[baconator]

Fellow F30ers,

I have an issue that I'm dealing with related to iDrive and I've scoured the internet to no avail. There are many "No Signal" issues posted, but none match my situation exactly.

The car is a 2012 F30 with the most basic audio (BT calling only, cd player, small screen, no nav) setup.

So, here's what happens:

1. Turn on car, and screen shows "NO SIGNAL" in orange text
2. After ~3 minutes, the BMW logo splash screen appears and stays
3. Every ~3 minutes, the BMW logo refreshes (like it's trying to reboot)
4. After maybe 5 cycles of (3.), the screen goes blank
- Since this happened the first time about a month ago, it has not acted any other way. There's no audio/bt/etc. and none of the buttons are responsive (dash, steering wheel, idrive control)

I *think* I've narrowed it down to replacing the CD Player, and I'd like to buy a used one. So, a few questions - I will be eternally grateful to anyone who can help

1. Prior to buying new hardware, are there 'low tech' fixes i should try? Fuses (if so, which ones?)? Wires? Hard Reset?
2. If I buy the exact part number, is it plug and play? If not, is the coding something that a non-dealer can perform?
3. If I'm replacing the unit, I'd go aftermarket if it's possible and not incredibly costly. Any options?
4. Anything else you can think of?

Lastly, I'm out of warranty and the dealer is giving me the whole "we'll replace it, but if it doesn't solve the problem, you're still on the hook for that, and we'll try the next thing". All well and good, except 2 babies make that risk cost prohibitive at the moment...

Thanks for any help you can offer! Love this place (mostly a lurker...).

[baconator]

Shameless self-bump....

but also...

TL;DR - Can a used CD Player unit be swapped into the F30 without recoding, or at least without very complicated recoding? (Assuming it's the exact same model/features, etc)

[baconator]

Please help - I'm dying without my radio and don't have 1500 lying around (out of warranty) to get this done at the dealer. Is the CD Player plug-and-play in a used swap scenario?

[MarkoSK]

If you can get one off eBay, maybe you can return it if the swap doesn't work.

[beanbaguk]

It will need coding if you change the unit.

Your best bet would be to take the plunge and go for an NBT upgrade.

You'll need to do a bit of coding, and also use an emulator but you'll get all the nice features your car never had before....

[baconator]

Thanks beanbag and Marco. As a relative newbie to the BMW world, it's great that there is a place to meet with other owners of our car!

Ultimately, I'm trying to do this at minimal cost (2 babies get expensive! (real babies)), so the NBT upgrade is unlikely. I've found 2 parts with the exact same part number on ebay (there seem to be a number of very similar units that don't exactly match up number wise), and they're in the 300-500 dollar range.

I'm going to go with one of those, but a question regarding coding. Would this be dealer-required coding or can a 3rd party BMW Master Tech do it? I have a friend of a friend who has offered to code it and he has all the necessary hardware and software. I just don't want to brick the car in the process lol

Any further help is greatly appreciated. Now if only my kids could get out of preschool, so i can pick up an M3. Someday....someday...

[steve@codemybimmer]

Originally Posted by baconator

Thanks beanbag and Marco. As a relative newbie to the BMW world, it's great that there is a place to meet with other owners of our car!

Ultimately, I'm trying to do this at minimal cost (2 babies get expensive! (real babies)), so the NBT upgrade is unlikely. I've found 2 parts with the exact same part number on ebay (there seem to be a number of very similar units that don't exactly match up number wise), and they're in the 300-500 dollar range.

I'm going to go with one of those, but a question regarding coding. Would this be dealer-required coding or can a 3rd party BMW Master Tech do it? I have a friend of a friend who has offered to code it and he has all the necessary hardware and software. I just don't want to brick the car in the process lol

Any further help is greatly appreciated. Now if only my kids could get out of preschool, so i can pick up an M3. Someday....someday...

You can find an identical or similar base head unit but you will still need the dealership to restore your repair enable codes for Bluetooth and USB as BMW has special codes to prevent donor parts from being used other cars. Once the car's gateway detects that another vehicle's head unit has been installed, it will lock down the Bluetooth and USB functionality rendering the unit unusable.

There are adapters on eBay out there that will allow you to use the donor car's enable codes as it will trick the car's gateway into thinking that the VINs match. Your other option is to find a coder who can reprogram your replacement head unit using your original head unit's enable codes.

You can also try going back to your dealership to see if they can do a courtesy head unit replacement if you are out of warranty but that is unlikely.

[baconator]

SteveMa, thanks for responding! I shared your response with the tech who would be installing this if I determine it is doable.

He thought that because i have the most basic of basic units (no nav, only phone BT, etc.), that the enable code issue wouldn't exist. Sadly my unit is so fried that he can't get the enable codes out of it...

When you say it would 'render the unit unusable', would I still be able to play CDs, radio, use an AUX input, and get to the idrive settings menus? He also thought the calling BT wouldn't be affected, but that's something I'm willing to give up to save the $1200 delta in price.

In other words, the bluetooth and USB functionality isn't really a concern for me, so if that's all that would be lost, I'm probably going to do it.

Thanks again to you and this forum in general!

[steve@codemybimmer]

Originally Posted by baconator

SteveMa, thanks for responding! I shared your response with the tech who would be installing this if I determine it is doable.

He thought that because i have the most basic of basic units (no nav, only phone BT, etc.), that the enable code issue wouldn't exist. Sadly my unit is so fried that he can't get the enable codes out of it...

When you say it would 'render the unit unusable', would I still be able to play CDs, radio, use an AUX input, and get to the idrive settings menus? He also thought the calling BT wouldn't be affected, but that's something I'm willing to give up to save the $1200 delta in price.

In other words, the bluetooth and USB functionality isn't really a concern for me, so if that's all that would be lost, I'm probably going to do it.

Thanks again to you and this forum in general!

As far as I know, you would only lose out on USB and Bluetooth. AM/FM , CD and AUX should still be fine even if the FSC codes are rejected by the car.

Hope this helps

[baconator]

Fantastic! Thanks again.