[Re-posting from main discussion Forum]

Hi,

New here - be gentle with me

I have an 04 530D. Great car everything has been peachy until now.

My stereo has decided to be permanently on mute...I suspect it's something to do with Bluetooth - which had worked fine until now, but the mute problem started one day when I got out of my car and carried on my phone call - i.e. it switched from 'loudspeker' to handset...it's just that it has left the stereo permanenetly muted. Other symptoms are that iDrive will no longer let me make 'Bluetooth communication Active'.

I took it to my dealer - their diagnosis was I needed an entire new computer - cost ?1200!
They contacted BMW who said they would pay half (my car is out of warranty)

Obviously ?600 is massively steep for a broken mute button - (all other iDrive functions are fine).
And I'm hesitant to fork out ?600 for something that can break so easily.

So - has anyone got any tips on how to solve this?

Many thanks in advance.

Additional Info:
1. The mute icon is permanently displayed. No audio at all from any source - no warnings from Parking sensors, no hazard warnings (e.g. low fuel)
2. The problem does not go away by turning the engine off and locking the car eg. overnight.
3. There are no Bluetooth phone functions available on iDrive as it won't let me click the 'Activate Bluetooth communications' in the main menu - this is why I suspect that this is all a Bluetooth mute problem.
4. I don't have a DVD eject button - but I have tried the CD eject on/off button for 10s - this doesn't reboot my system.
5. The on/off button is functioning correctly - as it allows me to access the radio/CD screens when the engine is off - i just don't get any sound!

 

Hi, I hope this problem has been resolved. What did they end up doing? I had a similar problem, this morning, but luckily everything was back to normal after I shut down the engine for a few hours. Mine happened after I instinctively hit the mute button as a call was coming in. When I tried to "unmute," after the call, the speaker off icon was still showing. Oddly, it would show radio stations changes, or CD changes, but still ON mute. I also tried to make calls through bluetooth with no luck, even though my phone was showing that it was synched.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck and I hope that everything was resolved to your satisfaction. Please post an update.

Joe

 

Sounds like your problem resolved itself after a 'soft reboot' [letting the car sit idle for a few hours]. Before I jumped to conclude that an aborted BT connection, as described by juic3boy, caused a computer melt-down I'd go the route of disconnecting the battery for a few hours and then reconnecting power.

 

Great advice, thank you, I'll have to remember it.

Joe

 

You're welcome ... BTW, are you a member of PCA?

 

I used to be a member of the PCA, when I was driving the 911. Back problems forced me to give that up. Oh, the horror!!!!! I guess you can take the 911 from me, but you can't take the 911 out of me.

I've driven E36's and E46's since then (Steptronics) and have been quite satisfied and trouble-free. On a whim, I decided to get the E60. I have to confess that I'm a little concerned with all these Idrive issues I keep reading about, and then to have this happen to me after only 2 weeks of ownership....... Ha, I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt and see how it goes. I'm taking it in to dealer, tomorrow, because the monitor shows a "Front left parking light malfunction" when I start the car, even though all the lights are OK. I am thinking that this may be related to having requested to turn on Daylight Running Lights. They are also going to try to find out why the "mute" issue happened. Reading this forum, I am willing to bet that they're going to blame it on the fact that I am using a phone that is not approved by BMW.

In two weeks, I have experienced a faulty air blower (replaced under warranty) and other minor issues. I have two more weeks left to give them the car back, supposedly with no questions asked, and I am seriously considering going back to the 3 series, perhaps an E90. Let's see what happens. Wish me luck......

 

Then you'll appreciate this picture - a former co-worker and his wife run the circuit when they're not in Aspen. The white one is for sale ... they'll be at NJ Motorsports in October and are teasing me with a "test ride"!

 

Awesome!!!!! I hope you get to ride it, actually I hope you get to "test drive" it. I'm way overdue to "test drive" one. In retrospect, I should have kept my membership and I should have cultivated some relationships with other PCA members and maybe I would get to "test drive" one of the members' cars, once in a while.

Anyway, the E60 is in the shop, right now. I will post an update, if they find anything related to the audio mute incident, so that it may help other members of this board.