BMW E39 2002 Purchase

BrookieD

Guys
Looking for some help. I am in the market for the above motor. I have a budget of 20k (4k trade in and 16k cash).

I have my iphone which i was looking to hook into the car and was looking at a DICE system from HERE has anybody installed this system? If you have please post your advice as i am looking to do this myself and it seems easy enough.
If you are using this with an pod or Iphone what is it like.

Cheers
Darren

commited

They're fairly useless from what I've heard. I just use an iriver radio transmitter with mine. It's grand and miles cheaper.

What e39 are you looking to buy?

kdevitt

Haven't heard anything overly negative about the DICE kit... the intravee is the best option if the car has sat nav.

Links are here - http://wiki.bmw-driver.net/index.php?title=BMW_iPod_Integration

rebel.ranter

They are far from useless! I had the wireless transmitter & it was crap (especially in cities).

I have a 2002 e39 525i, I have the DICE unit fitted to the car & I would say it was one of the best additions I have made to the car (aside from the paddleshift SMG wheel, it steptronic auto BTW).

You can control the iPod very well from the steering wheel or radio itself. It also charges the iPod.
I bought mine from Tom at European Auto Source. It seemed to be the cheapest at the time I was looking.

He also has a very good support forum on the Bimmer festforum.

I have been using mine for about a year with the original Nano. I got an iPhone yesterday & it works with that in the exact same way, there was a message recommending to turn off the phone part of device (airplane mode) to avoid potential interference. Haven't tried it with phone in the "on" state yet though.

A couple of points to note if you do decide to get one.

1. When you first install it you may have issues if you do not follow the instructions to the letter. Youa re effectively forcing the car to "talk" to the DICE unit. In order to "reset" the car car to allow it accept the Dice Unit you need to undo both of the battery connections form the car. safely away fromthe battery terminals touch the +ve & -ve cables from the car together. This clears down any held charge in the car. I know it sounds like complete BS but it solved my problems, I had almost resigned to the fact that I was returning the unit. It has worked fine ever since.

2. The steering controls the changing of the tracks & playlists, it displays the artist-album-track fine but it does not display the playlists. o get over that I created a .wav file for each of my playlists (I created a playlist for each artist along with a few personalised playlists). You can "make the playlists using a website like this. It means that when you scroll through the playlists it "calls out" the playlists to you. It amazes anyone I have shown it to even though it is actually quite simple & basic to do.

Best of luck with it, if you need help just PM me.

BrookieD

cheers for the replies.
Looking to get a 530d Auto or 520i Auto Leather interior, With as much kit as possible.

seems to be plenty around with a visit maybe to Dearpark car sales in Howth having 3 e39 in stock. Want to make a purchase inside of 3 weeks

Mr. Flibble

Do you know anywhere that will supply and install these in Dublin?

I take it the device knows nothing when a phone call comes in. What happens when then? Can you use a standard nokia bluetooth kit to take the calls do you know?

Eoin

rebel.ranter wrote: »

I had the wireless transmitter & it was crap (especially in cities).

I agree completely, I don't like them at all. I just use a tape adapter at the moment.

rebel.ranter wrote: »

I have a 2002 e39 525i, I have the DICE unit fitted to the car & I would say it was one of the best additions I have made to the car (aside from the paddleshift SMG wheel, it steptronic auto BTW).

Don't mean to go off topic, but that is really cool.

Gatster

Originally Posted by rebel.ranter View Post
I have a 2002 e39 525i, I have the DICE unit fitted to the car & I would say it was one of the best additions I have made to the car (aside from the paddleshift SMG wheel, it steptronic auto BTW).

Did you fit it yourself, looks good?

keith_d99

I got the Dension kit for the BMW (e46)

This crowd do them I think http://www.ipodcarkitdirect.co.uk

I got mine off eBay - just search for BMW iPod - paid around €80

Great piece of kit - charges the iPod - you can control from the head unit.
It connects directly to the Cd changer input in the boot (left hand side , maybe hidden under carpet). I didn't even know my car was wired for a cd changer - but most BMWs are as far as I know. So no installation required!

So iPod in the boot - which is fine - as you don't have to take it out of view each time.

The head unit thinks the iPod is the cd changer - and the kit treats the first 5 playlists as cds if you know what I mean. So you just number put a number before your playlist name to bump it up the list.