Faulty Radio display on my 2008 MCSA
 

Has anyone had problems with their L.E.D. Display intermitantly fading out in areas. It seems to work great in the morning when I first drive it but after work it starts to malfunction. Any input wold help!:confused::confused:

A.G. mini cooper 2004, 40K, avf autom tranny, coupe.
 

Hello,

to follow up on your problems with radio/CD, I can assure you that we ve had more often limited radio and coul not place CDs in. We consider this as a minor problem, because in 2007, the. car would be almost impossible to drive, we thought transmission, but local dealership kept saing that there is nothing wrong.
After having had the car towed 5 x from busy hwy or presenting a clear danger to others and self, we would only call insurance, as dealership would not provide any assistance. Another issue has been with sensors, after an independet mechanic told us the car had been overheated several times, asked to take it to the dealership to have upgraded software, and once they suggested the problem could be solved by software update and chcking sensors, we were truly excited. Although the light is constantly on ( the one that should maintain tire pressure in tires). thus t had nothing to do with overheating, no software was updated, but we we finally told we need to get new transmission that was so fine while under warranty.
Would anyone advise about such an expensive iem as avf transmission?
We hope to find a reputable transmission mechanic who would not just give us a price we cannot afford, but someone who could refurbish the transmission,maybe not all part are beyond repair, but we are amateurs and can get easily taken by a specialist, we hope to find an honest mechanic who could help us out....not just talk too fast, but allow trust that we no longer have. We believe tere must be trustworthy people.......
Wht would you do if you were in our shoes?
Thanks,n. A,G.
alxgrt@me.com

Replacing the radio module is most likely the solution. There are used units available on eBay and car-part.com. As long as the donor car has the same options as yours (like CD changer, bluetooth, ipod, sat, HD, and HIFI) it is a direct swap.

If the radio has different options then yours, the dealer can reprogram the vehicle.

Thanks for the help Strobyproby. It's doing exactly as you have discribed and it seems to be the heat that affects the display causing pixilation. I'm starting to wonder if I made a good car choice as it has 64k on it and I fear this thing is going to cause me problems in the future.

Also thanks to Highlander709 and A.G. I didn't mean to leave anyone out!

Same thing on my 07 MCS. Dealer replaced under warranty, no big deal.

I just picked up a 2007 Mini Cooper S w/ 75K miles and I love it. However....the radio display is doing the exact same thing as Highlander is describing. No warranty coverage and dealer/Mini USA are not stepping up to do the right thing and replace what seems to be a 'known' defect. Dealer quoted me $1300 initially and then got his service dept to do a little better, or so I am led to believe. $1050 is bottom line. Can't do it right now, which sucks big time. Thankfully I have an iPod interface and can just put it on shuffle and drive. I'd like to explore a used radio or something else, but not sure its worth the hassle. Bums me out as this is my first Mini and service experience....
Theo

You know the radio display and RPM will dim and brighten according to outside brightness. Ever notice it changes when going through a tunnel and such? Now yours might be dimming too much, but some dimming or brightening is normal.

Right, I'm aware of the dimming, but see the attached photo. I took this as I was certain when I went to the dealer, the symptom would not be occurring, which was the case! It's fine in the early morning and then once it gets warmer it fades away. I found a used unit on eBay, but not sure a, if it will work and b, where I hold get it installed. Do you think a dealer would do it? I'm guessing no...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3247561762282&set=a.1046686941787.8 581.1664092597&type=1&theater[/URL]

Try this again...I've got the photo in my gallery in this site:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/107055/limit/recent[/URL]

It's definitely a defect in the radio display. Mine seems to work about 70% of the time but the pixilation fading in random spots seems to be affected by the heat. Due to the cost and my thin pocketbook I'm probably just going to live with it!

as you have a 2008 if you have less than 50K on the car you may still be under warranty. Need to know what the in service date (first day car was registered) is. if it is after todays date and the car has less than 50K on it is still under warranty and should be fixed for nothing.

I just took my car in to mini of Ontario, Ca for the turbo board recall and the service guy is contacting BMW about the display problem. I have 65k on the car so it is out of warranty but they were concerned and actually sounded like they wanted to resolve the issue W/O hitting my wallet. We'll see!

My radio LCD fades really badly too. In fact, when the car is over 85F inside, you can't see anything on the LCD at all!

Is it possible to purchase a used radio and swap it in? Or does it need to be programmed for the car? I know that I shouldn't bother trying to use a radio from an R56 LCI.

Just saw strobeyprobey's comments above, which answers my question. But does he literally mean the exact same options?

Bump. Has anyone had a resolution? Replacing the stereo the best option?

I have also had issues with my LED on the stereo. It display OK when it was cool, but as the day got warmer, the LED would dim until it was not readable. I was going to buy a new/used stereo but I was afraid I would inherit someone else's issue. So, I just found this on ebay. For $169, they will replace the LED on the stereo unit and then mail it back to you. I pulled my stereo out of the dash (took about 30 minutes) and then mailed the stereo to this company. They should receive it today and hopefully get it back to me this week.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390811644151...84.m1423.l2649

Ed

Awesome find! Is it pretty easy to remove? I'll definitely consider doing this.

Let us know how it goes!

Here is the Youtube video I watched on my iPad in the car to remove my stereo and CD player. Really pretty easy and straight forward. Probably a 30 minute job.


Ed

That's a very thorough video, thank you.

Let us know how it is when you get it back :thumbsup:

In to see the result. I'm considering ripping it apart and trying myself. Search for CD73. It is the same screen used for the 3 series and 1 series as well as our cars. I've seen them for $88 new but expect they should be cheap and abundant used given the volume of vehicles they were run on.

I will let you know how it works out. I just got the email message that it was shipped back to me. I'm out of town for a week, but I'm anxious to get it installed as soon as I get home. Will let y'all know.

Looking forward to it. Did you happen to get a pic of the display before sending it in?