Hi Guys,

I (finally) picked up my 'new' June '06 535d M-Sport.

First of all, I'm VERY pleased with the car. I bought it through an auction and had never seen it in real before (just photo's and an assessment), but the car turns out better as expected! I'm pretty sure it's remapped, because it's way faster than my buddy's 535d.

Unfortunately, the battery was dead at pick-up, due to the fact that the car has been sitting on a lot for almost 3 months. We had to jump-start the car and I think that is the reason (dead battery or jump-start) why there are some malfunctions.

This is what I noticed:

- The keyless-go isn't working. The remote works by pushing the open/close buttons, but I cannot open/close without pressing the buttons. The keyless start function isn't working either.
- Night Vision isn't working. When I press the button, the screen turns black for a couple of seconds, but returns to where it was.
- The navigation part isn't showing up on the HUD (yes, I selected 'navigation' in the Idrive menu of the HUD ).
- I cannot select the 'bluetooth on' function in the menu. At start-up, there's an 'SOS malfunction'.
- TV function shows, but is not selectable (has the same look as when you have no CD present in the cd-player).

Is there a simple solution, or should I go to the stealer again ?

 

Congrats on your new car!

Here are a few thoughts on the issues you mention:

-- Are you sure the car has comfort access? (keyless go) Just because the car has a start/stop button does not mean it has the additional option that allows you to operate the car without using the key fob. The simplest way to determine what you have is to look at the back of the key fob. On cars without comfort access (CA), the internal battery is not replaceable by the end-user (it gets recharged by the car while in the dash slot.) The CA fob, on the other hand, is not rechargeable. Instead, it's replaceable so there's a small, removable access cover on the back of the fob. If your fob has the removable panel like the illustration below, then you have CA and something is wrong with the car. (Obviously, if you don't have the panel, then you don't have CA and things are working as designed.)


-- It does sound like there may be something wrong with your night vision system. Usually, when you turn it on, the black screen appears for a short time (a second or two) as the camera calibrates itself to the current light level, etc. It sounds as if something isn't getting past that calibration process.

-- The only navigational thing that appears in the HUD is the directional arrows so unless you're actively navigating, you won't see too much. Have you tried entering a destination initiating guidance to see if you see anything in the HUD?

-- I'm not sure about the bluetooth issue but an SOS malfunction message could indicate that you have a problem with your TCU (telematics control unit.) If there's a TCU issue, then clearly you may have BT issues too. Also, I'm not too familiar with the TV functions since they are not offered here in the USA. These two things can be highly country-specific so there may be others here that can help you out with these problems.

Good luck!

--

 

Hi Rudy,

Thanks for your reply.

- All your points are well noted, and quite true. Except that I'm (definetely) not a newby in 'BMW Country'.
I have the comfort access option, as I also have the ASAP from (with the factory options) and also the key that you describe.

- The only thing that appears on the HUD, is the current speed and the cruise speed, but not the arrow view (with navi activated!). I do get the 'SOS malfunction' at start-up.

- I'll try to clean the camera lens, perhaps that will make a difference.

- I'm convinced that the SOS malfunction and the BT not working are related. What I find odd, is that in the BT connect menu, I cannot select the 'BT activated' 'button'. It does appear!

I tried to disconnect the battery for a while, just to see if the car'would reset itself, but no luck

 

I realize you're not a newbie but I wasn't sure if things like CA and HUD were new to you from an options standpoint. Unfortunately, it does look like you might need a trip to the dealer to rectify some or all of your issues...

 

You're right, those aren't common options. I just spoke to the dealer, and he's gonna hook my car up to the computer tomorrow. That's nice of him, because I'm going skiing this weekend and I would like to have all things working!

 

Congratulations on your new car !


Don't forget to post some pictures !

 

Get a new battery. When your battery starts to die it doesnt supply enough power and some electronics wont work properly. My battery was dying and my heater would only go to half speed. I put in another battery and that did the job.

 

When you install a new battery, the dealer needs to program the car to tell it the battery has been replaced. It remembers low battery conditions and will shut down things it does not think important to running the car.

 

Try driving for 50 miles, to charge the battery a bit.
Most problems go away when the battery is sufficiently full.

The SOS error makes me think there is something wrong with your fiber-optic network however. I've had this problem when i installed my Dension Gateway.
Check behind your cd-changer if the cables are properly attached. (Sounds weird, but the fiberoptic network is a ring and if one "link" get disconnected, it drops the entire ring, the TCU is the last device in this ring)

 

Re-program? Much discussed recently. Some think yes and some think not necessary.