[terryn]

I've given up on making my 80GB iPod Classic work in my F30. By trial and error I have solved all the issues getting my iTunes music from a Mac onto a stick, including dealing with the invisible mac files and making playlists work. I want to get a pretty fast flash drive so I have less risk of slow indexing time with a large number of tracks. The Patriot Supersonic Magnum looks pretty good, even considering its use under USB 2.0. But the length of it it looks very close to not fitting in the center console when the lid is closed.

The length of the stick is listed as 3.1 inches. That appears to be how much room there is in the center console, maybe a little less. What I don't know is how much the stick actually will extend out after being inserting into the USB port. Is anyone using this in a F30? I have a 2013 328xi.

Patriot Supersonic Magnum 128 GB Flash Drive - Black (PEF128GSMNUSB)

[34.50]

Well, what about the USB port in the glovebox - is there more space there for it to fit? Also, I'm assuming the cap is also included in part of the length.

From Patriot's spec sheet (linky), unit dimensions are listed below:
.36” (D) x 1.06” (W) x 2.83” (H)
.91cm (D) x 2.69cm (W) x 7.18cm (H)

[terryn]

Originally Posted by 34.50

Well, what about the USB port in the glovebox - is there more space there for it to fit? Also, I'm assuming the cap is also included in part of the length.

From Patriot's spec sheet (linky), unit dimensions are listed below:
.36” (D) x 1.06” (W) x 2.83” (H)
.91cm (D) x 2.69cm (W) x 7.18cm (H)

My understanding is that the glovebox port is only for loading data. For music you must use the center console port.

[Frogman]

It looks like it will just fit. There's just under 3" from the deck to the top edge and the armrest top is recessed about 1/4" from the edge.

Note that if the stick is formatted with exFAT32, the car won't read it. You will have to format it as normal FAT32 or NTFS.

[venkata]

Why not get an external 2.5" hdd??? Loads more space for your music...

[DangerousTacos]

If it doesn't fit, why not use a short USB extension cord?

[terryn]

Originally Posted by DangerousTacos

If it doesn't fit, why not use a short USB extension cord?

Yep.

[chriskd]

I tried a Patriot Supersonic Magnum 256gb... it fits fine and the lid closes w/o use of a USB extension or 90 degree angle connector (although I bought them just in case). However, the performance is unbearably slow. It would take in upwards of an hour for the full album list to show up. For what it's worth, the stick is about 80GB full.

In the end, I went back to my 160GB classic connected to USB and my 64GB iPod touch connected to a Media snap-in adapter.

[Frogman]

Originally Posted by chriskd

I tried a Patriot Supersonic Magnum 256gb... it fits fine and the lid closes w/o use of a USB extension or 90 degree angle connector (although I bought them just in case). However, the performance is unbearably slow. It would take in upwards of an hour for the full album list to show up. For what it's worth, the stick is about 80GB full.

In the end, I went back to my 160GB classic connected to USB and my 64GB iPod touch connected to a Media snap-in adapter.

Did you give the car time to scan the stick and create the catalog? It can take a while when you first put the stick in, but once it's done, it *should* be much faster.

[chriskd]

Hmm, you have me thinking now. I know I did give it time to scan the catalog, but it seemed that it would need to RE-scan the catalog every time I left the car off for a period of time/overnight. ...unless I was doing something wrong.

[Frogman]

Originally Posted by chriskd

Hmm, you have me thinking now. I know I did give it time to scan the catalog, but it seemed that it would need to RE-scan the catalog every time I left the car off for a period of time/overnight. ...unless I was doing something wrong.

I have a 32GB stick in mine now with about 4,300 mp3's in the root dir. When I fire the car up, the music is available as soon as the iDrive finishes booting, so I don't think the car is re-scanning the stick each time. To be fair though, none of the mps have album art on them, so I don't know if that changes anything or not.

[BarryK]

Originally Posted by chriskd

I tried a Patriot Supersonic Magnum 256gb... it fits fine and the lid closes w/o use of a USB extension or 90 degree angle connector (although I bought them just in case). However, the performance is unbearably slow. It would take in upwards of an hour for the full album list to show up. For what it's worth, the stick is about 80GB full.

In the end, I went back to my 160GB classic connected to USB and my 64GB iPod touch connected to a Media snap-in adapter.

Something's wrong - are you sure it's formatted correctly? I'm using a 128GB PNY stick with my iTunes library organized in folders by artist, with album art. All music is available as soon as iDrive gets past the legal disclaimer. Only time there's a delay is when/if I've added any files, but even then, only the newly added files take a little longer to show up - all other files are available immediately. That said, it doesn't take an hour to recognize the new files - happens in maybe 10-15 minutes...