F30 BMW w/ no sound

Reati

I've racked my brain and internet searching abilities. Hoping someone can throw me some ideas.

2012 F30 BMW no sound. Everything was fine when I was driving home. When I got home I turned off / locked the car then about 2 hours later I went out and unplugged the USB to put new songs on it. Next day, started the car and the sound hasn't worked since.

Symptoms

• iDrive loads and trips computers etc all work.
• Radio "works" as in I can load it, but no channels are listed and the tuning UX is blank.
• USB stick with music loads in the folders / names of songs etc. When you hit play it says "invalid file" (the same usb works in elsewhere / oher usb stick have the same problem in this car)
• Warning gongs etc have no sound
• Reversing sensors have no sound but show up on the iDrive screen radar style view fine.
• CD / DVD player in the boot is dead (though I've never used it so could always been dead)

Things I checked

• Fuses. All were fine.
• Reset iDrive / Car Computer
• Checked for Combox - none installed
• No water / dampness etc in the boot.
• Software is updated to latest.
• OBD reader shows no error messages.
• No errors on dash or in iDrive

The amp is the last thing I need to check but not sure how to tell if it's dead or not.

Anyone have any other ideas of thing that might be worth checking or heard of similar problems? All the stuff I found online is slightly different. The main thing being the Radio "works" but no way to tune it or no channels show up.

MetzgerMeister

Never experienced anything like that in my 3.5 years of F30 ownership.

Have you contacted the dealership from where you bought it? Apart from that the only other option is to disconnect the battery for a few hours, reconnect and see what happens.

Reati

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Never experienced anything like that in my 3.5 years of F30 ownership.

Have you contacted the dealership from where you bought it? Apart from that the only other option is to disconnect the battery for a few hours, reconnect and see what happens.

I know. I've never had this on any bimmer I've owned nor can I find anything like it detailed online. No, haven't tried the dealer yet. It's well out of warranty so hoping to sort it myself.

I'll give the battery a shot at the weekend. A part of me things it's a software bug as so much stuff works. Like if the radio was shot, none of it would work. If the amp was gone, then surely the radio stations would show up but I'd get no sound. The lack of any error codes isn't helping either!

crasy dash

Not sure if this video is any help but its worth watching anyway it could be along shot .
Its a real strange problem you have what reader were you using to scan for faults is it a generic obd reader?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxELVPXV2r8

Reati

crasy dash wrote: »

Not sure if this video is any help but its worth watching anyway it could be along shot .
Its a real strange problem you have what reader were you using to scan for faults is it a generic obd reader?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxELVPXV2r8

Some generic one a chap in work had for his Bimmer. I've seen that video. Unless my wife put coins in there I'm not sure that is it!

mikeecho

Try unpairing/ removing all Bluetooth devices, then rebooting the I idrive, by keeping the volume button pressed.

If that doesn't work, read this. https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1451974

Gumbo

The amp may be blown.
I had an issue with my X5 a few years ago. Turned out to be the amp.

scannerd

Worth double checking - fuses, just looking is not always going to find one with an issue, and depending on options there are up to 15 which can impact sound, some in boot some under hood. Also unless you have a high level OBD scanner its not going to talk to the sound system. Hope that helps

biko

A fuse can look good but actually be shot. Swap with a fuse from something that's working or if you have spares

Reati

Mystery solved - I think. I wanted to check why the DVD / CD changer was dead and get into the AMP as it’s underneath it.

Found a lovely hole and that something ate through the wires connected to the DVD box in the boot. This includes the optical cable...

Looking up optical cable failure for the F30 leads to the same set of problems I am experiencing. Going to order a loop bypass to fix it short term hopefully.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Reati wrote: »

Mystery solved - I think. I wanted to check why the DVD / CD changer was dead and get into the AMP as it’s underneath it.

Found a lovely hole and that something ate through the wires connected to the DVD box in the boot. This includes the optical cable...

Looking up optical cable failure for the F30 leads to the same set of problems I am experiencing. Going to order a loop bypass to fix it short term hopefully.

Id be more concerned about getting whatever ate through the cable out of the car before it does more damage

Reati

Raymond Hallowed Den wrote: »

Id be more concerned about getting whatever ate through the cable out of the car before it does more damage

Totally, but I live out in the sticks. For ever one I get rid of there is another 100 nearby

I haven't seen any tell tale signs of it's return to the car thankfully!