[stefano7171]

Originally Posted by Reize

I've got my new 118d with the 6FL fitted and I thought I'd let you and anyone else know the solution I used for scanning through the LOOOOOOOOooooooong list of artists on my iPod.

I've gone into iTunes and changed the "genre" field for each track to the index letter for the artist. i.e. all the songs for The Beatles now appear under the Genre of "B".

Now when I need to zip through the artists, I instead go to the Genre option on the Stereo, select All, then scroll through the the letter of the Artist I'm looking for, select that letter and all the relevent artists are displayed.

It works a treat.

The obvious downside is I can't select songs by the Genre of "pop" anymore, but I never used Genres previously anyway!

Hope someone finds that useful.

You are a genius! thanks a lot, finally I will be able to listen to some artist whose name does not only start with an "A" or "B" (I have lost my patience everytime, before arriving to the "C"!!!!)
Ciao!

Stefano

[LOLrance]

Im not sure if this has been covered yet, but since im finally picking up my e92 on saturday i really want to know

We all know that when your using navi as the main screen, the only way to change the song / station is using the left and right arrow keys by the cd and navi slot. So if i was using navi as full screen while listen to my ipod (6fl option of course) and i wanted to change songs, could i just pick up my ipod and scroll to the song i want and click it to play it? Or is the ipod controls disabled while pluged in with 6fl.

[LEDZEP]

Originally Posted by l4wr3nc3

Im not sure if this has been covered yet, but since im finally picking up my e92 on saturday i really want to know

We all know that when your using navi as the main screen, the only way to change the song / station is using the left and right arrow keys by the cd and navi slot. So if i was using navi as full screen while listen to my ipod (6fl option of course) and i wanted to change songs, could i just pick up my ipod and scroll to the song i want and click it to play it? Or is the ipod controls disabled while pluged in with 6fl.

No, I don't think so. The iPod controls are suspended when connected. You can still use the steering wheel buttons to move between songs in the order they're playing (next, last, etc.).

Also, for me one of the biggest reasons to have this was to NOT have to touch the iPod while driving. Very dangerous thing to be doing.

[Reize]

Originally Posted by stefano7171

You are a genius! thanks a lot, finally I will be able to listen to some artist whose name does not only start with an "A" or "B" (I have lost my patience everytime, before arriving to the "C"!!!!)
Ciao!

Stefano

Glad to have been of help.

It's a bit of a pain to set up, having to go through and update everything, but I just ordered them by artist and bluck updated them. The good thing is artists like "Elvis Costello" come up under "C" now for me.

Oh and you may have the standard Genre titles still show up when you go through, but there aren't that many of them to worry me.

[stefano7171]

Originally Posted by Reize

Glad to have been of help.

It's a bit of a pain to set up, having to go through and update everything, but I just ordered them by artist and bluck updated them. The good thing is artists like "Elvis Costello" come up under "C" now for me.

Oh and you may have the standard Genre titles still show up when you go through, but there aren't that many of them to worry me.

Ok, thanks. I will have a look at it over the weekend. Enjoy the car and the music!

Regards,

Stefano

[shenguna]

Originally Posted by cisoid

There where a couple of further questions to be answered.

Music selection works similar to the iPod or other mp3-players with database. You can select Genre, Artist, Albums or Songs. E.g., if the Genre Pop is selected it will show all Artists of this category. If an Artists is selected then it will show the Albums of this Artists that are in Genre Pop. When selecting an Album it will show the corresponding songs. As mentioned earlier for an USB device the metainformation (e.g. ID3-tags) need to be analyzed before these categories are available. Some detail information about the tags: only latin characters can be displayed (e.g., a Japanese tag will result in an empty string) because of limitations of the fonts available; ID3-tags version 2.0 and higher are perfered over version 1.x tags (but these are not really relevant anymore); 20.000 tags can be stored.

What is also different to the iPod interface currently available is you can browse through all categories while you listen. Furthermore, when an iPod is connected it will continue to play the song that is currently selected at the iPod. For USB devices the last track session is stored and invoked when the device is connected again and/or the car is started (track sessions of 4 devices can be stored).

One more important detail with USB devices. Digital rights protected songs cannot be played. 6fl does not come with digital rights management (which is pain in the *** for a control unit in a car).

Now to the iPod thing. The general answer is: use the BMW specific adapter cable - it's worth the investment. However, under certain conditions iPod can be operated without this special cable as well. First of all it is necessary that you have a "Windows" iPod. iPod's that are operated at a Mac have the Apple filesystem (HFP+) which cannot be read by 6fl. Next thing is that you connect your iPod at iTunes and configure the iPod to operate also as standard storage device. If the iPod is now connected to 6fl with the USB cable that comes along with the device it will be recognized and treated as an USB mass storage device (basically everything said about USB devices applies know also to the iPod that is connected in the described way). The problem now is that you first get the directory view (metadata need to be analyzed know by 6fl; there is no way to read the internal database of the iPod). The directory view of the iPod is a mess: all audiofiles are renamed with random names of 5 letters, all audiofiles are randomly stored in some sub-subdirectories of names f01, f02, etc. Once the metadata is analyzed by 6fl things improve dramatically because it will offer the selection via Genre, Artist, etc. However, there are some more drawbacks. It can take time until all metadata is analyzed. While it will be acceptable for an iPod Nano it can take hours for an iPod Video 80GB that is completely filled (don't expect performance miracles by controll unit installed in a car). Furthermore, DRM protected songs will not be displayed because 6fl cannot deal with them, e.g., all songs from the Apple music store. Playlists cannot be displayed because they are stored somewhere in the internal database of the iPod. So, these are the reasons why it's worth to go for the adapter cable and congratulations if you have read all of this.

Some more congratulations if you come around of some 6er or M6 with 6fl before September 2007. To my knowledge this is hardly possible. But I think the 6-series is a nice car even without the 6fl.

Very late reply to this old post: congrats for this perfect input! I just got my e93 delivered and found out 6FL is a mess at 1st sight. Asked the dealer but he had no clue... All questions that I had are adressed in your description! I am not using the BMW adapter, and went mad at the way songs were displayed on the iDrive ... useless! Will try again based on your input. Tks again!

[LEDZEP]

cisoid is indeed the subject matter expert here. His contributions were priceless!

[Bimmerforlife]

To be honest, I'm sorta regretting this whole 6FL option I paid $400.00 for and have not even got my car yet. I'm very confused with this post.

cisoid says: "Furthermore, DRM protected songs will not be displayed because 6fl cannot deal with them, e.g., all songs from the Apple music store. Playlists cannot be displayed because they are stored somewhere in the internal database of the iPod. So, these are the reasons why it's worth to go for the adapter cable and congratulations if you have read all of this."


So songs that we purchased thru iTunes won't show up on the 6FL iDrive screen? What does he mean, these are the reasons why it's worth to go for the adapter cable? What adapter cable is he talking about? the 6FL or a radio shack cable? All songs from iTunes we buy are protected songs. I'm confused.

Also seems like alot of people are having problems with the 6FL switching to FM radio at any time, this sounds like another bug. Someone please tell me I spent $400.00 for something.

[stefano7171]

Originally Posted by Bimmerforlife

To be honest, I'm sorta regretting this whole 6FL option I paid $400.00 for and have not even got my car yet. I'm very confused with this post.

cisoid says: "Furthermore, DRM protected songs will not be displayed because 6fl cannot deal with them, e.g., all songs from the Apple music store. Playlists cannot be displayed because they are stored somewhere in the internal database of the iPod. So, these are the reasons why it's worth to go for the adapter cable and congratulations if you have read all of this."


So songs that we purchased thru iTunes won't show up on the 6FL iDrive screen? What does he mean, these are the reasons why it's worth to go for the adapter cable? What adapter cable is he talking about? the 6FL or a radio shack cable? All songs from iTunes we buy are protected songs. I'm confused.

Also seems like alot of people are having problems with the 6FL switching to FM radio at any time, this sounds like another bug. Someone please tell me I spent $400.00 for something.

6fl is worth the money, get the BMW cable for free and do not worry, the titles of the songs purchased on itunes will appear, it works like that for mine.
The switching to fm thing does happen to me too, a solution has not yet be found, but I am positive a software update will soon solve the matter that is in any case a minor issue.

[LEDZEP]

Originally Posted by Bimmerforlife

To be honest, I'm sorta regretting this whole 6FL option I paid $400.00 for and have not even got my car yet. I'm very confused with this post.

cisoid says: "Furthermore, DRM protected songs will not be displayed because 6fl cannot deal with them, e.g., all songs from the Apple music store. Playlists cannot be displayed because they are stored somewhere in the internal database of the iPod. So, these are the reasons why it's worth to go for the adapter cable and congratulations if you have read all of this."


So songs that we purchased thru iTunes won't show up on the 6FL iDrive screen? What does he mean, these are the reasons why it's worth to go for the adapter cable? What adapter cable is he talking about? the 6FL or a radio shack cable? All songs from iTunes we buy are protected songs. I'm confused.

Also seems like alot of people are having problems with the 6FL switching to FM radio at any time, this sounds like another bug. Someone please tell me I spent $400.00 for something.

I'll echo Stefano's opinion. Despite any quirks or minor bugs, 6FL is well worth having and I think you'll be very glad you got it.

To (hopefully) clear up your confusion in the questions you asked - the protected AAC files on your iPod will play just fine and will show up in your iDrive screen, etc. PROVIDED you are using the necessary Y cable. This cable contains a small component that is translating and makes the iPod behave exactly as if it were in a docking station. The USB connection provides the functionality for iPod controls, data exchange (songs, playlists, etc.) and the 3.5mm connection provides the stereo audio.

Looks like you've read enough on this to know about the cable, and to be sure your dealer gets it to you. Your $400 was well spent.

[Reize]

Incidentally,

Despite my moans and rants to my dealer he was adamant that the cable needed to be purchsed as an accessory so I has to pay GB£40 for my cable.

It's just something that prospective UK purchasers might like to bear in mind when they're negotiating.

In fact, they had to place a special order for the cable for me as they didn't and aren't going to stock it.

[LEDZEP]

Originally Posted by Reize

Incidentally,

Despite my moans and rants to my dealer he was adamant that the cable needed to be purchsed as an accessory so I has to pay GB£40 for my cable.

It's just something that prospective UK purchasers might like to bear in mind when they're negotiating.

In fact, they had to place a special order for the cable for me as they didn't and aren't going to stock it.

Yes, currently I believe the U.S. is the only market where the cable is included in the price of 6FL. But we pay more for 6FL than most others.

[Reize]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

Yes, currently I believe the U.S. is the only market where the cable is included in the price of 6FL. But we pay more for 6FL than most others.

Lol!

I'd rather the UK had done things the US way. It's a company car so I wouldn't have had to shell out for the cable from my own pocket had it been included but more expensive as the option.

Still, I own the cable now, so it'll go with me when I change either the car or the company.

[BMW3FXD]

Originally Posted by theroyalwe

I just found a little something... #2 looks like it may be your problem..

During operation, the Entertainment source spontaneously switches from audio device (iPod, MP3 player) to FM radio:

Select the audio device as the Entertainment source manually. Disconnect/reconnect the device concerned if necessary

my guess is that the problem is with the device and not the car... does it only happen when you turn the car on and it's already on ipod?

Thanks for the advice but unfortunately it hasn't made a difference.

I've got one of my steering wheel buttons setup for music source so I'll just have to put up with pressing it quickly get the iPod back when this happens.

Annoying - but 6FL was still well worth the money.

Reize - great tip on using Genre for alphabetic lists. I'll be sorting that out tonight! "Where there's a will there's a way!"

[dp]

personally i am finding 6FL to be extremely aggravating. :mad:
i get about 5 minutes listening to it usually before it cuts out to FM.

from the BMW bulletin:
"During operation, the Entertainment source spontaneously switches from audio device (iPod, MP3 player) to FM radio:
Select the audio device as the Entertainment source manually. Disconnect/reconnect the device concerned if necessary"

-- does this make sense to anyone? when i go to play the ipod on AUX in the first place, is that not "selecting entertainment source manually" (on Idrive) ? and is this suggested to be a fix for the problem, or something you're supposed to do every time it cuts out? i can just switch back to aux using one of the programmable buttons if that's the case. i don't get it at all.

even more fun, the voice activation refuses to understand "AUX" under any circumstances.

me: "AUX audio."
idrive: "Time."

me "Audio Aux" / "Aux input" / etc
idrive: "Locks."

[LEDZEP]

Have you tried just saying "AUX"? I haven't tried this yet... perhaps I will today. Not sure how to pronounce it phonetically... maybe like "OX".

I have not had this problem yet (looking for wood upon which to knock) but I can see how frustrating it would be. There must be a software problem that is causing it.

P.S. Wow, 500 posts in this thread. Amazing.

[jmonier]

I have the same problem trying to go to AUX via voice response. I haven't found any way that it will be recognized (even just plain "AUX"). The really bad thing is that (as mentioned above) it usually takes me somewhere I don't want to be and then I have to back out of it.

Since for me it only switches to FM when I start the car (and that only occasionally), it's not a big deal to use the steering wheel button.

[dp]

yes i actually went to the entertainment top level and did "options" to get the exact pronunciation of what should be said, and repeated that. (can't remember now exactly what it was, i think "aux audio" and "aux" pronounced "OX" as you said)

still took me to "Time" settings.... time?!

i think the whole 6fl/AUX thing is extremely beta.. which is odd considering "ipod your bmw" came out quite a while ago...

i'm just not sure who to talk to about it. the dealer couldnt even get the cable thing right initially... let alone have any idea how to fix this..

[LEDZEP]

I tried using the voice commands to access Aux while running a lunch errand... no luck either. Actually not a big deal for me but figured I'd try. I also tried the "Sat radio, channel x" command and that worked perfectly.

[LEDZEP]

Originally Posted by dp

yes i actually went to the entertainment top level and did "options" to get the exact pronunciation of what should be said, and repeated that. (can't remember now exactly what it was, i think "aux audio" and "aux" pronounced "OX" as you said)

still took me to "Time" settings.... time?!

i think the whole 6fl/AUX thing is extremely beta.. which is odd considering "ipod your bmw" came out quite a while ago...

i'm just not sure who to talk to about it. the dealer couldnt even get the cable thing right initially... let alone have any idea how to fix this..

Just my opinion - I thing voice command to access the Aux is of limited usefulness anyway... no sense getting worked up over it just yet. I'm sure there will be a software update that fixes that (and breaks something else) in the future.

[dp]

agreed, its kind of the least of my worries and a lot faster to use one of the programmable buttons to switch it back.
would love to know your secret for not having this problem with the switching... maybe software version? (not sure how to check i'll have to search for that) -- i have a 3/29 build.

i have had the same results with a 4G ipod and a 5G nano, btw.

[LEDZEP]

I'm usually that last guy to be lucky with these cars, but so far so good on the intermittent switching. Mine does sometimes switch to FM when I start the car, and my '06 did that a lot. The '06 E91 does it sometimes too I think.