Lift boot floor-spare wheel out-four bolts to remove and lift the triangular frame below (with compressor dome still attached), then unbolt the plastic battery compartment cover to reveal the pdc control unit nearest you on left-should be three leads into it: white, blue & black; much easier job ...

Glad you're ok after the 'incident'; have a word with the garage owner about the settings on his car wash rollers if it did that to your e36!-you should at least get a free wheel wash and a Mars bar!
e53 looks grand!

You are not alone! Have just replaced the control unit for the pdc in my 54 3.0d and have exactly the same scenario. Great when it does work, though. Would love anyone's input! Still, now I've solved all my other issues, it wouldn't be any fun if everything worked perfectly! Hope someone out there ...

Hello davesavage257! I work at Old Sarum so if there's any chance of hooking up at some point it's only ten minutes away; that would be great! I'm still a bit of a forum virgin so I guess we're better trying to do a PM to sort details but it would be a real help to meet up. Thanks for your response ...

Thanks, Stevejspm, I'll PM you if I'm heading that way; very kind of you to offer. 

Thanks for confirming! 

You're a gent, Stevox! I'lllet you know if I'm nearby in the near future-thanks!

Indeedy! I'm guessing the nav computer is integral to the DVD unit itself?

Good suggestion but have been there, put in a new battery and got the t-shirt! Thanks for the thought, though.  Other than this and a few usual (judging by what I read on here!) occasional suspension messages things are fine except with the nav, in which I'm using a proper stealership disc.

Had the DVD unit looked at by Revtronic who replaced the laser head and it still didn't play properly but I'm just trying to see if there's anything else that's nadged. I'm hoping that if I quickly swap a working unit in and everything's fine then it must be the computer in the DVD unit that has had ...

Hello All, In the continuing 'my nav won't work' saga, a bit of a favour. Is there anyone with an e53 anywhere local to north dorset (or Salisbury) who might let me try a 'swap-in, swap-out' with a working mk4 dvd unit to assess whether mine is knackered or not. At least then I know if it's worth ...

Thanks, also-that would explain the PDC issue but the nav issue is less easy to trace :blink:-onwards with the search!
Cheers,
DBVN

Thanks, Richard, that makes sense-helps me narrow down which link in the chain is causing the issue.
Grateful to you.
DBVN

Hello All, Probably get a quicker answer from you than taking it to pieces first! Which modules should I expect to find in the compartment next to the battery under the compressor dome if I have a 3.0d Sport with nav, pdc and upgraded stereo with CD changer. Just trying to narrow down what might ...

Hello all, I have the common 'some link in my sat nav chain' is broken issue with the 'please wait' message of death. I have had the DVD looked at by revtronic and a few pixels in the screen have now gone. I am using an oem disc but know that the two modules in the boot under the spare wheel support ...