This is well overdue. I like it. But wouldn't it be great if you could plug in *any* device? I've often wondered whether the industry could agree on some sort of control standard. Just basic stuff like: next track, volume up/down, pause. A few more perhaps but that would do for starters.
Of course, I'm being hopelessly idealistic. Sigh.
- Bill (a happy iRiver owner)
as I hit the horn and spin the wheel maddly in a clockwise direction to cycle through my playlist.
Come on, you have to plug in a cable and throw it in the glove compartment? What a hack! I could modify my car to do that, and put an LCD screen on the dash to show me what I'm playing. Hell, you can probably buy that already. Before I watched the video, I though the BMW would have some sort of dock that either I sat my iPod in, or even cooler, a slot, like a tape deck, that I shoved my ipod in. Now THAT would be cool. This is not what I call "Seamless integration" I think in the future car stereo's are going to come with a media bay, just like printers do now. I slap in my SD/xD/MMC/Memory Stick or whatever and the stero reads the ID3's and playlists. Off I go. And laptops will come with built in FM transmitters to broadcast their audio to my home entertainment center or car stereo... I would love to sit in my living room, play a FPS and have it all come out the stereo. No Wires.
Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
This isn't a story, it's an(other) Apple/iPod ad disguised as "news for nerds".
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
jeez i had to take out a loan to buy my powerbook and now i need a BMW for my ipod. apple needs to market products towards people like me w/ an '96 ford aspire.
Force of Will = Glue 'nuff said.
here is a way better solution plus a better vehicle
**ducks**
this sig intentionally left blank
That IPOD in the glovebox would make a great crash test dummy.
This is neat, but certainly not a huge deal. Hopefully, if succesful, the major car companies (Toyota, GM, Ford, Daimler, VW) will take notice and do something similar. This seems like a great, lo-tech way to get your MP3s into your car, without requiring a dedicated in-dash MP3 player. I could see this option becoming especially popular in rental cars (which probably limits it to the Mini for now). I'm sure they'll start running "get a mini with your mini" promotions pretty soon.
Sadly, I know 2 people with BMWs who just miss the cut; one has a 2001 3-series, and the other has a 2003 M3.
More to the point, this will allow the driver to control the iPod form the steering-wheel controls (is the steering wheel the scroll wheel--eeks!), with a dock cable running into the glove compartment. I imagine you could install a holder for the iPod elsewhere in the car too.
Looks like http://www.ipodyourbmw.com/ is parked with register.com for the moment with no content. You figure they would have had things prepared for something like this?
A friggin' "slide in" dock connector in my car console. So I can just insert the iPod and go. I don't want cables, and I'm certainly tired of the FM iTrip transmitter that fades out whenever you get near a strong radio station.
It's ironic that a "retro-tech" tape-cassette car stereo would afford me better sound than my CD player which has no external line inputs. (It has internal ones at the back but they want about as much money as my iPod for an adapter!)
Okay, ultimately what I want is a universal and OPEN dock connector so we can all have car stereos that will handle all of our Minidisc, MP3 or XM or whatever portable sound system players we have in the future. The connectors should handle hardware connections as well as provide a standardized software interface (uPNP maybe?) to display and select the track/album information inside.
(And it should handle cellphones too!)
(I think I'm going to switch to decaf for the rest of the afternoon now...)
I love apple. I'm a zealot, this is a cool thing for your BMW but read the fine print.
Only available for model year 2002, 2003 and 2004 BMW3 Series; Z4 Roadster; X3 and X5 SAV; and MINI models. Not available on vehicles with navigation system, CD changer, DSP cassette player or satellite radio. Installation performed by authorized BMW and BMW SAV centers only. Third-generation iPod (software 2.2 or later) or iPod mini (software 1.1 or later)
Yes... How many BMW owners don't opt for the CD Changer?
--------========+++Dont Feed The Lab Techs+++========--------
that was my first thought when i saw this. why not have the ipod dock somewhere in the instrument cluster where its display is visable as well. as i read it, this thing only displays *TRACK NUMBERS*. that is lame.
Jesse Newland
Most high-end car audio systems have their own system for linking digital devices. Clarion has CeNET, which allows, for example, you to hook up a CD changer and browse the CDs in it, right from the main Clarion deck.
:P
It should be easy for a company to make an iPod CeNET adapter that lets you browse your collection while showing track and album names too (the Clarion stuff supports that).
The biggest problem is that every car audio company (like Pioneer and Eclipse) have their own proprietary network system, which makes it a bit of a bummer to make devices for each system. For example, to make one for Clarion's CeNET, a company has to consider the market share of iPod owners who have Clarion systems who have CeNET compatible systems that want to hook up their iPod. And they have to consider that for each brand of car stereos.
But I still want one
Moderators should have to take a reading comprehension test.
I'm sure this guy has to have one.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
I've never seen such a ghetto, half assed way of integrating it. I expected a dock or something that you would slide it into, like a drive bay thing. Most of the DIY docks people have done look better.
for catering to cars no one can afford to buy and even less to insure.
elitists assholes
So, I see that the system will navigate through 5 "BMW" playlists or every song on the ipod. But, what about the ipod's on-the-go playlist? The article doesn't mention that it can play from that. Seems that every so often you may want a little more control over the thousands of songs than predefined playlists or random. Could make for a boring road trip without the ability to change it up.
...simply wire a 1/8" stereo jack input into you car sound system's amplifier, and plug ANY portable audio device with a headphone output in to it.
Costs about $3 to do it.
Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
This is exactly the kind of shit that makes me glad I chose the HP-120 over an iPod. Currently convering all my CDs to Ogg. :)
particlesphere.com - quantum
What about the "i-Move" Smart with its custom iPod ?
- 00 00013462-0000005165-1087849573-enm-smart/content/b e/fr/smart/modelle/imove/flash
http://www.smart.com/-snm-0135155096-1087392676
Ceci n'est pas une signature
A music player I cannot afford on a car that I cannot afford. Thanks for making the party complete.
God I loathe rich people marketing campaigns... couldn't they just broadcast them quietly or more targeted, as to not upset the poor? (read: me, I'm poor... I need a job, then come see me with BMW ads)
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
It's a damned fun little bike, just so you know. It's fuel injected, agile, torquey, gets around 60MPG, can run 80MPH all day long, and is one of the cheapest, lightest machines you can get with belt drive and ABS.
This is not my sandwich.
It only works for 2002 models and up. I've been dreaming of this for a long time . . . cursed 1998 . . . .
For the other 99.9% of Slashdot readers... the FM iPod adaptors blow in major urban areas because there are no free spots on the FM dial. The $20 to $30 cassette iPod adaptors work quite well, though. No interference. The problem is that the iPod controls are not accessible from the car tape deck controls. Too bad - they could have mapped fast forward and rewind to skip track or something.
I called my dealer today and he hasn't heard of this yet. He thought I was crazy
Pat
"My iPod just looks so fashionable in my glove compartment!"
Do you see what I did there?
With the display in the glove box, hell knows how you're gonna find your music without someone in the passenger seat. On the other hand it won't cause any crashes like when those imbecils just had to watch the ads on the radio display some stations have...
In other news, new delicious Pepsi is more tasty than ever! Seriously, this is nothing more than an advert - I hope they paid you good money for this link.
No loss of sound quality.
:)
Who would've guessed the engineering brilliance between BMW & Apple could come up with a new compressed audio format that has not loss of sound quality
...which was to get a car stereo with an auxiliary jack, and simply plug in and put the iPod in a nice holder.
Integrated controls are nice and all, but my solution was less than $200, and will work with any car with a single-DIN stereo.
My real question is why it's harder and harder to find stereos with front-panel auxiliary plugs these days. Aiwa offers them in cheap-ass stereos, and JVC in a couple models, but that's it. It could be a much cheaper solution for the masses.
Will this now lower my chances of getting into an auto accident for fiddling with my iPod?
yeah leave your ipod in a cradle on your dashboard while you run into the WaWa... and maybe a wallet with $400 sticking out of it. at least in the glovebox you can secure it, and it's out of sight. it's marginally more secure, but someone not knowing it is in there is the best protection short of taking it with you every time you get out of the car.
Last thing I heard of any cooperation from BMW's side with a computer company, it was with Logitech developing the MX series, just look what good job they did :)
You mean I'm gonna have to get a 100ft firewire cable to sync with my BMW? No thanks.
"Derp de derp."
I suggest a night-class on managing person finances.
Blar.
But they are popular with the Boystown Republicans.
http://icelink.densionusa.com has a product that does it the same way. the car's head unit thinks it is a CD changer so the remote controls of the stereo work, and the display will show track info. it adaps to a lot of car stereos out there, so it's an option for more than just BMW owners.
these are essentially hacks to existing car stereos.... just give it some time and there will be more options to integrate better with MP3 players.
I bought a VWCDPIC auxiliary audio interface for ~$45, a female headphone to RCA y-adapter and a 20' M-M headphone extension. Plugged the WVCDPIC in to the cd changer harness, plugged the Y adapter into the WVCDPIC, plugged the extension into the adapter and ran it under the kick panels and through the trim panel under the dash.
I bought about $3 worth of square plastic tube (1/4" dia) and some thin plastic sheet. With a lot of patience and effort, I constructed an open box that the iPod slides into and attached that to a "C" shaped bracket that I wedged between the top and bottom of the center A/C vent. Works great! Some company makes the same thing but ready to go for $90+s/h.
Before anyone asks about condensation from the A/C hitting the back of the unit - It's been humid as all hell here with the A/C on solid and it doesn't seem to be affected in any way. I've also had it installed for about 5 months with no issues. The only problems are these:
I have to shut the backlight off during the day because the display washes out when it comes on. I of course also have to turn it back on at night.
Not as elegant as buying something off the shelf.
Still have to move my hands to change tracks - but I don't have the remote on the steering wheel anyway so that's moot. The VWCDPIC has some serial interface that can control a dedicated MP3 changer thingie via the CD head unit buttons that the designer links on his website - it takes a 2.5" HD and you stick it in your trunk. You could also add a LCD display if I'm not mistaken.
Oh yeah, the iPod (at least my 1G) has the WORST random track logic!
Reviews with a twist! http://www.sardonicbastard.com
Seer t/p sg/0403/2 999.htm
http://www.apple.com/de/hotnews/articles/sma
and
http://www.autokiste.de/start.htm?site=/
(Both in German).
And it looks better integratet than BMW's solution.
Homepage of the Car manufacturer:
http://smart.com
(international).
Does anyone else think that controlling your iPod with the steering wheel sounds like a bad idea?
I have a '99 Accord V6. It came with an AM/FM/Tapedeck which could control a CD player (single-disc or changer). I put the single-disc in-dash player in, but now I couldn't use the IceLink, since my CD control is already taken. I think..
They claim it doesn't compete with in-dash CD players, but that would seem to exclude mine, which is essemtially be controlled as a six-disc changer would be.
This is entirely lame. People interested enough in music to buy an iPod surely opted for the CD changer in their Bimmer.
And defining 5 playlists for use in the car is no more convenient than loading 5 CDs into the changer for use in the car. In fact the CDs are more convenient because you don't have to remember to bring your iPod to the car with you. And all you see in the display is the track numbers - no song titles, artist, etc? Why bother?
The whole reason iPod is great is because of being able to browser thru your entire collection to find the track that suits you right now. This half-assed attempt at integrating the iPod is right up there with the Snowboarding jacket they came out with some time back.
I'll wait for the integrated Alpine dash unit...
The Element, a car designed to appeal to the 20-something crowd but which is a big hit in the 40 and 50 set as well (some market research Honda did on THAT) already supports an iPod through the connector on EX versions. Doesn't even have to be an iPod.
Sure, it's not tailored into the car's steering wheel. But as an owner of a 1998 540i I'm here to say that the new models stink. You shouldn't have to qualify on your car like you do to operate, say, the reactor plant on a nuclear submarine.
So while BMW may integrate the iPod pretty well, it's barking up the wrong tree with iDrive (ick) and the new 5's.
the only people that would drop $300-500 for a walkman are also the only people that would spend $60,000 on a car. iPods are cool, yes; but i could never justify the cost.
Technically, they're paying $250-$500 for a portable computer that specializes in playing music. When comparing the price of iPods against PDAs out there, the high pricing makes much more sense. So even though they do serve similar functions, you can't quite call an iPod a walkman.
Little Bricklets
As a Mercedes Benz driving apple fan boy, I'm saddened my this. Especially because I'm now worried that there will be some horrid MB/Rio or MB/Napster tie in
'iPod' is NOT a verb. Now go and write it on the board 100 times.
And while we are at it, 'office' is not a verb, either. Microsft, you need to stay after class with Apple.
There, I feel much better now.
Download my free songs!
What a waste of technology, putting an iPod in a BMW car. Now make an adapter that plugs in to my BMW Motorcycle and your talking.
I love my iPod and I use it in my car, so I had been looking forward to seeing this when the rumors started leaking last week. This is the big deal? Maybe Apple hates BMW drivers as much as the rest of us? I have an extra Apple dock that fits perfectly in my ashtray in my (don't laugh) 92 LeSabre. It puts the iPod within easy reach, I can read it without too much hassle, sits very close to the tape deck/radio, and best of all the lighter is right next to it... It isn't the most elegant solution, but for the cost of another dock and an adapter for the lighter... I actually get to use as many playlists as I want and I can see the screen. I expected better out of Apple and BMW.
Someday a real rain is gonna come...
iPod...nope
BMW...nope
Guess this means nothing to me
If God had had a computer it would have taken him 7 months to create the earth...if he even bothered to do it at all.
Must be why they have you put it in the glove box.
i wish they would come up with the adapter for motorbikes as well.... : (
two things I can't afford, in one neat package!
I'd be happy with a flipping CD player.
I would be much more impressed by a voice navigation interface to the ipod that does not require you to own any particular high end car. But that would make too much sense and wouldn't nickel and dime us to death.
Come on now, Duff.... Just because you went for the English Literature/Women's Studies double major, don't hate on the folks who studied Math or CS and actually make enough $ to own a nice car. At least you got laid more in school.
They should have a little bluetooth dongle that jams on and then you can control and hear it via the car's stereo over bluetooth.
Now I want an Ipod AND a BMW! No fair!
"-Hey, don't mess around with my iPod stereo, change it back to track 4963! --No, I want to hear track 8702."
Is an M3 really overpriced for what you get???
Car decks with CD-MP3 players are now common.y ers/index.php
HD units are catching on. (Like the phatbox) http://www.phatnoise.com/products/digitalmediapla
But what I think would be great is a car deck that uses a DVD drive, not to play movies but to play MP3s.
One disk can 50+ hours of decent quality music and and a dvd drive is not that expensive anymore.
It should be here now...
Please tell me you're not implying BMW isn't a major car company? They only sell a crapton of vehicles and have one of, if not the, highest profit margins.
Blessed be he who reads this post, Cursed be he who tells my boss.
BMW today announced that in keeping with the spirit of their Apple iPod partnership, the "i" in BMW's model names will now be placed before the number.
Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
Anyone notice that the Quicktime video on the website shows a link to www.ipodyourbmw.com at the end? Check out the site.. someones fired!
The Icelink is really, really sweet. This thing from BMW appears to be exactly the same thing. Full control of the iPod from the steering wheel or head unit. The nicest thing (which you don't get with the Transpod or those other tacky adapters) is that the iPod turns off when the car and/or stereo turns off. When you start it back up, it picks up right where you left off. The one thing that's missing is that the car's head unit doesn't display the song/artist/album info from the MP3 tag. Looks like that's the case with this BMW thing, too.
if I listened to the droning of the proles. Instead, I'm going out to shoot a peasant or a pheasant. Whichever I find on my estate first.
BWM my IPod
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion, It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, The hands acqui
This won't work in my Z8 roadster? Pish-posh. Guess I'll just have to deal with whatever Jeeves puts on whilst riding in the Maybach.
Absolutelly NOT!
For an example of real neat integration of an iPod in a car look at what smart did with the i-move
;-)
Although I must admit that I'd still prefer a BMW over Smart anytime.
If, like me, you have a Sony with a multi-changer control you can have both an iPod and a CD changer hooked up.
I highly recommend it
'Internet! Is that thing still around?' - Homer Simpson
It's called digital crack for a reason...
... after taking another look at my slightly sagging SCO shares, I realize I'm a little short this month, so I have to CHOOSE between the iPod or a BMW. It's that kind of decision that makes people's heads explode.
Oh, well, after I blow my SCO money I still have my Enron, Worldcom, Martha Stewart Enterprises and Bre-X investments to fall back on. Tonight I'd better check to see how they're doing, maybe I *CAN* afford both after all!
P.S. I saved a BUNDLE by choosing my own investments and not paying an "expert" to do it for me.
I'm not normally an irrational zealous dickhead, but I figure "When in Rome..."
Who in their right mind spends the money on a new Beemer and doesn't shell out the extra grand or so for a navigation system?
Something's missing... track listings on the head unit. They should have hacked something together that pipes CD TEXT info out to the receiver and shows what's currently playing. Then again, do iPods with dock connectors have the ability to send track information down through their connection?
Is the iPod also easily spotted through the glove box door? After all, that's where the adapter is. ;-)
---- The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. -Thomas Jefferson
Well, that's certainly more than I would have expected. Best Buy carries two low-end Aiwas (at least at local Dallas stores), and Circuit City no longer carries any with auxiliary inputs. I guess I should do more advanced research, but I guess I'm still surprised it's not a more common feature at the retail stores.
...is someone to release a car stereo that takes an iPod like a cassette, and allows access to the music through the stereo interface.
(tig)
Ignorance and prejudice and fear
Walk hand in hand
he is speaking the truth, you fucking nazi moderators
wow.. i'm glad i'm not the only one who noticed that..
*phew*
I wonder if they have plans to move this into other, higher quality vehicles in the future? While I admit that BMW's are very expensive and prestigous, independent car reviews like Consumer Reports always give them the lowest possible marks for reliability, a key indicator of quality. Any chance they're going to port this to high quality makes such as Nissan, Honda or (the king of reliability) Toyota?
Before anyone flames me -1 Troll or something, here's a link to the Consumer Reports review of the BMW 3-series. Consumer Reports does not accept advertising dollars and has been independent and objective for decades (you need a subscription). Their electrical systems and power equipment get the absolute worst rating and they managed the bare minimum "reliability check-mark" only three years out of eight studied. And that's the best of the bunch! Their SUV line gets some of the worst quality marks in automobile history.
God, why would the quality leader in portable music hook up with a quality sinkhole like BMW? People who pay the premium for iPods pay for their stuff to just work. People who buy BMW's pay a premium for prestige, and don't mind if the car breaks down twenty times a year. These are two totally separate markets.
If guns kill people, then CmdrTaco's keyboard misspells words.
Nothing more then rich, liberal, elite, yuppy, eurotrash, scumbags
No self-respecting eurotrash would spell aluminiumcube without the second "i".
This is a terrible idea! How is Google supposed to know if I'm looking for the "iPod Mini" or the "iPod MINI"?
I'm not jealous of a 3-series BMW. I just think that it's the most overpriced and overrated car ever.
If you want to overpay for a car, at least get a comfortable and efficient Mercedes Turbodiesel or a Caddy.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
This Sucks!
"terrorism" and "pedophilia" are the root passwords to the Constitution
Uh huh. Spoken like someone who's never owned or driven one. (I assume if you had, you would have mentioned it... I'm sure you're busy fabricating a story as I type this, though.)
Once again, so far as I can tell, we early iPod adapters without the fancy dock connectors are being shafted by an upgrade. It seems like the older models were deprecated and ceased to be supported very abruptly. I still want my playlists on the go...
Yes, you can control your iPod from the car's radio or steering wheel, but the integration leaves a lot to be desired. It works by emulating a 5-disc CD Changer. Hence you can have "five unique BMW playlists".
You will not be able to see the song name or artist on the radio's display. Nor will you be able to access any of the other iPod functions or features, such as browsing by name/artist/genre etc. You will only be able to FF and RW one of five playlists.
Apple and BMW should go back to the drawing board.
I suppose that BMW owners might be different than me but I don't have any room in my glove box after all the paperwork for the car, the manual, and the road maps
:-) To be fair there is another storage compartment between the driver and the passenger that will fit the items you mention.
Have you seen the glovebox in a BMW Z4? It won't hold any of those. It just about holds an iPod and maybe a pair of gloves
The adapter frees your car from messy wires
So the wire connecting the adapter to the stereo is neat and clean?
On another note, it's interesting how much they're hyping the supposedly excellent "sound quality" of the iPod. I love my iPod, but sound quality here is almost entirely a factor of the encoding of the music rather than the iPod. When it comes down to it, the iPod is just a hard drive with headphones. It stores the music and hopefully doesn't introduce too much noise in the connection to the speakers, but a crappy mp3 recording is not going to mysteriously sound so much better when played on an iPod as opposed to any other digital music player.
Spoken like a true BMW-owner! I've seen 4 cars break down in front of me while driving, all with engine failure(black smoke, horrible sounds etc), and 3 of those were BMWs. The last one was the ultimate flagship of the egotists, the mighty M3! Oh, how I laughed...and the smirk, the smooth smirk I gave them...
...
...
Overpriced and saturated with hyperbole; huge wheels, spoilers from hell and lowered with side skirts that grace the neon-lit asphalt - all straight from the manufacturer! w00t!
Bentley, MG, Ford, Volvo, Alfa Romeo, Mazda and Aston Martin have way more to offer in terms of handling, effect and esthetics than the product of former Nazi sponsored Bavarian greasemonkeys...
Now, where did I leave my asbestos suit?
Honey!
I need my asbestos suit!! Now!!!
A dock would restrict compatibility to one type or generation of iPod. With the cable, you can use either an original iPod or an iPod Mini and it leaves Apple able to redesign the iPod form factor in the future while still maintaining compatibility with this. You don't want to have to upgrade your car stereo every time you buy a new iPod model, do you? All Apple has to keep the same in future models is the connector.
Part of the appeal of a Honda is that they have basically used one engine series for Civics, CRX, Integras and their other small car line, and lots of kids have a cheap Civic and would love a cheap B16A or B18C to bolt on to their baby. While BMWs also use only a few engine lines, there are considerably fewer BMW owners (as a % of all BMW owners) who want to get their hands dirty putting a 328 or M3 engine in their 325 (and voiding the warrenty).
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
Since this is Slashdot, I'll be a stickler for the details - BMW cars are Bimmers, BMW motorcycles are Beemers.
Bimmer, not Beemer, owner.
'88 M3, '97 318i
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Oh well.
Well, it seems like www.ipodyourbmw.com is just a register.com parked page right now... And www.bmwusa.com/ipod/ is just an empty BMW page with a broken image. What's up with that?
Sig Nature
got this form The Onion
Mugger Can't Believe Crap Victim Has On MP3 Player
BOSTON--Following the successful mugging of a jogger in Franklin Park, petty criminal Derek Mesker announced Monday that he cannot believe the shit he's found on his victim's Philips 20GB MP3 player. "3 Doors Down? Maroon 5!" Mesker said, scrolling through the songs. "The new Counting Crows?! Man, I'm glad I pistol-whipped that motherfuck." Mesker added that the first thing he did was toss the device's "gay-ass" teal neoprene case.
Preliminary info here.
-ted
about cutting our comuters, slitting ribbon cables and overclocking our processors that we complain about not having ultimate authority about everything being in its perfect place in our cars!
:)
But otherwise, you're perfectly right.
its a NYC thing
"You get all the fun of sitting still, being quiet, writing down numbers, paying attention...science has it all."
You don't always get what you pay for. You will often find that the decline in quality of the German vehicles is consistent with their recent manufacture outside of Germany. Not sure why the Germans cannot export their methods like the Japanese can - Toyota etc have very high quality rankings for their North American plants.
I'm deciding between a MINI and a Scion xA.
I was leaning towards the latter...honestly I like the styling better, and it seems likely to be more reliable.
But no sun roof...and now this. Funny how Toyota puts in a MP3 player std, but doesn't contract an iPod friendly stereo, like one with a audio-in...
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
I really want to know if this works in the M-series, as I'm thinking about getting an M3, and already have an iPod.
mmm.... M3
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Oh yeah? Well my new Dell P.O.S. 5300 MP3 player integrates well with my Kia Sh*tcar.
The next comment I write will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
unless I am mistaken, has only a FireWire cable for control. If you buy the adapter, can you connect another FW unit that responds like an iPod would...e.g, a satellite-based or 802.11-wardriving IP phone, or a GPS system (control buttons and text-to-speech directions)?
This translation brought to you by babelfish++.
-fred
Sign #11 of Slashdot overdose: You see the phrase 'moderate Republican' and you wonder if that would be a +1 or a -1.
Clearly you didn't read the second part of the article where it mentions the perspex glovebox door conversion which is included with installation.
With no line input. :(
Fuck.
<^>_<(ô ô)>_<^>
I love switching tracks with on wheel buttons. As well as turning volume up or down.
Sucks to me I have 2001 BMW, and it has no stupid line input and integration. How lame is that? Actually - their "Business CD" head unit sucks rocks, but I can not use much else.
<^>_<(ô ô)>_<^>
Well I have driven many BMW's, and besides the well overpriced M3 there is not a decent 3 series. As a result I am probably getting the Saab 9-2x Aero, comfortable seats, great drive and all wheel drive. That and it keeps up with the M3 for a sticker price of 31,000 FULLY LOADED.
10,000 songs in your car for the rest of us.
l
http://homepage.mac.com/twalls2/PhotoAlbum8.htm
(last three images)
...to BMW 2002 or greater
Has anyone even bothered thinking this through?
New York banned handheld cellphones from use while driving to prevent accidents, now they want to make the steering wheel a fucking controller for the iPod?
What? Are they going to make it a "snow" steering wheel, and you turn it left/right to navigate through the LCD menu (displayed in big letters on the windshield)?
I sense high insurance rates.
I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
Another option in that works just like this (minus playlists, which are sounding suspiciously like choosing discs in a cd changer situation) is to get an Alpine CHA-624 MP3 6-disc changer and either a BlitzSafe or Soundgate adapter.
I've used this in my last two 3 series cars ('00 and '01) and I'm working on getting it compatible with my current car ('04). It seems BMW has changed the wiring harness, or somehow fscked up my setup.
But with this you have 6 cd's full of music, and I literally didn't have to listen to the drek on the radio for months at a time.
A+ for reply! :D
Well, I used to drive a '72 2002, but it was in very poor shape. Now I have a '74 3.0 CS. In looks what a candy iMac was to a Dell. Any chance the 2002 harness will work in the bigger car? Can't buy proper gas for it, but it is a 12 volt system, so that should work. The only thing digital is the clock. It used to be analog, but the only way it moves now is when your fingers turn the little knob.
Gary Dunn
Open Slate Project
I half-expected that reply to end with:
:)
"I'm Rick James, BITCH!" and a punch to the face.
This solution has been around for a while...
... just like the Apple / BMW setup.
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Here's something for other cars. It comes with a dock and supporta steering wheal controls or controls from your car's CD player (this thing uses the iPod to replace an external CD changer)
This thing's actually fairly neat... it allows you to view the iPod's LCD on your dash. The BMW / Apple system hides the iPod on in the glove box.
Dension has a set up that will allow you to control your iPod with steering wheal buttons, or CD changer / auxiliary audio controls
However Dension also sells a mounting bracket so you can view your iPod's LCD. The Apple BMW setup places your iPod in your glovebox and (seemingly) forces you to browse your giant music archive without ID tags. Ouch.
http://www.densionusa.com/x/index.php?option=co
http://www.densionusa.com/x/index.php?option=co
http://www.densionusa.com/x/index.php?option=co
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
So now the audio player I can't afford seamlessly integrates with the car I can't afford? No news here, move along
"Physics is to math as sex is to masturbation." -R. Feynman
Hmmmm...
I read the features and it only says MP3 playback on CD-R/W. Hard to find out about these things if the features are hidden.
From Kenwoods page:
Plays DVD-Video, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, VCD, CD, CD-R/RW and MP3/WMA-Encoded CD-R/RW Disc
Doesn't that look like it only will play MP3 on CDR/W??
and cars in the same issue. I can't take such a company seriously.
I remember them slamming VW 10 years ago for not having 2 turn signal indicator lights, VW only had one (not one for each direction). If you don't remember which direction you turned the turn signal lever and need a light to remind you, perhaps means you shouldn't be driving a car.
At any rate, because of Consumer Reports, VW added an additional turn signal light.
"so there's no way of knowing that there's an iPod in the car at all"
But I paid good $$$ for my sleek and sexy ipod so people could see how trendy I am. Ditto for the Beemer. If people can't even see it, what's the point?
Can I get a sleek and sexy sticker to advertise my trendyness?
If you can afford a BMW, you can afford an iPod, but not necessarily the other way around.
I sure as hell hope this is optional. If I'm buying a BMW my sound requirements will probably exceed the middling sound quality of an iPod.
Presently here, but not there.
They're gonna see the Beemer, so don't worry about it. However, you might have a different problem and may want to reply to the next 'Male enhancement' message that pops up in your inbox.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
My 04 Nissan Sentra has an aux in on its stock CD player. There is a slot below just big enough for any mp3 or minidisc player. All you need is a short stereo cable and just load it up on "random play".
I'd like to know what is so...umm..innovative about this.
2. Play: Navigate through tracks and your BMW playlists and adjust volume with the fully integrated steering wheel control function. Skip between tracks with "Up" and "Down" arrows or play the contents of your personal collection in "Random" mode.
3. See/Hear: View and control up to five unique BMW playlists and virtually endless miles of music. Your iPod adapter simulates the CD changer function in your audio system, allowing you to move between and view track numbers in up to five BMW playlists.
It appears that all it does it pick track numbers based on predefined playlists. It sounds like just about the most basic functionality they could possibly get away with. I am not impressed.
Make your "five unique BMW playlists" and "view track numbers"? Gee, you think they just made it look like a 5-disc CD changer? That's the best they could do in cooperation with Apple? That is really disappointing. At least do CD-text info!
Always check the glovebox!
Homer: So you think you know better than this family, eh? Well as long as you're in my house you'll do what I do and believe what I believe! So butter your bacon!
Bart: Yes father.
Lisa: Mom, dad, my spiritual quest is over!
Homer: Hold that thought . . . bacon up that sausage, boy!
Bart: But dad, my heart hurts!
Are Apple really the quality leader? I don't deny that they make very attractive and cleverly designed products (as do BMW) but is the quality of manufacture really there?
My circle of friends have had a lot of reliability problems with Apple products. My girlfriend recently bought an iPod from an Apple dealer, and the screen on the first one she bought didn't work at all. She had to argue with them for five-ten minutes to get them to swap it immediately, rather than making her wait a couple of weeks to get a replacement from Apple HQ. (Great customer experience!)
My other friend had a TiBook, in which two drives failed in a matter of months, and then the motherboard failed. When he took it in to get the motherboard replaced, the apple monkeys said they could not move the hard drive across to the new machine, so he would lose all his data since his last backup, since the machine would no longer boot. They wouldn't let him remove the old drive himself either, since that would void the warranty. They thought this was entirely reasonable: maybe most of their users don't store any data they care about? This was their policy even though swapping a hard drive from one machine to another is something most nerdy twelve-year-olds could do without trouble. I think he ended up getting the new replacement machine, selling it, and getting an x86 laptop instead.
You hear similar stories about BMWs: beautiful design, but many little glitches and a large fraction of clueless dealers. I went to a BMW motorcycle shop a while ago and the salesdroid couldn't even ride, and didn't know the first thing about motorcycles. If I were a design engineer at Apple or BMW I'd feel really let down.
If I really wanted an Apple I wouldn't let this put me off -- and I do really appreciate the gorgeous whole-system design. I would just make regular backups to another (non-Apple) machine. So the situation is similar to what people say about BMW: great design, but (for the money) very unreliable quality and service. If I had the spare money I'd probably buy either a BMW or an Apple machine at least once in my life, but I'd go into it prepared to fight hard to get my warranty entitlements.
The nub of the problem is this: the two companies have built such strong brands that for many customers there is no substitute. If I'm buying a regular commodity SATA drive, I can look at price, quality reports, speed and so on and choose between many vendors. But if I have my heart set on an iPod or an M3 then I have to take it or leave it. The competitive pressure for quality is much less. Of course the downside is that when customers have such an emotional attachment they get really bitter when they're screwed around -- as did the two people mentioned.
the glove box can be locked with the bmw car key (with or without the ipod addon)
Perfect, I have a 30Gb ipod, now I just need the BMW!!!
The package said "Windows XP or better. Pentium Class Processor or better"... So I got a Mac with OS X
What you need is a muli-tiered glovebox organzier. The one pictured is for a MINI (which I own), and lets me keep not only all the paperwork, but also a toll transponder, extra sunglasses, primary sunglasses, an iPod, and some CD's if I like.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Hopefully, if succesful, the major car companies (Toyota, GM, Ford, Daimler, VW) will take notice and do something similar.
I agree with you. I have been wondering why they don't make it easier to integrate players. One possible answer is their relationship with the sat-radio companies. No doubt all of the manufacturers spent a fair amount of money designing sat-radio features into their systems; there may even be exclusion clauses imposed by the sat-radio people for a certain period of time. (Anyone know?) I believe sat-radio ultimately does *not* make sense, at least the way it is priced today. The only place it is really appealing is in the car, but that's only because it is not easy to plug in an MP3 player.
Wonder how the sat-radio people will react to this development.
Imagine how much harder physics would be if electrons had feelings! -Feynman, maybe
Easy solution, cheap, too - get the belkin adapter and a simple tape adapter. Plug the belkin into your lighter slot, and the tape adapter into the belkin. Then, insert tape.
Plug the ipod into the lighter, and it's all set. All you have to do is take out the ipod, same as the BMW model. Unless you smoke or have a tone of tapes you like to hear, this is a far cheaper solution that is just as good.
Yes, the wires are visible. But you're talking about one, maybe two wires. They can easily be bundled into neatness using a velcro tie. These fit easily under my car's ashtray console, where nobody can really see. The only thing that is visible is a small wire coming down from the tape adapter, into the belkin. If you want to buy a 1000+ solution, or a 60,000 car to rid yourelf of one wire, be my guest. I don't have that kind of money to spend on such trivial matters.
On the same topic, though - if you're a digital music freak, and you are buying a BMW anyway, you might as well go for broke.
Women...nope
Men....nope
Money...nope
The Simple Pleasure That Comes From Bringing a Child Into The World And Holding Their Tiny Little Hand at Sunset While You Both Eat Ice-Cream...nope
He's dead, Jim!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
'i' stands for fuel injection, so what would they do for diesels, like the 330d? Or the Motorsport cars, etc...
If you maintain a car with a simple japanese engine you should be able to get at least 200k out of it and it will cost a small fraction and get better milage as well.... It may not be the most fun or comfortable ride but it serves the purpose of basic transportation.... but I guess I have always favored function over form.
I not wanting to start anything. But the 3 series does have some major advantages over most other comparible cars where driving performance and satisfaction is concerned. The engin for example is placed at the back of the engine bay to help with weight transfer. AWD is only helpful for tracking and general inhibats a vehicles performance. 4wd sytems add weight, reduce driver feed back through the wheel and often suffer from understeer. For most people like my self its useless. When was the last time you lost traction in a dangerous way and required the tracking to solve you situation. WRC rally yes for road cars its more gimmick and sales orientated than helpfull
There's also something to be said for not having an aftermarket headunit in many neighborhoods (especially in a convertible).
OMG, I love Apple! This is just another really slick promotional campaign that just reiterates the importance of image in selling any product. I mean, given the nature of this latest campaign and past iPod promotions, what does this tell us about Apple's perception of iPod users? Are we all yupperclass, BMW drivin, cool clothes wearin masters of our domains? ;-)
Nope, not at all! Heck, I drive a minivan most of the time schleptin kids all over the place! But even for me, the image is pretty cool, even though that was not my reason for getting an iPod. (My reasons had more to do with licensing issues and such...). In any case, stay tuned for the QuickTime movie that is almost certain to come...
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
Don't live your life in fear. No one is going to mug you or break into your car. Trust me, we're watching.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
Spoken like someone whose car is an extension of his genitals.
I've never owned a BMW, but have driven in several. The cars handle well, but I'm a big guy and I just don't like the feel of the car.
I prefer large cars, but I don't like SUVs... I'm driving a Cadillac Deville DTS right now, which has been the best car that I have ever known. It's fast, looks great and handles pretty well, although obviously isn't in the same league as an M3.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
Yeah, metal cars are so quaint. Rubber and plastic panels are here to stay.
http://www.ssiamerica.com/products/nap/ . It does not give me any controls over my IPOD or Zen xtra, But it allows me to use my CD changer input on the back of my factory head unit for auxillary audio input without the noise of FM modulators, etc. It also sounds very good!
I don't have a BMW, but I had been seriously thinking about getting a Mini Cooper...
Anyway, I currently have a JVC head unit in my Jetta that has a front line IN jack. I've tried the iTrip and various cassete adapters and they've all sucked. But when I upgraded to the JVC it was fantastic! The sheer sound quality difference is phenomenal.
I can bet that this new BMW connector to the iPod will sound great!
My only wish was that it were even more integrated, like with a dock integrated into the stereo unit or something.
Real geeks don't wait for the major car companies to do something for them when they can just make their own hack...
Hook up a PJRC MP3 Player to your Volkswagen using a VWCDPIC audio interface adapter. 100% Open Source.
:-)
VWCDPIC Audio Interface Adapter
PJRC MP3 Player
Belkin iPod Cup Holder
Belkin iPod Auto Kit
>>This will be a huge boon to radio thieves
as your post will be a huge boon to your karma
Start making car stereos have a damn 3.5mm stereo jack somewhere on the front of the unit. There are so many different mp3 devices nowadays, and the last thing I want is more custom shit that locks me into brands or punishes me for not using the same thing as everyone else. Give me a standard way to plug my mp3 player into my stereo without having to fight with every FM radio station in a 30 mile radius or take my dash halfway apart and buy a $70 adapter so I can attatch a pig-tail to the back of my stereo.
(And no, I'm not hating on cool iPod stuff. I have an iPod. But I still don't want a slot-loading iPod incase my next mp3 player is not an iPod or incase Apple changes the size/shape of the iPod yet again (they will - WWDC is coming soon). )
This is supposed to be cool? Have the iPod lie in the glove compartment? Hello?
And aren't BMWs today navigated by MICROSOFT?
Non-event folks: Steve Jobs is just playing around again. Move along, nothing to see here, go home to your families.
We all know the value of anecdotal evidence, but I was completely uninterested in buying the CD changer. I'd always intended to use my ipod as a source, I'd just been planning on using the icelink; six CDs just isn't enough to be worth the bother.
(Conveniently, I seem to have a 2003 mini cooper without the optional navigation system, CD changer, cassette player, or satellite radio. So I know what _else_ I'm buying in July, after the Airport Express.)
On the BMW compatibility chart from BMW's page it says (with an *) you can disconnect the CD changer.
If both plugs connect in the glove compartment, switching them out would be a pretty simple matter. I don't know if this is the case.
I can tell you my personal experience. A skiing vacation was ruined taking my friends RWD BMW up to lake tahoe, as it could not handle on snow. That is one of the issues with RWD. FWD helps address that, but I like AWD in the safety it provides going in the snow(not to mention the lack of hassle as far as chains and the like go). Performance wise, it actually does get you a bit of a faster time off the line as there isn't as much wheel slip.
As to your other concerns, yes, they can do that. However I far prefer an AWD or FWD car in the snow to a RWD.
I have a Mini Cooper, and last time I looked, it didn't have a glove box - just a parcel shelf underneath the passenger airbag compartment. So the first time someone with an iPod connected takes a corner sharp and fast (and the Cooper is *very* good at this - it's incredibly good fun to drive)... WHEEEE! Flying iPod! Good job it's got that cable to hold it in place.
I live in Norway and drive a RWD 318i for 4 to 5 months every year. No problem, you just have to learn how to handle RWD on snow, it's a little different than FWD/AWD. Stopping is usually the big problem on snow and ice, and there AWD doesn't help at all ...
Cool! Now I can turn to Apple to Pimp My Ride!
not EVERY car is going to have an iPod waiting in the glovebox.
same way people sometimes put things in the trunk of the car as opposed to laying out on the back seat.
also somebody else pointed out that if you use valet parking or park in a garage you give them the "valet key" that does not allow them access to the glovebox or the trunk.... so it would be secure while you go out, but there when you get back.
My Name is to be the Buck, and I am here to be the FUCK ahahahahzzz
Oh great... what about those of us who took it in the ass thanks to outsourcing, downsizing, and the overall sorry state of the economy, and can barely afford a beat up Honda...
"Our funds have never taken part in toxic or death spiral convertible financings of any sort" -BayStar's managing partne
1. iPod controls BMW! 2. ??? 3. Profit! I love /.
I wonder why the iPod won't work with the microsoft iDrive software on the new 5 and 7 series? hmmmmm... I'm sure they'll eventually get them to play well together (yea right)
You, sir, are a moron.
... and yes, the BMW neon-lighting option.
... feel free to continue mocking others.
I would assume you were speaking about track use, as the early E46 M3 had a rash of engine failures that is still being investigated. All cars with affected engines now have 6 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranties (not to say that the owners didn't have to fight the company for it).
I bet you take glee in others misfortune. You seem like that kind of person.
Mind telling me which BMWs come with spoilers from hell, are "lowered" from the factory (I believe lowering refers to setting a car lower than STOCK.. so it's not possible to 'lower' as part of a specific model)
Bentley = overpriced, MG = not available in the US, not too reliable, Ford = crap, Volvo = decent cars, but front wheel drive or AWD only, Alfa = wtf, Aston Martin = massively overpriced. Hell, the only reasonable car you mention here is Mazda. Credit to Mazda for coming out with some decent cars these days, the new 3 and 6 are awesome! I love the styling, although I'd think your hyperbole meter would go off the charts with the new ricer-style taillights that come stock with them...
Oh, forgot to add, you can pick up a nice 95 M3 for 14k these days. An absolute steal. Overpriced, huh?
Damn. This has got to be the most expensive iPod accessory to date. Forget those designer pouches... BMW is the way to go.
An "iPod Inside" sticker? Complete with the jingle for the advertisement.
You could attempt to run the cord through the glove box but for some reason BMW likes to have accessories put in the glove box. I have a 2003 330xi and since this kit was not available at the time I got the auxilary jack which is just an input so I dont loose audio quality with the premium audio system I had installed
HTH, HAND.
Well, it may say that... but, as I own the unit and have about 7 dvds encoded with MP3s that I listen to with that unit.... I would take my experience over the marketing people's information. When a DVD encoded with MP3s is added, it will give the status of the DVD (on the top left side of the screen) as "DVD/MP3/WMA". The only think I can't get to play are AACs and most of my MP3s are encoded at 320kbps, Works very nice, except some of the navigation of directories. It resets to the top of the list rather than were you are if you go up directory levels. Beyond that, I like it a lot.
The design weblog has a review of the commercial: http://design.weblogsinc.com/entry/519220144336528 8/
Engadget has a negative review of the iPod/BMW user experience: http://www.engadget.com/entry/6720595414083573/
Thanks, Pariah http://www.iamPariah.com Claim to fame: Number 1 (and 2) Google results for "quark sucks"
AIWA already has 3,5mm input jacks on several models. Enables you to use most anything from old cassette-players to brand new iPods. http://www.us.aiwa.com
Sorry, but this could be so much cooler... the new Acura TL has a Bluetooth-based system that can automatically identify and patch your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone (all 2 of them on the market!) through the car's audio system for hands-free use, merely by having the phone in the car with you. Why couldn't this idea work for the iPod? Sure, you'd have to plug in some sort of adapter to your iPod, but then every time you stepped into your car, the system would automatically identify it and connect. That would be far cooler than a cable in the glovebox... I mean, jeez, I could set something like that up in my 93 Festiva!