Another "Lost" MKIV

Viper2005 · #1 04-21-2009, 09:23 PM

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm on my 3rd MKIV and it is starting to show signs it's dying. I love the look of the factory install, but this may very well be strike 3 for the MK4.

It is not seeing any satellites, although it seems to come and go. i did check the connection for the antenna and even tried a sirius antenna to see if it would help - nothing. System diagnostics confirms it is not seeing any satellites. s/n = 0.

Since I have 2 other units sitting around, I may try to see if I can change out the Trimble GPS Tuner from one of the other dead units. Might also try the battery disconnect as some have suggested.

Any other thoughts?

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Brian-bmw · #2 04-22-2009, 07:01 AM

MKIV failures are relatively uncommon. The fact that you have 3 potential MKIV failures points to something else that is probably going on. Maybe you have a bad antenna or bad antenna cable. Or, maybe your car has some electrical issue that is causing problems.

Viper2005 · #3 04-22-2009, 08:59 AM

Brain,

Thanks for the feedback. I may just go with a new antenna if/when I go with another MK4. I'm hoping that it is just the Trimble in this one and that one of the other 2 that I still have will fix this issue. I'm not so sure about your contention that the MKIV failures are uncommon as when I did a search for this issue, a whole lot of threads and people with simialr issues came up. Of course the only ones posting are those that are having issues. Each unit has lasted over a year and it seems like it was different issues with each one, so I'm hopeful there isnt something more going on with my electrical system. Thanks again.

Brian-bmw · #4 04-22-2009, 10:29 AM

The MKIV assessment anecdotally comes from reading hundreds of posts across a few of the prominent BMW navigation forums. MKIII failures are very common. We see a lot of those due to power loss at the wrong time. Spontaneous MKII failures are becoming a little more frequent, but still well below the norm. The only significant MKIV issues seem to be weak lasers, but even those are generally constrained to people trying to use copied DVD map disk. Other hardware failures on the MKIV only comprise a tiny fraction of combined MKII and MKIII failure posts I have seen.

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