[ChinaBob]

A couple of months ago I posted about a strange problem I was having with my navigation system. In short, the voice commands are cutting off the first few words so I only hear the end of the command:

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1348641

Senior citizen that I am, I am in the midst of my annual road trip in the sunny south, attending some week-long programs that allow me to leave the car at the local BMW dealer for a week to see what they can make of it. Two of the three dealers have been able to replicate the problem and, since it throws no codes, are completely baffled. Because it seems to happen a greater percentage of the time in urban areas, my guess is that it is receiving some kind of outside interference. Regardless of the cause, the solution at the dealer level is the same: replace the head unit, which is something that will have to wait until I get back home because by the time they've seen the problem it's too late to order the unit and get it before I am off to someplace else.

But now I've got another strange problem. I've always kept my cellphone charged using the USB port in the center armrest, but lately it's been discharging instead of charging. OK, USB cable's gone bad, I thought, so I put in a different cable. Surprise! same problem. So this morning I watched the battery widget on my phone when it was supposed to be charging. With the engine on and the transmission in P what I was seeing was that the charge was cycling, about 2.5 seconds on, 2.5 seconds off, repeat until the phone's battery is drained. Connections were tight and I was holding the phone in my hand, not moving.

The phone charges just fine when I turn it off, no surprise, but because it's off I have no idea if the charge from the car is cycling.

Anybody else seen anything like this? Any thoughts?

[GoranBonn]

I'm also trying to fight various electrical gremlins on my car. Based on advice given to me and experience so far, one culprit might be the battery. Ask the dealer to check it's capacity and to fully charge it, then see whether any of the symptoms go away (at least for a day or two until it loses charge again).

[ChinaBob]

Originally Posted by GoranBonn

I'm also trying to fight various electrical gremlins on my car. Based on advice given to me and experience so far, one culprit might be the battery. Ask the dealer to check it's capacity and to fully charge it, then see whether any of the symptoms go away (at least for a day or two until it loses charge again).

Hm, that almost makes sense, especially for the phone-charging problem. I'll mention it to the next dealer I see, which will be next week. Thanks for the tip.

[BMW11]

try charging the phone with an adapter from the "cigarette lighter port" so it be getting power for charge only and not to try to keep connecting to the f=radio/nav head unit. it my be discharging because its trying to connect to ply music just charge it thru the power socket not the USB and let the phone connect thru bluetooth

[ChinaBob]

Originally Posted by BMW11

try charging the phone with an adapter from the "cigarette lighter port" so it be getting power for charge only and not to try to keep connecting to the f=radio/nav head unit. it my be discharging because its trying to connect to ply music just charge it thru the power socket not the USB and let the phone connect thru bluetooth

AHA!! Hadn't thought of the USB port being connected to the head unit because I only use it for charging. This might be a common link between the two problems.

I am already ahead of you on the lighter ports. Got a cheap car charger from Walmart today. The port between the cup holders seems to be dead while the other two are barely alive. Going to get a better car charger tomorrow and try again, just to make sure I didn't buy a bum charger.

Thanks!

[eluded]

I had a circuit breaker go on my house. 20 amp breaker. Not sure if it's related to the BMW. But it did happen after I bought it.

[wilbur_the_goose]

How old is you battery? This sure sounds like a battery going bad.

[ChinaBob]

Originally Posted by wilbur_the_goose

How old is you battery? This sure sounds like a battery going bad.

I bought the car new in August of 2016. It's official build date was in late September 2015.

A couple of more strange things are beginning to show up with the nav system. I have an appointment with the local dealer at my next stop for first thing Monday morning. Because of my schedule, they can keep it all week. I'll certainly ask them to check the battery. Thanks