Nav DVD replacement
 

I finally broke down and got the DVD Drive replaced at the dealer today. The price wasn't that bad. After the core charge the dvd unit cost $150 and they charged 1 hour of labor. I did get 20% off of all work so all in $217.90 after discount. So far so good. I did get updated 2012 maps too. A few things to note, since I bought the car in 2003 I've been using a very early map 2002 that covered a different region than where I live. The navigation still worked remarkably well guiding me on a number of road trips. Also, after they replaced the drive my early map disc wouldn't read with the new drive. No big deal as I was planning on getting new maps anyway.

Update: So it's been a few months since replacing the drive. It worked fine for 3 weeks then I had the exact same symptoms as before; flickering screen, constantly rebooting. Looks like I need a new MKIV unit.

DVD M3 4.6 vs. DVD M3.5
 

Hi, I have MK4 which stopped reading DL DVD's (Europe 2012High). I think that this is a problem of the laser and decided to buy a new DVD Drive from a dealer(82-83 EUR). I use to open my MK4 and I know that my drive is DVD M3.5. Do You think that M3 4.6 and M3.5 drives are interchangeable, because I think that DVD Drive (65 83 9 241 764) is DVD M3 4.6?

P.S. The new drive is DVD M3 6 and work excellent.

83 euros for a new mk4 drive from BMW - really????

Exactly :)

The new part number of DVD drive is 65839273195 and it`s good for MK4, Navi 02/03 and iDRIVE Professional ССС ;)

If you r wondering what`s the difference, I will tell you - previous part number was for DVD drive made in China (what I bought first), now (the new part number) it`s made in Hungary.

I bougt a new DVD drive 65839273194 yesterday here in Germany.
Even if the new model is called M5 (not longer M3 4.6) it works perfect in my MK4.
The price was about 84 euros. I had to give back the old drive (deposit).

It worked!
 

I completed the pick-up replacement on my mk4 and everything is working fine! I ordered the white-faced SF-HD4 then tested it with a CD, original BMW DVD and burned DVD-R - all worked perfectly. Part came from LogicToyz.co.uk "Sanyo SF-HD4 Optical Pickup white Cap Straight line Double Resitors SFHD4 S-Type Car DVD Laser Lens" @ £14.99.

I got away without using a desoldering braid, was just very careful when removing the metal shield. The only worrying part was removing the solder bridges. I touched the iron on them until the solder melted, then used gravity and a bit of pushing with the tip to move the solder down onto a label stuck to the ribbon not far away.

Thanks for the instructions; wouldn't have even attempted this without them!

Your welcome.
The two solder bridges are to protect the pick-up from ESD (electrostatic discharge). As soon as the laser unit is assembled in the DVD drive / MK4 the ESD problem no longer exists.

Replace DVD loader for GPS system
 

My 2006 BMW X5 just had a DVD problem, I am not able to use GPS due to DVD loader unable to read DVD. Probably the laser is dead. I highly recommend to order the DVD loader from

Contactgegevens - Navigatie Onderdelen

It was a truly pleasure to do business with Engineer Jurjen Hobo. He is a great guy. I appreciate other member to provide the information about Jurjen in this threat.

Replace the DVD loader, I am done. The unit is working. I don't recommend to buy from EBAY, it is so risky. I don't like to deal with Ebay folks.

Doug

I bought SF-HD4 to replace in my DVD drive. But once I opened up my drive, the optical pickup had a different size ribbon cable with about 25 pins vs 30 pins. I checked around online and it appears to be SF-HD8. I have it on order from ebay now. These are cheap ($15), so no harm done assuming next one will work.

What I have in my drive (first 2 pics), and what i just re-ordered on ebay:

I also made a small booboo detaching one of the cable connectors. I thought I would have to solder them back on, but I think I found the original connector harness. It's made by Wurth, pretty sure.

1st image from Mouser catalog: 4 pin 1.25mm wire harness 653004113322

2nd image is what i broke. 4-pin connector on the bottom of the pic.

3rd image is similar 3 pin harness that I managed not to break.