2003 E65. This is the first major problem I have had with this car. Have an appointment with the BMW shop next Monday. The owner said it sounds like a amplifier is going. Will have to check each one - maybe 12 of them. Replacement around $1300? Rebuild service available but does not know the cost. I have used this shop since I bought the vehicle. They have been honest and helpful in saving me a dollar where I can. Before I give him the car I thought I would list some of the symptoms and see if anyone would point to a particular amp. I know Zero about these amps or where they are located. Mechanic mentioned they use a fiber optic bus?
1. Radio cuts off and on. Speakers pop.
2. Nav in-op. No display.
3. CD display but nothing happens when a particular CD is selected.
4. Voice control in-op. When I press the steering wheel button the display says "SVS Active" but nothing happens.
5. Auto door lock, after start up, intermittent.
6. Display will fall back (from Nav, Cd, Radio, etc.) to the initial start up Emergency Assist display after a minute or two.
These are just the ones I have noticed. May be others.
Thanks in advance, Friz
It’s not a bad amp. And I doubt that your car has 12 amps.
The head unit in your car is merely a man-machine interface. All the electronix are in the trunk. It definitely sounds (pun intended) that the main brain has gone whacky.
How old is the battery. These cars are rolling computers and wacky voltages cause wacky issues. Have the shop check the battery and the alternator.
Well I am losing a little bit of confidence in the mechanic with your comment about the amp thing. The battery was just shy of 2 years old. I bought the car last fall at a dealer's auction. AAA replacement FLA was installed. Cannot determine the AH and I don't know if it was registered but the car has run fine for 8 months. Having read how finicky these cars about the battery, I replaced it last week with a Bosch AGM 92 AH. The "main brain " thing frightens me. I can only imagine how many thousands that would cost to replace. I will make sure the battery is registered to the car and alternator checked when I bring in in next Monday. Does, in fact, this car use fiber optic buses? Do you know where in the trunk the computer is located? When changing the battery with the spare tire out I saw a maybe foot square box, grate cover, embedded in the deck forward of the spare tire well. Is that it?
Hi,
Your mechanic isn't an electronics specialist so don't be too hard on him ! He has got a gist of things though as indeed, BMW's from 2003/4 onwards do have an optic communications bus protocol and many 'functions' of the car are integrated to use those circuits. Unfortunately, and it's not just BMW's, but pretty much all brands from that year onwards are similar and, now that some of the cars are getting older, parts and modules are failing. It could be the Idrive controller module, it could be the amplifier unit thats starting to give up. It might be another module...
As it's the independence holidays in the US currently, once that's done call and speak to these guys in California, they're called hitech services and specialize in vehicle electronics issues including modules, audio modules etc
https://hitechserv.com/electronics-r...r-repair/67/#6
Prices for the E65 amplifier module fixes/overhauls are between $320-550 USD, so not as much as you are fearing.
Cheers, Dennis!
Mechanic says it is an amplifier. BMW replacement for $1600 (ouch). Rebuild service in CA $350. Kicker is not all amps are repairable as per the rebuild service. If mine is not they will sell me a refurbished unit, 1 year warranty. Don't know the price but would expect it to be considerably less than $1600. Any feedback on this amp would be appreciated. Oh yeah, looked at the You Tube videos, you suggested, of the guys in CA. Their name is Hi-Tech. Troubleshooting video for my problem was almost word for word what my mechanic told me.
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