I dont think I have ever touched the volume knob in any of my BMW's. FYI you can change the setting for the steering wheel buttons to mute the audio and do what you've been doing for the time being using the volume controls on the wheel.

Yeah I have been using the steering wheel buttons but it kinda bothers me when something doesnt work. I might call up a salvage yard and see if I can get the head unit for a good price.

This may be a unique opportunity to upgrade to Navi as well.

I would definitely be intrested in that

I know this is an old thread but just wanted to say, I got this fixed for $75 at a local electronics repair shop. Just make sure you take the radio out yourself they will charge a lot more to do that too. $75 to fix radio, $195 to remove and fix. If anyone needs instructions on how to remove the radio, let me know.

Now it's my turn! Volume shaft on my e70 I think is broken. It just turns & turns without affecting volume. If you have instructions for unit removal, I would so appreciate you (or anyone else) sharing!

Also, this is a non-nav unit. Has anyone changed out for a nav? Can you tell me if that is all it takes, just inserting a unit with nav, or is there more to it? My wife would be thrilled to have the nav.

I am not sure on switching to nav but to remove the unit:
1. Use a trim removal tool or your fingers to remove the vents (pry from the bottom) and disconnect the cables.
2. You will see two screws, remove them.
3. Everything else is held in by clips, just pull everything out carefully (trim removal tools will be very helpful.
4. Unplug all the cables.
5. The only thing that is left in the dash is the radio.
6. The radio is held to the cd player with plastic hooks, just slide the radio to the left and it will come off, the last thing is to disconnect the cable and thats it.
Just be careful not to break anything. Good luck!

Thanks, uran! I am going to try shopping around for the replacement volume control part before I tear into it, though. Might look into a used nav unit while I am looking. If anyone knows if a different screen, control panel, wiring harness, or software, etc. is required in order to convert to nav, I would appreciate your chiming in!

OK, purchased an "Alps Rotary Encoder EC11 Arduino EC11B0924802 Rotary Switch" off eBay and replaced my old volume encoder with it. It actually worked! The shaft is slightly longer than the original but it looks fine anyway (see pic). Had a devil of a time soldering it in. Thought I had been totally unsuccessful with my soldering (and I'm an old master at soldering). Was sure I had screwed it up. Decided to reinstall it anyway to see what would happen. Would have bet a thousand $$ that it would not work. Reinstalled in the vehicle, and it works perfectly. This encoder has "detents", so you feel little bumps as you turn the volume control, whereas the original was all smooth motion. I actually like the detents better. I recommend for anyone else with this problem, get the part and find a professional to solder in for you, even if you pay $100 or so for them to do it. Part was only about $1.30 but around $5 for shipping from Poland.

I will mention that most of my plastic hooks (mentioned in uran's removal instructions) broke off during removal. I just snapped it all back into place anyway. The bezel seems to hold it in place just fine. I imagine one could tape it with a piece of Gorilla Tape across the top of the head unit (but out of sight), if necessary.

Nice, you got it fixed for 6 bucks! Didn't know there was any aftermarket encoders.