XSeries-forum

Jesus... Where to begin.  Picked up a project from a mate who took it as part ex.  This is the Sport model and had everything...
Bluetooth - doesn't work. Doesn't see any phone etc. I've tried all the resets and tips online, such as holding button for 3 seconds etc.
Navigation - no disc and had disconnect the Traffic Master that was locking the stereo screen.
Radio - really hard work tuning. When tuned the station stays on for 3-5 secs then off, then comes back, then off etc etc
Parking sensors - 3 faulty so need to replace them

I opened up the trunk and I've literally never ever seen so many cables. Old playstation cables that look melted, dvd cables everywhere. Never seen so much crap. Removed a load to get the TM off and cannot get the dvd screens to work.  The miriyad of cabling is scary.

I want to get the Bluetooth working and the radio and contemplating getting a new head unit.

Any thoughts or suggestions?  End of the day it's a cheap motor and I'm using it for plodding about and going to he skip.... But.. I bloody hate these issues

I suppose that's the sad fate of what was once an expensive vehicle........it's 14 years old now and sounds as if its had a lot of past owners who did all sorts of electrical "mods".  There are loads of threads on here on bluetooth and parking sensors,  its sounds like the cheapest and best option in an "end of life" vehicle that you don't want to spend too much on, would be a quick Parrot install or a head unit with integrated bluetooth. The factory bluetooth from that era was flaky, unreliable and generally rubbish and the units failed quite readily and are likely not useful with modern smartphones either, given the incompatibilities those old units were prone to.

There are chinese headunits to replace the factory fit -Dynavin or Hualingen or similar -lots of threads on here about them.  The factory radio unit, or BM54, can develop dry joints but is fixable -a chap called Baris from Cartronics does a good repair service -again search on here.  But you might just want to replace, depends on your budget -I think the chinese jobs still cost a few hundred quid, it all depends on what you want to spend on an "end of line" car that you are using for skip trips etc.

Factory satnav from that era also now very dated and rubbish, really. Better off with a £100 Garmin or
Tomtom.

Lots of info on the forum if you search for it - most problems are well described for the E53 series on here. Hope you get things sorted to where you want them. 

Bluetooth module failure isn't unknown but if all these electrical mods have been added then there is an even chance the wiring has been messed up.  The unit should be in the back left cubby where the Nav unit is.  It might have been removed.

Radio issues are very likely to be the aerial diversity system which has modules in the roof and spoiler....again wiring could be the issues too.  It sounds as if you are losing signal, hence suspecting the aerial - what state are the elements on the left rear window in?  They look like a heated rear window elements.

As Condor suggests, a Parrot system is possibly your better choice and more likely to play nicely with current mobiles (BMW completely messed that up 15 years ago!).

What he said!

Updating the Satnav firmware to current is a complete doddle, and (allegedly) 2017 discs can (totally hypothetically) be purchased on the popular auction site of your choice for (again allegedly)£18.50 (but I wouldn't know anything about that) and I couldn't possibly condone anything but a genuine purchase from BMW. I'm sure that's what mine was.

Also - a Parrot MKi9200 works beautifully, perfect bluetooth, supports multiple mobiles, gives you streaming audio, USB audio, secondary aux inputs, and manages your music library from a nice scroll wheel with a smart colour display.

Bit fiddly to fit yourself but entirely do-able - I put a thread on fitting one of these in the How To section with pictures!  http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... 631.0.html

Strip all the shit out and just get a dynavin, if you want an oem look or a quality double din unit if not bothered about oem look.

They all have bluetooth, uptodate sat nav and some other features. By changing the unit alone you will resolve a number of your issues, however you will want to put the mid somewhere to retain the OBC function.

Hey guys, thanks for all the tips and advice. All really really useful and valid stuff.  Reading some of the comments does make me think that I'm trying to put stuff in I don't really need. I've got satnav on the phone , I can use headphone to make calls worst case too.  I tried the CD changer today and weirdly getting the same issue as the radio...
Sound is on for 3-5 secs and then off again and repeat. This makes me believe it's either a speaker or amplifier issue.

Really tempted by the parrot idea so I'll look in to that for sure.

Thanks again

Cartronics is a good place to get the amp looked at.  'Baris' who works/runs the place is a frequent mention on here and highly regarded.  I believe he can upgrade the Bluetooth capability too.

So got in the car this morning and no power. Long story short, battery completely dead and won't charge. New battery in. Ripped out loads more cables, dvd player, power units etc. Going to live without Bluetooth and radio and just use Bluetooth headphones and phone. Still enjoy driving it and it does the job I need. Will look at parrot after pay day

New battery in. removed yet more cables and the annoying dvd player in the glove box but now the stereo won't turn on (onboard computer still works) and now the electric seat only goes backwards.

Fun times