[c_surmeli]

Hello.

I'm driving a 2012 F20 1.16i.

The USB port inside the arm rest is able to charge my iPhone 6 but it's current is insufficient that either it is painfully slow at charging or it even loses charge during charging when the navigation is running.

So is it anyhow possible to amp up the current coming from the USB port?

[LatinBimmer]

I don't think so. Your best and cost effective solution is buying a USB Cigarrete Charger...it's about $20 or so. There are single and dual ports...either genuine from BMW or aftermarket.

[AussieSimon]

The best ones are made by Scosche, Anker and Aukey.

If you plan to leave it in the socket, the Aukey CC-S1 is a winner. It's the smallest one on the market, yet has two ports and supplies enough current to charge two iPads simultaneously. The only downside is that it requires the fingernails on two hands to remove.

http://www.amazon.com/Aukey-Charger-.../dp/B00M6QODH2

[dishy]

The owners manual states do not use the usb port for charging.

As people have suggested, get a USB lighter socket. You should make sure that they are full power chargers though. Standard USB sockets have the two middle pins left open and so the device connected there will only consume <500mA of current. A full charging adapter will have the middle 2 pins shorted, which tells the phone that it is connected to a wall outlet and so the phone will pull around 800ms roughly. You can check this on an android device by plugging it in and going to the battery settings and seeing whether it says "Charging AC" or "Charging USB".

PS. if you buy any cheap cigarette lighter USB socket, as long as it is capable of supplying 1A current you can modify it if the phone is seeing it as a USB port. The way you modify it is open the unit up and solder the two middle pins together. These are the data pins and this then tells the phone to draw max current on the power pins.

[AussieSimon]

It would be crazy for buy a "cheap" car USB adapter when the best ones that work perfectly and supply a high current to all major iOS and Android phones are available from stores like Amazon for well under $20.

[c_surmeli]

Thanks everyone for their recommendations. Guess I'll but a nice charger. Two ports will be nice.

@dishy: Interesting stuff. Much appreciated. Even though the manual says not to use the port for charging, it will eventually charge my iPhone if I connect it to my infotainment system via it's Lightning cable. So isn't it kind of a dilemma?

[dishy]

No I don't think so. I think BMW put that info in the manual because the USB port isn't capable of supplying anything more than basic USB port power.