Intermittent GPS
 

I have a 330ci convertible, and notice that the GPS symbol in the upper right of the screen goes away from time to time. When this happens the service menu tells me the gps status is searching. This problem seems to be becoming more frequent in the last few days. I lost GPS for over an hour today and the map had me positioned in the middle of the ocean for a while.

From reading on here I seem to think my GPS aerial is the problem. Based on the GPS retrofit instructions it looks like the aerial is behind the instrument cluster, but does anyone know for sure if this is the location when the Nav comes installed from the factory?

Your antenna will definitely be faulty. The location for retrofit or factory-new is the same.

Thanks for the reply... anyone know of a website that sells the GPS aerial?

ebay mate, take your pick

http://tinyurl.com/yt8o93

Dealer has it - it's not that expensive (<$40 for mine recently). The problem will be fitting it - if you don't do it yourself, the labour cost will be quite high.

Thanks for the replies.

I just unplugged it then plugged it back in a few days ago and the problem has not come back yet. The dealer wanted $172 for this part, so I think my solution is good enough for now. What dealer is charging < $40? If they have a website I'll certanly buy from there.

Dealer in Sydney, Australia. Maybe I was lucky and got some old stock as they certainly are not cheap for other parts.

You must be lucky. They quoted me $400 in New Zealand. So I bought a brand new generic GPS antenna for $47, including freight.