You don't HAVE to wire the Empeg to the ignition at all. If you wire the Empeg power lead(s) to a line that is always on, the only thing you'll have to worry about is power drain from the starter itself. Depending on the car, you may or may not have a power drain big enough for the Empeg to notice. (What is the powerfail threshold for MkI/MkII?)

As for playlists, the player does remember the current playlist (including tracks you may have added with search results), and it's position in that playlist. When the power goes away, the Empeg has enough juice left over to quickly write it's current position (to Flash, I think).
Hugo, is the current playlist stored in Flash or on the HDD?
Jason

_~= Dearing =~_
"WAY too happy about having #99."