Yesterday, after waiting two months to get my brand new custom built 2013 BMW 335i, the iDrive failed the FIRST day. The screen went black, no phone, no voice commands, no manual radio, nothing. It turned back on once the next day, then on and off on, now, day two. There is a "searching" sound even when the car is off, sort of like a cd player, coming from the dashboard. So, on Monday, after driving this brand new car for five days, it's going back to the dealer to be fixed. My monumental dissapointment with BMW notwithstanding, does anyone have a weekend fix I can do myself?
I am guessing here but I wonder if the Dealer didn't prep the car right. I know a lot of the electronics are shutdown for transport and the dealership needs to reboot/turn them on. :dunno:
I sure hope my friend you don't have the problems I had with my 4.8i X5 where there was an electrical short somewhere and it burned the Idrive. I had 3,000 miles on the SUV when that happened. They had to change the entire electrical system whatever that entailed.
You reboot the iDrive system by turning the car on and pressing the rotary knob (little volume knob) and the CD eject button (to the right of the opening) at the same time for 25-30 seconds.
If re-boot does not satisfy, check fuses and connectors. Do you want to when BMW will fix for you?
Is it not wonderful? Your no-charge maintenance team stands ready to leap upon your ride! Have you inquired about Saturday service? Can do my dealer, but that may be exceptional.
Come Monday, expect major action & Full Court Press. Please post trouble shooting & repairs accomplished.
Why try something? Because I wanted to have FUN driving this weekend Monday, oh yes, it WILL be fixed. GREAT idea. I will post their solution. I am praying they don't take the car for days.....!
I am hoping it's not an omen, too! The salesperson did mention that the iDrive is shut down for transport, and said his service person suggested I turn the car off and on. Of course, on the third try it worked, but it was downhill from there. Thanks for sharing.
I just tried that. Nothing Also, the "searching" sound (like a cd searching) is still going on with the car OFF - so now it's been doing that for 17 hours, since the car was shut off. That cannot be good!
Sounds like the sort of noise a dead hard drive would make. These cars have HDDs if they have certain options, don't they? If it really is a dead HDD, there's nothing an end user can do - the drive will need to be replaced with a new one that has the right software loaded.
I've had the "No Signal" issue on the display since day one. It's random. My 328i was a Euro Delivery and it worked out of the gate, but twice in three days around Munich I got the blank screen at startup (with just the red letters "No Signal"). So when it got shipped here the dealer must have ran into it and it delayed prep. They said they 'fixed' it, but my guess is it randomly came back on upon a startup. I think it seems to be a function of the exact shut down process and strangely enough whether my foot is on the brake or not when I shut the accessories off. Not very scientific but it seems when I rush getting out of the car, I'll get the "No Signal" message on the blank screen. The display will operate normally if given enough time fully shut down.
I am getting it less over time but for a while it was happening on maybe every third start.
I've had the "No Signal" issue on the display since day one. It's random. My 328i was a Euro Delivery and it worked out of the gate, but twice in three days around Munich I got the blank screen at startup (with just the red letters "No Signal"). So when it got shipped here the dealer must have ran into it and it delayed prep. They said they 'fixed' it, but my guess is it randomly came back on upon a startup. I think it seems to be a function of the exact shut down process and strangely enough whether my foot is on the brake or not when I shut the accessories off. Not very scientific but it seems when I rush getting out of the car, I'll get the "No Signal" message on the blank screen. The display will operate normally if given enough time fully shut down.
I am getting it less over time but for a while it was happening on maybe every third start.
OK, Thank you, Technic. Just a general update: the system worked half of Saturday and most of Sunday. It then turned itself off and on for about 10 minutes. I had to re-schedule this morning's dealer visit, will post an update when I go.
My standard suggestion is to take photos or even a video of this type of random issue so the dealer tech can have a clear and definitive idea of what's going on right there. That will expedite the diagnosis, and labor/parts can be performed/ordered right away if required.
Otherwise your car will sit there for quite some time until the issue shows up -unless there is an error logged in your ECU.
Like some others said, it kind of sounds like it might be a failed/defective hard drive. Those things can fail at any time (including right after you start using them). If that is the case, it's not really BMW's fault.
I know, it's just my luck! Two bimmers ago, I got one where the car failed to turn off after the key was removed from the ignition (first day of owning ) I have not been to dealer yet, due to medical issue. I expect to bring it in next week. My husband has driven me in it, and there is NO iDrive at all. Nothing. It worked for about 36 hours after my first report of a problem.... the saga continues.
UPDATE: The car with the failed iDrive (2013 BMW 335i) on first day of driving brand new, is now at the dealer (there was a delay getting it there due to surgery). Dealer email to me at end of day: "We would like to keep the car overnight to continue to diagnose the concern". I will update you all after resolution. Thank you for your comments, suggestions, and interest in this issue! My disappointment is vast, so I hope their fix is permanent.
Maybe they are trying to make sure you appreciate your car even more by giving you an an old hanged up an inferior model as a loaner. Had the put you in a loaded brand new 5 series you might have told them to lemon your car and compensate you with the 5!:dunno:
UPDATE: Day 2 at the dealer. They are still diagnosing the "iDrive" on the brand new 2013 BMW 335i that failed the first day of driving . I told them again I was very unhappy and wanted at a minimum a new iDrive, not a repaired iDrive, or a brand new car. I've lost confidence. I was told the techs are communicating with "BMW" about the iDrive problem and have not figured it out. The service rep ASKED me to call BMW of North America to help with the problem (I am not making this up), and that they could perhaps offer me "compensation". I called BMW of North America who opened my "case" and said it would be resolved in a week. I told her, "Ma'am, I am not picking the car up until the iDrive is replaced or the car is replaced and BMW corporate has resolved this problem in a way satisfactory to me." I do not have high confidence in them replacing the iDrive properly and that even working. I told the rep to inform the Service Manager and company president I wanted a replacement vehicle. I am now researching Florida laws about problem cars such as this. The minute I mentioned that to BMW of North America, they said "We cannot help you if you obtain legal counsel". Again, I am not making this up.
I don't think you know what you are talking about when you say you want a new Idrive. You are talking about a screen and software or possibly an electrical issue. If the dealer can fix one of these then it's fixed. It's not rocket science. Because the dealer can't find the problem it tells me either they or BMW USA have not seen this yet. It seems to me that they can delete the program and reinstall the software. It's probably not as cut and dried as this but it's likely not a mechanical issue.
The lemon law states that you have to give them 3 trys to fix the car, if they fail, then you have a case. As it stand now, if they fix it after a week, I would ask them for some sort of compensation, such as one month car payment.
I read that. My thinking - if I bought a new computer and it had a failed hard drive on DAY 1, believe me, they wouldn't be fixing the hard drive. They'd be giving me a replacement. I'll see how this utterly convenient situation plays out.... One month payment seems really low to me for this. No matter what, I will not have confidence in that vehicle again, even with a new iDrive. Sorry for sounding upset, but I am.
I do not understand how much work would it be to just replace the iDrive CIC and let you find out if that solved your problem. If the problem persists then there is a problem with the actual wiring/MOST cables in the car; if the problem goes away then it was the HDD acting up.
Simple.
Of course, using a customer as guinea pig is never nice. However, that is much, much better than this Mickey Mouse show of talking: of diagnosing, about calling BMWNA, about legal counseling, about "if you do this we will do that". And the car is still sitting there for days waiting for something to happen on its own.
Thank you, Technic, I agree. It's absurd.
Michael Schott - you could be right. I am not a mechanic nor a car engineer. I am just the end-user. They did however, comment to me, that they will put in a new iDrive (call from the dealership service rep, which I did not state would satisfy my comfort level with the car). Maybe they mean "software". It it's wires, etc., that worries me more. It's been there two day, they told me it won't be resolved until next week. Again worrisome.
Thank you, Technic, I agree. It's absurd.
Michael Schott - you could be right. I am not a mechanic nor a car engineer. I am just the end-user. They did however, comment to me, that they will put in a new iDrive (call from the dealership service rep, which I did not state would satisfy my comfort level with the car). Maybe they mean "software". It it's wires, etc., that worries me more. It's been there two day, they told me it won't be resolved until next week. Again worrisome.
UPDATE: The brand new 2013 BMW 335i with the failed iDrive is still at dealer for repair. They emailed me this morning stating they are replacing the iDrive and the car should be ready tomorrow afternoon. Still no word from BMW North America, whom the dealer had asked me to call.
They should provide an invoice that shows exactly what parts were replaced and what services work was done.
As Technic indicated, it should be possible to replace a single component that is having trouble, such as the COMBOX, etc, and have you on your way.
The entire i-drive system consists of multiple "things" as well as the wiring and software that makes it all work.
The worst case scenario is that there is bad wiring in the car somewhere, which can be very tedious to troubleshoot, but which can be fixed also.
I hope your car gets fixed. I have never had i-drive lock up or reboot on me and consider it to actually be pretty good. I use it typically 90-120 minutes a day on the days that I commute.
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