I've got an early 2004 E60 UK-model (530i SE). Recently, during hot weather, the air-con disengages from the 'Auto' setting. If I press the 'Auto' button again it engages for a few seconds to a few minutes but then disengages again. This only happens in hot weather (i.e. >25C).

I've also got the BMW Bluetooth car kit and whilst I can hear people very clearly, they cannot hear me properly. My voice sounds garbled and distorted.

I've just given the car to my dealer to have these problems fixed and i've requested a software update as i'm sure there have been new software released since early 2004 for the E60. However, I don't know the following:

a) How do I tell which software version I have?
b) Which software components are upgraded during a 'software upgrade' or is there only one lump of software (i've seen references to CIP on this forum but have no idea what this is)?

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

a) Only way to do this is to ask your dealer.
b) CIP is not one software. It's a package. The application determines which of the numerous computers needs an update (depending on your options). You can actually almost compare it to a "Windows Service Pack". This is why it is so hard to tell how long a sw-update will take.

CIP = "Coding Individualization and Programming"

 

Do CIP upgrades only improve iDrive-type functions or do they also improve vehicle performance?

 

Depending on the version etc, they can improve the performance, though not so much like chip tuning your car, just fine tuning the operations. For example I had the much talked about transmission "slam" which was corrected by a software upgrade.

 

I see. I've only had my car for about a month and have not noticed anything quirky. Even so, it'd be nice to get the latest upgrades. I've heard people suggest making up problems that would relate to software issues to get the free upgrade but what would those be? And if I simply ask for an upgrade, what's the charge?

Thanks!

 

On the charge, at a minimum maybe 1-2 hrs of labor. I would say though, if it ain't broke, don't fix it... Unless you know of a real issue, or if you needed something an upgrade would offer (MP3 say, but that's not out yet) I would hold off

 

Cool...thanks for the info.

 

If you tell us when your car was built and delivered , we might give you some clues what errors you might have that entitles you to a free warranty CIP upgrade...

 

I think my car was built in June 2004. Not sure when it was delivered. The first owner bought it in Aug 2004. Does that help?

 

Well, I got my car back with the following resolutions from the dealer:

1. The air-con. They could not reproduce the problem as it wasn't a hot day so they didn't even try to fix anything.

2. The Bluetooth phone kit issue. They have removed the microphones from the roof lining and I have to take the car back tomorrow morning to get new mics put in. I'm not holding out much hope though.

3. Software upgrade - they said it wasn't free and would be charged by the hour. I asked how long this would take. They said anything from 2 to 12 hours depending on how many software modules require an update. Their hourly rate is 85GBP (around 153USD per hour).

Hence, at best I would have to pay 170GBP. At worst a software upgrade would cost me 1020GBP!!! I argued with them that they don't need to be working on the car during the upgrade as it can be done overnight but they still insisted that they would charge for the number of hours the software upgrade actually took, regardless of whether a mechanic was at the car or not.