[Kevin_The_Clean1]

Anything is better than Bluetooth for music...

Most of us already know the Harmon-Kardon stereo in our X3 M's isn't the best. But today I stumbled upon a very simple way to immediately improve the sound quality (for all the music you own). Unlike a great deal of people out there, I like to own my music instead of stream it. Just like I like to own my cars, not lease them.For those that want to quickly take their entire music collection with them, all you have to do is format a USB thumb drive to exFAT. Then drag & drop your entire collection to that drive. Then viola, ll your music is in a higher quality format you can take with you on the go. And within seconds you can transfer this to another BMW you own too.

I've tried streaming BT audio from my phone to my iDrive 6 stereo infotainment system before. And the sound quality was rubbish. Not deep lows, not clean clear highs. And you had to turn the gain / volume knob up way past 60-70 to hear much of anything. Someday I want to install a stronger amp & replace the factory cones / speakers. Until then, this is a $30-40 option that everyone can benefit from. Without carry a valuable & no longer produced iPOD around in their car like I use to do. HOPE THIS HELPS many people begin to enjoy their music collection again... !

[Kevin_The_Clean1]

For reference, here are the two threads I pulled up while doing some quick research. Sometimes spending a few minutes looking into a matter & doing some HW all on your own is all you need & all it really takes to find a solution that works for you. This USB drive formatted to exFAT has sure made my ears much happier. And now I'm not draining my iPhone or experiencing the "classic" connectivity issues in getting my phone to pair with the BT in my car. Those days are over.

On a side note, I'm glad the format wasn't spelled the other way around & call FATex. LMAO.



https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1573098

https://www.********.com/threads/usb...w-system.2026/

[Jolbex]

Im sorry, am i missing something here? What is your proposal? I think everybody is aware of this option for years now. And why exFat? It works normally with fat and ntfs...

[Mnfamilyguy2020]

This topic tends to get brought up periodically....


Clearly streaming directly off Idrive to your bluetooth device is pretty low quality. The USB thumb drive was/is a great option. I use an SSD.

You mention an iPod so I'm assuming you are an apple person. If you are and you are streaming through CarPlay you are not actually streaming through Bluetooth but rather wifi, which is really quite capable and can have CD "like" quality. If you still have an issue here I suggest you check your streaming settings on your iPhone, AND your your format settings on your streaming service.

Cheers!

[Bimma360]

Originally Posted by Kevin_The_Clean1

Anything is better than Bluetooth for music...

In cars where I have retrofitted aftermarket Apple CarPlay solutions that use both wireless CarPlay and wired CarPlay, the wired CarPlay always produces better music quality even if it was streaming. It was always evident too when it would switch from wireless to wired, as CarPlay would disconnect and reconnect again. It’s not so clear in the X3M. Is wired CarPlay a thing in this car, and how can this be confirmed? Perhaps there is a menu I have missed. And if so you shouldn’t really need a USB… you can just store your music files on your phone.

[thestimp]

CarPlay uses wifi to stream from your phone but is limited to CD quality audio (16bit/44.1kHz); still higher than Bluetooth quality. If you want the best audio quality for your system, you'd need to play music at 24bit/192kHz. That can only be achieved by using a USB to play directly from or to add your music to the car hard drive. Only FLAC and ALAC files support this.

Android auto, same thing but 16bit/48khz max.

So all of you using "Tidal", your life and subscription is a lie. Unless you have an aftermarket headunit capable of LDAC.

If you use the cars built-in spotify though that is a higher sound quality than both bluetooth or AA/CP. I wish it had built in Tidal..

[Kevin_The_Clean1]

I have a 2020 X3 MC, so I'm working with the older iDrive 6 system. Although this is not new to some people, it's new to me. That's why I wanted to share it with folks. The wireless connections in this car seem to be pretty stable. But it's not rock solid & 100%. That's why the USB method is hidden / out of sight & works well. It's alway plugged in & allows a lot of the guess work to be eliminated. It's also not draining my phone as it's playing music in the back ground. The only part I didn't like was I lost my playlists. And the song seemed to be pretty randomly played. So I'll try the Apple CarPlay route next & test that method for possible better results.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by Kevin_The_Clean1

I have a 2020 X3 MC, so I'm working with the older iDrive 6 system. Although this is not new to some people, it's new to me. That's why I wanted to share it with folks... the USB method is hidden / out of sight & works well...

Highly rec the FLAC/USB method in the center console - have been using it for a number of years now and once all of the settings are dialed in with EQ, fade etc, I find the HK sys perfectly fine (esp with the ASD bypassed).

https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showp...9&postcount=15

[Potatohead-M2]

I just put good quality mp3s onto a usb stick and then loaded them onto the build in HD in the vehicle

[Mnfamilyguy2020]

I love tidal!

[Kevin_The_Clean1]

Originally Posted by Potatohead-M2

I just put good quality mp3s onto a usb stick and then loaded them onto the build in HD in the vehicle

I was going to try that HD in vehicle route. But as my music collection continues to grow, I might eventually exceed what the internal HD can hold. I have an iDrive 6 car & not sure what the HD size is. Keep getting & reading different numbers / figures being tossed around. Some say it's 128 GB & some say it's 256 GB. I heard that iDrive 7 cars did away with the HD all together.



Wish the details & facts in regards to the car's HD size was more readily available from a trusted source. Instead of just picking up on what some owners are quoting & talking about on some dated posts. Maybe a BMW tech can chime in on this so we can gauge what we have to work with from the start.

[Jolbex]

Id7 does have HD. I think its some 180gigs free

[stefan]

This is all fairly dated advice. There are now several codecs available that stream Bluetooth audio at 320kbps like aptX HD or LHDC. I would challenge you to point out the difference vs 320kbps locally stored.

If you have an android device you can typically specify or force the codec choice. Not sure on iPhone but I'm guessing no dice. I would ensure you are sending BT audio at maximum phone volume.

[thestimp]

Originally Posted by stefan

This is all fairly dated advice. There are now several codecs available that stream Bluetooth audio at 320kbps like aptX HD or LHDC. I would challenge you to point out the difference vs 320kbps locally stored.

If you have an android device you can typically specify or force the codec choice. Not sure on iPhone but I'm guessing no dice. I would ensure you are sending BT audio at maximum phone volume.

Android auto/car play and BMW bt is limited, it can only do basic codecs, no lossless aptx or the others you need an aftermarket headunit that supports it. Another BMW blunder that's easily remedied.