BMW and Aux Charging/Use

[alewifebp]

Here is a little trick I discovered recently. If you have a later model BMW with the USB port that you would either plug in the iPod connector or a USB stick, if you plug your Incredible in you will be able to charge that phone through the port, negating the need for a separate cigarette lighter charger. This may work on other cars with a USB port, but your mileage may vary.

Additionally, you could set up your music folder and playlists directory on the Incredible's internal storage to use it for music playback. Unfortunately on my 2008 X5 with the "single button" iDrive, it only reads the internal storage memory, and not the SD card.

 

[ilikebeer]

Here is a little trick I discovered recently. If you have a later model BMW with the USB port that you would either plug in the iPod connector or a USB stick, if you plug your Incredible in you will be able to charge that phone through the port, negating the need for a separate cigarette lighter charger. This may work on other cars with a USB port, but your mileage may vary.

Additionally, you could set up your music folder and playlists directory on the Incredible's internal storage to use it for music playback. Unfortunately on my 2008 X5 with the "single button" iDrive, it only reads the internal storage memory, and not the SD card.

Interesting -- on my '10 X5, I can *only* access the SD memory!!!

Thanks for the tip.

 

[odbobo]

Thanks for this tip!!! I plugged into the USB port of my Sonata last night and the phone charged while the car radio/MP3 player picked up the music that was stored internally on the phone. Great!!

I really wanted access to the SD card though, so with a little experimenting, I found the following:

If I plugged the phone in with the connection type set to HD Sync (my default), and then changed the connection type to "Disk drive", my car only saw the phone's internal storage.

... but if I changed the default connection type to "Disk drive" *before* plugging the phone into the USB port, and then connected, the car only saw the SD card (preferred!).

So depending on which storage you prefer, and if you have a USB port in your car, it looks like you have options

Granted, the charge is probably much slower through the USB port than the lighter, but it's nice to stay topped off and have access to the music all at the same time. This phone gets better and better.

Thanks to everyone around here for all the great tips!

 

[Echo17121]

Are you both getting your music to play using the usb drive as well or just charge? I can't get my car to recognize my phone to play the music through the usb so I hook it up to both my usb drive and the aux input. I have my music on my sd card.

 

[dslucki]

Plugged a usb cable in and charged the phone. Did not try playing music from the SD card.

 

[odbobo]

Are you both getting your music to play using the usb drive as well or just charge? I can't get my car to recognize my phone to play the music through the usb so I hook it up to both my usb drive and the aux input. I have my music on my sd card.

My car radio is picking up the USB drive as soon as I plug the phone in and it immediately shows "USB connected" on the car radio's display and then starts playing the music that's on there. Maybe some radios don't recognize the phone as a drive? Does a USB thumb drive or other USB connection work for you with your radio? I assume your radio has a built-in mp3 player? I would think this would work the same way.

Or maybe it's the type of files you have on the card? Possibly unsupported file types for your radio?

Just throwing ideas out ... good luck, hope you can get it to work.

 

[Echo17121]

I actually got it it work today after downloading automount from the market and having it default to disk drive. However, some of the songs would not play I am assuming because they were not mp3 as the ones that would play were.

I was just stoked that I can still use my steering wheel controls!

On somewhat of a side note, has anyone noticed how terrible the shuffle is on the phone? It plays like the same few songs over and over and mixes in a new one every so often.

 

[Tommy360]

Sorry to be so obtuse but are you plugging into the USB port of your car FROM the mini USB port of the phone? I have a new Honda Civic w/ a USB input into the car audio . What I was GOING to do is get a mini stereo to usb cable and do it that way.....

 

[Tommy360]

I guess what I'm asking is if I can go from the mini usb output on the phone to the car's usb aux input....

 

[odbobo]

I guess what I'm asking is if I can go from the mini usb output on the phone to the car's usb aux input....

Yes, the micro-USB output on the phone should connect directly to the car's USB port, think of it the same way as plugging the phone into your computer!

 

[alewifebp]

No guarantee it will charge with all cars, but yes, that is exactly what you should do.

 

[azgunz]

I have yet to get the phone but I imagine that it wont play from the USB but you will be able to download it to the hard drive.

The '08 X5 doesnt have the current iDrive does it? If not, then you cant do the hard drive thing. In my '09 335d I will try it out when I get the phone

 

[LoPan12]

Granted, the charge is probably much slower through the USB port than the lighter, but it's nice to stay topped off and have access to the music all at the same time. This phone gets better and better.

This depends on the output amperage of your 12V charger. Take a look at your car charger, it should say
Input: 12V DC
Output: 5V DC 600 mA
The output might be .5 A, 500 mA, or be as high as 1A.
The second number is the amperage, it is, in a nutshell, the amount of electricity being moved per unit time. You may be able to find the amperage of the USB port in the reciever manual. Whichever one is higher, will charge your phone faster. So if you're car charger has a higher amperage, stick it in your glovebox, incase you need some quicker juice.

 

[drkeng]

will have to try this in the wife's Jag XF.