I just bought a 2004 545i a couple weeks ago and just noticed this glitch/problem. After starting the car and seems like up to a few miles of driving, when I try to use the Idrive for anything, i.e. radio, climate, it is slow to react if at all. An example. I select "entertainment" then if I try to twist the nob, nothing. I can push up or down, but the actual twisting doesn't want to respond. I wait a few minutes, then all works fine again. I know I'm not explaining this very well, but in a hurry right now. Anyone heard of this?

Terry

 

+1

The little volume knob on the dash is locked out too during this delay.

 

SNAFU

 

It's just the processing speed of the iDrive on the pre LCI models. It takes time to fully boot up (like Windows 95 or 3.1, older technology just takes a while longer).

I find that by: (i) hitting the unlock button before I head into the garage (it wakes up the electrical systems in the car); (ii)taking a little more time in stowing my gear (hanging my suit and tossing my work-out bag in the back seat); putting on my seat belt and then hitting the start button, cuts down the cycle time on the iDrive to 30 seconds or so. Blue tooth seems to sync faster when I engage in the described ritual as well.

 

+1...boot time is foooorrreeeevvveeeerrrrr

 

I GET THAT ESPECAILLY WHEN I TURN THE CAR ON, FOR ATLEAST 2 MINUTES ATLEAST BEFORE I CAN USE SAT NAV OR EVEN ENTERTAINMENT, THE SOUND COMES THROUGH, BUT NO CONTROL FOR VOLUME UNTIL
KNOB AND STEERING WHEEL BUTTONS COME ON

 

Cool, good to know. Its not a big deal, just wanted to make sure there wasn't something more wrong.

 

yours sounds pretty slow. i have a 2004. sometimes i can futz before i get out of the driveway, other times it seems to take longer but i don't think it's ever taken longer than exiting my street. usually it's pretty quickly available after i back out of my driveway. the system seems a big sluggish just plopping around to and from but i've come to accept that part as just how it is. dunno why your load would be so much slower than mine, maybe it's connecting to bit torrent to get some pr0n each time it boots or something.

 

I find iDrive sluggish after startup as well. The only part that bothers me is attempting to use the NAV soon after startup.

If I turn off climate control after startup, iDrive is more responsive for my NAV input. After a few minutes, I start climate control.

 

clean your cache man.... damn!!!

lol, isnt that slow.. i have an 04' too... if I hit nav, it takes maybe 2-3sec to goto the nav screen