E39 iPod connection options?

[bramley]

Picking up a 2003 530 sport touring in a few days and I wondered what options I have for connecting an iPod to the car. I think it's got the BMW business stereo with tape player up front and cd changer in the boot.

Thanks

[digger_R]

[bramley]

I'll keep googling then!

[[TW]Fox]

Your options are strictly limited - any aftermarket system which does work with the stock BMW tape unit is pretty crude and functionally rather dire. The best you can hope for is some sort of aux in method controlling everything from the Ipod.

If your 530i has the high OBC with the multi info display in the centre console your options are a bit better - £150 gets you an Intravee which will allow full ipod functionality via the MID, including track/playlist listing, control, etc etc.

[bramley]

Damn. Thanks for the info, I wanted a car with the sat nav/tv but a really nice one came up without it and the deal is now done so I'll go for a Belkin jobbie that slots in the cigarette lighter.

Cheers

[[TW]Fox]

Multi info display is not the Satnav. I've just retrofitted it to mine, here are some pictures:

Crap stereo:



Multi info display:



The latter works nicely with Ipod integration as it has a bigger screen. The former does not.

[bramley]

Ah ok. How much did it cost you to upgrade? Think mine has the basic stereo

[john_p]

The intravee will work with the standard business radio won't it? It certainly was designed to work in CD-Changer mode, not sure about ipod though.

[[TW]Fox]

bramley said:

Ah ok. How much did it cost you to upgrade? Think mine has the basic stereo

It's not that expensive but it's a HUGE faff because:

a) 70% of the MID's you get on Ebay are broken. I got ripped off to the tune of 60 quid for one with no working pixels left sold by a moron
b) Once you get a working one to wire it in you need to wire the display into the cars main wiring loom, and the main fuse box. It's very fiddly and a complete pain.

An Intravee will work with the stock radio but the screen is so small it doesn't output onto it properly and it's pretty much a waste of time.

[agent006]

A friend has a Dension ipod kit on his 330. Controls the Ipod from the track buttons and shows some semblance of a track name on the display.

[bramley]

Wishing I researched the spec of the stereo before agreeing to buy it! Didn't realise it was only a basic one.

I'll get a Belkin thing that sits in the fag lighter and supports the iPod, the new ones seem to get good reviews on amazon and they're £45 or so.

Thanks for you help.

[[TW]Fox]

bramley said:

Wishing I researched the spec of the stereo before agreeing to buy it! Didn't realise it was only a basic one.

Most 530's have the crappy one though so you've not really lost out. The best one for Ipod integration is the full 16:9 nav system but thats £1000+ to retrofit.