Something bizarre just occurred on my 2004 Cooper S. With the radio turned off, I am hearing an intermittent beep every few minutes, followed by what sounds like radio interference coming from my rear right speaker. The interference sound even continues with the engine shut but the key switched to ON. And still the radio is off.
When I turn on the radio it no longer locates radio station signals.
This may be a coincidence but it has begun immediately after a full wheel alignment. I don't see the correlation, yet why would an alignment interfere with the radio and/or antenna?
I don't have warning lights on the dash; it is not the freeze alert; I don't have SAT NAV, missing cellphone, etc.

 

Do you have any non BMW equipment in the car?

 

NO, all standard issue equipment. So far I have been told by many audio people that the HK amp has simply stopped communicating with the unit, a common fault for thousands of Minis.

 

You may indeed have issues with the HK amp.


You can test if it still communicates with the headunit by turning on the car. If there is no sound, the headhunt has not powered the amp up via the data bus (Ibus) message. Also the DSP options (inc MINI H/K mode) will not be available from the tone menu on the HU.

The amp probably goes to sleep after a period of inactivity on the iBus, rather than with a specific message from the HU or car.

I suspect if you wait up to 16 minutes the amp will shut down.

As for the beep and and hiss, you may have a DSP crash issue. If you can't disconnect the battery and let the voltages die down below 1V over a few minutes, then either consider ignoring it, selecting a non-DSP audio tone or consider replacing the amp (not cheap).