sharding

My car has MMI 3G (2011 MY). I have an iPhone 5S. I would like to connect that iPhone to my MMI to play music and control it from the MMI controls, as I have been doing with my iPod Classic. I am having a hard time figuring out what I need to buy.

Can someone who actually has it working on an MMI 3G car confirm the exact cable needed (part number and/or purchase link)? I have been looking all over, and I'm finding conflicting information on whether this is even possible with this combination of phones and MMI versions, and if it is, whether the same cable works with MMI 3G and MMI 3G+. These things are ridiculously expensive for what they are, so I don't want to buy thing wrong thing and find out the hard way.....

DrGP

I'm not sure there actually is a cable that is specific for the iPhone 5. But I have 2 options that I have used. If you actually want to connect your phone directly, buy an apple 30/5 adapter($30). Make sure you do not buy a clone because it most likely wont work. I actually am not using mine since I bought a Tune2Air. With this ($80) device, you plug it into the 30 pin adapter, and you can stream from your phone wirelessly just like they have in the B8.5s.

SamLV

^^ Hmmmmmmmmmmm........ maybe it is my MMI version, but I did exactly that with an iPhone 5S and it fails. The system gets utterly and totally confused, then cuts out the Bluetooth connection and declares that there are two of the same device connected and not only stops playing music but the phone connection disappears. Ugh.

Ditto on genuine Apple cables. Don't bother with anything else. Ever.

sharding

I don't think the Tune2Air would let me control the device through the MMI (or see song titles, etc.), right? That's something I'd ideally like to have. Right now I already have a mini-stereo AMI cable, so I can get audio out of my phone into the speakers; I just want better integration.

So, to be clear, you're recommending getting the Apple 30 pin to Lightning adapter and using it with my existing 30 pin AMI cable, rather than getting a new Lightning AMI cable?

DrGP

Yes, but it has to be an Apple brand adapter. BUT Tune2air WILL allow you to control the iPhone through the MMI. You never have to take it out of you pocket and it performs just as if you had connected it to the cable. You WILL see song titles etc. You will have no difference in function between a Tune2 air and a direct connection to the cable

DrGP

Did you use an apple brand adapter? If not it will not work with a clone.

SamLV

Yes. My MMI is a bit possessed as it is. Had to reboot it to get the rear view camera back online the other day. I get the pop and decreasing volume problems too. As a bonus, every now and again it just responds 'cancel' after selecting a number to dial.

I'll take it in when I'm back from vacation. For the moment, I'm too busy driving to care. <evil grin>

sharding

Hmm. So I got the 30-pin to Lightning adapter, and it works in the sense of my iPhone appearing just like an iPod in the MMI. But it has some implications I hadn't really thought through. For example, it doesn't really seem to work to be able to play podcasts from a separate app. I fire up the app on the phone and start playing, but a few seconds later, it goes back to playing music from the music library. Basically, playing anything outside the control of the MMI interface doesn't work right. In hindsight, not terribly surprising, but it makes this solution not really practical for me. I guess I'll just stick with the separate audio-only connection and charger I already had...

snagitseven

If you are using an AMI cable, check the Bluetooth Audio setting in the MMI and be sure it's unchecked. You can't have Bluetooth Audio enabled in the MMI and be using an AMI cable at the same time.

snagitseven

True, the AMI/MMI connection only permits audio files, video files (using supported iDevices and the correct AMI cable) and album art. Audio streaming apps (i.e. Pandora, etc) operated from the iPhone can play via Bluetooth Audio. The app functions must be controlled on the phone itself. iTunes music can also be streamed from the iPhone to the MMI via Bluetooth Audio with limited control.