I had the dealership take another look at this issue, and it appears there are simply a couple tricks to getting iPods working with this BMW interface. Both seem to matter most when initially plugging in a new iPod to the car (for the very first time):

1) Plug the iPod into the adapter and only then turn on the ignition. Having the interface recognize the iPod being there immediately upon power-up seems to make a difference.

2) It helps to unplug and then replug the iPod after the ignition is on and it's trying to download the info from the iPod.

Both of these seem somewhat non-intuitive to me, but now all of my three models of iPod (very old, oldish, and brand new) seem to be working fine. The "very old" (classic white gen 1 or 2) needs a plug-unplug-replug cycle sometimes, but the newer Nanos work as expected.


In case anyone is interested, here are some screenshots (sorry for the bluriness... camera phone).

The top-level screen is just that of the original CDC. You have to remember that CD1 now means "Playlists", CD2 now means "Artists", etc.




If you select CD01, you see your playlists:




If you select CD02, you see your artists:




And here's a shot of one particular artist selected:




Hope this helps someone else down the road...

Bryan
Auburn, CA
'98 740iL
'06 750Li

• iPod compatibility for '06 750Li?? - cosmo2 2008-10-04 15:51:00 (178 views)
  • Re: iPod compatibility for '06 750Li?? - rkiechle 2008-11-17 17:12:55 (56 views)
    • I don't think that's right (more) - cosmo2 2008-11-20 10:57:11 (43 views)
  • Problem solved (with info and pictures) (pic) - cosmo2 2008-10-22 15:58:39 (210 views)
  • The manual says clearly what version of IPOD and firmware it should be on - zigor911 2008-10-14 09:18:11 (84 views)
    • Re: The manual says clearly what version of IPOD and firmware it should be on - cosmo2 2008-10-17 12:48:58 (71 views)
  • Re: iPod compatibility for '06 750Li?? - silver50 2008-10-10 12:25:03 (107 views)