price drop for ipods so you can ipod yer bmw a lil cheaper!

[Average Jae]

during the past week, apple came out w/ a new ipod, aka 4th gen ipods. it got cheaper then the previous gen, and this time around only 20 and 40gig versions are available.

anyway, the price on the 3rd gen ipods dropped a bunch. go to store.apple.com then scroll down to sale on the btm right hand side to get to the sales/ refurb page.

i just picked up the last gen 20gig ipod for $249 + tax, free shipping. now it says refurb, but from what i've been reading w/ those that bought refurb ipods before is that the unit is practially brand new. and esp now, since most apple stores are returning their unopened boxes to be sold off as refurbs.

anyway i know the bmw implementation of the ipod connectivity leaves much to be desired, but i think i'll be able to live with it.. as long as i do my own install. the dealership asked $149 for the part and over $150 for a 45 min install!! and even tho the part was launched about a week or so ago, none of the 3 dealers i called had it in stock.. rather they had a wait list..

and for the e46 owners, you can still install the part in your premium sound system. 2 of the dealerships i called said they couldn't be done, but according to BMWNA, that is not the case.. it still sucks for z4, x3 and x5 owners tho.. and those w/ nav..

if yer looking for a good deal to snatch up the pod, for yer bimmer or not, this is really good deal.

 

[MrElussive]

Thanks for the heads-up. Longer 12 hour battery life and thinner & lighter profile are always great improvements. I'm curious if the battery is still "non-replaceable", though.

 

[aNoodle]

My bro got me a 40G iPod for Christmas last year. That thing is my life blood on road trips. I wish I could get the extra aux-in or the new iPod deal on my car. Oh, well...I just pretend the mangle of cords from the battery charger and tape-in aren't there. It's still great sound. But you guys will the new cars get all the coolest options. I wish iPod would go bluetooth or even 802.11G!!

Better yet....have BMW go wireless G. Pull up your car on your home network, check out any engines codes, latest feul figures, average speed. Download your latest songs and movies directly to the BMW hard drive. Update the latest road maps, etc.

 

[xLibelle]

cool.

but i will get on the band wagon when i can find the mp3 player AND head unit with Blue Tooth (BT). (or some other equiv. system capable of not requiring me to plug in)

 

[Militant-Grunt]

Too bad they didnt make a universal adapter for all the mp3 players out there I have a 15gb archos jukebox/recorder much better than a crappy ipod =P

 

[Average Jae]

i just got back from the apple store, and really like the new click wheel feature, better then the touch btns of the 3rd gen.. either way this lil ipod on bimmer project is getting more and more expensive..

mr E, the "non replaceable battery" isn't true. there are places that'll do it for around $50 or so (from what i heard), or apple does em for $99.. thus the appeal for apple care. if you are a student, you can get some discount on it.. $42? instead of $59

MG, there is an universal adapter. it's called Aux in! pretty hard to do a universal adapter, when every mp3 player out there has a different interface don't ya think?

according to the bmwna rep [roll] next gen 3er will have a head until w/ ipod interface built in, or better able to sync up w/ the pod, like ACTUALLY display track names and such.. *sigh* but i do like the sound of direct link better than plugging in through aux in.

 

[MrElussive]

mr E, the "non replaceable battery" isn't true. there are places that'll do it for around $50 or so (from what i heard), or apple does em for $99.. thus the appeal for apple care. if you are a student, you can get some discount on it.. $42? instead of $59

You're right to a certain point. When the iPod's first came out and people's batteries were no longer holding a charge, Apply was charging you $250 to send in your iPod for them to replace your battery. Then that web site came out about the guy painting those pictures all over iPod advertisements in NYC and it got so many hits that Apply finally did something about it. You can now send in your iPod for a new battery for $99 + shipping. Or you can purchase a new generic battery from some small web sites and open up the iPod yourself and change it (the web site provides instructions). TechTV tried doing this but all they ended up with was a non-functional iPod...the replaceable battery is not from Apple, just some wack generic brand and doing the change yourself just puts your whole iPod at risk.
I don't understand why Apple doesn't provide an easily replaceable battery. The 8-hour battery life on earlier-generation iPod's is so short and you can't just "swap in" a new battery the way you can with other mp3 players that have twice the battery life.
But other than that, I really do love and enjoy my iPod.

 

[R3LzX]

got my M3 wired for like 149.00 and am going to go with the refurb ipod 20 gb..

what did you guys pay for the wiring ?


Correction.. these fooking morons down here gave me an aux input instead of the damn ipod connector that allows playlists, etc... has anyone gotten the "real integration" of their ipod? that way i can have theri dealership call these idiots down here.. or ill have to goto houston to get it done..