2008 dead CCC
 

Hello I am new to this forum I attempted at bimmerfest for an answer and didn't get a reply. Thank you for those who can help me and your time to read this!

1. Include the year, model, mileage, systems that appear to be a problem. All these make a big difference in your answer.
2008, 528xi, about 152k miles (it in km so not sure what the millage is), CCC (radio with navigation)

2. Include the BMW module codes and indicators that were displayed. You MUST use a BMW compatible code reader. What you get on a "standard" OBD code reader is mostly useless. Just don't use one. Use Carly, or INPA, or ISTA+ for your code data -- there are other good ones, but these are the most commonly used BMW compatible readers/software.
There are no codes

3. Describe your problem thoughtfully. What happened? What have you done already? Any expert opinions from experienced mechanics?
I got this car used and discovered I did not fully payed attention to this car, since I assume it had basic stuff like an OIL dipstick and did not recognize signs of a dieing CCC. THe CCC is very dead now wont even get pass the BMW logo. I am now unable to check my oil level and monitor any possible issues that may occur doing normal use. I now have my car parked for about 4 months and I am too worried to drive it since I have a oil leak from the valve cover. I do not trust the car to tell me that the oil pressure is low or there is no oil after it too late so i really need a working way to check my oil level the way the CCC let me check before it died. I took it apart to see if im lucky it was an easy fix like bad caps but everything looks normal so things are pointing to a BGA chip on the board. I really do not want to buy a used CCC and pay to get it reprogram and I did research for the past year looking for ways to reprogram the radio or to even view and monitor my oil level. From what I can gather i cant find the softwares to download every site i go to is a joke scam spam or expired links. I am very frustrated and kinda regretting getting this car even though i love it a lot. Since the CCC is dead the battery was low on charge so it lost memories and it reverted all miles to KM and the time is not set. I am unable to go into the BC hidden menu to view my water temperature cause there and "error" no set time. It be nice if I could set the time and change it from KM to MPH.

What I would like to do is buy carly and if I understood correctly I need a gen2 adapter and to buy the features to unlock. The MAIN focus is to be able to monitor oil level and to view water temperature. HOWEVER will this adapter work with a broken CCC that been remove from my car (it sometimes drain my battery) ? I do not know how well the CCC is needed in the car I read there are multiple modular computers so I assume the car can still function without the CCC as I can see so far.
I am fine with using INPA or the like cause I do have old laptops that can run XP or I can run VMWARE as well just finding the software is where im having trouble at. I just downloaded a German version i think from torrent I am making sure it safe and the right one.

Now i can fix the oil leak but due to the VANOS having a chance to need to be reprogram so I don't want to change the gasket yet. I am also looking for scan tools that can monitor oil level along with other sensor reading like water temperatures and so on.
I am willing to spend around 200$ or 300$ if it dose it alot or all very simple and easy like a good scan tool. At this point I just need a way to monitor Oil level I can put a laptop in my car and mirror it to my cell phone so i can monitor doing driving time and so on, I just need something. Once again I been researching unfortunately didnt see answers to check oil level with out CCC or use a scan tool to check oil level or carly will work w/o a CCC didnt find any proof.

4. Be articulate: use punctuation and complete sentences, because no one wants to decode incomprehensible descriptions. If English is not your primary language and causes you difficulty, just say so and people will work harder to understand you.
One reason why I dont like posting in forums I spend alot of time to make sure I dont type the way I talk (hard of hearing) so my grammar get pretty lazy I sure hope I made sense and I am understandable thank you for reading this and I hope you can share some insight to help further my research.

Things I will mention is I plan to keep this car for a long time and care for it I do have a backup car that i fix up and can use while the BMW sit :( I plan to do a CIC retrofit in the future but right now I got this AVIN MOST adapter working for now to use my factory amp and speakers. If i am lucky I could find a CCC for super cheap and just reprogram it if the price is right. the biggest thing I will be doing my self is rebuilding the engine if needed or when im ready to take on a big project and getting the tranny fix or replace (it clunk doing start up I read it could be fix by reprogramming but im unsure) but I have an H1 and that gets first priority lol. " this is not the main focus of this post thought i share more info just in case" Ty

any luck man? And you said something about an adapter, so you are able to listen to ur music with your ccc unit not working?

I have a 2008 535xiT with a similar issue as Ronald. The iDrive system was constantly rebooting. I take the car to Eastern Autowerks in Norfolk, VA. They diagnosed the problem as a bad CCC. New ones go for something around $1600 so I shopped used ones. I ended up ordering 3 different used CCCs all from different sellers who offered 30- to 90-day warranties and all claimed to have tested the units and found to be fully functional. Eastern Autowerks had the same issue with each of the three CCC units. They could get the iDrive system to boot up and the screen functioned correctly, but they could not get the sound to work. There's no chime when starting the car and no sound from the stereo. After about 3 months of this, I made an appointment with Checked Flag BMW dealership figuring it might be a programming issue that a dealer would be able to do. Unfortunately, the dealer's fix is to replace the CCC with a new one and program the new one for about $2600 which is too much for me. Does anyone know of a good BMW audio specialist in the Norfolk, Virginia area? Any information or recommendations are most appreciated. Thanks!
James

You don't need a audio specialist you need a BMW tech that knows what they are doing. I'm sure your CCC was bad which is common in dated E60s. The dealership will only replace with a new CCC because they have to warranty the work and of course it's about money. If audio was working before the reboot issue then they did not code/program/flash something correctly. If you indeed purchased the correct module you need someone that knows how to correctly install a used CCC. I'm sure you do not have the necessary equipment and programs for someone to remote and do it for you so your only options are to find a better Indy shop that knows how to install used modules or get yours repaired (best option for you).

Sorry this may not be what you want to hear but honestly it's where you are at the moment.

Thanks for your reply. After trying 3 different CCCs and having the repeated result of no sound, I came to the same conclusion that my indy shop, as good as they've been for mechanical repairs, was in over their heads. I've also posted on my local chapter of the BMW Car Club of America (Tidewater region) and got a recommendation of another indy shop to try in Virginia Beach. I'm still hopeful there is an affordable solution out there and I just need to do some further searching to find it. Fingers crossed!

Don't forget that you can get yours repaired and it affordable. A lot of companies list repair on eBay

Yeah, there's places that do it remotely as well. Or you can learn yourself, but it'll cost a lot of sweat money.

I have a top BMW indy mechanic who really knows his stuff, but he doesn't know electrical. And that's why he sent me to a specialist when I needed coding (upgrade). He knew his limits. I agree, I feel your shop is most likely over their heads.

If you're replacing them and they're still rebooting it seems to me that the problem lies elsewhere. Heck, I'd be tempted to do a CIC retrofit if I were you :)
If they boot up and you get no sound, has anyone ever looked at your amplifier? I'm not sure if you have the Individual Audio or Logic7 or regular hi-fi. The first two use MOST optical for transmitting audio to the amp and I believe the regular hi-fi sends signals over copper wires to the amp. I'm only familiar with Individual Audio since that's what I've got.

@kd7iwp Thanks for the info. As far as I know, my wagon has the Logic 7 system (VIN # WBAPT73558CX01985). With my original CCC, whenever it managed to boot up correctly, I was able to get sound from the stereo. The indy shop I had doing the repair work couldn't get any of the three used CCCs I provided to work properly. They couldn't get sound from any of them. They claimed to have borrowed another CCC from one of their employee's 5-series cars, and when they installed it in my car they were able to get sound. Go figure.

I will say that if you put a CCC in that isn't coded for your car you may not get sound if it came from a vehicle with a different sound system. First time I plugged my new CIC in I had no sound as it came from a car with hi-fi and I had to code it for Individual Audio before it would output sound over the MOST optical bus to the amp.