Hi all,

I have a BMW 2006 E60 M Sport with a full media package, bluetooth and professional sat nav.

Problem:
5 days ago I started my car and the whole idrive system had no audio. The mute button seems to be still working (as to say it shows the mute symbol when I push the mute button) and the symbol disappears when the button is pushed again.
When the idrive system is rebooted and the menu screen appears the "mute symbol" is displayed temporarily for a split second then disappears.

Unsuccessful Steps taken to resolve the fault:
1. The 2 eject & volume button reboot - unsuccessful
2. Car was brought to a BMW dealer to try and diagnose the problem Battery was disconnected/reconnected - unsuccessful

The BMW dealer dont know what the problem is and they want to start to strip down parts to resolve the problem. This could take alot of time and money.

Please help - Has anyone experience with this issue?
Any ideas on how to resolve this would be greatly appreciated.

:welcome: aboard, YeeeHaa.

I had this problem before, but other than in your case, I could just reboot the system and the audio came back on.
Maybe your software is malfunctioning and needs to be updated.
It could also be a blown amp, but I think it might be a software problem only. The amp should be fine... :think:

Thanks Iceman - So you reckon the software update is the answer. Is an update expensive?

In my case I pressed mute, cd eject and dvd eject and the system came back on.
So, it was software related, hence the thinking it is a software problem.

I got the new CIP/PROGMAN software under warranty back then...

Same here, software update cured this problem for me.

Holy F***!!!

I figured it out. It's a bug with the key. I can confirm there are at least one bug with the push start keys. Here's how I finally fixed this problem (after loads of other troubleshooting and disassembling):
This was a split second hunch that worked

I locked the car with my key as usual, then, I got the spare key, unlocked the car with the spare and started it with the spare. My idrive was back to normal - with sound YEEEHAA!

If anyone is having idrive problems ESPECIALLY IF YOU BELIEVE THEM TO BE SOFTWARE RELATED - just try the spare key!

Your everyday key obviously to me now keeps info such as the steering wheel shortcuts, sat nav prefernces, and BUGS. (since my spare key restored factory settings in idrive)

I'm so happy, I was almost believing that I required a new TCU.

Anyhoo, about my everyday key - can I get my everyday key swipted of the info that is on it ie. shortcuts, memorized radio stations, bugs etc...???


P.S. These forums rock. All the dealers I contacted about my problem hadn't a clue how to fix it and wanted to strip down to wires. Playing around and troubleshooting with different ideas saves me a bundle!

This is a great forum! This just worked for me!
Thanks!

Many thanks Yeehaaa,

5 series owner of just 3 weeks..... Got exactly this problem this morning (changed the 6cd player overnight without starting car don't know if related but was last thing before the prob started). Looked up the issue on Google and this was the first item I clicked on.... Rushed home to try the spare key and hey presto all good again ! Locked the car and tried again with the normal key and all good again !!!

Ill be trying this
 

Thanks for this ill be trying this tonight, its been driving me crazy!!

We'll that didn't work, back to the drawing board