You will need a replacement headunit.we have replaced quite a few with the same fault.total cost around £150 if you get a used headunit + fsc repair files from bmw

 

I literally had the same issue, I watched a video on youtube for how to take off the front air vent then while this was off I was able to peer through the gap with my phone's camera to find the part number for my headunit. I then used RealOEM to find a part that was exchangeable and found a used head unit (a slightly newer model that superceded my old one) on ebay for £80. I then further dismantled my car to fully remove the headunit and replace it with the used one. It was a case of plugging out all the cables from one unit and sticking them in the exact same ports on the other unit. I'd never done anything like this before and it took a bit of effort. After I plugged in the replacement it only worked for FM radio but did not cut out like my old one. I then found a guy on facebook who was able to code the replacement unit remotely using my enet/OBD cable and this restored all the functionality from my previous unit.

Doing all the labour myself mean't it was a pretty cheap repair as I was lucky to obtain free coding and a good deal on the replacement. If I was you, I would not even waste my time going to BMW, unless of course you are under warranty as like the above poster said, its almost certainly a dead head unit.

 

Hi,

At work we have had the same issue with three company cars in the last 2 months including mine.

Exact same issue - rebooting every 20-30 seconds. All three have been fixed by the dealer with just a software reset and upgrade. Apparently when the cars were plugged in they were all showing 2 errors on the headhunit... not sure what truth there is in this but all three cars, including mine have worked fine since. Two were carried out under warranty and the other at a reduced cost of £95 as it was only 3 weeks out of warranty.

They did mention they had to have BMW Germany connect into the cars to perform the reset and upgrade if that means anything...?

Seems to be worth a try vs a new head unit....?

 

I literally had the same issue, I watched a video on youtube for how to take off the front air vent then while this was off I was able to peer through the gap with my phone's camera to find the part number for my headunit. I then used RealOEM to find a part that was exchangeable and found a used head unit (a slightly newer model that superceded my old one) on ebay for £80. I then further dismantled my car to fully remove the headunit and replace it with the used one. It was a case of plugging out all the cables from one unit and sticking them in the exact same ports on the other unit. I'd never done anything like this before and it took a bit of effort. After I plugged in the replacement it only worked for FM radio but did not cut out like my old one. I then found a guy on facebook who was able to code the replacement unit remotely using my enet/OBD cable and this restored all the functionality from my previous unit.

Doing all the labour myself mean't it was a pretty cheap repair as I was lucky to obtain free coding and a good deal on the replacement. If I was you, I would not even waste my time going to BMW, unless of course you are under warranty as like the above poster said, its almost certainly a dead head unit.

Hi Maz, could you share the video you watched on Youtube on how to take it off please. I went to a BMW specialist earlier this week and they confirmed it may be a head unit issue and that it could be an expensive fix. So anything that could reduce the cost i'm pretty open to.

I sounds pretty straight forward by what you've just put, its just the coding bit, because, how to I ensure my bluetooth, usb etc all code to the new unit to make sure they go back to working as before. Did you also get back your service history after the coding?

 

You will need a replacement headunit.we have replaced quite a few with the same fault.total cost around £150 if you get a used headunit + fsc repair files from bmw

hi, I can look into get a used headunit on ebay like Maz recommended below and look into getting someone to help with the recoding to get all the features working again.

 

Fsc repair kit is €25 from our supplier don't know how much from bmw

 

I literally had the same issue, I watched a video on youtube for how to take off the front air vent then while this was off I was able to peer through the gap with my phone's camera to find the part number for my headunit. I then used RealOEM to find a part that was exchangeable and found a used head unit (a slightly newer model that superceded my old one) on ebay for £80. I then further dismantled my car to fully remove the headunit and replace it with the used one. It was a case of plugging out all the cables from one unit and sticking them in the exact same ports on the other unit. I'd never done anything like this before and it took a bit of effort. After I plugged in the replacement it only worked for FM radio but did not cut out like my old one. I then found a guy on facebook who was able to code the replacement unit remotely using my enet/OBD cable and this restored all the functionality from my previous unit.

Doing all the labour myself mean't it was a pretty cheap repair as I was lucky to obtain free coding and a good deal on the replacement. If I was you, I would not even waste my time going to BMW, unless of course you are under warranty as like the above poster said, its almost certainly a dead head unit.

Hi Maz, could you share the video you watched on Youtube on how to take it off please. I went to a BMW specialist earlier this week and they confirmed it may be a head unit issue and that it could be an expensive fix. So anything that could reduce the cost i'm pretty open to.

I sounds pretty straight forward by what you've just put, its just the coding bit, because, how to I ensure my bluetooth, usb etc all code to the new unit to make sure they go back to working as before. Did you also get back your service history after the coding?

Okay look here,

and yeah it is straight forward, but if you have no idea what you're doing you might wanna pay a mechanic to install the unit for you.

I dont really know about the service history part, i dont know how to check as I never went to this on my car before.

 

Hi, can anyone please help please, since the weekend, my BMW 1series (2014 F21), the idrive keeps rebooting every minute.

It reboots itself but there no saved stations, no profile, cars no longer connected to my phone via bluetooth.

I've tried restoring it, but it just shuts down midway, reboots and starts again. Radio seems to work on AM/FM - but that's if it stay on long enough for me to find a station before it switches off again.

Can anyone shed some light on what it could be before I take it to BMW to run a diagnostic.

Video of it in action -

https://youtu.be/9jT3tXgk-mo

Hi,

At work we have had the same issue with three company cars in the last 2 months including mine.

Exact same issue - rebooting every 20-30 seconds. All three have been fixed by the dealer with just a software reset and upgrade. Apparently when the cars were plugged in they were all showing 2 errors on the headhunit... not sure what truth there is in this but all three cars, including mine have worked fine since. Two were carried out under warranty and the other at a reduced cost of £95 as it was only 3 weeks out of warranty.

They did mention they had to have BMW Germany connect into the cars to perform the reset and upgrade if that means anything...?

Seems to be worth a try vs a new head unit....?

Same here. Mine kept rebooting and a full update of all the car modules fixed it. Another plus was the auto gearbox felt smoother after as well.

 

Fsc repair kit is €25 from our supplier don't know how much from bmw

What does an fsc repair kit do please?

Would it return fsc codes to standard therefore wiping anything like patched fsc for apple CarPlay for example?

 

Fsc repair kit is €25 from our supplier don't know how much from bmw

What does an fsc repair kit do please?

Would it return fsc codes to standard therefore wiping anything like patched fsc for apple CarPlay for example?

When swapping the headunit you'll lose all patched fscs.fsc repair pack is needed to reactivate your cars original features ie Bluetooth,armrest usb etc

 

Fsc repair kit is €25 from our supplier don't know how much from bmw

What does an fsc repair kit do please?

Would it return fsc codes to standard therefore wiping anything like patched fsc for apple CarPlay for example?

When swapping the headunit you'll lose all patched fscs.fsc repair pack is needed to reactivate your cars original features ie Bluetooth,armrest usb etc

Ah great - so if I wanted to undo apple CarPlay for example - then this would do that and set fsc codes back to standard??? Bmw unable to tell?

 

What does an fsc repair kit do please?

Would it return fsc codes to standard therefore wiping anything like patched fsc for apple CarPlay for example?

When swapping the headunit you'll lose all patched fscs.fsc repair pack is needed to reactivate your cars original features ie Bluetooth,armrest usb etc

Ah great - so if I wanted to undo apple CarPlay for example - then this would do that and set fsc codes back to standard??? Bmw unable to tell?

Yes or you can just delete the carplay fsc if it's not a full fsc patched set you have installed

 

Fsc repair kit is €25 from our supplier don't know how much from bmw

What does an fsc repair kit do please?

Would it return fsc codes to standard therefore wiping anything like patched fsc for apple CarPlay for example?

When swapping the headunit you'll lose all patched fscs.fsc repair pack is needed to reactivate your cars original features ie Bluetooth,armrest usb etc

Hi, I've been reading a few other threads on this and wondered - does the fsc repair pack mean I don't need to get the car re-wired and coded to the new headunit? or will this still need to happen? Slightly confused now.

 

Fsc repair kit will need to be reinserted with esys.most people find that after fitting a replacement headunit Bluetooth and usb don't work until this is done.

 

My 530d has just come out of warranty and started rebooting the idrive every minute. I took it to Sytners and they fixed it in a day saying that it was the Absolute radio station that was causing many cars (not just BMW) to fail this way something they were transmitting). They say they had to reset the dab. They didn't charge but I'm just not sure. Apparently the Absolute radio station broadcast is fixed. I can't see anything about this on the internet. Anyone else heard of this?

 

Apparently the Absolute radio display banner was too large a file and if the headunit cache was full it would cause the headunit to crash and reboot constantly

Absolute have changed the size of the banner file size now but if the headunit is crashing the only way to reset it, is to factory restore it and re-programme

 

Hi all,

First time BMW owner saying hello. Just picked up a 2016 120d last week and absolutely loving it so far, although unfortunately on day 3 of ownership I got hit with the iDrive restarting issue which has taken the shine off a bit! I'm currently running a portable bluetooth speaker on the passenger seat to have some music on the go :|

It started when I downloaded the ConnectedDrive app and tried to link it with the car. That all seemed to go well but after the next ignition cycle the restarting issue began. Anyway, it's booked in to the dealer later this month so hopefully will get sorted and I'll post back here if I'm able to get any more info about it.

The dealer didn't seem surprised when I described the issue and did mention they'd had a number of cars in with this issue. I'd love to know a bit more about the technical issue of what's causing it. I don't think my iDrive would have downloaded any DAB radio logos as I only ever used bluetooth audio on iDrive before it went mad, so don't know if the Absolute Radio thing applies to me or not.

 

Just to confirm that this issue is also now resolved for me, through a software update at the Dealer.

Unfortunately they weren't able (or willing) to give me any technical detail about the cause of the issue. They implied though that it was a full software reload to fix it. Either way I'm relieved that it is sorted. Some piece of mind that it's fairly easily fixed if anyone else encounters it. (2016 120d F20)

 

I had same issues and it can be resolved by BMW Coding Scotland | Mini & Rolls Royce, even remotely

Hope this help you guys

 

Had the same issue

been following this thread

just made an account here to show my experience and help others

loads of people said hardware/ software

Bit The bullet and went to a guy in London who I found on the forums

well…
RESULT
IDrive back up and running and saved some money going hardware route
I’ll list his contact details if anyone is in the same position as me

WhatsApp: 07398936603

 

THANK YOU! to the above thread. WhatsApp: 07398936603

My 2017 F11, with the small screen developed the 'crash/reboot loop' literally out of the blue, last week. Every 20-30 seconds on a continual basis, powering itself down and then rebooting to the 'BMW Connected Drive' splash screen and then to the main option page and then crashing etc etc.
I called my specialist in Gloucester, they said its a common fault with the small screen idrive systems and it was very likely the head unit was absolutely fine and that a straight forward software upgrade was required. Great!.. However they could not do the job, instead directing me to the main dealer in Cheltenham.

Main dealer wanted the car for a whole day and the only slot available was 3 weeks in advance.
They would charge me £125.00 + vat for diagnostics and a further £170.00 + vat to perform the upgrade, if that was the issue. Of course I booked the car in..no other choice right?... WRONG.. After booking the car in last Thursday I continued reading through the forums and I came across 'Bimmer 140i' thread above and sent a WhatsApp text.
Within 30mins I was chatting to Mo, a savvy IT guy based in the E14 area of London. He was very confident given my explanation, that it was indeed a case of an upgrade to the idrive system using of course the correct software.
Process would take 40mins to an hour, cost would be £150.00.

By chance I was working in Tottenham on Sunday, which was yesterday as I write this review. I got to Mo at 6pm and he did the upgrade in 40 minutes. idrive is fixed, completely back to normal.
I too just made an account to help others with this issue. I'm a 50 year old professional photographer, based in the Cotswolds. If your BMW experiences this fault, call these guys. They fixed the problem quickly, communication with Mo was great and the cost is absolutely fair. Job Done! and thank you.

 

I had the same issue with the iDrive in my 320d 2015 Saloon / Sedan (F30 model).
The iDrive unit was restarting every 20 seconds. Was told by local BMW garage that the head unit needed replacing and would cost around £900.
Working in IT I thought the issue may be related to a software fault rather than a hardware fault, i.e. corrupted data causing the restart. So I deleted the personal data stored against the current driver profile and this cured the issue. The problem is you have to be very quick in initiating the deletion function in iDrive as the unit reboots every 20 seconds.
You will see in the operating manual and loads of YouTube videos show that you need to go through quite a few menu options to actually get to the "delete personal data" menu option. Then, when the delete starts the iDrive reboots before the cycle is completed. But I persevered for over 2 hours and finally the continuous cycle of deleting the personal data in 15 second intervals cleared the profile data and my iDrive is fully working again. I just had to re-pair my phone, setup my radio stations, etc, to get it back to how it was before the issue occurred.
In my mind, sitting in my car continuously initiating the data deletion every 15-20 seconds for 2 hours was better than paying £900.
Hope this helps other people out!

 

Thanks mate! Your post saved me a lot of time and expense. The idrive on my 2015 435d was rebooting continuously every 20 seconds or so, with no access to my saved data such as radio stations.

The solution for me was the same as you - delete my currenr profile in the idrive, however for me this worked on the first attempt. I selected ‘delete all personal data’ I think and it said it would take 15 mins to complete, don’t move the car etc. I expected it to reboot shortly after - but it didn’t. It completed the deletion (apart from connected drive as it said it couldn’t do that). After that I started the engine and it was working fine again. No rebooting!

Had to seta bunch of things again (radio stations, mirror positions etc) and reconnect my Bluetooth.

 

Just had this same rebooting idrive prob with my 66 plate 1 Series. Thank you Petert100001 ur instrictions fixed my issue. As soon as it boots up, scroll to settings at bottom, then profile (1 from bottom), then arrow right for sub settings, then delete personal data at bottom, followed by a few OKs to continue. Had to repeat about 10 times, along with turning car ignition off a few times along the way. Process took 20 mins. Thanks for all help and advise above

 

How did you deal with the fact it keeps turning off midway through the reset?

 

Just keep persevering, once it reboots navigate straight to delete personal data and go again. After about 10 attempts with reboots all data must have been deleted and prob was fixed. Then just needed to resave radio resets and pair phone again

 

Thanks. I’ve become quite the expert in navigating quickly!

I’ve also had some not all data deleted messages. I wonder if I’m getting there.