Random rebooting of system.

[ajag]

No, this hasn't happened to me, just the idrive itself rebooting. Your issue may be more involved than just the head unit.

Originally Posted by SubjectMatter

Anyone else having these issues with rebooting of the instrument cluster with iDrive? I had a strange incident after going for a drive and stopping off for shopping. The car was warm and was using nav, outside temp ~45F/inside temp 70F.

2016 M4, DCT, Exec, Active Safety, Aug build with 4G, no coding, no mods
890mi on the clock when this occurred 11/28

As I exited the highway the entire dash flashed on and off several times. Instrument cluster went completely dark, iDrive completely dark but the headlights, steering, sat radio were all still working. Tach and speedometer both dropped to zero. I shut off the radio immediately to understand what was going on but the nav kept working as the cluster and iDrive started on/off. This repeated for 2 discrete episodes of on/off flashing but I never lost any systems, just the displays and gauges.

At the bottom of the ramp I cycled the car off and restarted it. Snapped a picture of the cluster and set my phone to video in case it happened again but it has not since. Drove the car a few miles yesterday to run an errand and everything was normal.

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by ajag

This just started today, and is happening more frequently, the system just reboots randomly, anyone else experience this? Is there a way to do a hard reset? No other system is affected, just the entertainment/nav. No error message. Thanks in advance!

Saw this exact scenario happen on a very early build MY15, programming update was required.

Please keep thread updated once resolved.

[ajag]

Good news, they were able to update the software and fix the problem (at least it appears to be so far) without having to replace the head unit.

[brian30tw]

Just adding another data point here. Mine just rebooted by itself for the first time today as well. I have 3,000 miles on the odometer, with coding done at 1,500 miles, and I had updated the software myself a couple hundred miles ago. I had my iPhone 6s plugged in at the time listening to music, and the navigation was giving guidance. The music started pausing, then it rebooted itself.

[Lorax18]

Originally Posted by PodDoc

If just twice, might be ok? Mine reboots at least 10 times each times i drive now (~15-30 min drives). This morning it just went on a reboot cycle, rebooting over and over as soon as it loaded up about 10 times in a row. Worst part was that i really needed the nav to get to a new work location 35 miles away. I dont use tolls either, but with each reboot, the nav reverts back to default settings so i would have to keep changing setting back to avoid tolls. I ended up just using google maps from my pone to get to work.

I had the same issue since I picked the car up... was rebooting ~10 times for a short 10 mile drive. Oddly enough, did it less on the highway for a long drive.

I was having too much fun getting to know the car and didn't want to hand her over a day or two after picking up so just waited for my 1200 mile service for my dealer to fix. At that time, they re-installed the software and I haven't had the issue since.

[SubjectMatter]

Originally Posted by SubjectMatter

Anyone else having these issues with rebooting of the instrument cluster with iDrive? I had a strange incident after going for a drive and stopping off for shopping. The car was warm and was using nav, outside temp ~45F/inside temp 70F.

2016 M4, DCT, Exec, Active Safety, Aug build with 4G, no coding, no mods
890mi on the clock when this occurred 11/28

As I exited the highway the entire dash flashed on and off several times. Instrument cluster went completely dark, iDrive completely dark but the headlights, steering, sat radio were all still working. Tach and speedometer both dropped to zero. I shut off the radio immediately to understand what was going on but the nav kept working as the cluster and iDrive started on/off. This repeated for 2 discrete episodes of on/off flashing but I never lost any systems, just the displays and gauges.

At the bottom of the ramp I cycled the car off and restarted it. Snapped a picture of the cluster and set my phone to video in case it happened again but it has not since. Drove the car a few miles yesterday to run an errand and everything was normal.

Update: no further occurrences of the cluster+center display power flashing on/off, however my iDrive did reboot on the way to 1200mi service this week (first time so far). Dealer wants to replace the entire instrument cluster, even ordered the part, but cannot point to a clear root cause.

My plan is to get my car back and see if the issues are improved by updated firmware/software. Since there is no fault code for the instrument cluster behavior I'm not convinced that it should be replaced; could be the harness or an electrical relay, etc. No sense in tearing up the dash without knowing more.

[MCanadaE46]

Okay, I just experienced a similar scenario of "rebooting" this morning. First occurrence.

Unlike the scenario's listed in this thread the behavior of mine was a bit different.

I was listening to a channel off Sirius Satellite Radio and all of a sudden the iDrive display went dark with a single message reading "No Signal". The channel I was listening to however continued to play. I tried pressing a few buttons here and there, and the display had no reaction all while the channel continued to play.

Roughly after a minute of this, I heard a warp sound (that sound back in the day when you turned off a CRT television) and the whole thing just rebooted on its own. Everything worked fine once it rebooted. My settings were not reset as they were all in tact after the reboot.

Is this expected behavior when the Satellite Radio loses signal? Let me know your thoughts.

[rcw119]

I've had a couple of random reboots over my 3000 miles and 3 months. Then tonight 4 reboots in 10 minutes 2 before and 2 after a car restart when I grabbed dinner. iPhone plugged in but listening to Sirius.

Update: rebooted every 2-5 minutes tonight driving around. iPhone plugged in, iPhone not plugged in, listening Amazon app or listening to Sirius. No rhyme or reason. I didn't accept an over the air update or anything in the last few days. What changed??? Very frustrating!!! Time to make an appointment at the dealer.

[GDawk]

Update:

Originally the dealer tried to update the SW on my iDrive unit, but the recommended version was lower than what was already installed. The car was ordered new from the factory and I've only had it for a few months so there was nothing newer to go with yet.

The head unit was replaced after a 2 week wait (better than the 4-6 quoted). So far no re-occurrence of the issue and everything seems to be fine. I had to reset all of my radio stations though FWP

[rcw119]

Originally Posted by GDawk

Update:

Originally the dealer tried to update the SW on my iDrive unit, but the recommended version was lower than what was already installed. The car was ordered new from the factory and I've only had it for a few months so there was nothing newer to go with yet.

The head unit was replaced after a 2 week wait (better than the 4-6 quoted). So far no re-occurrence of the issue and everything seems to be fine. I had to reset all of my radio stations though FWP

It is surprising they are approving head unit replacement if there isn't official documentation. No one has seen official communication of an issue and this resolution have they? BMW and their 'PUMA' (?) process always seemed very regimented to me and no replacements unless they knew it would fix it.

[ajag]

Originally Posted by rcw119

It is surprising they are approving head unit replacement if there isn't official documentation. No one has seen official communication of an issue and this resolution have they? BMW and their 'PUMA' (?) process always seemed very regimented to me and no replacements unless they knew it would fix it.

True. The immediately approved my head unit replacement and ordered it, though it was backordered at least 2-3 weeks. In the interim they updated the software to fix the problem, or that is what my CA has said. No issues since they performed the update though. I still have the issue w/ the HVAC display not consistently displaying in sport (white) vs. classic (amber). It just randomly swaps around.

[rcw119]

Any follow-ups from anyone who has had this issue "fixed"? I'm going in on Tuesday and want to know what, if any, direction I need to provide to my SA.

My reboots are regularly occurring between every 15 seconds and 4-5 minutes. I've deleted all of my personal data, forced a iDrive reboot, and can't seem to find any particular setting (Media, Radio, Nav) that causes it to happen. I'm guessing it must be hardware as it seems I have it all set back to "default". But I guess something could have caused a software/data glitch which hasn't resolved. I hope it is just software!

[ajag]

Originally Posted by rcw119

Any follow-ups from anyone who has had this issue "fixed"? I'm going in on Tuesday and want to know what, if any, direction I need to provide to my SA.

My reboots are regularly occurring between every 15 seconds and 4-5 minutes. I've deleted all of my personal data, forced a iDrive reboot, and can't seem to find any particular setting (Media, Radio, Nav) that causes it to happen. I'm guessing it must be hardware as it seems I have it all set back to "default". But I guess something could have caused a software/data glitch which hasn't resolved. I hope it is just software!

Mine was resolved with a software update.

[rcw119]

The coding in SIB 65 09 15 resolved the issue today. Anyone have a copy of the SIB? Curious what caused this to start.

[SubjectMatter]

Update on my issues:

On the way to drop off my car for service, the Infotainment rebooted and showed the M logo. SA told me this would be fixed by reprogramming and has not recurred since service.

Rebooting of the Instrument Cluster

BMW SF ordered a new IC from Germany and it arrived after Christmas. I brought the car back to service for the replacement and they did this in one day including a reprogramming to bring back 4G data (weather, traffic, news) and all seemed well. Unfortunately the new cluster showed the exact same behavior last night under similar conditions (normal operating temps, etc) in the same geographic location, which is very odd. No loss of controls or drive, just loss of power to the cluster, but I got it on video this time by grabbing my phone quickly. I'm going to test a few theories before handing it back over to BMW but the #1 suspicion is some interference.

[Mandi90TT]

Had the iDrive reboot the other day on me. First time since I bought the car new over a year ago. Did some coding on day 4 of ownership and had the ECU flashed about 6 months ago.

It worried me as it went "No Signal" on me for about 3 minstrel before it started again. Entire time I was driving about 80 down E470 in Denver. The weather has been pretty cold here for the last week (mid teens), no idea if that had anything to do with it.

[SubjectMatter]

I've been able to reproduce the intermittent failures with my M4's instrument cluster and posted a video on youtube. The video is of the third occurrence, the second such incident for this replacement cluster that was installed just last week.

My brilliant detective work so far indicates that the M4 has only exhibited this behavior at one location: on US101 NB at approximately these coordinates (37°46'N 122°25'W). Maybe this is some type of interference? DaBean tested the location with his 2015 M4 and found his car is unaffected.

https://youtu.be/qhF4DSUVZbs

Not sure what's going on here but hypotheses are welcome.

[DaBean]

Originally Posted by SubjectMatter

I've been able to reproduce the intermittent failures with my M4's instrument cluster and posted a video on youtube. The video is of the third occurrence, the second such incident for this replacement cluster that was installed just last week.

My brilliant detective work so far indicates that the M4 has only exhibited this behavior at one location: on US101 NB at approximately these coordinates (37°46'N 122°25'W). Maybe this is some type of interference? DaBean tested the location with his 2015 M4 and found his car is unaffected.

https://youtu.be/qhF4DSUVZbs

Not sure what's going on here but hypotheses are welcome.

I'll confirm SubjectMatter's claims. I was in the car when this happened and I can't say I've seen anything like it before/since.

As you can see in the video, the car does not lose any functionality: no loss in power, navigation, etc. It only loses the instrument cluster. It's unclear whether the turn signal is impacted.

It seems to only occur in this specific spot (37.771890, -122.423316) the intersection of 101/Octavia and Market, on this specific car, regardless of the instrument cluster (which was recently replaced). Looking around on Google Maps, I couldn't find any suspicious businesses located in the vicinity

Any ideas are welcome.

[Brosef]

subscribing for further updates. I seem to have the same issue as others in this thread. a few days ago, I got a notification to update the nav maps. I declined. next time I went to drive the car, the iDrive rebooted (went dark for maybe 2 seconds, showed the M logo and then was back to normal). it seems to happen once every time I drive. the whole thing lasts less than 10 seconds. it doesn't bug me enough to take it to the dealer yet, but I'm curious to know what other solutions might exist.

[Brosef]

just got around to stopping by the dealer to have this looked at. they reflashed the software a couple weeks ago, and the issue seems to be gone. hopefully it won't come back.

the main inconvenience here is that it overwrote the coding I had done (Euro MDM and anti-dazzle LEDs). oh well.

[SubjectMatter]

Glad to hear some peoples' issues with rebooting of iDrive have been resolved by reprogramming.

My car went back to the dealer on 1/21 for visit #2 to solve the instrument cluster malfunction. BMW decided to replace the Front Electrical Module (FEM) which had to be programmed in Germany and air shipped. I drove up from LA to pick up the car on 1/30 but the problem isn't fixed.

Here's a second youtube video:

I drove the car through my test loop in SF where I can recreate the problem and it's still there. I was even able to take one of the BMWSF Service guys on a drive and show him that I (and DaBean, my brother, my girlfriend...) aren't making this up. I basically picked up the car and gave it right back on 1/30.

After posing several more questions, the Service team has also managed to recreate the issue but I haven't heard anything indicating a root cause yet.

[rcw119]

Originally Posted by SubjectMatter

Glad to hear some peoples' issues with rebooting of iDrive have been resolved by reprogramming.

My car went back to the dealer on 1/21 for visit #2 to solve the instrument cluster malfunction. BMW decided to replace the Front Electrical Module (FEM) which had to be programmed in Germany and air shipped. I drove up from LA to pick up the car on 1/30 but the problem isn't fixed.

Here's a second youtube video:

I drove the car through my test loop in SF where I can recreate the problem and it's still there. I was even able to take one of the BMWSF Service guys on a drive and show him that I (and DaBean, my brother, my girlfriend...) aren't making this up. I basically picked up the car and gave it right back on 1/30.

After posing several more questions, the Service team has also managed to recreate the issue but I haven't heard anything indicating a root cause yet.

That sux. Different from the Idrive reboot issue generally described here.