GPS Malfunction

[Ziuck]

I have an 04 E46 with navigation. I am running the latest update. Every couple of times I start my car I do not get a sattelite sync. When I go into the sensors menu it says GPS Malfunction.

What would be causing this? I can shutoff the car and let the unit power down and then start it back up and it may or may not work again. This is happening more and more.

I think it's version 4-1/80

BTW: Would something like this be covered under CPO, as the orig warranty has expired.

Any ideas?

[Winkle]

Originally Posted by Ziuck

I have an 04 E46 with navigation. I am running the latest update. Every couple of times I start my car I do not get a sattelite sync. When I go into the sensors menu it says GPS Malfunction.

What would be causing this? I can shutoff the car and let the unit power down and then start it back up and it may or may not work again. This is happening more and more.

I think it's version 4-1/80

BTW: Would something like this be covered under CPO, as the orig warranty has expired.

Any ideas?

Version 4-1/80 is indeed the latest V28 update from Siemens BV (Holland). What do you mean by "not getting satellite sync"? That is a meaningless statement - your nav system will tell you nothing other than an invalid CD/DVD is inserted. The BMW SatNav either works OK or it doesn't work at all. Your Map DVD is probably damaged (scratched). Borrow another DVD & try it. If that doesn't work then it's off to the dealer & big bucks....

[Brian-bmw]

It sounds like you may have a failed navigation computer. Is "GPS Malfunction" the exact error message that you are seeing in the service menu.

Typically, if you are getting something like this, the internal satellite receiver module is dead, or you have a bad antenna connection. The CPO support is a coin toss. Sometimes, you will get a claim rejected if it is deemed an "accessory" by BMW. Before you spent any real cash, I would check the GPS antenna cable connection. If that looks sound, you could buy a new GPS antenna and plug that in to the nav computer to see if it fixes it.

[Ziuck]

Originally Posted by Brian-bmw

It sounds like you may have a failed navigation computer. Is "GPS Malfunction" the exact error message that you are seeing in the service menu.

Typically, if you are getting something like this, the internal satellite receiver module is dead, or you have a bad antenna connection. The CPO support is a coin toss. Sometimes, you will get a claim rejected if it is deemed an "accessory" by BMW. Before you spent any real cash, I would check the GPS antenna cable connection. If that looks sound, you could buy a new GPS antenna and plug that in to the nav computer to see if it fixes it.

The connection does look sound. I saw the antenna is mounted right behind the HK sub area. This past weekend I even removed the NAV computer and drive and reseated the connections.

What's weird is it may work fine for an entire week and then have problems for a couple drives then work fine again.

Another thing, in the service menu my Almanac is always at NO. I have never seen it say YES.

What is more probable, bad antenna or nav computer?

Thanks

[KiwiJochen]

Park the car outside
Disconnect battery, wait 5 min
Reconnect battery
Switch on ignition to pos1 so nav system is running
Switch to service mode
Observe GPS status. You should get almanac in about 5min once you have a few satellites locked in

Note that when the nav unit fires up the first time it calibrates the gyro, so don't rock/bump the car for first 15min after you plug in the battery

Jochen

[Ziuck]

Well I sort of did that but with out disconnecting the battery.

I parked the car, re-installed V28 software. Check the status and it's working. Then I let it sit for about 45 minutes.

It has a sync of 8 sats and had the almanac. So I shut down and then drove around.

This morning I start my car, GPS Malfunction! Bad antenna or computer?

[davidr]

What do you mean by the "HK sub area"?

Is the antenna in the original position or has it been moved? You must not have any steel directly above the antenna.

A replacement antenna is typically < $30 - might be worth a try to eliminate possibility before changing computer ?

[Ziuck]

The antenna is in the factory location. I don't have HK system in my car, but I did punch out the plates. It is at the edge of one of the plates.

Anyone know where to purchase an antenna? I can only find a few on ebay but they are in Lithuania.

[Ziuck]

Update:

On the way home from work the GPS was working "normal" It was in sync with 7 of the 8 sat's.

Odd thing was under GPS the receiver Hardware and Software versions were both 0

Would this indicate a bad receiver then?

[Heli]

I've got no problems locking into the Satellites, but I frequently lose position when I'm off a main road, and get a warning that the map isn't reliable for navigation. Sometimes the set up loses lock whilst I'm driving on an outback road, and it hunts around for a while until it finds the road again, and sorts itself out.

Since I live in the Alps during winter, and the moment I get off the main Alpine Way onto the side streets of the village, it loses itself, this comes under the heading of Really Irritating. It's always by about 150 - 200 metres: does anyone else have a similar problem?