2007 530XI Audio and Speaker Issues
 

I have a 2007 530XI Sedan. I believe my car uses the HiFi audio system. It uses the small Harman Becker Amp, it is not Logic 7. I have the CCC IDrive with Sirius XM, Bluetooth and no navigation. About a week ago I was driving and my rear right deck speaker started making a loud crackling noise. I pulled over and turned the car off, I could still hear the crackling. Eventually it stopped but I could only hear bass coming out of the subwoofers under the front seats. The next day I noticed my audio was working again but the speaker that was making the crackling noise was dead. I swapped the rear deck speakers and the issue did not follow the speaker, it stayed on the rear right side. I also noticed the rear right deck speaker, although not playing any audio, would get very hot. I then ordered a replacement Harman Becker Amp and installed it, the issue persisted. When a speaker is connected to the rear right channel it appears to get hot even when the amp is unplugged. I have also got the high battery drain warning a couple times. Any thoughts? Some people say the TCU or CCC leads to audio issues but I am not sure what it could be.

Have you checked the resistance across the speaker terminals without the speakers plugged in?

Do you mean the resistance on the actual speakers or the resistance on the wires that plug into the speakers? I have taken an ohm reading on both speakers while the are unplugged and they read about 3.4 ohms.

Your issue is not with the speaker or amp. It's with the CCC/TCU or something on the line. Have you ran it for errors yet? I wouldn't spend any more money until I actually knew. Put a loop on it and you can narrow it down at least.

I was thinking that too. What do you mean by put it on a loop and narrow it down? I know where the TCU unit is located and can see the wires going into it. Also I do have a Foxwell NT510 Elite scanner that I've used on the car before.

I don't know the capability of the 510. If it can show error messages and not only CEL codes then that would be a start. The loop I'm talking about is a MOST loop. You can grab one off of Amazon for cheap. When the loop is applied you're able to bypass modules thus narrowing down your issue.

I used to have a 510. It reads all of the BMW codes and modules.

I meant across the wires that go to the speaker, with the speaker disconnected.

I did some research on the MOST Loop and i understand how it works now. I just was in the car and I am getting the blinking red light on the most plug that goes into the SAT module and the one at the TCU module. I'm assuming my next step is to buy the MOST Loop Bypass tool which I found on Amazon and bypass each unit and see if the issue resolves?

Just know that it may be the idrive module itself so don't forget to test it