Sure, that's possible.

I've done it a few times.

KiwiJochen - Could you detail the process? I am pretty handy and could rig an harness to the DVD, get a 12v PS, etc. Please PM me with the general idea and maybe I can give it a go.

Well it's pretty easy:

Connect 12V and ground
Connect ibus with a pull-up resistor
Use NavCoder to talk to and program the nav

You'll observe:
1. You have no monitor, so you have to use the ibus to determine where the nav is at within its boot sequence
2. You'll have to manually respond to some requests from the nav during it's startup process. You'll see these :-) Refer to a captured log file of a car...
3. If loading OS, you'll have to emulate the BM button click to restart the nav.

Did you check the finalize disc box in Magic ISO? I think this is your problem

I've circled it in the picture above

So when the DVD is hooked up in the harness now, and I use NavCoder with the serial connector, I see that the NAVE is always not ready. Scanning it does not detect it. If it is in that state, will it respond to button clicks?

Should I just connect the unit to the blue and magenta wire bundles and do a log capture to see if I can figure out where it is stuck?

BTW, I have an ancient Navcoder version, so I will get KiwiJochen a payment and get something more up to date.

Any other thoughts on this? I just plugged it back in and have the same story - light blinks, disc spins, nothing happens. Have tried lots of different burns. I have not tried the media from the dealer. I have not yet sent to to the eBay guy I mentioned.

Any other thoughts on what to do? BTW, I did finalize when burning to answer 535i's question.

The fact that you said you finalized indicates that you're burning wrong.

When using eg ImgBurn to burn the image, there is no "finalize" step, because you are creating the whole CD from a CD image anyway. You are not "copying files"

If you did not use ImgBurn, then try it.

Always use a non-modified BMW image
Always burn at the slowest speed supported by your media

At this point the drive will not read any of the media that have worked in the past. I will try the Dealer copy and if that does not work. I guess I will risk a repair.