[philip888]

I have a Navigation System Professional Sound system.
On the E90 user manual it clearly mention that the audio CD drive can play MP3 format CD , but I just cannot seem to get it to work on my disc, the same disc is working find in my another car's Alpine CD player.
Anyone have this problem?

[blaine]

I also have nav and the logic 7 sound system in my 330i and from everything i have read mp3 playback has been disabled on all new bmw's with navigation. Its total bullshit that it has been disabled considering the price and hopefully it will be patched to work in the future. For the time being i have been using an ipod hooked into the AUX input..better than nothing i suppose.

[romeo26]

you need to get the cd changer!!!!

[RedStripe]

Even with the CD changer accessory, I have heard that there is NO mp3 play capability.

[flyboy-sa]

I am in South Africa have nav with cd changer and MP3 does not play either inthe front loader or cd changer. I have complained to my dealer and in October BMW is releasing a "MP3 compatible cd changer" and they are doing a swop out for me. Why do they print such lies in the manual!!!

[Airboy]

This business with the Nav system is a bit disappointing. I mean, the option costs a load of cash ($2800 in Canada) and now I find out that, in addtion to not being able to play MP3 in-dash, the radio also does not support RDS? Not much of an "upgrade" when you start losing what I would consider basic functions....

[philip888]

But if the mp3 is not suppose to work, why do they say it can on my user manual ?? take a look !!!







it does clearly say it can play mp3 CD

[RedStripe]

Thanks for the post. I think you have well expressed our initial frustration. You are right, BMW states very clearly that iDrive cars WITH the CD changer accessory SHOULD play mp3 CD's. Unfortunately, people are saying that it is not working as specified. Please let us know if you have experience otherwise.

This is a particularly vexing problem for me. Mainly, I want to know if this is a software issue or a hardware issue. If it's correctable with a possible future update, then I have hope that they might also give the in-dash CD player mp3 play capability. This has been mentioned by knowledgeable members such as E90Fleet. If it's a hardware deficiency, as Flyboy-SA's dealer recommended solution leads us to believe, then I guess we will just have to wait for BMW to release the "Correct" cd changer.

[E90Fleet]

With the 5 Series without NAV it was a software issue, and they have been prommised that for 5 Series cars with NAV its also just a software issue that will be fixed in September ( confirmed by BMW to German 5 Series owners )

So I hope its just a software issue for the E90

[CnoteMD]

This is one of the main reasons I am making arrangements to get an Ipod. I am paying to "upgrade" to Idrive and navigation but I lose the ability to play MP3's in the process. Then adding an overpriced cd changer won't make any difference either (unless I ultimately upgrade the changer at a later date).

Even though the upcoming Ice-link from Dension is expensive, overall I think it will be a better solution for playing mp3's. Not to mention that my mp3 collection is encoded at 256kbs variable bit rate (so I only get about 50-60 songs per disk anyway - but they truly sound CD quality).

Michael

[fusionnv]

Originally Posted by RedStripe

Thanks for the post. I think you have well expressed our initial frustration. You are right, BMW states very clearly that iDrive cars WITH the CD changer accessory SHOULD play mp3 CD's. Unfortunately, people are saying that it is not working as specified. Please let us know if you have experience otherwise.

This is a particularly vexing problem for me. Mainly, I want to know if this is a software issue or a hardware issue. If it's correctable with a possible future update, then I have hope that they might also give the in-dash CD player mp3 play capability. This has been mentioned by knowledgeable members such as E90Fleet. If it's a hardware deficiency, as Flyboy-SA's dealer recommended solution leads us to believe, then I guess we will just have to wait for BMW to release the "Correct" cd changer.

I read on another forum that it will not work on the car now because the cd changer doesn't read the mp3 function. In later cars they will be installed with a changer that will be able to read it. The guy posted that he bitched to his dealer and the dealer said would change it in september with the new one to read the mp3 cds at no charge. This was in the US btw.

[ssam]

ok, after reading this very interesting thread I`m sure that:
1- no navigation system for me
2- no automatic transmission neither (hesitation problem)

Of course if your car is acting like a computer....buggs are there for sure !!! Do we have to be in computer engineering to drive now? Do we have to put Norton antivirus software on our cars ?

This is a dangerous issue......while our cars are becoming more sophiticated, they are loosing there reliability !!

[blackE90]

i can't play mp3 cd's either...I tried one today

the funny thing is i don't even have navigation only sirius radio prep

[mwie]

Hi,

in the german E90s you can only play MP§ with the Radio Business/ Professional or the Navigation Business.

The Navigation Professional will be able to play MP3s - but not sure when.

So - depending on the system you should be able to play MP3s... unless the systems in the US are different from the ones here !?

mwie

[RedStripe]

I very, very, very much hope you are right. Thanks for keeping the hope alive. Do you know anyone who works for BWM who can confirm this? Thanks.

Originally Posted by mwie

Hi,

in the german E90s you can only play MP§ with the Radio Business/ Professional or the Navigation Business.

The Navigation Professional will be able to play MP3s - but not sure when.

So - depending on the system you should be able to play MP3s... unless the systems in the US are different from the ones here !?

mwie

[silverado]

Unfortunately, there is always a caveat in the manual or on the web that says that specifications can change without notice. The bmwusa website has already been changed to say that the iDrive CD player cannot play mp3 CDs.

So "technically", it's not a lie, but it is certainly quite disappointing and should be embarrassing to BMW and I hope they fix it in the near future.

[RedStripe]

Can you specify where you saw a change on the BMWUSA site? I've gone through it, and it looks all the same to me. They have this footnote: "If vehicle is equipped with BMW navigation system, MP3 capabilities only available with a BMW center-installed six-disc CD changer (accessory).", but it has always been there.

Originally Posted by silverado

Unfortunately, there is always a caveat in the manual or on the web that says that specifications can change without notice. The bmwusa website has already been changed to say that the iDrive CD player cannot play mp3 CDs.

So "technically", it's not a lie, but it is certainly quite disappointing and should be embarrassing to BMW and I hope they fix it in the near future.

[silverado]

RedStripe,

I meant the statement you quoted which tells us that we can't play mp3's with the iDrive CD player. I don't recall seeing it a couple of months ago when the specs were first made available. Also it's a change from what's in the printed manual.

[RedStripe]

Oh really? Hmmm... as best as I can remember, they've always communicated that the iDrive in-dash CD player lacked mp3 play capability, but they did footnote it with the caveat that you could get a CD changer to play mp3 CD's.

However, as has been said on this forum, even the CD changer doesn't CURRENTLY work. So, I think they should mention that somewhere, right?

Please let me know what page in the manual it says you can play mp3s in-dash on an iDrive radio unit so I can look it up in the .pdf one available. Thanks.

Originally Posted by silverado

RedStripe,

I meant the statement you quoted which tells us that we can't play mp3's with the iDrive CD player. I don't recall seeing it a couple of months ago when the specs were first made available. Also it's a change from what's in the printed manual.

[ONEABGOL4]

I just burnt a data cd from easy cd creator and put about 100 songs on there and it worked perfectly. I really like how it lists your songs alphabetically and shows the title and artist. I do not have the idrive, but i've heard people say their's didn't work.

[RedStripe]

Can you describe the file structure of your CD? I burnt a mp3 CD using DeepBurner and all I did was drag a few dozen mp3's into the root CD directory and then I added another folder of mp3's to the root directory. So basically, I had a bunch of mp3's in the CD's root directory and then a subfolder with more mp3's in there. Then I took it to the dealership to test it out (in a non-iDrive car) and nothing worked.

I'm guessing you need a flat file hierarchy to have it work properly. I haven't gone back to check, but maybe someone can confirm this. Has anyone gotten a mp3 CD to work if it has folders/subdirectories in it? If so, maybe I the software I used to burn the CD's isn't compatible with the e90. Thanks.

Originally Posted by ONEABGOL4

I just burnt a data cd from easy cd creator and put about 100 songs on there and it worked perfectly. I really like how it lists your songs alphabetically and shows the title and artist. I do not have the idrive, but i've heard people say their's didn't work.

[zero619]

I burned an MP3 CD using nero. I had a couple folders setup, Rock, Rap, RB etc and filled those up. Then I had some more mp3's in the root directory. It played fine on my 330i, no nav. You can browse through the folders and when the songs play it displays the title and artist. Very cool indeed. Try burning an mp3 cd using Nero, that may work better.