Slow to read track list from USB

[wannabeemer]

My MY2011 135i seems to be slow when reading the track list from a USB. I have created folders for each GENRE and most of these contain just hundreds of mp3s. One or two folders contain over a 1,000 mp3s and it is these two folders that take an age to load. The load time is repeated after a break in my journey and I guess that is because the track information is held in volatile RAM. I've tried all my USB sticks and settled on the fastest of them but still experience around a 30 second load up time.
Any hints anyone?

[1and1]

Below is taken from the second post in the Audio FAQ thread, AKA: FAQ: Using the USB and Aux Ports

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222548

Short version- takes time to load the metadata.

6. How many songs can I store on my Music Device?


While the number of songs supported is ridiculously high, the amount of time it takes to scan all the music and populate the “Artist”, “Album”, “Genre”, and “Playlist” soft buttons on the HU will increase based on the number of songs on the device. Many members of this forum have over 15000 songs, and 1000 Albums on their Memory Device.

You mileage may vary depending on the speed of the USB device, the number of songs, and the amount of “Meta Tag” data associated with the music files.


7. What are the “ART”, “ALB”, “GEN”, and “LIST” buttons on the HU?


Music files generally have information about the song appended to them, this information is commonly known as “Meta-Tags” or “Tags”. The information stored may include many details, but the common ones useful in music are the “Artist’s Name”, “Album Name”, and the “Genre”. In addition you can create lists of favourite or related music into “Playlists”, playlists are stored as separate files along with the music itself.

Once a USB device has been connected to the 1er, the Head Unit scans all of the directories of the device looking for Meta-Tags and Playlists, once these have been fully discovered the soft buttons on the HU display “LIST”, “ART”, “ALB”, and “GEN” which you can then use to browse you music by those categories.

[wannabeemer]

Oh well I'll have to live with it then.
Does the BMW option "BT Preparation - Business" allow BT audio streaming and can this be retrofitted?

[1and1]

Pretty sure that's just for phone contact data and calls. There is an aftermarket add-on module which allows BT streaming that I've seen talked about here a few times but don't recall what it's called...

After a quick google it appears that there is an option in iDrive that can allow streaming if you have it, and several good adapters if you don't have the option-

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=890829
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1169476
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=743398
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=483692

There are more, I just googled "135i bluetooth streaming" and these are some of the first results

[MotoWPK]

The first time I connected a USB drive with thousands of .mp3 files and dozens of folders to my '13 128i, it took perhaps 30 seconds or so to read. After that, no perceptible delay. Even as I've added a song or two here and there, I have not experienced a noticeable delay. It appears to hold all info in non-volatile RAM and, when there is some new data, only has to load what's new.

[swagon]

I've found out that Combox really helps with media. I, too, use USB (containing over 700 tracks) and iDrive CIC reads it fast and without problems - including ID tags. However, when I plug it in iDrive without Combox, it's all kind of broken. Skips songs and does not read all of the tagged mp3's.

BT music streaming has never really worked properly with my phone.

[wannabeemer]

Originally Posted by MotoWPK

The first time I connected a USB drive with thousands of .mp3 files and dozens of folders to my '13 128i, it took perhaps 30 seconds or so to read. After that, no perceptible delay. Even as I've added a song or two here and there, I have not experienced a noticeable delay. It appears to hold all info in non-volatile RAM and, when there is some new data, only has to load what's new.

Unfortunately not for me. If I happen to be listening to mp3s on the USB and park and leave the car when I return and drive off I have to wait for 20-30 seconds whilst it loads all that meta data and continues from where I left off.

[wannabeemer]

Originally Posted by 1and1

Pretty sure that's just for phone contact data and calls. There is an aftermarket add-on module which allows BT streaming that I've seen talked about here a few times but don't recall what it's called...

After a quick google it appears that there is an option in iDrive that can allow streaming if you have it, and several good adapters if you don't have the option-

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=890829
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1169476
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=743398
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=483692

There are more, I just googled "135i bluetooth streaming" and these are some of the first results

Thanks very much. I should try that next time :-/
Some of the links have expired but I'll check out the others for suitability.