[jagnweiner]

New guy here. I bought my first BMW yesterday, a 2016 325d Wagon. I generally love the car so far, but was somewhat vexed to discover on the 350 mile drive home that the navigation system does not work. It just says "starting navigation system", but never actually starts working.

Also, don't know if these two are related, but I can't get the radio presets to stay in the system. I can set a series of presets and access them through the scrolling button on the steering wheel, but when I shut the car off for more than a few seconds and turn it back on, they are gone. Could be operator error, but I don't know.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Scott

[Billfitz]

Take it back to get the nav fixed. The presets aren't radio presets, they're presets for whatever you have on the iDrive screen. That can be a radio station, it can be a nav destination, it can be a phone number. If you're listening to a station and the screen is showing something else pressing a preset button doesn't save the radio station, it saves what's on the screen. The scroll button on the wheel doesn't show presets, it shows any and all radio stations within range. This is all in your Entertainment and Navigation manual.

[jagnweiner]

Thanks for the quick reply, Bill.

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Take it back to get the nav fixed. .

Unfortunately, that's not really an option. Bought it from a gentleman in Kansas City and I'm in Illinois. He did not mention the non-functioning nav. I'll probably pay my first visit to the local BMW dealer.

Anyone have any idea of a likely cause of the nav issue? A programming problem?

On the preset issue, if I have my iDrive set for "Presets," rather than FM, AM, or Satellite, the scroll does only show preset stations. But in my case, they all disappear from there and from the iDrive when I turn the car off.

[jagnweiner]

Update: Somehow, I got the presets to stay (overnight, even!). I think it might have had something to do with it pulling up the wrong profile. (Not sure how, as I only have one key fob.) Or maybe just general operator error.

That said, the navigation still won't boot up. Any suggestions on that before I take it to a dealer?

[steve@codemybimmer]

Originally Posted by jagnweiner

Update: Somehow, I got the presets to stay (overnight, even!). I think it might have had something to do with it pulling up the wrong profile. (Not sure how, as I only have one key fob.) Or maybe just general operator error.

That said, the navigation still won't boot up. Any suggestions on that before I take it to a dealer?

It could be that your map installation is corrupt and reloading the maps may do the trick. If that does not work, it's likely that the hard drive on the head unit is toast and will need to be replaced.

If you need help with troubleshooting, let me know.

[jagnweiner]

Originally Posted by steve@codemybimmer

If you need help with troubleshooting, let me know.

Thanks, Steve!

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by jagnweiner

I think it might have had something to do with it pulling up the wrong profile. Or maybe just general operator error.

Probably the latter. When you unlock the car the profile of that fob is activated, so any presets you enter will save to that profile. The really bad news is that you need to spend the $$$ for another fob. If you don't have a spare and you lose the one you'll have a 4000 pound brick in your driveway.

[jagnweiner]

UPDATE: The gremlins continue, in shifting form. On the presets, results are mixed. Last week, after initially having no success getting radio presets to stay, I did a "test" preset program of only three satellite stations (didn't want to bother with a lot of stations if they were just going to disappear). I got the three stations to stay, so I went ahead and programmed in more preset stations, maybe 15 total. Next time I used the car, the 15 stations were gone, but the three from the "test" still showed up as presets. Then Friday night, I put the 15 stations back in and they were still there Saturday morning. I was pretty pleased that maybe I'd cracked the code. (I also programmed a couple preset functions to the "dash" preset buttons and those stayed.) Then Sunday morning, the 15 stations were once again gone, but the three were back. Reprogrammed all and hoped for the best. Got in the car this morning and ALL preset stations were gone, as were the "dash button" functions.

On the plus side, about halfway into my commute I decided to try the nav again and to my tremendous surprise, a map appeared on the screen! First time in the dozen or so times I've tried the nav in the five days I've had the car. We'll see how long that lasts.

Does this combination of symptoms ring any bells with anyone?

[claytonkethe]

Originally Posted by jagnweiner

UPDATE: The gremlins continue, in shifting form. On the presets, results are mixed. Last week, after initially having no success getting radio presets to stay, I did a "test" preset program of only three satellite stations (didn't want to bother with a lot of stations if they were just going to disappear). I got the three stations to stay, so I went ahead and programmed in more preset stations, maybe 15 total. Next time I used the car, the 15 stations were gone, but the three from the "test" still showed up as presets. Then Friday night, I put the 15 stations back in and they were still there Saturday morning. I was pretty pleased that maybe I'd cracked the code. (I also programmed a couple preset functions to the "dash" preset buttons and those stayed.) Then Sunday morning, the 15 stations were once again gone, but the three were back. Reprogrammed all and hoped for the best. Got in the car this morning and ALL preset stations were gone, as were the "dash button" functions.

On the plus side, about halfway into my commute I decided to try the nav again and to my tremendous surprise, a map appeared on the screen! First time in the dozen or so times I've tried the nav in the five days I've had the car. We'll see how long that lasts.

Does this combination of symptoms ring any bells with anyone?

Almost sounds like a corrupted software / navigation update. That or a dying hard drive inside of the iDrive.

[jagnweiner]

Originally Posted by claytonkethe

Almost sounds like a corrupted software / navigation update. That or a dying hard drive inside of the iDrive.

Thanks, Clayton. Hoping for the former. :-)

[Billfitz]

It could be something as simple as a loose connection somewhere. Electronics tend to either work as they should or not at all. Intermittent faults very often are loose connections which make and break contact due to the normal vibrations of driving. The downside is that they can be a real bitch to track down.

[jagnweiner]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Electronics tend to either work as they should or not at all.

I agree with that.

This morning's update, for those following along at home: All presets intact! No nav. Nav worked yesterday on the drive home, but wouldn't start up this morning.

Probably going to at least pursue getting the software reloaded. That seems like a relatively low cost option.

Thanks,
Scott

[Onizukachan]

Also I’d suggest erasing any profiles in settings completely. All of them.
You might even try ye olde battery disconnect.