I like the AC/DC song "Hells Bells" -- really I do. I mean, I wouldn't have it in my iPhone if I didn't.
Yet I may never listen to Hells Bells again after driving our long-term 2009 Audi A4 Avant for the past week. Apparently the Audi's iPod memory skills are akin to the rat that just keeps grabbing the cheese, no matter how many times he's been shocked.
When I get into the A4 Avant I always plug in my iPhone 3GS into the glovebox-mounted iPod cord and within a few seconds I'm hearing the "Bong...Bong...Bong..." beginning of "Hells Bells." This happens every time I get into the car and plug in my iPhone because the iPod interface defaults to the first alphabetical artist in your library and then to the first alphabetical song from that artist.
Because I like to listen to all of my songs from all of my artists I have to go to the control panel, "up" out of the "AC/DC" folder, "up" out of the "Artists" folder and "up" to the "All" folder. Then I have to go down into the "Songs" folder and click on a song to start it playing.
Then I have to get back out to the master control screen and click on "Mix" to get the car to shuffle randomly through all of my songs.
I was feeling annoyed by this process every time I got into the car, but last night I had just completed this journey to Suffleland and was beginning to enjoy random songs from all artists when I decided to unplug my iPhone and shoot a picture of the sunset off PCH. Twenty seconds later I plugged the phone back into the iPod cord.
"...Bong...Bong...Bong"
Really??? Even without shutting the car off and/or turning the phone off????
Maybe I should just get some headphones for when I drive this car.
Karl Brauer, Edmunds.com Editor at Large
carguy622 says:
08:08 AM, 12/30/10
"Maybe I should just get some headphones for when I drive this car." - OK, that's illegal, but I think you were kidding. At least I hope so. ;)
This does sound like a pain in the butt glitch though.
fushigi says:
08:41 AM, 12/30/10
I see a BT icon. Can you stream your music over BT instead? You'd have to use the iPhone for controls, but then hitting shuffle once doesn't sound like a hardship.
questionlp says:
09:12 AM, 12/30/10
Another reason why I use the SD slots for playing music or go with a dedicated iPod for the car. Granted, the latter does not work for a car that switches hands frequently.
questionlp says:
09:36 AM, 12/30/10
If I recall, Audi did provide a Bluetooth A2DP module for cars with 2G MMI but I recall reading that it is not supported with the new 3G MMI. The 3G MMI didn't arrive in the B8 Audi's until the release of the Q5 and 2010 or newer A4/S4 and A5/S5.
bankerdanny says:
09:49 AM, 12/30/10
Good to know I'm not the only guy with AC/DC and Ella in my music list.
surfwagon56 says:
11:49 AM, 12/30/10
It's not really a problem for the average Audi/VW owner. I have my 80 GB iPod classic plugged in (except every 6 months or so to sync it with iTunes on my home computer), and it starts off wherever it left off playing. My first song is always "ABC" by the Jackson 5 when I first plug in my iPod after syncing.
Your situation is a little different with so many drivers rotating through the vehicle. Out of curiosity, what do other iPod interfaces do when the iPod is first plugged in?
editor_karl says:
12:41 PM, 12/30/10
We wondered the same thing surfwagon, so another staffer with a straight iPod (thus removing the iPhone weirdness) tried it out -- same thing. Unplug it and plug it back in and it started with his "A" artist's alphabetically "earliest" song, even though it was mid-podcast when he unplugged it. Then he unplugged it after switching the song and plugged it back in -- and back it went to the same aphabetically prioritized artist, then song title by that artist.
Just seems to negate part of the iPod convience.
stovt001 says:
03:00 PM, 12/30/10
I can relate. The POC aftermarket stereo we installed to have ipod connectivity in our Taurus wagon defaults to "shuffle all" out of the full library any time the ipod is connected. Like Karl's experience, it didn't matter if the car or ipod hadn't been turned off. If we were listening to a podcast and unplugged the ipod, then plugged it back in, it would go back to shuffle all music.
The difference here is my unit is a POC aftermarket unit we paid very little for just so we could hook up an ipod. I would hope an Audi would be a little better.
smrtypants44 says:
08:25 PM, 12/30/10
This is why i have an iPod specifically for the car, the iphone's music player doesnt seem to ever play nice with peripherals due to the frequent software updating.
mjp16 says:
01:06 AM, 12/31/10
That's odd. I have an '09 A4 Avant (no nav, but with iPod connectivity, Canadian) and an iPhone 4... upon plugging in my iPhone, it starts playing from the point where I left off of the last song I was playing ("Now Playing"). This, plus the fact that shuffle behaviour seems to vary between the LT vehicle and mine, makes me think that there's a difference in software version (either in the car or on the iPhone..?).
What does annoy me is how, if I've taken my iPhone out after the last drive, when I start the car again it reverts to the first song on the SD card. I wish it would just pause--I've resorted to putting a 3-minute long "blank" MP3 names 0000.mp3 on the SD card.
bodyblue says:
07:05 AM, 12/31/10
I dont remember, is the A4 a loaner or did IL buy it? It seems like they have had it forever......nice car buy not exciting to read about anymore.
falkinator says:
12:50 PM, 01/ 4/11
I know the "Bong.. Bong.. Bong.." very well myself. I have the exact same song pop on everytime I drive my '09 Avant. I have a dedicated ipod classic 4th gen and whenever switching between CD and iPod or after my wife drives it always reverts back to AC/DC.
The '11 Mazda 3 bluetooth on the other hand is fantastic. Streaming music and steering wheel controls without ever taking it out of my pocket is pure Pandora nirvana.
jefft123 says:
06:35 AM, 02/ 5/11
I have the exact same problem with my 2011 Q5. I use a dedicated ipod nano which rarely leaves the glovebox. Almost everytime I start the car the ipod interface re-initializes and starts with the first song and not the song I was listening to last. VERY ANNOYING!
However, I found that if i hit the pause/mute button on the car dashboard before I turn off the car then when I turn the car back on this issue does not happen. I really hope Audi will fix this.
BTW: my wife's 2010 A4 does the same thing as well.