This is for anybody out there who is having problems connecting their iPod to their Alfa or Fiat car. I figured this out and thought I'd share the solution. Please let me know if you found this helpful.
Firstly the iPod you use to connect to the USB in the glove compartment must be formatted for Windows as B&M (Blue&Me) will only read PC formatted devices.
If you attach a Mac formatted iPod to B&M it will simply come back with the error message ‘No media found’ To ensure your B&M is functioning correctly load an mp3 file on to a USB stick, plug this in to the socket in the glove compartment, select media player on B&M (See B&M manual) and make sure the media player plays the mp3 file.
For Mac Users
Formatting your ipod for Windows can be done by connecting your iPod to a PC with iTunes loaded on it and following the on screen instructions. If the PC has not been connected to an ipod before you may need to install the iPod software that came with your iPod on to the PC.
Important
The process of restoring, which is basically re-formatting the storage section of the iPod, will erase any music and media you have on your iPod If you can not easily reload some of your material I would suggest you go to a site such as: http://www.thelittleappfactory.com/application.php?app=iPodRip.
Where you can find software to backup your iPod to your computer before re- formatting it to work with a PC. After it has been formatted you can then reload the music and media back on to it using your Mac. This should be done for your personal backup use only as sharing music is illegal
You can still connect your iPod to your Mac without problem but it will no longer allow you to automatically sync with your iTunes library as it is now linked to the iTunes library on the PC. This is not a major problem however. On your Mac open iTunes and click the iPod icon located on the right hand side of the iTunes window under devices. Then click the Summary tab, under Options select Manually manage music by ticking the box at the bottom of the window. This will allow you to drag playlists from iTunes to your iPod using your Mac.
For Mac and PC Users
As B&M does not read m4a files that iTunes often uses when converting CD’s go to preferences under the iTunes menu on a Mac and Edit on a PC. In preferences click the Advanced tab and then the Importing tab. In the drop down box select Import using MP3 Encoder. This will ensure the tracks you import can play on B&M once they have been imported and loaded on to your iPod.
Because of the way the menus appear on your car dashboard using B&M it is advisable to make sure all your iTunes songs have the correct artist name in the Artist box. This can de done by clicking on the top track in a playlist holding shift and clicking on the bottom track or by holding Control (Apple on a Mac) and hitting ‘A’ to select all the tracks in the playlist. Once all the tracks are selected right click on them (Ctrl click on a Mac) to bring up the get info option. Select get info and in the box that opens click the info tab and fill in the Artist name and even the Album name, then click OK. This will allow you to select songs by Artist when you play them back in the car rather than playing back all the songs in your library in alphabetical order. If the individual tracks do not have names it is advisable to name them where possible purely to identify them within B&M.
Happy driving, happy listening.
