[Kabrich]

But you are still getting Satellite Radio which is constantly receiving info, no matter what audio source you are connected to.

For the cars that do have navigation with real time traffic, the Sirius Satellite Data feed (containing Digital Audio and Traffic Info, as well as other things like Wx etc that BMW does not use) has to be constant no matter if you are listening to AM/FM/CD/HD/MP3 or whatever. As thus, the Sirius feed is constantly going to the iDrive system and can easily cause a reboot just as easily as a major data error/update can cause a PC to crash and reboot.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

As noted on the other thread, BMW uses Sirius for live traffic info even when you have another sound source on.

That it happened to multiple people at the same time (and not before) would lead to the conclusion it is not source related and has to have some other commonality with vehicles that would force reboots around the same time.

Sorry, but you're forgetting that many of us experiencing this do not have Navigation, and thus are not receiving traffic information. That said, I spent a few hours driving this weekend and did not once see the reboot problem - although I left the sound source set to AUX FRONT port. I will now set it back to the USB port (where I have a USB stick with music files) and see if it starts recurring.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

But you are still getting Satellite Radio which is constantly receiving info, no matter what audio source you are connected to.

For the cars that do have navigation with real time traffic, the Sirius Satellite Data feed (containing Digital Audio and Traffic Info, as well as other things like Wx etc that BMW does not use) has to be constant no matter if you are listening to AM/FM/CD/HD/MP3 or whatever. As thus, the Sirius feed is constantly going to the iDrive system and can easily cause a reboot just as easily as a major data error/update can cause a PC to crash and reboot.

I would disagree - unless this update was taking place over a 2-week period, the logic doesn't work. I experienced this reboot problem intermittently across a 10-day period. I can also understand how the Sirius signal would go to the Satellite Radio portion of the car's sound system, but don't see how that would affect the entire system and have it reboot 5 times in 20 minutes, for example. I plan to cancel the free Sirius subscription, because I don't listen to Satellite radio enough to justify the price, and I don't really care for anything in their program lineup anyway. Hopefully that will insure that IF this is the cause, it won't happen again when I'm not a subscriber. I consider it a MAJOR flaw that something related to SatRad could destabilize the entire iDrive system.

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by roundel335

I would disagree - unless this update was taking place over a 2-week period, the logic doesn't work. I experienced this reboot problem intermittently across a 10-day period. I can also understand how the Sirius signal would go to the Satellite Radio portion of the car's sound system, but don't see how that would affect the entire system and have it reboot 5 times in 20 minutes, for example. I plan to cancel the free Sirius subscription, because I don't listen to Satellite radio enough to justify the price, and I don't really care for anything in their program lineup anyway. Hopefully that will insure that IF this is the cause, it won't happen again when I'm not a subscriber. I consider it a MAJOR flaw that something related to SatRad could destabilize the entire iDrive system.

While I am not a fan of SiriusXM and already posted on another thread that the XM signal is better, but still not as good as HD Radio (Sirius is the worst), but that said, the problem is not Sirius. It is BMW's software for the iDrive.

If I had to guess, the iDrive needed to be rebooted to flash the new SiriusXM data info into the iDrive system. It is no different than causing your iPhone to reboot when you upgrade the iOS or Windows to reboot after installing a Windows Update. If I were betting more, I would bet the BMW Software in iDrive has a flag that has not been set showing it has not been rebooted after the update and that is why it is rebooting constantly. This is no different than a Windows PC that marked a Hard Drive as "dirty" and needs to run chkdsk on reboot, but often did not then mark the drive as "clean" so chkdsk would then run on EVERY reboot.

Cancelling the SiriusXM subscription will probably not cause the issue to stop as the car continues to receive SiriusXM data even if you do not subscribe. It has to so it can receive "reauthorization" for someone's subscription.

Think of it this way. Many computers have 1 or 2 Wired Network Ports. Most these days use Wireless WiFi instead. Even if you do not use the Wired Network Port, if one goes bad it can cause the computer to constantly reboot when the error occurs. A Hardware error causes many computers to constantly reboot - and the SiriusXM system is nothing more than a piece of Hardware on a chip.

The fact that it happened to everyone on these 2 threads starting on the same day that SiriusXM changed their channels assignments and thus data mapping tells you right there that it has nothing to do with changing your audio source input - as many would have experienced it long before that if that were truly the case.

[RoundelM3]

Originally Posted by Kabrich

While I am not a fan of SiriusXM and already posted on another thread that the XM signal is better, but still not as good as HD Radio (Sirius is the worst), but that said, the problem is not Sirius. It is BMW's software for the iDrive.

If I had to guess, the iDrive needed to be rebooted to flash the new SiriusXM data info into the iDrive system. It is no different than causing your iPhone to reboot when you upgrade the iOS or Windows to reboot after installing a Windows Update. If I were betting more, I would bet the BMW Software in iDrive has a flag that has not been set showing it has not been rebooted after the update and that is why it is rebooting constantly. This is no different than a Windows PC that marked a Hard Drive as "dirty" and needs to run chkdsk on reboot, but often did not then mark the drive as "clean" so chkdsk would then run on EVERY reboot.

Cancelling the SiriusXM subscription will probably not cause the issue to stop as the car continues to receive SiriusXM data even if you do not subscribe. It has to so it can receive "reauthorization" for someone's subscription.

Think of it this way. Many computers have 1 or 2 Wired Network Ports. Most these days use Wireless WiFi instead. Even if you do not use the Wired Network Port, if one goes bad it can cause the computer to constantly reboot when the error occurs. A Hardware error causes many computers to constantly reboot - and the SiriusXM system is nothing more than a piece of Hardware on a chip.

The fact that it happened to everyone on these 2 threads starting on the same day that SiriusXM changed their channels assignments and thus data mapping tells you right there that it has nothing to do with changing your audio source input - as many would have experienced it long before that if that were truly the case.

I appreciate your explanation, but after 42 years of IT (and still going), I'm quite aware of the implications; however, if the wired NIC in my ultrabook has a problem, it won't cause any kind of issue if I'm using the wireless NIC. It might report that it's disabled, but Win7 won't reboot a system because of a NIC failure. That said, I had this happening on multiple days, not just one day, and not day-after-day, but with gaps between. I still find it disturbing that BMW's system could be affected by an "update" to Sirius enough to destabilize the entire system. I'll be looking carefully for some word from BMW about what's been causing the problem. Surely their techs would know if the iDrive system were vulnerable to this.

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by roundel335

I appreciate your explanation, but after 42 years of IT (and still going), I'm quite aware of the implications; however, if the wired NIC in my ultrabook has a problem, it won't cause any kind of issue if I'm using the wireless NIC. It might report that it's disabled, but Win7 won't reboot a system because of a NIC failure. That said, I had this happening on multiple days, not just one day, and not day-after-day, but with gaps between. I still find it disturbing that BMW's system could be affected by an "update" to Sirius enough to destabilize the entire system. I'll be looking carefully for some word from BMW about what's been causing the problem. Surely their techs would know if the iDrive system were vulnerable to this.

Sorry, but a bad NIC can cause a reboot. I've had several boards that eventually had to go for this issue, which is why I used it. Now this was pre-Windows 7, but a hardware failure can cause a reboot. And quite frankly, the iDrive system is complete computer system.

Besides, you have yet to answer why everyone on this thread started having the issue at the same time! Source selection does not explain that.

On top of that, one of the previous posters noted BMW already claimed it was SiriusXM related.

[PrazVT]

Update:

iDrive started rebooting again today as I was getting home from work:

I guess the programming update @ the dealer didn't work?

[ryanriley]

Mine started back this evening as well.

[Kabrich]

XM receivers can take an update without rebooting unit (also more channels and better sound thanks to better codec). Sirius units must reboot after receiving update. Of course BMW has contract to install the crappy Sirius chips instead of the superior XM chips, even though the companies merged 4 years ago.

If successful, it should reboot only once. If it reboots more than once per update, there is an issue.

[ryanriley]

Just got this from support at Sirius, so let's hope it's right:

"We apologize for the issues that you are having with your service and would be glad to assist you with a resolution.We’ve identified a technical issue on our part that is in fact impacting your service. Our support team will be issuing a solution on August 28th that will not require any involvement on your part. If after that date you are still receiving the same interruption please do not hesitate to contact us."

[jelecroy]

My car was at the dealer several weeks ago for I-Drive autoboot. I think they installed new firmware, which I could have done at home. They kept the car four days!
Since then I have seen two more instances of I-drive auto-reboot, the latest last night. The radio would allow me to select an XM preset while this was going on, and showed XM channel information, but kept playing the FM radio. Went about four minutes between re-boots. Car worked okay after it was parked for an hour or so. Presumably BMW will come up with a real fix eventually.

[narlus]

yep...it happened to me last night...first time since July 29th.

[PrazVT]

My service advisor's going to take this back to the shop chief so they can try to root cause it before I simply take the car back again. I actually referenced this thread so they realize other folks are having the same problems.

[Kabrich]

Essentially wasting your time taking it to the dealer as there is not much they can do.

A simple google search shows this happening across a number of car models when Sirius updates their firmware.

A post in a Jeep forum says you need to disconnect the battery for 20 minutes and then reconnect will settle it down.

[DrivenByE30]

As i have said it before, taking it to the dealer will not resolve the problem now or yet...
You will only waste your time as said above, But at least they will get your complains down, anything else is just effort and money thrown out the door for nothing more.

I dont feel disconnecting my battery at all, so i am not going to do anything... Just wait and see.

I did happened to my car again a couple days ago, non-stop reboot for the entire afternoon.

[BradZDestroyer]

Hey guys. I may be a little late on this, but hopefully it may help someone! If your Idrive, mine is in a 2013 328i, gets stuck in a bootloop... A simple fix is to select your guest profile. That should stop boot looping.. From there, delete the profile stuck in a bootloop, and create a new one. Yeah, it sucks... But it's better than installing a new unit.

Hope this helps someone

[hongmeizhang]

I never liked the complicated electronics system... it makes life miserable...

[chopshop]

Just had this start happening to me - every 5 mins or so it will reboot. Tried the solutions here, no joy. Am in Victoria, Australia, don't think we have sirius?