E9x Music over USB question

E9x Music over USB question

Author
Discussion

Crimefighter

Original Poster:

152 posts

135 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
Hi all,

I have a 2006 E92, and I can currently play music from my Android phone via the 3.5mm Aux jack in the centre armrest. Trouble is I am picky about sound quality, and it bugs me that the connection to the car stereo isn't digital.

There is a USB cable in there as well, and I thought that should be the ticket, but it doesnt seem to carry the audio. Apparently it only seems to allow track/playlist etc from the car stereo controls....and I can't even get that to work with my phone. If the music was sent digitally over the USB that would be fine, but it doesnt seem to work that way. The 3.5mm carries the audio no matter how I try to configure it, and the volume and sound quality takes a hit in the process.

Am I missing something here? I Would love a plug and play solution for music on my phone that doesn't compromise on the sound volume and quality.

Thanks

Matt

Lost soul

8,712 posts

181 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
Put the music on a USB memory stick and plug it in , or an ipod and plug that in

Hoofy

76,253 posts

281 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
Yeah, I suspect the USB is purely to read memory sticks not players.

Crimefighter

Original Poster:

152 posts

135 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
So I am out of luck with the mobile phone? Shame.

Lost soul

8,712 posts

181 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
Crimefighter said:
So I am out of luck with the mobile phone? Shame.
I had a 2008 E92 , I think you need the special (expensive) BMW cable

dasbimmerowner

364 posts

140 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
Plugging in a USB cable from my 2011 E90 to phone results in nothing detected. It annoys me somewhat, I ended up paying £5 or so for a bluetooth USB adaptor, the only issue with that is that it needs turning on every time I get in the car which is a PITA.

Crimefighter

Original Poster:

152 posts

135 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
Lost soul said:
I had a 2008 E92 , I think you need the special (expensive) BMW cable
Im not sure about that, I have an Android phone (Samsung Galaxy), which takes a micro USB connector, not an Apple Connector.


Crimefighter

Original Poster:

152 posts

135 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
quotequote all
dasbimmerowner said:
Plugging in a USB cable from my 2011 E90 to phone results in nothing detected. It annoys me somewhat, I ended up paying £5 or so for a bluetooth USB adaptor, the only issue with that is that it needs turning on every time I get in the car which is a PITA.
Is that method any good for streaming music from your phone over the BT to the stereo? I used to do that in my company car and it worked well. Unfortunately my BMW has an aftermarket "parrot" system installed and it doesn't work as well as a factory system.

dasbimmerowner

364 posts

140 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
quotequote all
@crimefigheter, yes it's ok, but not as good as the in-built systems found on some cars nowadays. I struggle to tell the difference on in-car stereo systems between streamed music over BT vs CD if I'm honest. Different matter at home with the all-singing/dancing stereo I have.

I went with something like so: http://www.7dayshop.com/products/7dayshop-bluetoot...

It's ok, could be better in terms of usability etc. Does the job for very little money though.

Crimefighter

Original Poster:

152 posts

135 months

Thursday 21st August 2014
quotequote all
dasbimmerowner said:
@crimefigheter, yes it's ok, but not as good as the in-built systems found on some cars nowadays. I struggle to tell the difference on in-car stereo systems between streamed music over BT vs CD if I'm honest. Different matter at home with the all-singing/dancing stereo I have.

I went with something like so: http://www.7dayshop.com/products/7dayshop-bluetoot...

It's ok, could be better in terms of usability etc. Does the job for very little money though.
Thanks, might give it a go - if it doesn't work out well, at least I won't have lost much £.

Jon1967x

7,175 posts

123 months

Thursday 21st August 2014
quotequote all
Crimefighter said:
dasbimmerowner said:
@crimefigheter, yes it's ok, but not as good as the in-built systems found on some cars nowadays. I struggle to tell the difference on in-car stereo systems between streamed music over BT vs CD if I'm honest. Different matter at home with the all-singing/dancing stereo I have.

I went with something like so: http://www.7dayshop.com/products/7dayshop-bluetoot...

It's ok, could be better in terms of usability etc. Does the job for very little money though.
Thanks, might give it a go - if it doesn't work out well, at least I won't have lost much £.
I can't see bluetooth streaming being any better than using the line in. I recall a long thread on it on here somewhere. Buy a large USB drive and stick all your music on that is an easy way and that will be digital.

djdestiny

6,542 posts

177 months

Thursday 21st August 2014
quotequote all
Do you have idrive?
I have CIC idrive retrofitted with combox which allows full control and audio via USB and also Bluetooth audio streaming

Jon1967x

7,175 posts

123 months

Thursday 21st August 2014
quotequote all
djdestiny said:
Do you have idrive?
I have CIC idrive retrofitted with combox which allows full control and audio via USB and also Bluetooth audio streaming
The OP has a 2006 car, that's pre combox and probably CCC

djdestiny

6,542 posts

177 months

Thursday 21st August 2014
quotequote all
Sorry, yes of course it will be CCC, I was browsing on my phone earlier and missed that bit.
I think you have to use the USB cable for control (changing track etc) and the audio is fed through the aux in.

Crimefighter

Original Poster:

152 posts

135 months

Friday 22nd August 2014
quotequote all
djdestiny said:
Sorry, yes of course it will be CCC, I was browsing on my phone earlier and missed that bit.
I think you have to use the USB cable for control (changing track etc) and the audio is fed through the aux in.
Yeah seems to be no way around that, for my car at least.

Was hoping to have my cake and eat it too with the convenience of the mobile phone (where I keep my music collection)and the music quality. Looks like the USB stick is the only option for me.

Thanks all for the input.

djdestiny

6,542 posts

177 months

Friday 22nd August 2014
quotequote all
If you plan on keeping the car for a while a CIC and combox upgrade is well worth looking into, it makes a huge difference.its easily the best mid I've done!

Crimefighter

Original Poster:

152 posts

135 months

Monday 25th August 2014
quotequote all
djdestiny said:
If you plan on keeping the car for a while a CIC and combox upgrade is well worth looking into, it makes a huge difference.its easily the best mid I've done!
Thanks for the tip - how much money would I be looking at for that?

djdestiny

6,542 posts

177 months

Monday 25th August 2014
quotequote all
It depends on what you've already got in the car, and what you want to achieve.
What you already have can affect what you need and how you would do it.
I already had CCC and bluetooth hands free, and wanted to swap to CIC with combox.

Edit:
Loads of info on my thread linked below smile

By the time I had all of that it cost approx £1500.
There are some before and after pics on my thread here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by djdestiny on Monday 25th August 14:53

Jon1967x

7,175 posts

123 months

Monday 25th August 2014
quotequote all
djdestiny said:
It depends on what you've already got in the car, and what you want to achieve.
What you already have can affect what you need and how you would do it.
I already had CCC and bluetooth hands free, and wanted to swap to CIC with combox.

Edit:
Loads of info on my thread linked below smile

By the time I had all of that it cost approx £1500.
There are some before and after pics on my thread here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by djdestiny on Monday 25th August 14:53
It's a lot cheaper to get a memory stick and put all your music on. Have you tried that option?

djdestiny

6,542 posts

177 months

Monday 25th August 2014
quotequote all
If you've got a small music collection then fair enough use a memory stick.
Personally I have over 100GB of music which is constantly growing, I wanted sat nav that didn't look like it was powered by a ZX81 and had the feature of postcodes along with everything else it can do.
Granted, it is a lot of money for CIC conversion, and not everyone would get the benefit of it.
For me it has been worth every single penny