Car smells like burnt plastic, iDrive screen black.
#1
I came out to my 2004 545i after work and as soon as I sat down I notice a horrible smell. It smelled like burnt plastic or maybe burning wires. I looked around, nothing looked out of place. Started up the car and backed out. A few seconds later, it hit me, my iDrive screen was black. Nothing. The smell was also so strong that I could barely take it. Had to drive home with the windows down. When I got home I popped the trunk and the smell was even stronger.
Everything else seemed absolutely fine. All of the gauges on the dash worked. Heated seats, Heat blower and Cig Lighter all worked. Of course no radio or cd changer.
The only other thing I noticed was, when I first started driving there was a message on my dash that had a phone icon, the word "s.o.s." and a slash through both of them.
The last time I drove it was earlier at lunch. I went for about a 25 minute drive and everything worked fine.
Any ideas what may have happened? My car is no longer under warranty. How screwed am I?
NB
Everything else seemed absolutely fine. All of the gauges on the dash worked. Heated seats, Heat blower and Cig Lighter all worked. Of course no radio or cd changer.
The only other thing I noticed was, when I first started driving there was a message on my dash that had a phone icon, the word "s.o.s." and a slash through both of them.
The last time I drove it was earlier at lunch. I went for about a 25 minute drive and everything worked fine.
Any ideas what may have happened? My car is no longer under warranty. How screwed am I?
NB
#3
How bad could this be?
#5
Edit: for iPhone #fail
#8
Super Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Posts: 17,310
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
It's likely that the MPM (micro power module) got fried. I don't know what they cost but it's possible that's all you'll need to replace. Do a search for MPM or micro power and see what you learn...
#9
I think that's what it is. After reading your post, I did a search and somebody else had the same exact symptoms. It was the MPM. They said the part is cheap and it's something you can do yourself. According to them the part was around $150. For BMW to do it, it would run about $1100. Something about that doesn't seem right to me. I wonder if something has to be reprogrammed. Why would the dealership charge that much on labor for such a cheap part that could easily be replaced? Anyway, I'm going to look into it some more tomorrow. Thanks to all of you for helping me pinpoint the problem.