Splash screen on MK4 in X3
 

I recently got a CPO 2004 X3 3.0i (US) with an MK4 nav and the latest version of the software installed (V29.1). It's been great so far and being the geek that I am, I'm anxious to see what I can do to customize the nav system. This forum has been a great source of information and I'm ready to start tweaking...

So, my first question is a pretty simple one. In the X3, the nav screen is a motorized flip-up in the dash. I normally leave the screen up when I turn off the car. When I turn off the ignition, the screen goes down. When I get back in the car and start it, the screen flips back up and powers on. I've been reading about customizing the splash screen, but I'm curious when the splash screen is suppose to show on the display. In the month that I've had the X3, I've seen the standard BMW splash screen maybe a dozen times. Usually, when the screen flips up and powers on, I just see the annoying accept screen. Every now and again, the screen flips up and briefly shows the splash screen just before the accept screen comes on. It's really inconsistant and I've not figure out how to see the splash screen all the time when I turn the ignition on. I've tried different combinations of things -- getting in and turn the key without starting the car, getting in and starting it immediately, etc...

How can I make sure my cool new splash screen is displayed every time I get in and start the car? I don't want to spend lots of time putting in a custom screen that I will rarely see.

No one knows?

After you unlock the car, and open drivers dor the splash will show, if you make a short stop it wont show, if you open other dor then drivers first i think it wont show not sure, but i think someone said that.
Since your screen is motorized, if you dont turn the ignition on fast after you enter the car you can miss the splash...
Let me state that i dont have X3 and i suppose this is the deal since that is how it works on X5 E46 E39

The screen ONLY opens up when the ignition is turned on. Normally, on E46's, X5's etc with the 'always visible' screen, then the splash can be seen when the car is unlocked and the door opened.

In the X3, at this point, the screen is closed and hidden from view and the splash has usually 'timed out' by the time the ignition is on and the screen has opened up.

You could try this - after switching off the ignition, manually pop the screen open (you can do this without causing any damage). Lock the car , wait 30 mins or so, go back and unlock the car and open the door. See if the splash displays then... I have a feeling though that the screen may 'recycle' and close then open, but as I've never tried it, I can't be sure.

I look on it as whilst the splash screen CAN be a cool thing to impress the girlies, so can the screen popping up out of the dash....

I'll have to mess around with this a little more when I get back to the car. Knowing how it works in other cars that don't have the motorized screen helps. My recollection is that the X3 motorized screen always goes down when the ignition is off. I don't know that there is a way to make it stay up.

You will have to manually flip it up after you have switched the ignition off. It has no resistance and moves easily; just push down on the back of the closed monitor and the front will tilt up and then just pull up the monitor. Leave it up, lock the car and go have a coffee for 30 mins. Come back, unlock and open the door - see if you get the splash up then....

I see...MANUALLY flip open the screen. I'll try this when I get home!

Splash screen shows during a cold-boot only.

If the nav does a warm boot, it does not show the splash screen.

The cold-boot occurs after the nav has totally shut down, and shut down occurs 60 seconds after the car itself has been shut down (all doors/flaps closed, ignition off, etc).

The 60s timer starts when the databus activity has ceased on the ibus, which is a few seconds after you shut the car and lock the doors.

I have timed it: it is exactly 60 seconds after the ibus has gone to an idle state.

The shut-down prevention delay (of 60 seconds) is to make sure the nav system is ready for you immediately if you just turn the ignition off and on again briefly eg at railway crossings etc.

The cold boot process to start up the nav occurs as soon as you wake up the car (eg: as soon as the ibus becomes active). You can wake up the car by unlocking, opening a door or tailgate, turning the ignition on, etc.

Because the X3 CID screen itself takes time to start up, it is common that you miss seeing the splash screen during the cold-boot process.

Regards, Jochen

Bam! You nailed it. Now I finally understand why I only see the splash screen once in a while. I just checked this by letting the car sit so that the nav shuts down completely. Then I quickly opened the door, got in and turned on the ignition. The screen opened and I saw the splash screen. Thanks Jochen for explaining this!

As for the other suggestion for manually opening the screen, unfortunately it did not work. It seems that the X3 screen only works with the ignition on. If I manually flip up the screen when the ignition is off and open the door to get the nav to cold boot, I see nothing on the screen. Turning the ignition on makes the screen go down, then back up. If I'm quick, I can get a glimpse of the splash before the annoying accept screen.

You can get rid of this by setting your nav into region=Europe instead of region=USA.

This will also mean UK imperial units instead of USA imperial units.
But the Accept screen will not appear.

Use my NavCoder software to change the region setting.