[airshane]

So I think I've heard the funniest thing yet. I've been trying to get an Ipod adapter for my e90. The main reason for this is the trouble that I've had with my in-dash playing CD's that are filled with MP3's. It's hit or miss. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. Usually pulling the disc out and putting it back in fixes, sometimes it takes a few times of this. A standard audio CD has no trouble at all.

While trying to track down the correct part I asked about the issue with MP3 CD's and was told by a service adviser that BMW does not recommend using MP3 CD's and said that it can actually damage the player. So my question is this ... If it could damage the player, and BMW doesn't suggest using them, then why does it even read MP3's in the first place? I sort of rolled my eyes and left it at that.

[BMW Acoustics]

Lol how could it damage the player? I plan on making an MP3 CD today and trying it out for the first time. Craziness!

[Tag]

It probably damages it because it's constantly seeking and trying to lock on a track. That puts on a lot of wear and tear over time. That said it's stupid to say BMW does not recommend it. There's no player out there that's perfect. My recommendation to you is try a few different types of discs. Some work better than others.

[Quasimodem]

Well, maybe you could "thrash" the cd player. If you have a bad or poorly made mp3 cd, I suppose that the player could be forced to read it many more times than normal, thereby sort of burning out the player.

[airshane]

I've tried about four of five different brands of discs. They're all about the same. It does do a lot of seeking when it's in there, but in my opinion, this is something that should be easy to do. I drive a different rental car every week, and keep a couple discs with me when I don't have Sirius when traveling. The crappiest Kia Rondo can find the MP3's without an issue, yet my $46,000 MSRP car can't. If anyone has any brand suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

[jopa489]

In the meantime, just use the AUX connection. MP3s suck for sound quality anyway.

[fdsasdasdf]

He was just being overly dramatic. He probably just meant that the extended time spent seeking will cause wear-and-tear. That's like saying every time you drive your car it's bad for it because it puts wear and tear on it. So yeah, theoretically it can cause it to die faster.

[WingZeroX5]

maybe u need to replace ur unit? mine works nicely and they're encoded above 128kbps quality.

[wwjbd24]

i've been using mp3 cd's since i got my car, no problems here...

[33five]

that is crazy talk

[BK]

Originally Posted by wwjbd24

i've been using mp3 cd's since i got my car, no problems here...

+1 My car is 4 years old, daily driven, and all I ever play is MP3 CDs. No worries.

[bob.g]

ive never had an issue with mp3 cd's. i use verbatims, and nero to burn. Even when burning at max speed, it reads and plays just like any other regular music cd.

in my old audi i had an aftermarket unit and that skipped quite a bit..especially with cheaper cd's. So burn slow and use verbatim's, that should work fine.

[airshane]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've used two different Verbatim's, some Maxwell, and then some no-name generic's I picked up for a half a cent or something crazy at Staples a few years back. The generic's tend to work a bit better. I've tried burning at 1X as well, and the speed doesn't seem to make the difference. Have also tried on two different desktop burners and two different laptops. It sounds like the probably is with the player itself. A cleaning disc didn't seem to make much of a difference.

I did some googling and found a few people pointing the finger to the 2008 model year, but nothing really conclusive. Oh well ... It's back in the garage for the week. We'll see what kind of rolling turd Hertz gives me tomorrow afternoon in san jose. I'll try again this coming weekend.

I'd take a BMW with no radio over that HHR I had last week.

[DefBringer]

Just tried this for the very first time after getting tired of jacking with my iPod in my car. Using the in-dash MP3 player is actually the cleanest solution for those who don't have the iPod kit.

My fujifilm CD-R work great. I love it how it remembers where in the song I was when I turn the car off and immediately starts playing the music once I start my car again.

[cotmfk]

Originally Posted by airshane

I've tried about four of five different brands of discs. They're all about the same. It does do a lot of seeking when it's in there, but in my opinion, this is something that should be easy to do. I drive a different rental car every week, and keep a couple discs with me when I don't have Sirius when traveling. The crappiest Kia Rondo can find the MP3's without an issue, yet my $46,000 MSRP car can't. If anyone has any brand suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

I agree with this. There is no reason why it shouldn't work for you, everytime. Maybe time to find a different dealer?

[balance]

you guys dont like to use ipods?
all the e90s come with a standard auxillary jack

[bimbopper]

In my admittedly limited experience, it is more about burn speed than disc brand. If I burn at 6x or 8x I never seem to have a problem playing the disk. I have used Sony, Imation, Maxell and TDK with no problems.

If multiple brands and burn speeds do not make a difference, I would take a few discs to the dealer and see if they play correctly in another vehicle. If they play okay in another car, I think you should get a replacement under warranty.

[desantim]

Just to add, playing mp3s off a cd actually causes less wear and tear on your cd player. The player loads up (queues) the entire song in memory, meaning during the playing of your songs, the laser and cd are not actually doing a major amount of work. The only time the laser comes back into play is when a new song needs to be queued. On the flip side, a regular cd plays similar to a record. It only queues x number of seconds ahead in the song to aleviate skipping ( think first gen portable cd players and how much they skipped ).

[jopa489]

Originally Posted by Railgun

10 years ago, sure. All depends on the codec.



Personally, I do 320, but that's just me.

Regardless, 320kbps MP3 is no where near lossless - ten years ago or today. But we're drifting OT here; discussion for another thread I suppose.

[wj4]

Originally Posted by balance

you guys dont like to use ipods?
all the e90s come with a standard auxillary jack

Sound quality is crap with the aux jack.

[ramtin325i]

Originally Posted by jopa489

In the meantime, just use the AUX connection. MP3s suck for sound quality anyway.

You realize that most of your songs on your Ipod are Mp3s?

OP, make sure your CDs arent scratched. When you do put Mp3 tracks on a CD make sure you are doing it right. Some softwares tend to burn read-able formats only meaning the icon. If you have Windows, put a blank CD in, and drag and drop your music on which ever driver the CD is on. On the left there should be a button saying "Burn a CD" then a window pops up which states For reg use and for advance use (meaning Mp3) I dont know exactly what it says but its self-explanatory. For Macs idk

[shoes]

Originally Posted by jopa489

Regardless, 320kbps MP3 is no where near lossless - ten years ago or today. But we're drifting OT here; discussion for another thread I suppose.

FLAC ftw!