Member
Can someone please help with 3 or 4 suggestions of things to try to solve my no radio in a 2011 335is convertible.
History: Car has aftermarket amps which are tied into remote turn on exiting factory Amp. Im assuming they installed this way, rather than prior to factory amp because needed factory amp to work due to fiber optic lines as any deletion may prevent system from working. Worked perfectly for 3 years then going over bumpy road radio and screen went out. Few days latter came on a few minutes and then went out again for good. Dealership said it was cic head unit. Bought one off ebay installed and screen came back on but still no radio. Thought it might need coding for radio to start working. Dealership said they cannot get it to take a code and they tried several times. Dealership says they cannot figure it out. Said they cannot communicate or get signal from factory amp. Possibly because aftermarket amps installed or maybe factory amp is bad and preventing remote turn on from working to turn on aftermarket amps. I would have guessed that the factory amp is bad except the radio is not coming on and if not the remote turn on would not turn on factory or aftermarket amp. Also noticed navigation is not working and neither are seat belt or warning chimes. I checked all fuses in glove box. Checked through firewall terminal below battery in case it was corroded and preventing a strong power signal to operate all the modules. All seemed fine. I checked Bluetooth, navigation, and factory amp fiber optics at each unit and ending under steering wheel and all had a go light.
So, I'm guessing either the amp is bad, the Bluetooth module is bad, or some other module that power passes through before getting to the radio. I doubt the radio itself is bad as everything else except navigation works and I replaced cic head unit so chances of 2 bad units are not impossible but slim.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can try or a module or two that I can replace that might be the cause.
Dealership replaced footwear module and did not say any issues with any other module except that they could not communicate with factory amp. Maybe because its bad, maybe because its bypassed or maybe because it is not coming on since radio is not coming on. Any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated. I have put a lot of money into this car and its killing me that its sick and beyond ticked off that the dealership cannot tell me whats wrong or fix it themselves.
Last edited by n54nasty; 03-29-2021 at 09:12 PM.
Member
Not to sound snitty, but break up your paragraphs and they'll be much easier to read and understand.
Member
Originally Posted by n54nasty
I see a clue...
Sorry, I hate to sound like a jerk, but I see so many people come around with radio and alarm system issues that arise from an unknown installation of aftermarket stuff.
Member
Its not the aftermarket amps. Like I said they worked fine for 3 years. As such they have power and ground running separately to battery and chassis so not interfering with anything. Remote turn on and speaker wires were tied into factory amp which still controls other things like chimes i believe.
I'm guessing something went wrong with head unit since screen came back after being replaced. I suspect whatever destroyed head unit may have damaged something else as well that would interfere with radio. Im guessing it killed factory amp, which I've ordered another, or bluetooth unit or some other module that effects radio.
Thats what I was looking for was a suggestion of modules that might play a role. I think it may be a bad amp but what confuses me is the fiber optics seem to work fine through all the modules and I would think if the amp were bad the fiber optics would stop there.
Jbird
In the past we have had the car just freak out turned out the wire for there stereo was plugged into the open cd line in the trunk, because of the bus system the bmw does not like aftermarket stuff added unless it is done correctly
Member
Ok. Its not the aftermarket amps. They were professionally installed and worked for 3 years. The cic head unit has been replaced which brought back radio and screen but still no sound.
Dealership said they could not code the new radio and could not communicate with factory amp. I feel like this is a huge clue but do not know what it means. Even though fiber optics and light worked on factory amp and I felt like it was ok, I replaced factory amp and same thing.
One of the reasons I know it is not after market amps is the factory amp still controls chimes and they still do not work. Everything seems to work but sound and navigation. Im guessing maybe navigation will not work until radio is coded, but I was told that about head unit and then later told radio should still work even if not coded.
I believe the bluetooth/com module is ok because I was able to connect my phone to the car and scroll through contacts even though I have no sound and cannot make a call and talk through the radio. This is the only thing I have not changed however, unless it has a separate sirus radio and navigation module that I am unaware of. It is my understanding that those two functions are built into the cic head unit nowadays. Am I correct about this? Does the navigation not work because the head unit has not been coded?
Member
Ok. Went ahead and replaced amp, bluetooth, com box, and mulf2 units. Thats every unit in the most system and still no sound. I believe it is a software issue or the shorted out cic head unit tricked the computer into thi king battery was bad and went into transport mode. I do not know how to get it out of transport mode Nd dealership is useless and cannot even code the new head unit. Any ideas or is anyone aware of a downloadable app that has the ability to turn transport mode off?
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