NAV screen flickering or going off completely
 

Ever since I bought my 4.8iS in October, the screen has intermittently flickered.


I bought an identical front headunit off ebay, but the same issue occurs. I also bought another Nav DVD unit (behind the side panel in the boot/trunk) as I thought it was that which powered the screen, but the problem still persists. I've given the plugs a spray with WD40 contact cleaner, but no improvement. After swapping the Nav DVD unit I think it's now actually worse. Is it likely a wiring issue between the Nav DVD unit and front headunit, or is there another component which could be faulty? I don't have any TV screens in the rear of my car, so don't think I have a TV module.


Short clip of the screen issue (ignore the sound, the radio tuned in to the nearest station...honest!)


https://youtu.be/rcKSUlWNmDM

This is the exact same issue I have with my 4.8is and I have no idea where to even start looking for issues.

Another issue I have is I can control the CD changer but all I get is silence when playing with the occasional squeal of something similar to the sound of an old modem (electronic noise for you youngsters lol)

It's a pain isn't it!

Do you have the DSP amp too?

If it is the cabling, I guess going for an Android headunit (Xtrons perhaps) and running the 6 metre cable through the car would likely fix it.

But, I wanted to avoid that cost if I could. I recently fitted a BlueMusic bluetooth adaptor in place of the CD autochanger, which works really well to stream music through from my phone.

I also have an issue whereby once a week my K-bus will crash, and all my cluster lights stop working, so no indicators, main beam, fog lights on the dash. Illumination itself is okay. The lights work fine outside the car. This only happens when I have the stereo on though! I left it off for 2 months and it didn't happen, but as soon as I start listening to music, it'll crash once a week. I had my LCM checked and refurbished but no luck.

I wonder if the 2 issues are related?

Yep DSP.

I believe at one stage my car had an aftermarket unit fitted and then the owner 2 owners ago put it back to original so no doubt in my case there has been some damage done to the wiring somewhere DOH!

As far as I'm aware I don't have any Kbus issues.

The screen issue is likely caused by the ribbon cable going bad. They used to sell a replacement cable for it on the aftermarket. Don't know if they still do. Replacing it is kind of a pain, but doable. I've done it. Do a google search for it and you'll find plenty of info I'm sure.

Thanks mate :thumbup:

Is this the brown/orange ribbon cable inside the front headunit? I did take my original unit apart, unplugged the ribbon cable from the board and re-seated it, with no improvement.


If it's that, it would mean both ribbon cables were faulty (on my original unit and the one from ebay). The ebay unit was sold as fully working, but I guess I won't know unless I connect it to another X5 and see if it still flickers.

Definitely test it in another vehicle first.

The ribbon cable is a very common failure. But typically it presents with fading or color issues I think. The flicker I'm unsure of. Wouldn't surprise me, but definitely test that unit in another X if you can. I found this really quickly as a guide. You've already done it so you know taking it apart is not overly difficult, just fiddly.

https://xseries-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2273

Edit: The front monitor in our E53's is just a screen being fed information from the back of the vehicle. Maybe your plugs in the back have corrosion (sunroof drains common to flood the area) or you have a loose connection? You could check the pinouts of the two plugs behind the head unit and see what does what. See what the other end is plugged into. Here you go. I'll see if I can find a connector pinout for the X18801 and X18802 to make tracing easier. But N9 is the radio unit in the trunk,

Attachment 83069

Here, this should better explain where all those pins go. I don't know why it shows both the X18801 and X18802 as blue. One should be white or black. But based on your video, I'd start with pin 12 on both connectors as your board monitor doesn't appear to lose power, but rather the display signal. Good luck.

Attachment 83070

Thanks very much for this!