Hi,

I recently had some bodywork done on my 2004 530i E60 and decided to have a BMW OEM Ipod interface installed whilst it was at the dealers.
All went well, picked up the car after work and plugged my Ipod into the lead that evening when I went out for a take away.

Next morning at 6.00am the whole neighbourhood was woken by my car alarm going off which finally stopped after about 20 minutes on its own as I couldn't stop it.
I had an airbag light up but the car wouldn't even try to start.

After it had been back at the dealers for three days they have told me that the car battery is going flat overnight because the car will not go into 'sleep mode' as there is a 'short behind the dash cluster'
They have said that they are going to try to get BMW UK to help towards the cost of the repair as it is over ?1000.

They haven't asked me for any money yet but I am guessing that it is not a coincidence that the car won't go to 'sleep' after have the ipod interface installed.

Has anyone else had this issue with the BMW Ipod interface?

Many thanks,
Mike

Check your ipod as well. I hope it goes to sleep.... I have the same setup and no issues whatsoever.

It's def. not the interface.

The dealer phoned me and after trying to tell me it was a 'short circuit behind the dash cluster' finally admitted that the fault was due to a CCU incompatibility problem following the software update that they had performed.
They said that they would speak to BMW UK to see if they would cover the cost of the repair and came back and said that BMW would cover ?600 if I paid ?400.
After explaining that my car had worked perfectly until they had reprogrammed it I politely asked that BMW fix my car at no cost to me, which after a couple of days they agreed to do.
I picked my car up today! now I don't have any sound coming out of my front drivers side speakers so it will be going back again in the morning.

I noticed that the ipod never actually turns off, it always shows the BMW logo and shows the last song that it was playing, is this how it should be? Will this kill my ipod in double quick time being left connected for long periods?

Many thanks,

Mike

The only way to confirm that your ipod is turning off is to leave it plugged in and on the passenegr seat clearly visible from a window. Lock your car and come back after 30 minutes and look through the window to see if it is still on. Unlocking the doors will 'wake' the car and will send power to your ipod, turning it on. Everytime I unlocked my car to check the ipod, it was on...then the dealership reminded me that I was taking the car out of sleep mode when unlocking it.