159 JTD just purchased - some questions...

[blueblood1995]

Hi All

My first post as I have just purchased a 2010 (MY09) 159 JTD Ti sports wagon.
Thoroughly satisfied (so far!) and loving the drive.

Wondering if the experts can help with some questions I have regarding general functionality and operation. (Have included the page from the owners manual in brackets for reference purposes)
*  What is the night pan on/off function? (p.29)
*  p.305 - I follow the directions to try to set "User EQ Settings" but when I hold down the down arrow it does enable the equaliser graph to be changed. Any tips?
*  In section "Sound System" starting page 293 it references FMT as one of the FM bands for Autostore of the strongest FM signals (p.306). My display shows FMA. Is this the same?
*  Do any radio stations in Australia use the "Traffic Info" function? (p.309)
*  What is the purpose of "external audio volume"? (p.311)
*  How do I tell if my model has the hill holder function? Or do all 159s have this as standard?
*  Whilst "playing" I pulled the emergency fuel cap cord within the RHS storage box in the back of the boot area and the cap did not open. Now I cannot retract the cord. What am I doing wrong here?
*  How effective is the cooling/warming function in the for box under the armrest in the centre console? When I turn it on I only feel a very very small amount cool air coming through a small vent near the top. How does it work?

and finally...

* Although my model is a Ti it does not have electric seats or a 10 stack CD player. I asked the dealer and he said something about a "GFC pack" that was released around early 2010. Is this correct? (It also does not have the BOSE stereo and the sunroof which I understand were factory options anyway.)

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Cheers
JAMES

[Potsie]

Blueblood,

I'm a Alfa Romeo newbie myself (many much more knowlegable people out there), but I also have a 159, so I'll have a crack at *trying* to answer some of your questions:

>>What is the night pan on/off function? (p.29)

As far as I can tell it just turns on/off the backlight to the dash instruments. I like the backlight so I've never tried to turn it off.

>>*  In section "Sound System" starting page 293 it references FMT as one of the FM bands for Autostore of the strongest FM signals (p.306). My display shows FMA. Is this the same?

FMA is an 'auto-tuning' function. I'm not entirly sure what FMT stands for (I think its probably for Europe where some FM stations send traffic info - your next question below).

>>*  Do any radio stations in Australia use the "Traffic Info" function? (p.309)

Not as far as I am aware.

>>*  What is the purpose of "external audio volume"? (p.311)

Not really sure. I assume its for systems that have an external CD stacker (or similar) input, and perhaps allows the input level to be changed (I don't have any external inputs, so I'm only guessing).

>>*  How do I tell if my model has the hill holder function? Or do all 159s have this as standard?

I don't have a hill holder on my car (its an auto), but this page: http://www.carpages.co.uk/alfa_romeo/alfa-romeo-159-sportwagon-part-3-07-06-06.asp explains about it. 

Potsie

[blueblood1995]

Thanks for your reply Potsie. Much appreciated!
There was one other question I now have after reading the Stereo and Blue & Me section of the manual. It says that the factory Alfa set-up will not play Apple iTunes *.m4a files and only MPEG *.mp3 files. I have found this is not the case. I assume some changes were made to accommodate other file formats?
Do you have any knowledge regarding this?
Best Regards 

[kaleuclint]

Pretty certain that external audio volume relates to the environment; i.e.: when noise increases so too does the volume to compensate.

With the equaliser, the manual is wrong.  Hold the UP button.

[Potsie]

There is a whole forum topic on the Blue&Me audio system on the forum at:

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/ice-and-blue-and-me/  -- lots of good info there.

..and you can also download 'updates' for the Blue&Me system from: http://www.blueandme.net/blueandme/index.aspx/
 
(I dislike apple products, so I don't have an Iphone - I've never tried to use their file format so I can't help you with that part of your question)
Potsie

[blueblood1995]

After mastering the general functionality of the car I am still getting to grips with the Blue & Me.
Can someone confirm the following:
* the shuffle function in the settings menu will obviously shuffle all songs via media player.
* random will randomly start from a song on a USB stick and play in sequence from that point.
These are my observations so far anyway.
Do these functions apply only to media player or CDs as well?