[hawaiianeze]

Question has probably been answered before, but I don't have Idrive and usually use the y cord to plug my iphone 4s in and play my own music. Is there anyway to use the arrow buttons on the steering wheel to skip/playback songs? If so how do I go about doing this

[alexwhittemore]

Your headunit is in iPod mode, yes? If the headunit says 'iPod' as your audio source, the arrow buttons WILL work automatically for track skipping.

If your headunit says 'aux' even when your iPod/iPhone is plugged in with the Y cable, your Y cable is broken. Track control (and being able to select music from the headunit menus) is the only reason for the Y cable at all.

[hawaiianeze]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

Your headunit is in iPod mode, yes? If the headunit says 'iPod' as your audio source, the arrow buttons WILL work automatically for track skipping.

If your headunit says 'aux' even when your iPod/iPhone is plugged in with the Y cable, your Y cable is broken. Track control (and being able to select music from the headunit menus) is the only reason for the Y cable at all.

so I plug the iphone into the y cable and it seems o recognize it on my phone because the volume button goes away



but on the head unit



It could be that the cable is broken, but I got it from the dealership when I got the car and it didnt work back then either. Possibly am I forgetting to do something on the head unit or the iphone?

[alexwhittemore]

If it didn't work when you originally got it from the dealer, all that means is that it was probably ALWAYS broken . Unfortunately, OEM, it's a really damn expensive part to be broken. I'd do this:

take it to the dealer, and have them try another cable in it to see if it works. If it does, see if they'll replace it, although I'm guessing that if it's 2008 you're definitely out of warranty, and even CPO wouldn't cover it. But you might as well ask. Point is, if a replacement cable works, then you can at least go to Amazon and not waste the $20 to get another one (yeah, OEM like $200 or something crazy, Amazon knockoff replacement is like $20. Friggin' profit margins, even worse than Apple itself).

The other thing you can try is your cable in a friend's car with 6fl, if you can find anyone around. In fact, you're in LA, so if you can get down to the manahttan beach area sometime, I can probably help you myself.

One thing that DOES strike me as odd is that your headunit only shows options for tuner/cd/aux. The two modes should be (no iPod present) "tuner/CD/aux/USB" or (iPod present) "tuner/cd/iPod." When you unplug the Y cable totally, do you see Aux and USB as separate options in that list (so 4 total)? For that matter, can you plug in a USB thumb drive with songs on it (I think it has to be FAT32 formatted) and browse them in the head unit menus?

[hawaiianeze]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

If it didn't work when you originally got it from the dealer, all that means is that it was probably ALWAYS broken . Unfortunately, OEM, it's a really damn expensive part to be broken. I'd do this:

take it to the dealer, and have them try another cable in it to see if it works. If it does, see if they'll replace it, although I'm guessing that if it's 2008 you're definitely out of warranty, and even CPO wouldn't cover it. But you might as well ask. Point is, if a replacement cable works, then you can at least go to Amazon and not waste the $20 to get another one (yeah, OEM like $200 or something crazy, Amazon knockoff replacement is like $20. Friggin' profit margins, even worse than Apple itself).

The other thing you can try is your cable in a friend's car with 6fl, if you can find anyone around. In fact, you're in LA, so if you can get down to the manahttan beach area sometime, I can probably help you myself.

One thing that DOES strike me as odd is that your headunit only shows options for tuner/cd/aux. The two modes should be (no iPod present) "tuner/CD/aux/USB" or (iPod present) "tuner/cd/iPod." When you unplug the Y cable totally, do you see Aux and USB as separate options in that list (so 4 total)? For that matter, can you plug in a USB thumb drive with songs on it (I think it has to be FAT32 formatted) and browse them in the head unit menus?

still have warranty for another year or two, but I've been reading that a lot of people don't know how to get the steering wheel functions to work even with the y cable. Its clear that the iphone reads the y cable and plays through the stereo.


This is what its like with nothing plugged in:





This is what its like with the y cable plugged in

[alexwhittemore]

Oh man, that sucks

The problem is that your car doesn't *HAVE* 6fl/iPod integration. Actually, there's not really any reason for you to be using the Y cable in the first place, other than to be using the line-level out of the dock connector.

if you have 6fl, there's a USB port next to the AUX plug. You can use it for reading directly off a thumb drive, or you can use the Y cable where the USB drives the iPod Accessory Protocol pins on the dock connector to do track changes and whatnot, and audio goes over that headphone plug.

So then the better question is, why on earth did they give you a Y cable with a car that doesn't need it :P

[.fLip.]

yea u have the same hookup as me.

cant use the steering wheel controls unfortuately.

i ended up getting a longer 3.5 cable (or whatever it is) so i can just sit my iphone in the little pocket beneath the shifter while i play music

[alexwhittemore]

FWIW, we never actually answered your question, 'what do I have to do to make them work.'

The answer is either A. a 6FL retrofit, which is expensive and frankly not worth it. You get bluetooth handsfree (not audio streaming) and USB (Y cable only, but your controls will work) for something like $6-700 start to finish. The MULF isn't cheap, but can be had for $1-200 used if you're lucky, like $5-600 I think OEM. Then you've got the USB plug for the armrest, bluetooth antenna, mic, and some other things. No fun.

Your better bet is a dension gateway 500. They're not cheap either, $450 or so for the box, but cheaper than a MULF retrofit and basically the exact feature set plus some stuff we all WISH the mulf had. Basically, handsfree calling (with an extra $100 or so for the BTA1500 which basically includes the mic), BT streaming, proper USB audio (no Y cable, better quality arguably)... basically all the phone integration features you get with the newest BMWs equipped with the combox.

The CHEAPEST option, at $150ish is a Parrot MKi series unit, but that doesn't really accomplish the goals in an OEM way, you get a separate remote to velcro to your steering wheel, etc etc.