Sorry what I was referring to is the docking connector on the bottom of the iPhone. Some of the tiny pins that connect are for USB based power (if you had the iPhone plugged into your PC with a USB plug) and some are for Firewire. I don't believe apple is supporting Firewire connections any longer, so that pin on the bottom of the iPhone's connector will not accept a power source any longer. The BMW iPod OEM kits and even my Alpine iPod cable (which worked great and powered my first gen iPhone) will no longer power the 3G. It sounds like BMW might have used the USB power pin for the cradle, so if so you're good to go. My 3G will play audio as usual through my three BMW's connectors but will not charge.