Custom iPhone dock - ashtray replacement

[dstebbing]

Josh - I'd also loooove to have one of those for my '98 528i - any chance you have more of them? You can email me at stebbinghhi@gmail.com...

Righteous, man, righteous!!!!

David

[DennisCooper]

Hi dstebbing,

Look at the post previous to yours! go to the LumiDock website and send in your payment and in a few days it'll drop through into your letterbox! simples !!

Cheers, Dennis!

[kahlilj]

I am just now reading this thread & read every post in it.. GREAT work Josh! I was hopeful of another option besides getting (& now waiting on back-ordered) spec dock. This seems even better though! I have two concerns:
1) I have an e38 (2001 740iL). I presume this will also fit my cigarette lighter? seems its the same as the 540.
2) I have a dice media bridge & intend to place it in the glovebox. Will the cable you supply be long enough to reach there? I'm assuming it will need to be close to 6 feet.

Kahlil

p.s. seems only Dennis has been responding to last several messages. Are you guys working together Dennis or do you have one of these yet?

[DennisCooper]

Hi kahlilj

Thanks for the positive view you have of the LumiDock !

To answer your questions;

1. I'm not 100% sure if the LumiDock will fit into an E38's ashtray area. I think perhaps a question on the E38 or E39 forum section may reveal the answer. If it's indeed the same, then the LumiDock should fit!

2. The cable with the lumidock is perhaps 2 feet long or thereabouts, you'd need to extend it in order to reach and connect to your DICE unit.

I cover the UK market, and Lumidock covers the US and other international orders. Please do drop in your request at www.lumidock.com !

I do have one in my car and you can see some of the pictures of mine I've posted in the thread earlier. As my car hifi install progresses, I'll soon be able to purchase my own iPod to use! all my testing was with a borrowed iPod and as mentioned, with me running 19 inch wheels, lowered suspension, I've not once experienced any falling out or wobbles of the ipod whilst docked. Haven't experienced any banging of the unit with my hand etc either, and neither have manual transmission owners - whilst using an iPod touch variant

Cheers, Dennis!

[kahlilj]

Thanks Dennis. I just left a message at the lumidock website. Hope to hear back from them soon. I am pretty sure the ashtrays & fitment are the same. It seems a typical part to standardize, but you never know

[AspenSilverE39]

hey josh,

just wondering how well it works with iphone 4s with a case on it?

[chiefwej]

Not with a case

[kahlilj]

not sure about the iphone, but it will work with an itouch in its case

[johnate]

Just seen this thread. Now I know where they come from.

I knew about this dock from Dennis in the UK forums, and bought one as soon as it was available!

And also apparently I was the first person to actually break it! Not the dock's fault though, something fell on the passenger side footwell and I tried to grab it, not realising I hit the ipod on the dock. Did that twice actually and on the second time the connector was broke.

I love it so much though and has bought an exact similar one since.

Love it!

[AspenSilverE39]

I am just now reading this thread & read every post in it.. GREAT work Josh! I was hopeful of another option besides getting (& now waiting on back-ordered) spec dock. This seems even better though! I have two concerns:
1) I have an e38 (2001 740iL). I presume this will also fit my cigarette lighter? seems its the same as the 540.
2) I have a dice media bridge & intend to place it in the glovebox. Will the cable you supply be long enough to reach there? I'm assuming it will need to be close to 6 feet.

Kahlil

p.s. seems only Dennis has been responding to last several messages. Are you guys working together Dennis or do you have one of these yet?

Kahlil,

I have a 99 750il on my lot, I did verify, the lumidock will fit, its the same exact ashtray as in my e39.


Josh.

[kahlilj]

Kahlil,

I have a 99 750il on my lot, I did verify, the lumidock will fit, its the same exact ashtray as in my e39.


Josh.

Thanks Josh, but I already had mine done last winter. Unfortunately this match was not known and was thought they were different ashtrays. So I paid "prototype fees" for my personal ashtray to be installed. A bit more than what I expected, but its all good. The final product was to my liking tho

[bimmerfan1970]

Hi, I'm clearly new here and joining the thread way late but I will still pop the question:

Is Josh still making this?

Because if he is I would definetely would like to order one.....

Thanks for any response.....

[johnate]

http://lumidock.com/

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

Please go to the website and place your order

http://www.lumidock.com/

Cheers, Dennis!

[arthbkins]

Anyone still making these iPhone docks for ash trays for e38 / e39? With lightning connector for current generation iPhones.

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

As far as I know, no. Soon after the last threads about LumiDock, I got zero response from Josh. I have no idea on why that was and also no idea about him, perhaps he decided to move onto other aspects etc.

The lightning connector is tiny in comparison to the older Apple Connector, so I think it wouldn't be as robust and in a moving car, the small and constant movement of a 'taller model' iPod/iPhone I think would/might cause the connector to fail / not seat/fit properly. To compensate, then a redesign to incorporate some aspect/shape to better support the device when docked would probably help but at the expense of aesthetics. I'm not much of an Apple person, so not sure if the lightning connector was available on any of the smaller sized ipods? if so, those may well not 'move' and flex as much.

Over the last 5+ years, it seems the popularity of the ipod has waned significantly and wouldn't be surprising if the product is killed off. Given many owners have probably moved to iPhones with their larger storage capacities and also dimensions, I don't think there's much of a market left for a dock solution in E38/E39 ashtray locations. Also, audio streaming has become more popular too and with next generation mobile/cellular networks just around the corner, more people are simply going that route so less (or none!) local physical storage is needed.

Cheers, Dennis!

[Solo12]

I think Speck Dock is still making them (although it does not look like it accommodates the larger iPhone Plus models). I bought a dock from them years ago to use with my MediaBridge and I have been very happy with it. fyi mine has the old 30pin connector not the lightning connector as I ordered mine before apple made the lightning port.

Their website shows options for the e39 and e39 along with many other BMWs. Check it out.
https://www.specdock.com/shop/?category=BMW
Note: one difference is while they used to terminate their connection (on the car side) in a female USB or aux, it seems the termination is now female lightning or aux. This is not a huge deal, but you may have to buy a lightning to USB cord depending on what you are connecting to the dock.

I agree that the lightning connector itself seems like it would not keep the phone as stable as the older 30 pin connector. But I think the connector plus the extra support from the insert should hold a phone in place. I am not sure lumidock was compatible with the inserts. Fyi the insert is the white trim piece you see in the pics immediately surrounding the phone/iPod. I am not sure if it is a feature they still offer, but with my dock used the apple standardized insert. The is was nice b/c it gave you the flexibility to switch b/t diff iPods and/or accommodate an upgrade to a new iPod or iPhone. Although I am not sure apple and/or third parties are still making those model specific inserts.

If the dock does still accept inserts you also have the option of docking whatever lightning connector iPod you prefer instead of your iPhone. Apple still makes the iPod touch and the previous 5^th generation iPod touch also used a lightning connector. I think the only other iPod that used the lightning connector was the 7^th generation iPod Nano, but there may be others. But this is probably a non issue because as Dennis correctly stated most people store their music on their phones and/or use music streaming services.

I bought a 3^rd generation iPod nano specifically to use in my car as I liked how its smaller size looked in the car, and how sat low so it would not interfere at all with shifting. I still use the nano in my car although, now I often connect my iPhone to the Mediabridge via bluetooth and listen to music that way (especially if I want to use Waze and listen to music). Also I could not dock my iPhone now even if I wanted to because it has the lightning port. I supposed I could try a 30pin to lighting adapter; but I’m not sure I would like the looks of the phone docked, plus the phone might be a little in the way of shifting as it is much taller than my 3^rd gen nano.

[BarryM]

My situation is very similar to Solo12, except I have a Lumidock (sourced by Dennis a few years ago). I use it with an intravee and has the 30 pin connector so I have an iPod nano I keep in the car. The problem is I now use Spotify which only works on an iPhone and not the iPod so I have ‘fixed’ music on the iPod and current music on the iPhone. I use the Apple 30 pin to lightning adapter cable to play Spotify which works great and still gives full control through the steering wheel buttons. I haven’t bothered with moving to streaming as I think you lose the s/wheel controls?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[jayster0966]

Woke up an old thread but sent Josh a PM