Death of a Nav....
 

Aloha! They sent me this way from the NAM site...said you guys are the "Nav" guys!? First time post long time fan! Help help…there is a reason why I have avoided fully loaded cars for years! My nav started to act up a few weeks ago in my 04' JCW Mini, showing non-related cities every few minutes. The pointer looked like it was flying mach 1 across WA State! I pulled the battery cable hoping it might reset, it then showed a stationary pointer with no activity…zilch...nada!
Dealer swapped out the antenna and tried a firmware updates…nothing zilch...nada! They of course wanted 4K to replace!! So…I sent it out to a well know independent back east for repair. Even though this is 2001 technology the manufacture (Phillips?) will not release any repair info yet
for this unit…strike 3!! Any ideas out there guys?:dunno:

This just in...got the unrepaired unit back...they can not do anything with out service info. Dealer on the west side says bite me...called the factory....nice guy...said he will dog the service mangaer one more time for me! Then I thought to myself maybe for being under no power for a couple of weeks it might of reset itself. Ha...I plugged it back in and the screen brought up Hudson Bay area? I am of course in the Eastern WA area. Then...BLAM...WA state shows up...then its starts to work but is two blocks off from were I am...then 1...then perfect!?What the heck?

Is there a master reset on these head units? Are you suppose to drive around in a circles or something?:confused: Thanks for your attention!!

Go into the Service Mode and check the following:

1. GPS status. You should see "Position known"

2. GPS S/N signal strength figures. You need 12-16 on at least 3 satellites. 20 is really good, under 10 is weak

3. PDOP figures. PDOP of 1.0 is super accurate positioning, less than say 3 is normal. 5 to 10 is inaccurate, above 10 is really bad.

4. Gyro - ist it at 2500 +/- 100mV when car is stable, does it go down when turning left, up when turning right?

5. Wheel pulse reading - is it 0 when still, increase with speed, and show negative when going backwards?

6. Direction indicator: should be backwards when in reverse gear, forwards all other gears.

Report your findings.
Also, state your nav software version (top right of Settings screen)

With the right software tools, you can also retrieve the diagnostic information from the nav. However the Service Mode tells you 90% of all data.

To enter service mode:
Go into Settings
Press and hold MENU and wait approx 10-15 seconds
Nav will switch to Service Mode.

Thanks of the note back...here goes?

1. GPS status. You should see "Position known"
*YES! However it said “receiver error” last week!

2. GPS S/N signal strength figures. You need 12-16 on at least 3 satellites. 20 is really good, under 10 is weak
*GPS SATELLITE 05 VISIBLE 08

3. PDOP figures. PDOP of 1.0 is super accurate positioning, less than say 3 is normal. 5 to 10 is inaccurate, above 10 is really bad.
*3.8 1.7 3.4

4. Gyro - ist it at 2500 +/- 100mV when car is stable, does it go down when turning left, up when turning right?
*YES

5. Wheel pulse reading - is it 0 when still, increase with speed, and show negative when going backwards?
*YES

6. Direction indicator: should be backwards when in reverse gear, forwards all other gears.
*YES

Report your findings.
Also, state your nav software version (top right of Settings screen)
*SW 4-1/20

What do you think??

You may have had some reeception problems ?

Perfectly normal, although I note you did not report the S/N values.

Normal.

Normal

Normal.

Normal

Stoneage software.
4-1/20 was produced by BMW in March 2004, so 6 years ago.
Your nav has never been updated since the car was manufactured.
There have been 9 updates since March 2004, with the last update released March 2008.

The current SW version is 4-1/100

You can update straight from 4-1/20 to 4-1/100 by inserting a V31 or V32 OS disc into the nav and following the on-screen instructions.
These are available for download on this forum or google BMW V32.
There is no need to go to a dealer or pay anyone, the upgrade can be done at no cost. Your stated earlier your dealer updated the software, but the current version in your nav conflicts with that statement!

I strongly recommend upgrading to 4-1/100

You will get new features and lots of bug fixes, one of the best new features is the 3D perspective-view of the map!

It may also cure your problems...

I concur with Jochen, do the update and it should help.

Death of a Nav...
 

Wow...much thanks guys...very impressive.Sooo...the old dealer did it to
me again huh...they pryed $200 out of my dusty walet!?:cussing: Oh well...I kind of know how this stuff goes...I was a service manager at Land Rover for years...the dealers barely know their own product.

What would of caused the GPS to be down for so long?Then suddenly pop up? By me disconnecting the head unit did it reset and it find itself!?

I'll try to resourse a disk...thanks again for your atttention...kind of cool getting into the "guts" of my GPS.
Cheers!

It could be that the smb connector on the nav unit was badly secured and was not giving a good signal, it could just be one of them things, gremlins :)

Welcome to the forum BTW.

You may be right about the Gremlins...I have had two check engine lights that never amounted to anything...funny little cars!? My close friend use to be service manager at one of the biggest BMW dealers in CA. just outside of SD...anyway he is a BMW freak...and has always said BMW has always had problems with software!?
Thanks again!!!

Bug... GPS receiver crashed... anyway, update to current SW ver and you should be right

Ok guys...my in house IT kid burned me a V32...what kind of stuff will it ask or how do I reply??