Best IPOD kit? - E39

[Trellis]

Hi

What are you opinions on the best IPOD kit to fit to an E39 - I have the Business System with no amp and a 6 changer in the boot.

I want to spend circa £100-£120 on the kit itself.

views on Dension? silverline? others?

thanks!

[4nonymous]

220 ish - Intravee
100 ish - Dice
80 ish - Dension

Dice is better than Dension, Intravee is better than Dice and Dension.

Up to you.

I have a dice in the E46, works fine, does what it says on the packet. No problem with sound quality or anything like that.

Intravee is only worth it if you have the full Satnav etc.

Edited by 4nonymous on Thursday 15th April 23:44

[Matt UK]

I went for the DICE in my e39. Nice sound, ipod sits in glovebox but also basic control using steering wheel buttons. I'm quite pleased with it.

[john_p]

4nonymous said:

220 ish - Intravee
100 ish - Dice
80 ish - Dension

Intravee is only worth it if you have the full Satnav etc.

The newest software version is very much improved now, I'm using it very happily on my E46 and navigating the iPod is a doddle.

[skoff]

I have the DICE and I find it's really flaky. sometimes it scrolls text, sometimes it doesn't. It's stopped charging my iPod for some reason, and the support people's only answer to any problem is to disconnect the battery for 10 minutes and re-connect, apparently just disconnecting the unit itself isn't good enough.

To present a ballanced view, I have heard of lots of people who find the DICE very good, so I might just be unlucky.

If you do get one, be prepared to create some play lists on your iPod (especially if you have a large music collection), because scrolling through a large music collection via the MID interface can be very tedious indeed. You can't have both the iPod interface and the MID interface active at the same time, it's one or the other.

It plugs into the socket where your CD changer would, so if you have one, you need to give it up to use the DICE.

[skoff]

john_p said:

4nonymous said:

220 ish - Intravee
100 ish - Dice
80 ish - Dension

Intravee is only worth it if you have the full Satnav etc.

The newest software version is very much improved now, I'm using it very happily on my E46 and navigating the iPod is a doddle.

Do you mean the software on the DICE? Is this something I can download? I have had my DICE Silverline for about 10 months..

[john_p]

Sorry, I meant the Intravee

You can see the users' guide for it here
http://www.intravention.co.uk/files/public/Documen...

Pretty comprehensive!

[skoff]

john_p said:

Sorry, I meant the Intravee

You can see the users' guide for it here
http://www.intravention.co.uk/files/public/Documen...

Pretty comprehensive!

You had me all excited there... Never mind...

To the OP I wish I had gone down the Intravee route. It is also worth noting that I think the Intravee allows you to use the CD changer and the iPod. The Dice doesn't.

Only other option I'd look at is a Parrot car kit - I think the top of the range one does iPod integration including album artwork on teh colour screen.

[Raify]

skoff said:

To the OP I wish I had gone down the Intravee route. It is also worth noting that I think the Intravee allows you to use the CD changer and the iPod. The Dice doesn't.

AFAIK it doesn't. I've just installed an Intravee and it uses the cd changer cables.

[skoff]

Raify said:

skoff said:

To the OP I wish I had gone down the Intravee route. It is also worth noting that I think the Intravee allows you to use the CD changer and the iPod. The Dice doesn't.

AFAIK it doesn't. I've just installed an Intravee and it uses the cd changer cables.

I stand corrected... I thought you had to plug some sort of Alpine converter thing in first which did the switching, it was a long time ago now so I must have got it mixed up with something else.

[Raify]

You do need the Alpine box. It goes:

BMW cd changer cables > Intravee box > Alpine box > iPod

[skoff]

Raify said:

You do need the Alpine box. It goes:

BMW cd changer cables > Intravee box > Alpine box > iPod

Just had a google and you can attach an Alpine CD changer to the Alpine box thingy, but NOT the original BMW one. You can have a total of 3 AiNet devices connected.

http://www.toysinyourcar.com/acatalog/intravee.htm...

Out of interest how fast is the search facility? Does the text display on your MID scroll, or is there a limit to how much you see?

[Raify]

skoff said:

Raify said:

You do need the Alpine box. It goes:

BMW cd changer cables > Intravee box > Alpine box > iPod

Just had a google and you can attach an Alpine CD changer to the Alpine box thingy, but NOT the original BMW one. You can have a total of 3 AiNet devices connected.

http://www.toysinyourcar.com/acatalog/intravee.htm...

Out of interest how fast is the search facility? Does the text display on your MID scroll, or is there a limit to how much you see?

That sounds right, there's instructions on how to connect "multiple AiNet devices", but I know you can't keep the BMW cd changer.

Scrolling is pretty quick, definitely better than any other Alpine-based systems I've used. You can shortcut to 75% through the list by hitting a number key for example, but even just scrolling with the knob is acceptably fast.