Possible LCM / Radio Nav Screen issues.

[DeeNuttyDJ]

Good evening everyone.

I've been playing a game of chase the faults lately with the x5.

I thought id come back here and open a new post as people seemed very helpful.

Lets start with the radio.

So radio works fine. We loose the screen, sometimes it would come back for 5/10 mins then go again. now lately i've only ever seen it flicker up
So i've had the radio apart and checked ribons (intact and in place fine) - this is the second radio head unit i've put in. so i know the screen works.
ticked that off the list.
i've had the sat nav unit out of the boot, chased the wire loom. removed it and inspected no kinks or brakes in the cables (from what i can see)
Also cleaned connectors and everything. Still no satnav screen - going to pull the radio out tomorrow and check that feed down to the loom plug in the hope it may be that - unless anyone can suggest any other things i can try. Id love to keep the factory unit. for the sake of if i ever have the code issue (immobiliser)

Suggestions on that very welcome


Alright moving onto the back light issue.

So we have the side lights on = drivers side looks ace, passenger side top light seems dull. bottom one fine, apply the brakes driver side yet shows fine, both light up.

passenger side - only bottom one does and other one stays dull

i've had a tester on these, with the brakes on first - both driver side pin feeds are showing output.
one pin on the passsenger side (to do with the bulb thats not coming on) is not live, throw the sidelights on and its there but very weak

i've checked all the clusters out (can see they have issues with burning out the contacts, corrosion etc) however mine seem okay, ive repaired sections of the feeds myself however not fixed the issue
which makes me think is the LCM a common thing on these? - i know if i get another one ill have to recode vin/milage done some research already on this but still not very sure.

images attached for attenion

[StuBeeDoo]

This may or may not be of help with the satnav issue, if it's the version that uses a DVD ROM drive.........

In my E46, I managed - twice - to kill the laser head in the DVD drive by disconnecting the battery without first ejecting the DVD disc. Because I'm a forgetful sod, after the second replacement I left myself a reminder on top of the battery.

[DeeNuttyDJ]

This may or may not be of help with the satnav issue, if it's the version that uses a DVD ROM drive.........

In my E46, I managed - twice - to kill the laser head in the DVD drive by disconnecting the battery without first ejecting the DVD disc. Because I'm a forgetful sod, after the second replacement I left myself a reminder on top of the battery.

Cheers mate, was thinking a replacement satnav dvd unit might be the next thing im gonna do .

[X5Sport]

What voltage are you getting on the left side? All the pins should show 12V. Are all the bulbs 12V/21W? It’s not unknown for someone to fit 5W bulbs instead.

Also, do you have TV on board? There’s a common video module. Cars made from October 2004 onwards should have a hybrid receiver that receives digital signals.

[DeeNuttyDJ]

What voltage are you getting on the left side? All the pins should show 12V. Are all the bulbs 12V/21W? It’s not unknown for someone to fit 5W bulbs instead.

i'm going to test this tomorrow after work ~ bulbs are all correct first thing i did haha! thought the same - Starting to think its the LCM but ill test the voltage tomorrow on that side.

[X5Sport]

What voltage are you getting on the left side? All the pins should show 12V. Are all the bulbs 12V/21W? It’s not unknown for someone to fit 5W bulbs instead.

Wiring diagram suggests other than the ground pin, all others are from the LCM. It’s not unknown for one to turn up its toes, and these E53s are old ladies now.

If you absolutely stand on the brakes, does the upper light flash? It should do. The function was added to the LCI version - Brake Force Display.

Been standard in all BMWs since.

[DeeNuttyDJ]

i shall try that too. worth a go, i mean if it dont flash? and voltage turns out to be incorrect would suggest LCM would be the next thing ill be looking at.

What voltage are you getting on the left side? All the pins should show 12V. Are all the bulbs 12V/21W? It’s not unknown for someone to fit 5W bulbs instead.

Wiring diagram suggests other than the ground pin, all others are from the LCM. It’s not unknown for one to turn up its toes, and these E53s are old ladies now.

If you absolutely stand on the brakes, does the upper light flash? It should do. The function was added to the LCI version - Brake Force Display.

Been standard in all BMWs since.

Wiring diagram suggests other than the ground pin, all others are from the LCM. It’s not unknown for one to turn up its toes, and these E53s are old ladies now.

If you absolutely stand on the brakes, does the upper light flash? It should do. The function was added to the LCI version - Brake Force Display.

Been standard in all BMWs since.

[DeeNuttyDJ]

Hey all! Good evening again - so update
LCM Is fine, found a issue with ( towing wiring ) causing a the lights to act all funny since disconnected them they are now back to normal ( I’ll have to sort a module out for that )
Lights fixed ! Yay

Update with radio
Ordered a new mk4 nav unit which arrived this morning plugged it in.. no radio screen still okay so moved on pulled radio out the front again started moving the radio about and pulling at the cables connected to it and I seen a split second the menus!!!!

So my question is does anyone know where them cables feed off to? I may need to remove the center console and chase them but do they go through the car in the center or down the side?

Also going to take a safe check first before I do this I’ve heard the ribbons don’t just come loose on one side they can come loose on the actual screen ( more of a dismantled radio state ) which Im gonna try first !

[X5Sport]

I’m pretty sure the cables run down the side of the sills (under the carpets) in order to avoid being stood on if centre run. I don’t remember seeing wiring loom bundles down the middle on mine back in the day.

Is there nothing on the screen at all, or only certain functions missing?

[DeeNuttyDJ]

Hello mate yeah I was told by a friend that it may end up being a dash out job ouch.. I was hoping center console would show enough of the wiring so I could see a break

Turns out radio I had in. Had a dodgy ribbon.
Got a good working one with some dead pixels
And the menu would appear then go, seems to return if give the cables a tug. Which makes me think there’s a break somewhere in that run

I’m pretty sure the cables run down the side of the sills (under the carpets) in order to avoid being stood on if centre run. I don’t remember seeing wiring loom bundles down the middle on mine back in the day.

Is there nothing on the screen at all, or only certain functions missing?

[DeeNuttyDJ]

Just a quick one, thinking of making a video loom to bypass the factory loom.. is that even possible ? Pretty sure one plug does video on both ends

If anyone had a diagram or key layout of what pin does what on both connectors at both ends I’d much appreciate it

[X5Sport]

Check for any sign of water in the electronics module in the rear of the car by the battery.

Which version of the sound system is fitted - there are several! - even what engine and production month. It matters as there are multiple modules with different year spans and therefore different looms!

It’ll be a case of removing the head unit and checking cable colours and matching on the radio module in the boot.

[DeeNuttyDJ]

Check for any sign of water in the electronics module in the rear of the car by the battery.

Which version of the sound system is fitted - there are several! - even what engine and production month. It matters as there are multiple modules with different year spans and therefore different looms!

It’ll be a case of removing the head unit and checking cable colours and matching on the radio module in the boot.

Hello mate cheers for reply 2006 e53 m sport 3.0 diesel
Non dsp system nav screen. Not sure what else i can provide checked all cables at rear no water ingress. So it’s just the signal path somewhere between radio to rear which is at fault all radio controls work just no screen

[X5Sport]

The wiring for video signals between the radio/nav/display look like this, not sure if it helps:

You need to put the images side by side.

IMG_3013.jpeg (51.58 KiB) Viewed 2303 times

IMG_3014.jpeg (55.43 KiB) Viewed 2303 times

On the second image, the even numbered pins to the right side are coax screens.

There are multiple other modules that may be involved with at least three large multi pin connectors. Specific component identification with firmware versions that you’ll need the official BMW diagnostic software (you can get it on the web by looking for INPA/ISTA) to establish what you actually have. Fault diagnostics also uses an oscilloscope to look at the video signals!

The way I think you’ll have to do it will be by noting all of the colours at the front and then matching them at the rear to do an end to end check with a meter.

The functional description says: (AF - audio, RGB = video):

IMG_3015.jpeg (41.07 KiB) Viewed 2297 times

[X5Sport]

You may have got this:

IMG_3016.jpeg (60.24 KiB) Viewed 2295 times

Hence the challenge around what’s actually been fitted by BMW depending upon options and actual build date. I’ve tried to find the latest dated diagrams as those should be right.

You can also get a copy of the BMW TIS from everybody’s favourite auction site which will have the wiring diagrams. It might be one option as there are multiple different wiring diagrams to look at. Matching car wiring to diagrams will give you a clue as to what kit is actually in use.