ktlocklear

Over the past 6 months or so when I crank the car I get a message on the cluster that says SOS with a circle around it with a line through it. When this happens the i drive locks up and nothing works; radio, date, time, navi, and phone. After about 15 minuets the i drive reboots, and then everything is back to normal. I finally took it in to the dealer yesterday, and their telling me that the SOS module is on the blink, and it is not covered under the CPO because it falls within the audio/ navi systems, which is not covered....but on the "whats not covered" CPO page, the audio/ navi stuff is listed under "accessories". Is the SOS module an "accessory"? I thought all newer bimmers had SOS?

My SA described it to me as "it's like On-Star". He did tell me that they could bypass the SOS system, reprogram the car and i'll be good to go. He said it would be around $250 to do so. With saying that...what exactly is SOS, and what features will not work if they bypass the system?

This kind of pisses me off, because when it first started doing this 6 months ago, I was still under 50k miles
Does by some chance the car retain the dates/ mileage of when the errors happened? If so, then maybe I would be in the clear of them covering the SOS module under warranty.....

Thanks for any help

ktlocklear

wow..no one has any ideas

porsche911targa

Unfortunately, software patches are not covered under CPO (so BMW says). Basically, we're paying them to fix the bugs they created in the first place. I used to get the SOS message on my '06 with original software at least once a week, especially after I sync'ed my non-BMW approved phone via blue-tooth. After a software re-program due to an unrelated issue, the SOS has disappeared along with the muting of the radio, etc. At the time, I asked my SA if they could disable the SOS module and they said it would cost me extra to do that (even though the work was being done under warranty). Anyway, after the complete re-program, the errors went away.

ktlocklear

Thanks for the info....

I had a software update Nov '08 for something unrelated as well. Took them 5-6 attempts and over a week, because their system kept going down halfway through the update....and one of the modules crapped out (i forget which) too, which they replaced. Anyway, it wasn't until after that when I started getting the sos errors. Unless the car stores dates of errors, I will hae a hard time proving that one.
My SA called me and asked me for my cell phone model number...so I think they were going to blame the phone...but I looked on the bmw site, and mine is listed as an approved phone. I almost wish that was the problem....be easier and cheaper to get a new phone.

If I pay them to bypass the SOS system...what will I lose? Not sure if BMW has this capability, but would it not allow them to track the car via satellite if stolen?

bigbadbull

You should be able to go in to the Service Dept , and request a print out of the work previously done by the shop, if it was done by them. It will also list the issues you had with the car when you dropped it off. I've recently had a years worth of records pulled.

I think you may be having issues with the communications module... you might be able to get a reprogram if if can't play Mp3's.... but I'm not 100% on that.

PM me with some more info on this. Like the SA and the dealer, etc... could try the "other" dealer in the area since there are 2.