m_power

Hey guys,

Thanks for taking a look! I've been lurking on these forums for about 4 years now and finally bought a Space Grey 2008 BMW 550i (manual transmission) with Msport/Technology/Premium package, plus Comfort Access/Ski bag/reclining rear seats, interior black dakota with piano black trim (not sure what the correct name for it is). Love the car it handles really well, engine and suspension are fantastic. Clutch engagement is very smooth and is very easy to drive. I love it already! Maybe I will be in a better position to post pictures after I solve my problem.

Here goes... My 2 year old nephew was visiting with my sister to take a look at the car. He found a quarter sitting on the dash and decided to place it into the CD slot.

So we decided to try and get it out. We disconnected the negative battery terminal so that we could prevent a short circuit and fished for the coin using a copper wire to pull it out. We got the coin out after a very long attempt because we had to remove the dash trim and physically remove the CD player to get the coin out because it fell on the left side, inside of the CD player.

After pulling out the coin, the iDrive system is blank/won't boot, the stereo/CD/DVD drives do nothing, the voice command doesn't work either. The car starts just fine, headlights/horn/heating/AC/heads up display all work. Upon start up, there is a picture showing a battery and a key together between the speedo and tachometer display. I don't know what that means.

Could someone please help, we don't know what to do. We took it to the BMW garage and they want to replace the CIC/CCC module. I'm pretty sure that can't be the problem and has more to do with the battery, or a fuse that was shorted, or maybe the intelligent battery sensory, or maybe the battery requiring registration.


I know someone out there had to have had this problem. Please help me.

EuroCarFan

IIRC, that symbol relates to the battery in your comfort access key fob. Did you use the key to start the car or was it nearby outside the socket?

andrewsweetnam

The dealer might be right this time? A coin is a metal object and it is very possible that the coin has shorted out the something on the circuit board. I know this as i used to fit car audio some time back and have come across this more that once with tape and cd players. They are not internally fused there is no protection for this type of short circuit. I hope the dealer can sort this out for you.

m_power

Whether the car is started with the key in the ignition, or if it's in my pocket, that symbol still shows up. It goes away after 3 seconds once the engine is started. The iDrive won't start at all though either way. I've tried pressing the DVD/CD eject buttons, and the volume button all at the same time to reboot. That doesn't do anything either...

Will a dislodged DVD inside the tray prevent the system from booting in any way?

DKNewYork

Sounds like something I read on M5board. The guy had his 2 year old daughter in the car while he washed his car. Found out the daughter put 2 quarters in the CD slot. Cost him $1,400 to replace. Hope it all works out for you.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...rs-1470-a.html

EuroCarFan

I assume your car is still under warranty since it's an 08? If so, take it to another dealer and don't tell them about the quarter and have it fixed under warranty.

m_power

Thanks so much for the link, I can't believe a single coin could short circuit the whole system. This doesn't sound too good.

I don't have a warranty, I bought the car because the mileage just exceeded warranty coverage, and as a result I got a nice discount on the car.


One last concern, now that the quarter is removed, is it possible that disconnecting my battery may have produced these symptoms? I keep hearing the battery needs to be registered once it is reconnected.

Guys, I appreciate the quick responses very much! I can't believe I'm getting this much information in such short amount of time! Sounds like a good forum to be on!

rtobin

if you want to check the fuse drop the service panel on the under side of the trunk lid.. it will tell you which fuse relates to the stereo.. then go into the glove box and remove the rear panel.. the fuses are behind that..

I fitted some stereo equipment a while back and blew the stereo fuse.. got the exact same symptoms you describe.. changed the fuse and no probs... cant remember off top of my head though what number fuse it was..

m_power

Thanks for the suggestion, do you remember the number to the fuse in the glovebox? I will go check right now.

Also, what about the IBS sensor? Is it possible that I drained the battery from starting the car multiple times and not driving it? (I purchased the car 3 days ago and have been showing it to family). Would the IBS sensor prevent the iDrive from starting up in any way, or possibly need to be reset?

Thanks!

Gilgorm

There are a lot of odd ball things that happen with a weak battery but the iDrive problem you describe is not typically one of them. The fuse sounds like the obvious place to check first. I doubt the IBS would have anything to do with it either.
Regarding the battery symbol you are getting its possible the key fob battery is dying or weak. A CR2032 watch battery is what you need. They last about a year and (obviously) do not charge in the car but are very easy to replace. From your posts it appears you have Comfort Access. If not disregard this whole paragraph.