Map Disc Keeps Ejecting

[rwmorey]

Hi -

My wife has an X5 -- I believe it is a 2001 -- with what I believe is a MKIII Navigation system. I recently had the car detailed for her as a anniversary present and when we got the car back the GPS was not working. We noticed that when you first turn on the car the data CD pops out of the drive in the back of the car. If you reinset the disc the drive starts to spin up but then makes a whirring noise -- three times -- and then ejects the CD. I thought perhaps the CD had come out while it was being detailed and I cleaned the CD but that did not work. I also made a copy of the CD on my PC and that nav system exhibits the same behavior with the new CD. Have I total screwed up her GPS? Can anyone suggest a way to repair the drive? I am an IT guy by trade and don't mind pull the drive out of the car and doing work on it or replacing it if needed.

Thanks

Rich

[bimmers888]

Most likely detail shop ran down your battery which in turn killed your Nav Drive when they had all the doors open to work on the X.

The MK3 is very sensitive and requires a proper power down( wait for the power light on the Nav to turn off) before disco the battery.

Ejecting the disc is a classic sign of a damaged MK3.

Also, your stereo may cut out after 2-3 mins, after you turn is back on, it will do the same thing again.

If both of the above are happening to you, then you likely would need a new Nav drive, and it retails for $2800 at the dealer, but you can find them on the bay.

I would go back to the detail shop and demand they fix the problem for you.

[rwmorey]

Hi --

Thanks for the info. Any other way to recover the system? If I have to buy a new drive can I get the MKIV so she has the latest system?

Rich

[bimmers888]

There is not a place in the US to repair these units.

Yes, you can upgrade to a MK4, it's a simple swap.

[rwmorey]

I did some more research onlne and found other X5 owners who had this problem and it turned out to be a faulty motor on the CD-ROM drive portion of the MKIII. I am hoping to find an MKIII on eBay or similar for less than the $900 or so for the MKIV.

Rich