[Vic55]

This just happened a few times over the past 2 weeks. I would drive the car (after not driving it for several days) and within a few minutes my I Drive will shut off completely and then turn back in a few seconds.

EG: I drove the car last night for the first time since Friday and about 1 mile in, the I-Drive shut down and then it turned on right away. I drove the car about 30 more miles with no issues. I then drove it back home about 3 hours later with zero issues. Could this be a power source issue or lack of it due to limited driving? I cant see that happening since I had no issues for the prior 7 weeks of ownership but one never knows.

Anyone else have this type of experience? I know I can take it to the dealer as they will be the only one to rectify it but was just asking the community here their thoughts.

[limeypride]

Originally Posted by Vic55

This just happened a few times over the past 2 weeks. I would drive the car (after not driving it for several days) and within a few minutes my I Drive will shut off completely and then turn back in a few seconds.

EG: I drove the car last night for the first time since Friday and about 1 mile in, the I-Drive shut down and then it turned on right away. I drove the car about 30 more miles with no issues. I then drove it back home about 3 hours later with zero issues. Could this be a power source issue or lack of it due to limited driving? I cant see that happening since I had no issues for the prior 7 weeks of ownership but one never knows.

Anyone else have this type of experience? I know I can take it to the dealer as they will be the only one to rectify it but was just asking the community here their thoughts.

I doubt it's mechanical--I'd lay money it's digital... a crash of some kind that leads to recovery: aka. it reboots. You could measure a real reboot e2e time and compare the two--I suspect they'd match but that only confirms symptom, not root cause.

Has it been coded?

[Vic55]

Originally Posted by limeypride

I doubt it's mechanical--I'd lay money it's digital... a crash of some kind that leads to recovery: aka. it reboots. You could measure a real reboot e2e time and compare the two--I suspect they'd match but that only confirms symptom, not root cause.

Has it been coded?

Thanks Dean, no coding- well one thing- the trunk.

[limeypride]

Originally Posted by Vic55

Thanks Dean, no coding- well one thing- the trunk.

Any correlation between the time the coding was done and this apparent reboot?

PS: why only the trunk?

[Vic55]

Originally Posted by limeypride

Any correlation between the time the coding was done and this apparent reboot?

PS: why only the trunk?

I had the trunk coded by Ben at the time of lowering which was the 2nd week of December. This issue started only in the last two weeks of January.

I didn't have time to have him do more so I picked that at the time for no specific reason.

[unfoundnemo]

Sounds like this could be an overheating issue if it's mainly happening shortly after startup, that's when the CPU is likely working the hardest but the cooling components might not have as much of an effect with the ambient temp. Has it been more typical after sitting around in the sun or in a warm garage for a while?

Not saying it should be normal, just a slight issue on the hardware end that's being magnified by the situation. Voltage drop could possibly be an issue as well, but hopefully not the case.

Granted, nobody is going to want to trace it out specifically, so if it's not throwing any codes pointing to an electrical problem, the trouble shooting will probably start with a few hard resets, followed by re-flashing the software, followed by replacing the head unit.

[Vic55]

Originally Posted by unfoundnemo

Sounds like this could be an overheating issue if it's mainly happening shortly after startup, that's when the CPU is likely working the hardest but the cooling components might not have as much of an effect with the ambient temp. Has it been more typical after sitting around in the sun or in a warm garage for a while?

Not saying it should be normal, just a slight issue on the hardware end that's being magnified by the situation. Voltage drop could possibly be an issue as well, but hopefully not the case.

Granted, nobody is going to want to trace it out specifically, so if it's not throwing any codes pointing to an electrical problem, the trouble shooting will probably start with a few hard resets, followed by re-flashing the software, followed by replacing the head unit.

Oh damn!!! Thanks.

Its always in a garage before being driven except after I take it out and drive it for a while and park it where it may be. But the initial start up (cold) is in my garage.

[Vic55]

I wonder if this will work

limeypride
unfoundnemo

[unfoundnemo]

Originally Posted by Vic55

I wonder if this will work

limeypride
unfoundnemo

Yeah, that's what I meant by the hard reset, definitely worth a try in case there are any gremlins floating around. I'd think that having the car sit for 30+ min would have the same result, but hopefully that does it.

[Vic55]

Originally Posted by unfoundnemo

Yeah, that's what I meant by the hard reset, definitely worth a try in case there are any gremlins floating around. I'd think that having the car sit for 30+ min would have the same result, but hopefully that does it.

Will do and report back... after some deeper dives on that site called google your overheating theory seems the most plausible.

Its sad that the system comes to that.

[FBMWWINS]

Is your car on the latest software? Do you have the chance to read out the fault codes via an app such as Bimmertool? That is the first thing I would do next to resetting the unit. Often you will not know there is an error code behind it unless you read it out with one of the meant tools. If you do that and establish that no errors are being thrown then the next thing would be report it to the dealer. Most likely the latter will suggest a software update...... And take it from there. If it's a software issue the update most likely will solve it. Of course as some suggested the scenario of having to replace the headunit is also possible. Keep us posted.

[Vic55]

Originally Posted by FBMWWINS

Is your car on the latest software? Do you have the chance to read out the fault codes via an app such as Bimmertool? That is the first thing I would do next to resetting the unit. Often you will not know there is an error code behind it unless you read it out with one of the meant tools. If you do that and establish that no errors are being thrown then the next thing would be report it to the dealer. Most likely the latter will suggest a software update...... And take it from there. If it's a software issue the update most likely will solve it. Of course as some suggested the scenario of having to replace the headunit is also possible. Keep us posted.

I think the car got updated in 11/2020 and I bought with 1700 miles on the clock in December. Sadly I dont have a code reader just an obdII unit which I dont think is the same?

I appreciate the details, Ill report back for sure.

[limeypride]

Originally Posted by Vic55

I think the car got updated in 11/2020 and I bought with 1700 miles on the clock in December. Sadly I dont have a code reader just an obdII unit which I dont think is the same?

I appreciate the details, Ill report back for sure.

Ah, you see, if you had a FREAKIN' JB4 you'd have it all!!!

LMAO

[FBMWWINS]

Originally Posted by Vic55

I think the car got updated in 11/2020 and I bought with 1700 miles on the clock in December. Sadly I dont have a code reader just an obdII unit which I dont think is the same?

I appreciate the details, Ill report back for sure.

Perhaps there is a newer software already as a couple of months have passed. But I would only do the update if nothing else helps and if the dealer suggest this themselves, before eventually getting into talks about replacing the headunit. If you did not (yet) have much coding done and do not have an ecu flash tune, both of which I gather you do not, then there is nothing major that the update will erase.

A great tool (app) which is used and talked about a lot here at Bimmerpost is bimmer tool:

https://bimmer-tool.com/

To run it you will need an OBD II Adapter and although many will work, these are the recomendations:

https://bimmer-tool.com/index.php/adapters/

Another program I can advise is bimmer link:

https://www.bimmerlink.app/

Check the specs of the OBD II adapter you have and compare. Before buying one you should of course try the one you have.

Both are great tools for reading out fault codes and also for clearing them as well as to do a whole range of other things. For example after installing a tune previously on my F32 435i engine I once had a catalytic converter temperature error (until I installed a catted DP). No code appeared in cluster so unless I hooked up the OBD II with bimmer tool there is no way I would have known that. It's just a simple example but it can often make a difference because you might discover something well before a potential problem may manifest itself.

[Vic55]

Originally Posted by FBMWWINS

Perhaps there is a newer software already as a couple of months have passed. But I would only do the update if nothing else helps and if the dealer suggest this themselves, before eventually getting into talks about replacing the headunit. If you did not (yet) have much coding done and do not have an ecu flash tune, both of which I gather you do not, then there is nothing major that the update will erase.

A great tool (app) which is used and talked about a lot here at Bimmerpost is bimmer tool:

https://bimmer-tool.com/

To run it you will need an OBD II Adapter and although many will work, these are the recomendations:

https://bimmer-tool.com/index.php/adapters/

Another program I can advise is bimmer link:

https://www.bimmerlink.app/

Check the specs of the OBD II adapter you have and compare. Before buying one you should of course try the one you have.

Both are great tools for reading out fault codes and also for clearing them as well as to do a whole range of other things. For example after installing a tune previously on my F32 435i engine I once had a catalytic converter temperature error (until I installed a catted DP). No code appeared in cluster so unless I hooked up the OBD II with bimmer tool there is no way I would have known that. It's just a simple example but it can often make a difference because you might discover something well before a potential problem may manifest itself.

Wow great info thanks again.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Vic55

Will do and report back... after some deeper dives on that site called google your overheating theory seems the most plausible.

Its sad that the system comes to that.

Hoping the full iDrive reset does the trick as I'm a bit skeptical on the CPU overheating although I just found similar root cause theories via the Google support contract aka search as you did.

The reason for the skepticism is my M850i lived through this past AZ summer season which had the record number of days for triple digit temperatures. Even in the garage it was 80 degrees easy and taking it on a drive the first few minutes put it in 115 degrees and I never experience an iDrive reboot. Hence, FBMWWINS' advice on checking fault codes, etc. is sound advice if the iDrive reset does not do the trick.

[BMWGirlFL]

Was taught reset/reboot is a 70 sec hold on the volume button. It goes on & off a few times. I'm using the native Spotify app. Gets wonky (highlighted song, album art) if I use shuffle feature. Any thoughts? Been wondering if dealer can separately uninstall/reinstall ConnectedMusic/app.

[Resjudicata]

Originally Posted by Vic55

This just happened a few times over the past 2 weeks. I would drive the car (after not driving it for several days) and within a few minutes my I Drive will shut off completely and then turn back in a few seconds.

EG: I drove the car last night for the first time since Friday and about 1 mile in, the I-Drive shut down and then it turned on right away. I drove the car about 30 more miles with no issues. I then drove it back home about 3 hours later with zero issues. Could this be a power source issue or lack of it due to limited driving? I cant see that happening since I had no issues for the prior 7 weeks of ownership but one never knows.

Anyone else have this type of experience? I know I can take it to the dealer as they will be the only one to rectify it but was just asking the community here their thoughts.

everyone above posted what I would say, except I thought at first it could have been a software update.
my unit will reboot after updating the maps and "re-syncing" if I go "off the grid" for a while. We live in DC, but have a mountain cabin that's so far into WV that we don't get signals of any kind (no cell, no GPS, no wifi, nothing).

However, when you said that it keeps happening multiple times; amd combined with the most likely guess of overheating; plus BloozemanAZ says it doesn't overheat in AZ; I'm "guessing " by reasonable deduction from all the above given facts; that you might have a defective head unit.

I'd see if the dealership can reprogram the software, or reformat and replace. if not, you might need a whole new idrive.

[unfoundnemo]

Originally Posted by bloozemanAZ

Hoping the full iDrive reset does the trick as I'm a bit skeptical on the CPU overheating although I just found similar root cause theories via the Google support contract aka search as you did.

The reason for the skepticism is my M850i lived through this past AZ summer season which had the record number of days for triple digit temperatures. Even in the garage it was 80 degrees easy and taking it on a drive the first few minutes put it in 115 degrees and I never experience an iDrive reboot. Hence, FBMWWINS' advice on checking fault codes, etc. is sound advice if the iDrive reset does not do the trick.

I don't think anyone is trying to state that restarting should be normal if when it gets hot or is hot out. CPU temp has to be close to 200 degrees before it would actually shutdown as a fail safe. It's more that a slightly defective unit could operate normally most of the time, and sitting around not being used while at room temperature or above (i.e. heatsinks are warm, less circulation around those chipsets, etc.) just creates a scenario where the the CPU might overheat during the startup process.

In actuality, if it is a "defective unit", the real defect would probably be something as simple as a chip that isn't set in correctly or some thermal paste that was applied a little light in one area, fairly common for those types of components in general.

Definitely agree as I mentioned that the troubleshooting route would start with hard resets and move to reinstalling software and then replacing the head unit assuming it's not throwing any faults otherwise.

[Vic55]

Well the hard reset apparently did NOT work as I drove the car in the PM and it shut down before mile 1 and then no issues for the next 9 miles. It wasnt even hot outside here in SoCal and no issues a few hours later on the way back.

Time to see the damn dealer.

But more than that; thank you to all for your input and suggestions.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Vic55

Well the hard reset apparently did NOT work as I drove the car in the PM and it shut down before mile 1 and then no issues for the next 9 miles. It wasnt even hot outside here in SoCal and no issues a few hours later on the way back.

Time to see the damn dealer.

But more than that; thank you to all for your input and suggestions.

Well that absolutely sucks. Hopefully the dealer can pull some fault codes from the iDrive head unit or it will likely turn out to be a he said / she said situation. However, if your dealer is customer focused they will take your word on the situation and work the backend magic to get the unit replaced under warranty if need be. Good luck and fingers crossed to a positive outcome.

[xmanpro]

Originally Posted by Vic55

Well the hard reset apparently did NOT work as I drove the car in the PM and it shut down before mile 1 and then no issues for the next 9 miles. It wasnt even hot outside here in SoCal and no issues a few hours later on the way back.

Time to see the damn dealer.

But more than that; thank you to all for your input and suggestions.

This has happened twice on my x6mc, less than a mile after startup. I'd be interested to see what the dealer says about these odd reboots/crashes as well.

Fingers crossed it's a minor bug!