I have bought my first mini cooper just last week and i'm still trying to get to know all the function etc. . .
Having a bit of bother wit the ipod interface in that when i connect my ipod nano to the connection located in the glove box, it displays "MINI" on the ipod nano which becomes disfunctional and then i can operate my music from the steering wheel. This is where the problem starts as the sterring wheel effectively just combines the playlists i.e album 1 with 16 songs begins buts track 17 is then displayed which is track one of album two.
I was just wondering if anyone knew how to operate/ set-up a playlist function that would allow me to somehow scroll through playlists rather than them in effect becoming one big playlist?
What age is the car Scott. We will need to know that before we can help. The 1st & 2nd gen cars have very different interfaces. Is it a genuine MINI interface.
To start with a bit of help, for the 2nd gen cars, the buttons 1-6 is where you will find functions such as playlist/album/artist. Press the relevant button as below, although these may vary depending on the interface you have fitted.
Once you have pressed the correct button the list of playlists/artists/albums will appear. Worth noting here that a 2nd gen interface will take an age to load Albums/Artists if you have a lot on the Nano. Once they are displayed you can scroll through and select the one you want with the large button in the speedo. Then select the track you want to start with.
It sounds as if you have the same interface as mine although I don't have the steering wheel control.
The playlists are allocated to the radio preset buttons as follows:
Preset 1: MINI1.....
Preset 2: MINI2.....
Preset 3: MINI3.....
Preset 4: MINI4.....
Preset 5: MINI5.....
Preset 6 will play all the songs on the ipod, which is probably the mode in which yours is operating. Random (shuffle) can also be selected on the radio with the second button from the right (normally RDS). Random must be selected to fast forward or rewind within the track, the arrow buttons will step through the tracks without random selected.
The naming of the playlists must start with the MINIx title exactly as shown above. MINI must be in capitals and no space between MINI and the number. Additional text can be added (eg MINI1 - Rock) as long as the title starts with MINIx.
This is indeed correct for Gen 1 cars + as an added "feature" the head-unit will often display "7" when you start the car regardless of which playlist you were listening to prior to turning the car off.......a bug that affects many BMW products apparently.
Still, as almost dinosaur-esque as the iPod interface may seem it sounds really good coupled to the HK and I've not experienced any problems except the bug listed above.
I divided my playlists into certain categories (i.e. MINI5 is always the most recent albums I've bought and am listening to alot) and have just gotten used to taking the iPod indoors to edit playlists.
Purchasing a unit that gives me full display on the Sat-Nav would be nice but is not necessary so I haven't bothered.
First of all thanks guys for looking into this for me.
My car is an 06 model cooper and as far as im aware the ipod interface has been installed from day 1. I will have to look into the naming of playlists then as im sure an 06 plate mini cooper would put me under a gen 1 car.
So to confirm, those (including myself) using the cat 1 ipod interface can only access 5 playlists at a time then if they are set up MINI(1-5) or can button 6 be used to access additional playlists?
You are limited to 5 playlists (MINI1-5). The 6th button will select all the songs on the iPod.
As BRG/Blk CooperS said, the system does work well (I've never had the problem with the "7" display) but you do need to update the playlists regularly. The lack of any displayed information (other than the playlist and track number) is archaic (although BMW sold it as a "no distraction" safety feature) and the annoying way that random has to be re-set every time you start the car or select the iPod mode.
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Thank you all
