Why I am completely unsatisfied with 6NF (Smartphone Adapter) + Iphone 3G

[Bruck]

I must first start by saying that I am in love with my 135i. What is not to love. Its pretty much fully loaded minus active steering and automatic transmission.

The one option I was most excited for turned out to be the one I regret ordering. Mostly because it turned from a $150 option into $325 (had to purchase the snap in also). I knew of its full cost prior to ordering but thought it would add some integration into the car. Being a huge techie i was excited about this notion.

Below is a review of the kit from the perspective of both a heavy cell phone user and an iPhone lover.

Reasons why having the kit is worse than not having it:

- Armrest console storage space is gone
- Iphone's dock connector does not accept "signal" so the shark fin is not used
- Car can only see 1 ipod device at a time (requires you to disconnect other ipod kit)
- Headphone jack is blocked by the snap in adapter
- Location of Armrest cradle makes voicemail, SMS and email unobtainable
- Shape/size of snap in forces you to remove any protective case

A true description of a free/better solution:

If the sharkfin gave better reception I would like this kit a lot more. SO... I think with other phones, I'd probably say the 6NF has some value. But since everything but music access is obtained through bluetooth and you lose things like SMS, Email, Voicemail and iPhone headset use - the adapter makes things worse.

I actually found that the "2nd cup holder" that comes with iDrive cars is absolutely perfect when paired with a regular car charger for the iPhone. I can use my iPhone headset for business calls (the speaker phone in the 1 series is terribly quiet for my callers to hear me, they all complain) , i can briefly see SMS, email, even listen to voicemails using the headset, and the cut-out in the front of it makes it perfect to slide my plugged in 3G phone into.

Additionally I don't have remove my case, which is a royal pain to do every time i get in and out of the car. As a consultant I have 3 - 5 appointments per day, and this got very tiring very quickly.

Lastly, the music player feature. Its no where near as universal as BMW's ipod kit - and it works in a worse way. Since you have to unplug BMW's ipod kit for the Smartphone adapter to recognize your iPhone as an ipod, you might as well actually unplug your ipod from the same connector and just put your phone there.

Seriously dissapointed with this kit, its useless. And one tiny little thing. Is there even anyone out there that has music on their iphone that isn't on their ipod? My 160GB has everything, my iphone has less - I really wanted to like this kit.

Now I'm just wondering if I can resell the whole thing to someone that wants to retro fit it - to recoup some cash.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by Bruck

Reasons why having the kit is worse than not having it:

- Armrest console storage space is gone
- Iphone's dock connector does not accept "signal" so the shark fin is not used
- Car can only see 1 ipod device at a time (requires you to disconnect other ipod kit)
- Headphone jack is blocked by the snap in adapter
- Location of Armrest cradle makes voicemail, SMS and email unobtainable
- Shape/size of snap in forces you to remove any protective case

The bold sentence is the only reason that I don't understand.

The "one iPod at a time" was stated as part of this option with the 6FL (priority of USB connection). The headphone jack is no longer used while the phone is connected to the adapter as the dock connector have low level outputs. The other reasons are obvious just because now you have the iPhone snapped into an adapter that occupies very limited storage space and it is interfacing into a system that was not designed to read/display your emails or SMS.

If you are selling the whole thing (it cannot be retrofitted to any other BMW) I could buy it if the price is right, though.

[123D-M]

I work for BMW and agree that the volume is too quiet with the iPhone over bluetooth. It is a problem that BMW and Apple are working on resolving. Hopefully it will be solved with OS3.0 release. My old Sony-Ericsson worked fine with the bluetooth in my 1er.

If you have a 09 1er why don't you just copy all your music on to the HDD? Then you don't need an ipod at all.

[Bruck]

Originally Posted by Technic

The bold sentence is the only reason that I don't understand.

The "one iPod at a time" was stated as part of this option with the 6FL (priority of USB connection). The headphone jack is no longer used while the phone is connected to the adapter as the dock connector have low level outputs. The other reasons are obvious just because now you have the iPhone snapped into an adapter that occupies very limited storage space and it is interfacing into a system that was not designed to read/display your emails or SMS.

If you are selling the whole thing (it cannot be retrofitted to any other BMW) I could buy it if the price is right, though.

What I'm trying to say is that the kit when used with an iphone 3g gives zero benefit and has draw backs. Thats why I'm disappointed with it. The one you don't understand - about the dock connector? The iphone can not receive antenna signal thru its base... so there is no way the car is giving it cellular reception like the "smartphone kit" claims to do for any phone connected to it.

[ORIGIN M.]

In for pictures if you wouldn't mind!

THX!

[ZedClever]

I dont see a use for the snap in adapter. I would hate to lose my cup holders. I have a 3g and my volumes are fine; after reading so many posts about it, I have made sure to ask my callers and I had a friend call me from the car on his phone, and the vol was fine. Therefore, I dont think this is a universal problem. I have all of my music on an ipod that is connected at all times. My phone is only bluetooth connected, and works flawlessly. I wish I could just connect the ipod with the usb and not the aux, that is the only problem i really see, as the sound quality would undoubtably be better with the aforementioned, depending on the DAC in the headunit of course.

Lastly, sms, email? Do you mean when parked? If not those are left for times when Im NOT enjoying driving my 1er; after all my 1er is a car not an office. Really it is also very unsafe. I was rear-ended this time last year by some bimbo who was "OMG txt'ing my friend" whilst driving, my neck still hurts a year later! And all in all it cost me 2k. Not to mention my continued chiro care. Do us all a favor, pay attention to the road and no your phone.

[takrdown]

I just ordered my 135 for ED in June and I ordered this option. I'm curious about a couple of things:

-Does the cell reception actually improve?
-Can you play music via the APP "Pandora?"


I'll probably post more questions as I think of them, but thanks a ton in the mean time.

[Bruck]

Originally Posted by takrdown

I just ordered my 135 for ED in June and I ordered this option. I'm curious about a couple of things:

-Does the cell reception actually improve?
-Can you play music via the APP "Pandora?"


I'll probably post more questions as I think of them, but thanks a ton in the mean time.

Since the iphone does NOT recieve antenna from the dock connector, it can't improve.

Also - you can not hear any "played" audio over the bluetooth connection or ipod connection like pandora or voicemail.

[takrdown]

Originally Posted by Bruck

Since the iphone does NOT recieve antenna from the dock connector, it can't improve.

Also - you can not hear any "played" audio over the bluetooth connection or ipod connection like pandora or voicemail.

So why the heck did I order this again? What is it supposed to do? I like to think of myself as an informed consumer, but....uh.....

EDIT: Is there any official documentation on this feature other than the press release?

[takrdown]

Another question:

If I realize that I don't like this feature, can I just use the IPhone in the IPod/USB plug without a problem and still use the Bluetooth and Ipod functionality?

Thanks!

[cpt97m3]

Originally Posted by takrdown

Another question:

If I realize that I don't like this feature, can I just use the IPhone in the IPod/USB plug without a problem and still use the Bluetooth and Ipod functionality?

Thanks!

Yes.

[bimmerBaron]

I was also excited by the option but have a similar experience; it's not as useful as I had hoped. I don't mind so much leaving the phone in the cradle, though, because it charges it without wires hanging around and I don't need to view/access the screen while driving.

The biggest problem I had with it, which ultimately led me to just leaving an iPod in the car all the time and making 6nf useless for me, was that the sound quality of music was *noticeably* worse when using the snap-in adapter rather than the plug inches away underneath the armrest. I was disappointed with how crappy the music sounded until I figured that one out! Perhaps it's something whacky with my snap-in adapter or the 6nf install, but it was enough to keep me from playing music on the phone using 6nf/snap-in.

It's odd that we don't get a choice of which iPod we want, but I'm thankful it defaults to the one under the armrest. What I do now is just leave an ipod underneath all the time and listen to music off of that - I always have all my music whether or not my phone is in the armrest, I can still charge the phone if I want, AND the sound quality is better. Plus, you're right, the music on my phone is only a subset of the music on the iPod.

I'm glad the option exists but it needs some fixes imo..

[ORIGIN M.]

The BB Pearl connects to the roof antenna. Does the i-Phone have an antenna port?

[Technic]

Originally Posted by Bruck

What I'm trying to say is that the kit when used with an iphone 3g gives zero benefit and has draw backs. Thats why I'm disappointed with it. The one you don't understand - about the dock connector? The iphone can not receive antenna signal thru its base... so there is no way the car is giving it cellular reception like the "smartphone kit" claims to do for any phone connected to it.

You might have a bad snap in cradle, that is a defect if true.

[hantman]

I am equally unsatisfied with the purchase - both because I thought the feature as ordered was complete and didnt realize I needed to buy an additional adapter, and because you can only use one iPod at a time. In fact, the only reason I wasn't completely annoyed is the antenna issue. If I am not even gettign better reception, this is the most useless option ever - as was said, why not just plug the iPhone in to the regular adapter. Either way the other iPod needs to be removed, and either way you get the charging feature.

Is there a consensus on whether reception is improved?

[takrdown]

Now that I think about it, I do remember a thread around here that there was a lot of confusion with the cradles being sold and that the first round of cradles only worked correctly without the 6NF option and that there was a cradle specifically for the 6NF option for the iPhone.

If you look at United BMW's website there are two different cradles for the iPhone.

That may be the issue here?

[Technic]

Originally Posted by takrdown

Now that I think about it, I do remember a thread around here that there was a lot of confusion with the cradles being sold and that the first round of cradles only worked correctly without the 6NF option and that there was a cradle specifically for the 6NF option for the iPhone.

If you look at United BMW's website there are two different cradles for the iPhone.

That may be the issue here?

If you can play music in the iPhone while connected to the cradle then you are using the correct 6NF option cradle.

Personally I will be more concerned about the reception issue, as everything else that could be construed as faults were actually announced as features and functionalities of this option.

[Bruck]

There is no issue of a cradle that doesn't work. The iphone does NOT have an antenna port. The iphone 3g's bmw cradle does not have an antenna connection for this reason. By design this entire accessory offers almost nothing for an iphone 3g owner and takes away some of the benefits of NOT having this kit. This why I am completely unsatisfied. ITS A WASTE OF MONEY. COMPLETELY.

[takrdown]

Originally Posted by Bruck

There is no issue of a cradle that doesn't work. The iphone does NOT have an antenna port. The iphone 3g's bmw cradle does not have an antenna connection for this reason. By design this entire accessory offers almost nothing for an iphone 3g owner and takes away some of the benefits of NOT having this kit. This why I am completely unsatisfied. ITS A WASTE OF MONEY. COMPLETELY.

Can anyone else confirm this? I may have to call the dealer to have it removed if I have time....