[AllBlackBimmer]

What exact audio system do I have in my car?

2008 328i sedan, premium and sport packages.

Pretty sure options listed it as a 10-speaker + 2 subs under the front seats.

My headunit says "BMW Professional"

Is this the logic7 system or what?

I do not have iDrive or nav.

... also, got my phone connest via bluetooth... is there a way to play my music through this? the only options that come up on my headunit are for the phone - contracts, call, etc..

thanks.

[ctuna]

L7 has a center speaker in the dash and will have a graphic equalizer controls
in the radio display. Hi Fi no center speaker in the dash and only simple bass and
treble controls.

System descriptions in the following downloads

http://www.e90post.com/forums/attach...2&d=1266451970

http://www.e90post.com/forums/attach...2&d=1260829447

The a2dp streaming bluetooth is only offered in the newer models(like 2011 only I think)
there are some aftermarket solutions but I don't know how they work
with the older cars that already have bluetooth

google denison bluetooth gateway
there was just another post on this apparently is has some limitations

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=585932

[VP Electricity]

Most 328 came with HiFi. http://www.musicarnw.com/bmw-audio-s...dentification/

The ticket used to be, buy a BlackBerry Stereo Gateway (still available on eBay sometimes, I have one left in stock) and plug it into the AUX jack - poof, you have A2DP!

[ctuna]

Using the Denison products ? or Blackberry
Is the limiting factor on fidelity using the Aux input The analog output
of the ipod or smartphone you are using or the Input on the Head Unit?
I bought a mini jack cable and tried running my HTC through it and its
not close to what my mp3's are, even though the play lists are downloaded from
the same burn file list. (apple converted to 320bit mp3 or even wav files on the
phone)
How is the Denison bluetooth gateway

[AllBlackBimmer]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

Most 328 came with HiFi. http://www.musicarnw.com/bmw-audio-s...dentification/

The ticket used to be, buy a BlackBerry Stereo Gateway (still available on eBay sometimes, I have one left in stock) and plug it into the AUX jack - poof, you have A2DP!

Thanks man, that was most useful!

I believe I have the HiFi audio. I read a thing of people complaining about the base system and it not sounding that good... ever since I got my 328, always thought my system sounded awesome so I knew I had something different, just didn't know what specifically.

[AllBlackBimmer]

Originally Posted by ctuna

Using the Denison products ? or Blackberry
Is the limiting factor on fidelity using the Aux input The analog output
of the ipod or smartphone you are using or the Input on the Head Unit?
I bought a mini jack cable and tried running my HTC through it and its
not close to what my mp3's are, even though the play lists are download from
the same burn file list. (apple converted to 320bit mp3 or even wav files on the
phone)
How is the Denison bluetooth gateway

Heard a lot of those bluetooth devices sound terrible.

However, I am in the same boat as you will trying to get music to play through bluetooth. Am going to do some research and try to find one that has good sound quality.

[VP Electricity]

The BlackBerry Gateway sounds pretty good.

A2DP does not sound as good as hardwired connections, that is a limitation of the technology, but it sounds better than the radio. If you're playing low bitrate MP3s, it isn't going to matter. For max fidelity, you need high bitrate MP3 (I use Lossless, but research indicates 320 might be enough) and you need a direct connection.

There used to be a thread on how to take the series resistors out of the AUX input and get more signal into the head unit.

[ctuna]

The aux input as it stands is relatively low fidelity even with a good input device with high quality media ?
I don't see how the headphone preamp/amp from all these portable media devices like the iphones, ipods and smartphones can be all that great either.
Since they were looking for quantity of songs and not quality to begin with
I bet they really didn't design the outputs with fidelity in mind.

which leaves you with what is best way to get digital media to the existing
head unit . BMW or aftermarket BMW like adaptors.
A mp3 cd or dvd cassette player ?

[Spy021]

I use a Blackberry Gateway, which I have paired to my HTC Thunderbolt. As for the sound quality, I would say it is every bit as good compared to my iPod Nano connected through the Aux 3.5 jack. Plus, it's nice to be able to pass around the phone, iPod, or iPad and let others pick the music without the worry of wires and such.

[ctuna]

So is the Blackberry superior to a direct connection to the HTC? Not having an ipod I can't compare the quality of that.
Would you say an ipod with a direct connection is superior to the HTC
with a direct connection?
I played around with aux volume on the Radio with the HTC but the Highs and Lows aren't as good and the whole sound is slightly thinner than the same thing coming from the single disk CD player.

[Spy021]

In my estimation I would say that the Blackberry Gateway is equal to the connection of a direct connection of the HTC or the iPod. There is no compression happening from the phone to the Gateway through the bluetooth connection. However, the Gateway is still connected to the system through the Aux port, hence the same quality. Although, as I am using a music player on the HTC that allows EQ controls, I have more control over the sound than I do with the iPod, hence why I prefer it. They both (iPod & Gateway) are slightly inferior to playing the same directly through the single disk CD player.

[VP Electricity]

What compression are you using?

"Uncompressed CD-quality stereo audio uses a 1.411-Mbps bandwidth. For most wireless applications, this full bandwidth is impractical. ... in many standards and protocols, such bandwidth is simply not available. Bluetooth, for example, stipulates a maximum available bandwidth for A2DP of 768 kbps. So, for high-quality stereo audio, it is necessary to use some form of audio coding to reduce the required data rate."

http://www.edn.com/article/472081-Bl...listeners_.php