idrive failure (NBT EVO HU) HELP!

[SilverShadow655]

So this happened a few days ago, I took my car for a leisurely drive around my neighborhood (2016 328i sport line) and was alerted my tire pressure was low on the rear passenger side. So I drove back home, quickly found the nail and patched it within an hour or so. When I got back in my car, I turned the ignition on, and the idrive screen was unresponsive. I turned the car off, and back on, and still nothing. The screen lights up (in black) briefly flickers the "No Signal" in orange (only for a second or two) and then promptly reboots making a clicking sound. This process repeats over and over again (won't stop for the entirety of the car being on). Hitting the power button on the radio face plate does nothing and the idrive controller on the center console does nothing. And yes I tried holding the power button for more than 30 seconds to "reset" it, but that doesn't work. I left the car off overnight, still the same problem, left the ignition on for a while, still doesn't stop. I checked all the fuses in the car, and none of them are bad. I tore the dash apart and pulled out the head unit, none of the wires are loose. I unplugged the unit, then plugged it back in, still same problem. I read about the "No Signal" issue on other forums, but theirs at least starts working again after a few minutes. I have no idea what to do, my car is not under warranty as it is a rebuilt title do to engine damage (the engine was replaced at 14131 miles) and the cheapest replacement unit on ebay is over 900$ . It is really annoying not having the idrive system, no radio, nav, backup camera, I feel like i'm living in the stone age. A little disappointing for a 2 year old car with an MSRP of 50 grand. My only other idea is to take the head unit to a repair center of some sort to see what they can do. Any input is appreciated, I love BMW, but some of the stuff you have to put up with owning one can be frustrating. My other car is an e30 btw and i'm working on an s52 swap, at least in that car I wont have to deal with a screwed up idrive system, because it barely has a radio.

[marvinstockman]

Ask the dealer to arrange a meeting with the BMW zone rep. Explain the problem, and see what they say. Maybe some cost sharing, but in any case, be nice!

[SilverShadow655]

Ask the dealer to arrange a meeting with the BMW zone rep. Explain the problem, and see what they say. Maybe some cost sharing, but in any case, be nice!

Thanks, that's not a bad idea. One of my dad's tenants is a mechanic at a BMW dealership, i'm going to ask him if his repair center experienced any similar problems and if there are any possible fixes without replacing the head unit.

[Burtonpro30]

maybe try disconnecting the battery.... That should reset the system, I could be wrong but hey worth a shot...

[SilverShadow655]

maybe try disconnecting the battery.... That should reset the system, I could be wrong but hey worth a shot...

Good idea, I tried that last night, left it disconnected for almost an hour. It reset the clock, but the head unit is still buggy. I'm going to the dealership in half an hour, and will give an update when I'm back.

[SilverShadow655]

Update on my car, (I've been busy) I decided not to leave my car for a diagnostics, as they were going to charge me 160$, and I am pretty sure it is the head unit, so a diagnostic would be no help. Something interesting has been occurring lately, on rare occasions my idrive would work. One time I had to move the car around the house, and the whole system worked fine radio, nav, ect. when I turned the car off and then back on again, weird slightly transparent green color bars overlaid the home screen, before the unit turned off and went back to the "no signal". On another occasion, I took the car on a 20 min drive with the system again working fine, no problems at all, but when I re-started the car, it went back to no-signal. And on the third occasion the idrive turned on briefly loaded the home screen, and then a weird blue and black checkered pattern (just like the green bars as it was also slightly transparent (I could still see the screen)) appeared before promptly rebooting and back came the dreaded "no signal". So now I'm kinda stumped, if the head unit was bad, then it shouldn't work at all (on a side note, my parking sensors still work), I am assuming that points to either a software issue or a connection issue. But as I said before I already checked the cables connected to the head unit and none of them are loose. My only other thought is the screen itself might have a connection issue, but if that were the case, I don't think the head unit itself would keep rebooting. Not really sure what to do, just gonna leave it be for now and maybe it will fix itself.