Hi Everyone,

Had my new MINI cooper for a few weeks now (Loving it) but I've been facing some serious problems with the sat nav.

It's been booked into my dealership for a third time now and just wondered if anyone had any idea what could be causing the issue.

I'm a bit upset that its now a third time I've having to book my cooper in when its brand new and only a few weeks old.

When I set off on a Journey my sat nav works perfectly and the signal works fine however the GPS signal appears to always hit a "black spot" in some particular areas (I pretty much know when its about to lose signal) and the signal hardly ever recovers or finds the GPS again.

When the GPS loses signal it still seems to recognize my turning of the steering wheel but not much else.

Now and again after around 30 minutes of driving it finds the signal again but the GPS is pretty much useless as it is at present as I can drive for 20 - 25 minutes and the system never finds the gps signal once lost.

If I also stop the car, turn off the engine wait around 2 minutes and start the engine back up it instantly finds my location again.

So far they have replaced the roof antenna plus the rubber grip the antenna fits in and neither of these have worked. They also checked the software but apparently it was the latest version and did not require updating.

One thing I have noticed is that when the weather is fine and not cloudy the signal is never lost but if its rainy or there is heavy clouds the signal is lost in some particular areas.

I know that some NAV systems are bound to have some signal issues in some particular places but surely it should instantly recover once the signal is found again ?

My dealership is pretty much stumped and I'm pretty peed off that I've paid around £1k for the option and I can hardly use it!

Any ideas?

Many Thanks
Toilet-Duck

 

A couple of questions

1. you have that you did not put in your post is where you live. this could be important

2. have you tried another car or sta nav in that area and how do they work?

To be totally honest if you know you are going to loose it at a specific point on the street then it is very possible that there is nothing actually wrong with the SAT NAV in the car but that it could be a dead spot in the signal. I have seen this happen where a bunch of tested units will not work in a specific ares so it is possible.

 

Thanks for your reply, sorry I should have stated I live in the UK although I understand that the UK / US models are exactly the same apart from the Maps that is loaded?

2. I haven't tried another sat nav yet, good idea I'll try this tomorrow if I can.

I totally understand that sat navs do lose the GPS signal from time to time its to be expected, however the issue is that the car does not regain the signal even if I drive for around 30-35 miles in a totally different area where I know the GPS signal is strong and works perfectly.

If however I pull over and turn off the engine for around 2 minutes start the car again it instantly finds the GPS signal again in a few seconds and the map jumps around 30 miles and finds exactly where I am located.

 

Got the car back from the dealership they have replaced the sat nav unit and still the problem exists!!!

Any idea where to go from here?

I tried a Tomtom in the same location and no issues at all.

When the MINI seems to lose it sat nav signal it never regains the GPS signal until the car is powered down and back on again

 

Have they replaced anything at the antenna end? Pretty sure there is a component up there too.

 

Since they replaced the antenna and the entire sat nav unit, the issue MUST be in the antenna wire between the head unit and the stack on the roof. The wire could be cut and is shorting against the frame somewhere along the way, or one of the connectors on either end is bad.

Just as a side note, the Nav unit does looks at the vehicle speed and steering wheel angle to "guess" where you are going (supposed to be for temporary lose of signal).


Not sure why restarting the system would fix it. I would start to wonder if there is a bad component or aftermarket accessory that is throwing a bunch of RF noise (GPS signals are VERY VERY WEAK), or a mobile phone searching for service.

 

Bit of an update took my car back into the garage while they reset / updated the car's software and was given a mini loan car.

Got a massive shock that the same issue occurs in their mini loan car 2012 model!!!

The same exact issue happens with their car, car loses the signal and does not locate the signal again, sometimes it does if you drive around for 30 minutes other times it does not unless the car is powered down and back on again.

I guess this pretty much confirms that it isnt a hardware but a software problem! They have asked mini to investigate but I guess no one seems to have come across this issue before ?

Does anyone know how long MINI take with these "Investigations" ?

 

Crazy question, but did you bring anything electronic or radio based with you in this loaner car? Like a cell phone, bluetooth anything, two-way radio, wifi equipment, radar detector, or charger cord that you plugged in?

If so, try turning them off and unplugging them.

 

Just my iphone I'll try this again tomorrow without taking my iphone to see if this has any difference!

 

So I tested it without taking my iphone and the exact same issue occurs

 

Where are you in the UK? Is this area you speak of, near any military installations or large Tech companies?

As previously posted, GPS signals are very weak and prone to spoofing...

 

No this occurs in a residential area but happens in multiple places too it doesn't just happen in one place.

The problem is that the navigation system never reacquires satellite lock unless the car is powered down.

Here's a video of the problem in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5hRZ...ature=youtu.be

I tried a tomtom in the same exact area and I have no issues here so it looks like its specific to MINI.

No one can seem to fix the issue

 

Tried a different antenna and the exact same issue exists, surely must be a software issue ?