Anyone else have the iPod/car stereo kit installed?

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I mean the integrated unit that BMW and MINI sell as an option where you can hook your iPod up using the car stereo, sort of as an extra hard drive, and not the kit where you use a certain FM band or the plug-into-the-front version.

MINI finally came out with its version a few weeks ago, so I bit. It's great to finally say goodbye to CDs in the car, but there are some severe limitations for choosing what you can actually play, especially if your playlists have hundreds or thousands of songs. You can't choose by artist/album/title/etc., only by number within one of 5 designated playlists that you create. You also can't fast forward through songs except when in one particular mode. So, I usually end up playing the 6th playlist on random, which is all the songs in my iPod, and skipping those that don't fit the bill that particular day. I hear tons of stuff that I am curious about, but really just have to guess what it might be sometimes, based on what I know is in the iPod. Yeah, it's a bit odd -- sort of Jukebox Jury 7 days a week -- but it's a great way to fall in love with new stuff.

― Baked Bean Teeth (Baked Bean Teeth), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 05:13 (twenty years ago)

http://www.densionusa.com/

It's an After market solution that works with Alpine, Kenwood and Sony stereos plus Mercedes, Audi, VW and BMW vehicles.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 22 December 2004 06:52 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

I'm looking for an mp3 player that I can play in my car, through the speakers. I'm not as interested in those FM transmitters like I once was. I've looked at some Alpine and Pioneer "iPod Ready" models, and they seem real MacGyver rigged. Stereo to a box to the iPod. I've seen CB radios less complex.

It's just for the truck and my fifteen minute commute. Hell, if that cassette adapter is worth it, I'll take it.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 20:28 (nineteen years ago)

When I had a car,I had a JVC one for a while, it was shit. the interface for finding thing on the iPod through the head unit was awful. much better was the glove-box auxiliary input that was on the Ford Mondeo I hired recently could use a cigarette lighter charger and use the iPod interface for playing music.

I think the ICELink allows you to do this.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 20:36 (nineteen years ago)

I bought the alpine one for my boyfriend. The iPod plugs into it and goes in the glove compartment. You can control the iPod through the car stereo using all the same features (search by artist/playlist, etc) It's pretty great.

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 20:38 (nineteen years ago)

(But where does your boyfriend keep his gloves now?)

There's not a lot of room in the cab of my truck in the first place. Are there any units that don't need an auxiliary box?

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 20:43 (nineteen years ago)

cassette adapter + cigarette lighter charger. seriously.

― TOMBOT, Tuesday, 21 March 2006 20:44 (nineteen years ago)

Tombot's solution also works if you borrow someone else's car or want to use a different device. I have used that to watch music movies in the back of a car

― R.I.P. Concrete Octopus ]-`: is a guy with a belly button piercing (ex machina), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 20:52 (nineteen years ago)

Decent sound quality from the cassette adapter? I'm not that much of an audio aficionado anyway. I'm just tired of hearing static in the city, when the battery's going out, when it's cold, etc.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 20:58 (nineteen years ago)

nobody ever complained about cassette adapters when they were using them with portable CD players and portable CD players don't use lossy compression codecs!

― TOMBOT, Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:02 (nineteen years ago)

also hiss vs. engine noise battle of who cares, you're supposed to be driving

― TOMBOT, Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:04 (nineteen years ago)

The cassette adapter works just fine for me!

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:05 (nineteen years ago)

(Also: TOMBOT OTM.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:05 (nineteen years ago)

depends on the car, modern cars are pretty quiet

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:06 (nineteen years ago)

When my stock radio got jacked I got some new Kenwood or something with an iPod adapter, but Best Buy screwed up the install and I get no sound. And now I can't find my receipt to make them fix it for free. Bastards.

― Erick Dampier is better than Shaq (miloaukerman), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:07 (nineteen years ago)

"music movies"?

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:24 (nineteen years ago)

GOD TRACER MAYBE IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A MUSIC MOVIE IS YOU NEED TO NOT EVEN TRY TO BE ALIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY OK

― TOMBOT, Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:26 (nineteen years ago)

I need to lay off the 40oz of coffee before 10:30am thing

― TOMBOT, Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

I meant static from those stupid FM Transmitters. The whole "have your own drive-in radio station" thing wore off quickly, as soon as I drove over a bridge next to a power transformer.

If the cassette adapter just sounds like regular tape hiss, I'm cool.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:37 (nineteen years ago)

Cassette players? seriously, who still has those?

― Miss Misery xox (MissMiseryTX), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:39 (nineteen years ago)

I think that the tape adapter is worse than anything above 128k mp3. But TOMBOT is right.

xpost

god why do people think FM transmitters are a good idea? especially the ones that run on batteries only!

― R.I.P. Concrete Octopus ]-`: is a guy with a belly button piercing (ex machina), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:46 (nineteen years ago)

Well, sam. I still use my glove compartment for ketchup packets and registrations, too.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 21:50 (nineteen years ago)

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