Thanks to the community here, I think I have finally found the right forum to post in. I have a nagging problem that hopefully I can get some thoughts on from others who may have found a way around it.

I have a 2009 Clubman with 67,000 miles on it. About a month ago, after 4 years, my battery failed and I replaced it with one from Interstate. At the time, I DID NOT register the battery with the car (didn't know you had to). 3 days later, my aux input on the radio (which I plug my Sirius/XM receiver into) began to shut off regularly on a 2 minute cycle, and my phone no longer pairs with the car's bluetooth.

I have to turn the radio off, wait 2-3 seconds and then turn it back on, then whatever I have coming through there will begin to play again. Unlike some others, it's not a situation of the input disappearing from the display. It's there, but whatever the source is does not play until I turn the radio off and then back on. Every 2 minutes like clockwork, it shuts off and then I have to repeat the cycle.

I took it to the Dealer who told me the car battery needed to be registered and told me that I had over 30 fault codes related to low voltage. Not wanting to pay the crazy price there, I took the car immediately over to my independent garage (MINIWORX) and registered the battery to the car.

Once the car and battery were in sync I was hoping that this problem would go away, but it hasn't.

Now, no matter what I plug into my aux input (Ipod or Sirius), it shuts off every two minutes like clockwork. I have to turn the radio power off, or leave the aux input and go to radio and then come back to the aux, where after about 2 minutes, it will shut off again, and i have to repeat the process.

I had the system reset yesterday as part of a further diagnosis, but that reset didn't change anything; the problem still exists.

Before I start paying a lot of money to have the cause of this problem traced to the source, and replacing modules (which I'm told can cost 500 to 1000 for each one) is there anyone out there who has had a similar situation and found a solution?

I'm not super savvy in this area, but because the input keeps shutting off in regular intervals, it seems like there's some "protection circuit" that the system is in and can't get out of.

None of this was happening prior to the replacement of the battery, but I don't want to assume that the battery replacement was the beginning of the problem---it could be coincidence.

That said, I'm told something as slight as jumping a car battery can send a surge of voltage into the system that can cause a host of related matters, some of which I am dealing with. I've read some other slightly related posts that suggest a ground wire....but this NEVER occured prior to the battery being replaced and I've had the car for 4 years so I think if that was the root, I'd have experienced that prior.

Anyone out there have any experience with this type of situation and can point me in the direction of a fix? I read in some other posts that a Ground Loop Interrupter has been a solution with some others, but I never had this problem until I replaced the battery and it's a pain to not have bluetooth or be able to use the AUX input on my car audio system.

 

What did they do to "reset" the system?

The only real way to "reset" the system is to leave the battery disconnected for a minimum of 30 minutes. The best is to leave it for a hour if you can. Then reconnect and the battery and let all the systems start back up. This can clear a host of abnormal conditions.

 

The techs at MINIWORX hooked the central computer system up to an electronic device (exactly what I do not know), and did what amounts to a "factory reset" of the onboard computer system--it might be called the ECU but not sure. That was the extent of the "reset."

What is involved with the suggestion you made? Is it simply just disconnecting the battery for an hour or so and then reconnecting? What will I have to do once the terminals are re-connected? Will the only thing I lose be the radio pre-sets, or will I lose EVERY preference I've set for the car--chimes, auto door lock, etc?

Sounds like something I can just do on my own but want to make sure.

 

Sounds to me like the ulf-sbx-high box under the driver seat is going out. That controls the aux in and Bluetooth. Will need to be programmed after replacement. I've replaced a few of those for this same problem

 

So then it appears my strategy should be to disconnect the battery for an hour as suggested in a previous post to see if that hard reset does the trick and if not, then replace the ULF-SBX box. Or at least consider replacing it. How much does that typically cost and is this something that I could install myself--is it a plug and play type thing under the box? Would you recommend a used part in this situation? Is there any way to "test" this part to know if this is in fact the problem?

Appreciate the suggestion though, thank you!

 

It all depends on which modules they did reset. BMW-issued software only resets individual modules... What you need to reset is the Gateway, which controls communication between the CAN and MOST bus. The gateway does have a low-power mode which may cause devices to enter standby. Although hardware-wise it is part of the radio, it is software-wise seen as a separate ECU. So that's the device you need to reset or tell to exit delivery mode.

And I doubt removing the battery will change the behavior of the Gateway...

 

According to the shop who worked on the car last, they did perform this reset on the CCC which according to them does reset the CAN and MOST bus. It is a master reset which they say resets all the systems. They've told me that they've done everything they can do short of replacing parts.

I've been quoted about $1000.00 to replace this module! I am trying to explore every possible solution because I don't think spending this money on a 4.5 year old car that will be replaced in the next 18 months is worth it.

They also told me at the shop that they don't think disconnecting the battery will provide a solution, but at this point, what other options do I have?

In other posts some people have had luck with disconnecting; the only other thing I can find with a positive result seems to be installing a ground loop interrupt but I don't know if that would work either.

Does it really cost a grand to replace a module?

 

That type of reset does not reinitailize any of the original programming, it only reset to the current programming that is in the module. To reset all modules to the original boot up programming you MUST remove the battery for at least 30 minutes. Thus any errors caused by a low battery etc or out of sync data is not reset and thus remains a problem.

[quote=mig1;3660045]I've been quoted about $1000.00 to replace this module! I am trying to explore every possible solution because I don't think spending this money on a 4.5 year old car that will be replaced in the next 18 months is worth it. [?quote] Your choice on that but there are a lot of things that can be cleared up in the programming of these cars byt disconnecting the battery for more than 30 minutes.

If it does not then all you have lost is a few presets in the radio and a few other modules. An easy fix. if it does fix it then you have saved yourself $1000 plus in replacing modules and have a car that works.

Although i have not had this exact same issue i have had a number of other strange issues crop up and all but the damn passenger window have been fixed with a battery disconnect.

Part alone is close to that any way plus labor and reprogramming. Yes it can cost that much.

 

Wanted to give anyone reading this thread an update. Was just about to try the battery disconnect route, but my car charger adaptor for the iphone broke and I got a replacement for it. I was using a "Y" splitter so that I could power 2 devices (Iphone and Sirius Receiver). I had originally disconnected all of those sources as well when I was trying to troubleshoot this and the problem didn't go away.

But lo and behold, when I plugged the replacement iPhone car charger into one half of the adaptor, the Sirius radio came back on and stayed on, and was then able to pair my phone with the car's bluetooth.

So, for now at least, the problem is gone and everything is back to normal.

But could a faulty car charger put the system into some type of self preservation cycle to turn itself off every 2 minutes? And even if it did....why didn't the problem go away when I unplugged everything a couple of weeks back?

Weird....but at least happy that I can use my Sirius and Bluetooth!

 

As an FYI, if you have Bluetooth, the AUX input goes into the ULF module (as opposed to the head unit in non-bluetooth cars).

The entertainment sources are all on RING-style fiber optic bus (MOST)

So the head unit or CCC as mentioned is the gateway between the CAN and the MOST bus.

Since you mentioned the Sirius module. you have more than one module on your "ring".

So there can be a number of devices on this bus. Head unit -> CD changer or ipod adapter -> Sirius -> HD/IBOC Tuner -> ULF/Bluetooth/USB -> head unit

If ANY of these devices is having a problem (since each one has to repeat the fiber optic signal, or any of the fiber optic cable in the ring is kinked or damaged, you could be having intermittent failures of all of the devices on the chain.

Hopefully your power adapter was throwing a bunch of RF noise into your system causing the problem.

 

The AUX in my 2010 MCS just vanished yesterday. Nothing I plug in is recognized (brings up AUX on display). Also, no more Bluetooth. I can't even pair my phone. Now in menu it says PHONE with two little dashes under it. No way to access it's menu to set up blue tooth pairing. USB also doesn't seem to work. Argh. Going to try a battery disconnect and see what happens.

 

Battery disconnect for an hour didn't help

 

Have you resolved this issue?

I have a 2008 Mini Hardtop with the Hifi Stereo and I ran an old iPod Classic on it for 4 months. Now, it is intermittent. It will play fine for awhile, then drop out, then come back. I've also noticed that this same problem happens with just something plugged into the AUX port. If I manually select Radio, then back to AUX, it plays until it cuts out again.

I'm new to the forum and trying to read up on folks who have had similar problems and what solutions they have before posting a new thread on my issue.

Thanks,

-Dale

 

Seems like dealer needs to get involved. Even if aux port were disconnected, bluetooth should still work. I use a BT450 to add blue tooth media audio. The device sends audio through aux port while MINI still serves as phone BT headset. This issue would ruin my setup.
So I am definitely interested in how this gets resolved.