[Moopai]

Hey guys,

Does the M850 GC have a hard drive to save mp3s on? With my previous 750, it had Bowers & Wilkins with a hard drive where one can download mp3s.

For some reason I cannot this feature on the M850. Thanks

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Moopai

Hey guys,

Does the M850 GC have a hard drive to save mp3s on? With my previous 750, it had Bowers & Wilkins with a hard drive where one can download mp3s.

For some reason I cannot this feature on the M850. Thanks

It's not just the 850 but across the board at least on the 8-series (possibly all iD7). My 2020 has local storage for the music collection (40GB) but either the 2021s or 2022s dropped it as a feature. I believe the storage is still there but just not user accessible but rather dedicated to iDrive.

I haven't checked on my wife's X5 but guessing it's AWOL on iD8 as well. Her old X5 with iD6 and HK had it. New X5 has HK so it will be interesting to see if there is storage for the music collection on iD8. It's at the detailers getting PPF'd and window tinted and should be ready tomorrow so I'll check and post back.

[Moopai]

Thanks for your reply! Please let me know if your wife's X5 has it. Too bad BMW took this feature off. It was nice to have...

Originally Posted by bloozemanAZ

It's not just the 850 but across the board at least on the 8-series (possibly all iD7). My 2020 has local storage for the music collection (40GB) but either the 2021s or 2022s dropped it as a feature. I believe the storage is still there but just not user accessible but rather dedicated to iDrive.

I haven't checked on my wife's X5 but guessing it's AWOL on iD8 as well. Her old X5 with iD6 and HK had it. New X5 has HK so it will be interesting to see if there is storage for the music collection on iD8. It's at the detailers getting PPF'd and window tinted and should be ready tomorrow so I'll check and post back.

[TupperBMW]

When you say “hard drive” in the title of a performance car-oriented forum, I come in with different expectations.

But you’re just talking about tech stuff. Zzzzzz….

(Just poking fun!)

[bloozemanAZ]

Didn't pick up the X5 yesterday as the hood PPF didn't pass the detailer's quality control. A moisture bubble too big to be dissipated by the AZ heat vs the small ones here and there which will dissipate by the time I take it back in two weeks for a checkup to determine if anything needs to be redone.

Fully confirmed on iD8 there is no music collection aka local storage for media whatsoever. So sadly BMW killed that off. Personally it makes no sense to me as it's a dirt cheap cost (40GB of storage) from a COGS standpoint. Plus, from iD6 to iD7 I was able to export and import. Granted the cover art was somehow lost due to iD6 to iD7 vs iD6 to iD6 but found an open source conversion tool on GitHub for a converting the proprietary BMW format back to the original FLAC format and just added the cover art.

[Moopai]

Thanks of confirming! I agree this was a nice feature on my 7 which I enjoyed very much and like you, I found an app to add the cover art. I guess moving forward, I have to play music from a USB drive which is a bit of a pain when trying to place the phone on the wireless charge. Oh well.

One other thing I noticed with the M850 that the side bolsters don't go back to the open position when you shut the car off. Again this was a nice feature with the 7 for easy exist/entering the vehicle. Once you put your seatbelt on, the side bolsters will hug both the driver and passenger. I don't understand why BMW removes these little convenient options. Pretty stupid...

Originally Posted by bloozemanAZ

Didn't pick up the X5 yesterday as the hood PPF didn't pass the detailer's quality control. A moisture bubble too big to be dissipated by the AZ heat vs the small ones here and there which will dissipate by the time I take it back in two weeks for a checkup to determine if anything needs to be redone.

Fully confirmed on iD8 there is no music collection aka local storage for media whatsoever. So sadly BMW killed that off. Personally it makes no sense to me as it's a dirt cheap cost (40GB of storage) from a COGS standpoint. Plus, from iD6 to iD7 I was able to export and import. Granted the cover art was somehow lost due to iD6 to iD7 vs iD6 to iD6 but found an open source conversion tool on GitHub for a converting the proprietary BMW format back to MP4 and just added the cover art.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Moopai

Thanks of confirming! I agree this was a nice feature on my 7 which I enjoyed very much and like you, I found an app to add the cover art. I guess moving forward, I have to play music from a USB drive which is a bit of a pain when trying to place the phone on the wireless charge. Oh well.

Get a USB-C drive and stick in the console vs using the USB-A in front of the wireless charging tray. I went back and edited my post as I had MP4 on the brain as have been fighting a Windows 11 update that broke MP4 videos on my laptop from playback.

I use FLAC for audio so not a lot of space on 40GB (have about 7 albums in the media collection). I also have a 2TB USB-C SSD drive in the console loaded to the gills with FLAC albums. 👍

Originally Posted by Moopai

One other thing I noticed with the M850 that the side bolsters don't go back to the open position when you shut the car off. Again this was a nice feature with the 7 for easy exist/entering the vehicle. Once you put your seatbelt on, the side bolsters will hug both the driver and passenger. I don't understand why BMW removes these little convenient options. Pretty stupid...

Sounds like a 7-series feature that is exclusive to it as the 5-series and 8-series don't have active bolsters.

[Moopai]

Thanks, that's a good idea if I can use the USB-C drive in the console! So the USB-C ports in the console connected to the iDrive!

Originally Posted by bloozemanAZ

Get a USB-C drive and stick in the console vs using the USB-A in front of the wireless charging tray. I went back and edited my post as I had MP4 on the brain as have been fighting a Windows 11 update that broke MP4 videos on my laptop from playback.

I use FLAC for audio so not a lot of space on 40GB (have about 7 albums in the media collection). I also have a 2TB USB-C SSD drive in the console loaded to the gills with FLAC albums. 👍



Sounds like a 7-series feature that is exclusive to it as the 5-series and 8-series don't have active bolsters.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Moopai

Thanks, that's a good idea if I can use the USB-C drive in the console! So the USB-C ports in the console connected to the iDrive!

Yes, the USB-C in the console with any storage attached shows up as a possible media source in iDrive under the media menu.

[shb72]

I wonder if this feature changed with the later models. My USB-C port in the console does not seem to have a data connection. The USB-A by the cupholders does and that’s where I have to keep my USB stick full of music. I have a 2023 M8.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by shb72

I wonder if this feature changed with the later models. My USB-C port in the console does not seem to have a data connection. The USB-A by the cupholders does and that’s where I have to keep my USB stick full of music. I have a 2023 M8.

Oh boy another cost savings hidden feature on the 2023s? I'm going to test my wife's new 2024 X5 to see if that is the same case on it which will be very disappointing if the same scenario.

[bloozemanAZ]

Sadly confirmed the same on the wife's 2024 X5. In fact the USB-C port in it's console just has an icon for battery charging as the first thing I noticed so assumed SOL. The USB-C on the other hand in the 2020 M850i has a charging icon and USB network icon as the first time I ever paid attention to that.

[Moopai]

So does that mean the USB-C in M850 will work for music?

Originally Posted by bloozemanAZ

Sadly confirmed the same on the wife's 2024 X5. In fact the USB-C port in it's console just has an icon for battery charging as the first thing I noticed so assumed SOL. The USB-C on the other hand in the 2020 M850i has a charging icon and USB network icon as the first time I ever paid attention to that.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Moopai

So does that mean the USB-C in M850 will work for music?

Yes, on your 2021 it should be still both a data and power port. You can verify that by looking at the icons next to it. Sounds like on the 2023s (and moving forward) BMW appears to have dropped the data function and charging only.

[shb72]

It’s a minor irritation for me in that I don’t use the wireless charging, but I could see having to remove the USB stick every time you charge your phone and pull it out could be quite annoying. I will never figure out how the bean counters think. Pittance of cost savings vs annoying purchasers of your flagship car.