Mk4 Sat Nav out to lunch

[PliSsK]

I swapped out the factory fitted Mk2 Sat Nav in my 2001 Alpina B10 V8 for a 2008 year Mk4 Sat Nav a couple of years ago, and it worked fine until about 6 months ago or so. It has increasingly been showing me the 'Please wait a moment' message on the display when selecting the Sat Nav. It used to just do it half the time if I stopped the car whilst navigating a journey and started her up again. After a period of many months of 'Please wait a moment', the Sat Nav is now showing the map, and the map moves with the car travelling, although the location is completely wrong. The Almanac is showing 'no'.

I have tried a head cleaning CD, inserting a new nav DVD, taking it apart and relubing it with silicon lubricant, reflushing the Nav firmware, none of which made much difference, as well as trying to get it to reset the Almanac by leaving the keys in pos 1 or 2 in open area for several hours but it never acquires the satellites or recreates the Almanac. I have checked the satellite acquisition and there is nothing. It shows a list of 8 satellites or so but with no data for any of them. Is there any solution besides trying a used GPS Antenna 65906905921? I gather they are a discontinued item. I guess it could also be the cable.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=65_0278

TIA!

[sealbeach740]

While it does sound like your MKIV is having some "Senior Moments", the best way to figure out if the problem lies with the MKIV or GPS antenna is to swap in a known working MKIV to your car & see if that fixes the problem (or, swap your questionable MKIV into a BMW that has a known working MKIV). See if the problem follows the MKIV or not. If you have a buddy with a MKIV, that's the quickest way to narrow down the problem, IMHO.

[PliSsK]

While it does sound like your MKIV is having some "Senior Moments", the best way to figure out if the problem lies with the MKIV or GPS antenna is to swap in a known working MKIV to your car & see if that fixes the problem (or, swap your questionable MKIV into a BMW that has a known working MKIV). See if the problem follows the MKIV or not. If you have a buddy with a MKIV, that's the quickest way to narrow down the problem, IMHO.

Good suggestion! I need some IRL E39 bros lol. Or not sell old components when I upgrade!

[DennisCooper]

Hi PliSsk,

The old OEM modules are getting old now and more are becoming faulty and failing. If you *must* keep the OEM audio modules, then get in touch with Baris at Carphonics as he's very well known to repair/upgrade the oem modules where possible. Whilst your there, you might as well upgrade all the other aspects of the various modules that he can do!

I know Baris well from many events and meets and he's very well known on the M3cutters UK forum, so have no qualms in dealing with him - http://www.carphonics.co.uk/

If you don't mind going aftermarket and replacing all the old modules, drop me a PM !

Cheers, Dennis!

[jagerhund]

Mine went out years ago, I replaced the DVD drive and it worked for several more years. More than likely your issue is the DVD drive mechanism. In any case mine went out again a few a couple of years ago and I decided not to fix. I don't miss it because my iPhone running Waze and plugged into the OEM aux input takes care of all my needs. YMMV.

[sleuth255]

You're describing a number of non-related symptoms here. "please wait" is generally due to a bad DVD or DVD drive. Showing incorrect position on the map is generally due to non-acquisition of satellite data. Are you getting a GPS lock? Your Nav display will show this in the small screen in the upper right of the display. White dots are individual birds, and a green satellite with "GPS" shown indicates a position lock. If you're not seeing this, then it may be a GPS antenna problem. Maybe you didn't connect the antenna up again when you replaced the Nav unit after working on it? Mine actually went bad and had to be replaced. I used the nav diagnostic mode to troubleshoot because it shows satellite signal strength.

[PliSsK]

You're describing a number of non-related symptoms here. "please wait" is generally due to a bad DVD or DVD drive. Showing incorrect position on the map is generally due to non-acquisition of satellite data. Are you getting a GPS lock? Your Nav display will show this in the small screen in the upper right of the display. White dots are individual birds, and a green satellite with "GPS" shown indicates a position lock. If you're not seeing this, then it may be a GPS antenna problem. Maybe you didn't connect the antenna up again when you replaced the Nav unit after working on it? Mine actually went bad and had to be replaced. I used the nav diagnostic mode to troubleshoot because it shows satellite signal strength.

Hi Sleuth, I am not getting a GPS lock. The globe icon in the top right is showing no birds nor any 'GPS' text. In the Set menu, in the hidden menu, in GPS functions, I am getting no latitude or longtitude figures, and the GPS date is showing '1998'. On the GPS satellites screen it is showing 8 satellites detected but the S/N column is showing all zeros and Almanac '0'. When I reinstalled the Sat Nav unit, I was getting no difference in symptoms, and I did reconnect all the cables at the back.

When I get the 'Please wait' message, if I eject the DVD and reinsert it, the Sat Nav seems to work again albeit with the wrong location and no GPS lock.

In the past year or so, when I got the 'please wait' message, i looked at the GPS info in the hidden menu and it was showing the Latitude and Longtitude and other GPS data so it seems right now that whilst the Sat Nav unit is a bit flakey but usable, the GPS receiver has likely died more recently? If so, is part no. 6 in the diagram below the correct item to replace? I can probably get an old one on ebay for £20-25. The Sat Nav unit itself is 10 yrs old whereas the GPS receiver is original i.e. 17 yrs old. Thanks!

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=65_0278

Dennis, whilst I could well replace the whole centre console, nav and audio, everything is working except for the nav, so I'd rather not dispense with the CD changer and other integrated functions for now, but thanks for the suggestion. Worst case I would probably get a cheap sat nav and stick on top of the dashboard until everything else died and then I would likely gut it and upgrade it all.

[sleuth255]

Sounds like you have two problems. One is a bad or disconnected GPS antenna. You are perfectly describing the problem I had which I resolved by replacing the GPS antenna. Your second problem sounds exactly like the problem I had that I resolved by replacing the DVD drive. Note: before I replaced the DVD drive I verified that my navigation DVD was indeed good by trying a different DVD. Both experienced the same problem. Eventually, my DVD degraded to the point where the GPS navagation MID display would only display a single red "Navigation unavailable" message.

In my MKIV GPS, everything is in one unit.

[PliSsK]

Sounds like you have two problems. One is a bad or disconnected GPS antenna. You are perfectly describing the problem I had which I resolved by replacing the GPS antenna. Your second problem sounds exactly like the problem I had that I resolved by replacing the DVD drive. Note: before I replaced the DVD drive I verified that my navigation DVD was indeed good by trying a different DVD. Both experienced the same problem. Eventually, my DVD degraded to the point where the GPS navagation MID display would only display a single red "Navigation unavailable" message. In my MKIV GPS, everything is in one unit.

Edit: You are right. Somewhere along the line the aerial got disconnected or came loose on the back of the Sat Nav unit, so I reconnected it and am getting 7 out of 8 birds and almanac 'yes' now. However, the Nav unit now can't read the map DVD(s) whereas just a few days ago it could. I tried reinstalling the firmware and disconnecting the battery but made no difference. Hopefully it will start reading the map again by itself like its done before otherwise seems like I need a new Mk4 Sat Nav unit or replace the whole system with something modern. Cheers.

[sleuth255]

You can find replacement DVD drives on eBay. Here's the one I purchased. Great customer support from BavTek too.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E38-E39...NWz3jt&vxp=mtr

[bdiefAZ]

I thought the MK4 antenna was internal. When I upgraded to the MK4, I unplugged the external antenna on my 2001 M5, should I plug the antenna back in? The Nav works fine on my car.

[computiNATEor]

You can find replacement DVD drives on eBay. Here's the one I purchased. Great customer support from BavTek too.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E38-E39...NWz3jt&vxp=mtr

Cool. First I've seen of that.

[SteveSaw]

Meybe this is not the best thread to post this but my just- bought 2007 X3 e83 mk4 sat nav still has previous owners sat nav last destinations and addresses in. When I delete all its ok (no addresses) until I go back to the car after lock / unlock and they all reappear. Also when I change settings to split screen and colour 2 also resets. Very odd.(Keys reprogrammed via press unlock then 3 locks and bt/tele/Dvd all disconnected/reconnected)Any help?

[computiNATEor]

Well, that doesn't bode well for the Mk4 nav, unfortunately.

I just swapped my Mk3 nav for a Mk4; when the Mk3 was installed, the DSP settings would automatically revert to "flat", even though the "memo" settings were still there. With the Mk4, it works as it should.

Have you tried disconnecting the battery to reset things? First rule of tech support - unplug it, plug it back in.

[sealbeach740]

I thought the MK4 antenna was internal. When I upgraded to the MK4, I unplugged the external antenna on my 2001 M5, should I plug the antenna back in? The Nav works fine on my car.

I realize this question is now over a month old, but just in case someone reads this down the road.....
In the MKIV (like the MKIII), the Trimble unit is internal (not a separate unit like the MKII uses). So, with a MKII, the slender black coax cable (the antenna) plugs into the external Trimble unit. On a MKIII or a MKIV, that coax antenna cable plugs directly into the back of the MKIII or MKIV. Yes, it is still needed. It's just with the MKIII or MKIV the external Trimble unit is removed.