So we'll start this off on a positive note. Apple, BMW- nicely done. The car is one of the 3
places we all listen to music (home, walking around and in the car). Adding the iPod via a direct connection to a car
audio system is the natural evolution of things, in fact expect to see this as a standard option on a lot of vehicles
in the forthcoming years.
Now, the bad and ugly— granted, we realize BMW and Apple are likely to be working feverously on the next version- here's what we don't like about the current version of iPod your BMW:
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You can't use it with a BMW with a CD Changer, Satellite radio, GPS navigation system or cassette. So, that means most/all the people who got a BMW are out. Who doesn't get at least one of those in their BMW?
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Playlists. You need to make separate playlists on your iPod called BMW1, BMW2, etc…AND the track titles do not show up in the BMW, it just says track1, track2, etc…Blah.
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In case you didn't notice, the thing the iPod does, is just pretend it's a CD player that the BMW didn't get.
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BMW and Apple will tell you the sound quality is great, and it most likely is- but when we use our iTrip mini or tape audio in, with a BMW 300ci and compare with the CD player with the top up or down, our ears couldn't tell a difference- if you can, then maybe this is for you. But if you're ears are that good, you likely don't do your hardcore listening on a noisy highway.
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Glove box, you need to open up the glove box and plug it in.
We don't mean to totally poop on this, like we said- it's a good first step, we're sure they're working on version 2 already.