[Googie]

Hi guys. I have a 30GB Zen Vision M that I am going to use in my 335i only. It will stay in the car and only be taken out to install music on it. I pluged it in to the AUX and it played music. The only problem is the screen on the player goes blank and nothing comes up on the car radio either. So it plays music and I can skip, shuffle etc. but I need to plug it out to see playlists etc. on the screen. Is there any way to set it up so the screen still works on the Zen?

Thanks

[jocanfer]

Hi! I have the Zen Vision M (80GB) and I am sorry to inform you that the ZEN is NOT compliant with the Mass Storage Device specification nor is (obviously) compliant with the Ipod interface.

As a result the Zen Vision M will NOT work with the 6FL USB interface and that's why the player screen goes blank and nothing shows up on the radio screen. You can hear music through the audio connection because, well, it is an audio connection so you are listening to the player like if you had it connected to your headphones, but you can not control it from the radio.

None of the Zen players (except the old Muvo series which is just a memory stick) are MSD compliant so they won't work with the 6FL interface. They can only be plugged in using the audio input and controlled from the player itself.

There is a PDF in the BMW website with a matrix showing what players are and are not compatible with the 6FL/Mass Storage Device spec

Also, it is NOT recommended to leave any player in the car. If you leave the car exposed to the sun, the temperature inside can be pretty high. This could shorten the player battery life or damage the battery (per BMW documentation)

There is an interesting thread I think it is in this forum or another bimmer forum about using just an Iomega portable Hard Drive as a mass storage device connected via USB to the 6FL interface. Pretty slick idea and waaay cheaper than an MP3 player ($200 for 160GB!). If I can find it I'll post it here.

[jocanfer]

There!

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ghlight=iomega

[NuovoTech]

There is a PDF in the BMW website with a matrix showing what players are and are not compatible with the 6FL/Mass Storage Device spec

Do you have a link to that PDF? I've searched BMW site for it & cannot find it.

[jocanfer]

Originally Posted by NuovoTech

Do you have a link to that PDF? I've searched BMW site for it & cannot find it.

Yep, you are right. They removed the PDF and now is a badly done html page with the columns misaligned inside the owners circle website. I am pasting it here fixing the coding mess. These are the "usb compatible" non-ipod players

Device brand Model
Acer: Advanced MP3 player
AMT: Digital MP3 Player
Creative: Nomad MuVo TX SE
Cowon: iAudio G3
Hama: DMP100
Maxfield: G-Flash, Max-Sin Touch
NEO: Sensi
Neonumeric: NTO
Odys: MPX10
Philips: GoGear SA1100, GoGear SA177
Samsung: YP-U1, YP-55X
Support Plus: Digital Audio
Teac: MP-500
Thomson: EM2601
TrekStor: i.Beat cebrax, i.Beat organix, i.Beat vision
X4-Tech: BogieMan II, ClipMan II

As for the Apple family, here are the compatible units with the "ipod interface"

iPods Generation 4 or higher
iPod nano
iPod mini

Anyway I would think that any MP3 that complies with the Mass Storage Device specification (that is, indexes content like a regular hard drive) should work with the USB interface....

Hope this helps!

[NuovoTech]

Hope this helps!

Yes, it does...thanx!