I've had my 30GB iPod hooked up to our long-term A4 Avant for the past week or so. It works quite well. The attribute I like most (and this is inherent with any good integration system) is better safety. As you likely know, holding and fiddling with an MP3 player hooked up to a normal auxiliary input jack can be a major distraction.
This is greatly reduced with iPod integration, as you can control the iPod directly through the car and see songs on the main display rather than the iPod's.
Specific details about our A4's integration follow after the jump.
The connection cable is in the glovebox. There's a slide-out tray that you can use to store the iPod, but since I've got a rubbery case and bulky belt clip on mine, I've just been putting it in the larger adjacent slot to the right, which is fine.
The A4 detects my iPod quickly and displays the iPod in a very similar fashion -- Artist, Album, Playlist, Podcast and so forth are all represented via folders.
To navigate, you can use the MMI wheel. Spinning it clockwise moves down the iPod list and spinning it counterclockwise moves up the list. Pressing down on the wheel selects whatever is highlighted on the screen by the little white dot. Currently playing tracks are displayed in a callout box with artist, album and song information. To back out of a folder, you can scroll up to the top to find the back folder symbol, or you can click the "return" button below the MMI knob.
You can also use the scroll wheel on the steering wheel to move up and down through an iPod list. When you do so, the gauge cluster display switches from its normal trip computer mode to show the list of songs that you're moving up or down in.
Overall, the Audi A4's integration is very easy to use. There are only two minor things I don't like. One, it's hard to find the random/repeat functions through the interface. Two: for podcasts, the Audi displays them alphabetically, which is counter to my iPod's chronological listing. As such, finding my newest podcasts has been difficult.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
vacagrande says:
10:42 AM, 03/ 6/09
Why can't they just leave "The Unforgiven" alone?
wobbly_ears says:
11:10 AM, 03/ 6/09
Love Audi's choice of orange font colors. Classy & easy on the eye at the same time. Besides, MMI is generations ahead of iDrive.
redliner says:
12:01 PM, 03/ 6/09
I think that having it display song information on the trip computer display is a really smart idea.
With audio systems becoming more and more interrelated with the cars other electronic systems, I see a bumpy road ahead for aftermarket stereo companies.
fadetoblackii says:
01:18 PM, 03/ 6/09
vacagrande-
Unforgiven III is a phenomenal song. Actually this whole album is pretty good.
mercedesfan says:
01:28 PM, 03/ 6/09
MMI really is a great system. I have never been a fan of the graphics Audi uses, but the system is intuitive and easy to pick up right away. My only complaint is that the knob always feels uncomfortably far back on the console for me.
Which brings me to my dilemma. I would rather have a console mounted shifter than the small eletric column shifter on my car, but then again the COMAND controller in my car is in a more comfortable location.
hispd4fun says:
02:21 PM, 03/ 6/09
i had an audi A6 with MMI and it was a great system. i now drive a bmw 535 and the idrive is not that bad if you take a couple of hours and play with it. its easy to use. between the 2 mmi is easer to navigate but idrive is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be
autoboy16 says:
04:16 AM, 03/ 7/09
Kind of off topic, but Is that the Check engine light on in the bottom Photos?
smrtypants44 says:
02:58 PM, 03/ 7/09
@autoboy16 looks like the key is on acc, the RPMs are at 0
falkinator says:
08:24 PM, 03/18/09
Just bought an 09 Avant - Prestige, and the Ipod integration is great. Only downside is there's no way to track advance on the steering wheel. You can scroll the left wheel, but then it screws up if you've got it set to random, then it sets it back to alphabetical.