My tuner periodically disappears (dashed out) and the audio system switches to the CD automatically. The audio system sometimes appears to not remember how it was shutdown, e.g. shutdown car with the radio on, and when the car is turned on again the audio system defaults to CD.

Duplicated this experience at the dealer, the system has been reprogrammed twice now, but the audio system is still doing this.

2008 Mini Cooper S with Harmon HD radio, no NAV.

attached picture is horrible as it was taken with phone camera, but you can tell the tuner is ---- out.

Anyone else experience this of have any ideas?

 

I have heard of this twice before and both times the dealers replaced the head unit. And if the dealer has reprogramed the car twice it is time for them to replace the head unit. There is probably some kind of loose connection in the head unit it self.

 

I was afraid that might be the solution. How do we convince the dealer to replace the head unit? They were reluctant to reprogram the unit until we could demonstrate this intermittent issue in front of them.

 

if it's a reproducible problem, they should replace it.
I had a similar problem with the radio, memory goes whack, but only on certain stations after a random timeframe. They replaced the entire unit.

 

UPDATE for others that may search and find this thread.

We got it to do this at the dealer and for once they they immediately took it back and connected it to some sort of maintence terminal to look at the current faults in the system. They said the fiber-optic link in the HD radio (apparently a seperate unit) was bad. They replaced the HD radio component and we have had no issues since. Been about two months so far...


Note to BMW/Mini: put a fault history queue in the system so you can look at past faults and not have to catch intermittent faults at the exact time they are happening.

 

This is not the same issue the OP described, but here's an occasional issue I've been having with my head unit (with nav) alternating between the input I want and the CD player every few seconds. It's happened maybe 4 times in the 17 months I've had the car. The only way to get it to stop without "rebooting" the car is to tell it you want the CD player … it will sit there and think about its recent life choices for a bit … then it gives up and says, "fine! I'll do it your way."

http://gallery.me.com/fishbert#10007...&bgcolor=black

In the video the radio is playing The Beatles and the CD player is playing a Baxter MP3. It also does this with the AUX input, but I had to disconnect the phone I had plugged in there so I could take the video with it.

I asked the dealer a week or two ago if there was any newer version of firmware available that could be loaded (there wasn't), but that I didn't think this was worth replacing the head unit over since there was an easy work-around. The technician who looked at it theorized the issue could be caused by the "non-original equipment" plugged in to the USB input and cigarette lighter (the USB y-cable I use to charge my phone while listening to music… ha!).

 

Had it happen once to me the first week I had the car. Dealer "could not duplicate". Another of the two pages of manufacturing defects they did not fix. It has not done it for the next 16K.

 

Radio is doing weird intermittent stuff again when turning on the car for the past few months now:
-it tries to default to Aux and nothing else is shown, and nothing is plugged into the aux input. You have to hit menu and select the tuner.
-it tunes to a random radio station but shows the same radio station last tuned before shutting off the car, e.g. the tuned station and displayed station do not match.

Once again, since the dealer can not duplicate it on site, they are doing nothing about it.

We were looking to get another Mini Countryman for a family car, but this silly issue that Mini refuses to resolve along with its incompatibility with iPhones is turning us off and we will be looking elsewhere for another vehicle...

 

How do you expect them to fix an issue they haven't been able to see?
It's not that they are refusing to fix it; it's that they don't have anything to go on to diagnose the cause of the issue.

Also, incompatibility with iPhones?!

 

I too had my display blank a few times when new. It has been fine the past year. I too had the same BMW customer service experience: "Take a hike". Well, as I need a slightly larger car, rather than the Countryman, I am looking at a V50 or A3. Shame, I like driving my car. I have learned to hate BMW, and I actually have a fairly good dealer compared to what I read.

 

There are ways to diagnose intermittent electronic problems. I know, as that is what I made a living doing. Unfortunately, BMW only trains parts-swappers who read codes. No code, no fix. It is the fault of BMW and the other OEM's. I DO expect them to be able to find and repair intermittent problems. That is the business they are in. I don't blame the tech, they are not trained as they should be. Only when we demand more and they get the hint that we are not buying another BMW will they get their act together ( or fail)

 

You should know that this also can be a very expensive and time consuming thing to do. Not realistic to expect every dealership to train their techs to do such nuanced diagnoses, let alone spend the time to do so (especially when it could easily be a wild goose chase). It would take even longer to get a service appointment for the rest of us!

 

I would expect Mini to be knowledgeable about their system to determine or be able to replace suspect components that would cause these issues. Since the Mini system does not have a fault history queue that enables a tech to look at past faults, the only option is to replace components or programming that would be the source of the issue.

The 09 mini cooper is incapable of charging iPhones (2g, 3g or 4g) via the USB interface; hence, incompatible.

 

And so, you are suggesting it is the owners tough luck and live with it? No freeking way. I do agree they can't teach every mechanical technician. I am suggesting they have an electronic technician at their disposal who can. Cars are half electronic now. Maybe it is time for the industry to recognize the situation and prepare for it. I have worked as both mechanical and electronic ( old 9-track tape and robotic systems) so I know fully that they are different knowledge bases and techniques. However, I always found someone who can "fix" I could teach any machine. There is some basic talent to those who can. Don't know what it is, don't know how to teach it.

So, yes it can be quite time consuming, but not so much when you actually know what you are doing. Besides, as these postings suggest, blanking radio displays in not an uncommon symptom. Usually, that means a common problem. The proper response from the dealer is not " NTF"

 

You would expect MINI to be able to replace suspect components… but all MINI can do without a fault history queue is replace components? I'm confused.

If what you're trying to say is that your dealership's service bay should be able to go in and repair the electronics of a faulty stereo head unit rather than replace it with a new one… that's never going to happen. On the front lines like this, all you're ever going to see is unit replacement. Expensive as they may seem to individual consumers, diagnosing and repairing automotive electronics with a soldering iron is just not going to be a cost-effective option after factoring in technician labor costs and the very real possibility that a solution could take multiple iterations.

I have a 09 MCS, and have only ever had problems charging the iPhone 3GS (a cheap USB power splitter cable and cigarette lighter adapter fixed this). My old iPhone 2G and new iPhone 4 charge just fine (and, though I didn't own one, others in here have said their 3G charged just fine as well). Yes, the 3GS issue was annoying for a few weeks, but I'd hardly say that means the car was incompatible with the phone.

Besides, you were talking about the supposed lack of compatibility being a deciding factor in buying a new MINI… i.e., one that Apple worked with MINI on to ensure good connectivity and system integration.

 

Sorry for the confusion. I was stating that the service tech may never see intermittent faults since the system does not have a fault history to tell him what faults have occurred in the past. I would expect the tech to know what part of the system e.g. head unit, HD radio, USB interface, etc. would cause the errors I described and replace them; however, Mini service is saying they have a policy that they will only replace units that are currently exhibiting faults duplicating the issues I described.

We specifically got the USB iPod option on this car with the premise that it would charge and interface with iPhones; since it does not charge any of our iPhones, I consider this a failure and incompatibility. The deciding factor to go with another manufacturer is the lack of action on these issues from the service department at my dealer. The fact that we have a $30k car with a radio/iPod interface that intermittently works and that service can't correct it is a big turn off for Mini at the moment.

 

Not know how to fix a faulty head unit, but be able to determine if it is the head unit. Just because the display blanks does not mean it is the FRU at fault. There are a lot of wires, connectors, and crimps in the system. Many could be at fault. (Heck, the dealers don't even know how to go inside a transmission. It is a FRU)

It is the BMW policy to force owners to live with intermittent problems that is the big issue. What I was getting at is there are methods to cause an intermittent to become solid, or to cause them to happen more frequently. These are things electronic technicians know that mechanical technicians do not. (I have never seen a vibrating engraver with a rubber tip in a mechanics tool box)

As display issues seem to be common, the correct thing for BMW to do is request the next 10 or so from cars where the owner complained but it could not be replicated. Get them back, do failure analysis and correct the problem. It could be a simple vendor issue, it could be a design issue. Either way, do something that does not continue to tick off owners to the point where I; 1: will never buy another BMW, and 2: am actively looking at a GTI or V50.

These are terribly complex machines now. Customers expect a level of perfection. The manufactures need to understand how to deliver. A 6-week school may be fine to know how to swap parts, but it takes years to become a competent electronic tech. BMW had better make the investment before companies like Cherry or Tata do, or they will eat their lunch.

 

Since I just added the HD radio tuner to my car myself, I know that the dashed lines means your head unit is not communicating with the IBOC/HD tuner in the trunk (via the MOST bust/Fiber optic lines). In DIS/ISTA the signal power (brightness) of the fiber optic bus can be reduced to troubleshoot intermittent issues like this. Especially since they have already replaced the IBOC tuner for you I would suspect one of the fiber lines has been damaged or more likely one of the connectors has been installed wrong.

Also as the MOST bus is a ring topology, all other devices on the bus need to retransmit the signal. So if you have Bluetooth/USB ULF, Sat tuner SDARS module, CD changer, nav or the OEM ipod adapter any one of those modules (or it's connections) could the problem (including the main head unit where the ring originates). For diagnosing the ring, each module can turn down the fiber brightness so a problem spot can be determined.

I found the factory had left my fiber lines in a tight ball wrapped around wires above my fuse box (that serves as the connection point for diagnostic). It was a complete mess, the bends WAY tighter then the factory recommendations for minimum bend radius. However, my system is working okay with the two MOST bus modules I added, ULF and IBOC. But I was very concerned when I saw how shoddily it came from the factory.

 

Also, for your latest issue where the head unit seems to want to choose AUX that to me sounds more like the head unit is having an issue, but it depends on your car configuration. If you have bluetooth the aux comes in to the head unit via the MOST bus, which would correlate with your radio tuner problems. If you don't have bluetooth the aux is connected directly to the head unit.

Either way, if the CD player is missing from the audio menu, the head unit is probably defective. There have been a number of people I have read on this forum that have had theirs replaced.

 

MOST buss? I thought it was a CAN Buss.

 

CAN bus is for the data on the car relating to engine and buttons, lighting, etc, there are a couple of busses, I think there are both a P and K bus for engine data as well. CAN bus is an electrical signal bus (like a party line) where the MOST bus is a fiber optic ring.

The MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport) bus is used to connect the head unit (cd player) to the devices I mentioned above, if you have any of them. Before I added my HD tuner the MOST bus ring had no devices on it.

 

Took it into dealer when it exhibited this behavior, but no fault was present. The tech had the gall to tell us we were crazy and it's ok for the radio to randomly select an input with each start... however recently has been defaulting to Aux once you hit the start button with only Aux showing on the screen. I suspect it is a bus problem as SP suggested, as if the radio can't communicate with anything at startup and defaults to aux??? We were soo miffed we asked the manager if they wanted to buy the car back. Duno how they would loose consistent customers over an issue like this. They are fixing the rear view mirror now, but not the radio... we'll see what we can do when we go to pick it up this week.

 

Well, I traded mine in on a GTI. So far, not defects. I had a page full on the Mini at 1000 miles. It is not so much the problems with the cars ( I have owned many British sports cars), it is the attitude of the dealers to expect us to live with it. If your radio changes inputs, it is broken. If it blanks out, it is broken. If the sunroof sticks, it is broken. If the windows go crazy, they are broken, if the window cracks when you hit a bump, it is a defect. No vapor separator is a design defect. Bad headlight pattern is a design defect, shocks that bounce in corners are a design defect......
We can deal with a dew problems because they are a hoot to drive, but no excuse for the dealers. I will never buy another BMW of any kind.

 

Since I see you have a USB port you have the bluetooth system as well. That means your AUX port runs through the ULF module...Which means the fiber optic ring is providing your Aux signal. Does your aux port or usb actually work when your tuner is missing? If so that means the fiber optic MOST bus may not be the issue. It really points to the head unit as more of a likely culprit of the problem. And mostly because your CD player goes missing. That's part of the head unit.

 

Good point. We will try plugging in an iPod through the USB/phono adapter and see if it works when the screen shows up with only "AUX". We pick the car up tomorrow from the dealer, so I'm sure they wouldn't have tried to do anything, and we'll get another chance to see the fault again...