BMW CIC Professional with wayward GPS

[TJH 500]

My 2012 BMW E91 is fitted with the CIC Professional system and very nice it was too when it was working. A month or so after buying the car the GPS antenna started behaving a bit randomly and now thinks I am about 200 miles to the west of Brest which I'm clearly not! I have had the system looked at by my local car stereo shop who could not fix it, so they sent it off to a location in Bath where the fault was diagnosed as a faulty GPS module (I think I could have guessed that) but that Harman Becker who make this stuff for BMW would not supply the part so it could not be repaired. So, two inspection fees later, I am no further on. Irksome though it is not to have functioning satnav, I do not particularly wish to pay £1028 to BMW for a replacement head unit and its programming. I have since done a bit of ringing around and I cannot find anyone who can repair a CIC Professional system. Does anyone out there know of anyone who can please?

[ecs0set]

TJH 500 said:

My 2012 BMW E91 is fitted with the CIC Professional system and very nice it was too when it was working. A month or so after buying the car the GPS antenna started behaving a bit randomly and now thinks I am about 200 miles to the west of Brest which I'm clearly not! I have had the system looked at by my local car stereo shop who could not fix it, so they sent it off to a location in Bath where the fault was diagnosed as a faulty GPS module (I think I could have guessed that) but that Harman Becker who make this stuff for BMW would not supply the part so it could not be repaired. So, two inspection fees later, I am no further on. Irksome though it is not to have functioning satnav, I do not particularly wish to pay £1028 to BMW for a replacement head unit and its programming. I have since done a bit of ringing around and I cannot find anyone who can repair a CIC Professional system. Does anyone out there know of anyone who can please?

The BMW systems are made up of lots of different modules. The CIC may have more of it integrated into the head unit but on the previous CCC unit, most of the modules are under the boot floor. Raise up the boot carpet, try to find some electronics boxes and wiggle the connections.

If not, maybe check the connections behind the head unit. The GPS antenna is part of the shark fin so maybe that is faulty. I believe there is a service mode to the iDrive which will give you information about what the head unit is receiving from the GPS: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=518...

[TJH 500]

Thank you very much for the help. I have just tried to generate the service menu and couldn't get it work but I will keep trying. In the interest of brevity, I did not provide all of the detail in my diagnostic trail. It actually started with my local BMW specialist. Their verdict based on their diagnostic computer was that the GPS antenna was going to ground so they replaced the GPS antenna but as that did not fix the problem they suspected the GPS antenna lead was at fault which is why they directed me to my local car stereo place (to have the GPS coaxial cable checked). The verdict there was that the GPS cable was OK but the head unit should have been generating a 5V power supply for the GPS antenna, which it was not. As my local car stereo place could not fix this it was dispatched to Maple Audio in Bath who were capable of carrying out a deeper level of repair. The report from them was that the GPS module - a printed circuit board located within the head unit was not working properly - which was the part they could not obtain from Harman Becker. I have just put the head unit back into the car and while the plastic surround on the Fakra connector on the GPS lead is not in perfect condition, it is still a snug fit and I am sure that it would not come adrift as a result of bumps and vibration. So that is where I am!!

[gizlaroc]

Have you tried plugging another GPS antenna into the back of the unit?

Sounds lik this has failed.

[ecs0set]

gizlaroc said:

Have you tried plugging another GPS antenna into the back of the unit?

Sounds lik this has failed.

Good plan. For testing, a cheap one may suffice. Under £10 delivered (no experience of this supplier / make):
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GPS-antenna-FAKRA-Audi-R...

[TJH 500]

Actually I did think of that but dropped the idea when my local stereo shop diagnosed a fault with the head unit which was subsequently confirmed by Maple Audio. But yes, for what they cost, it would be a worth a try.

[home]

try an antenna from ebay, loads available for £5. They work perfectly. You want a fakra connection.

also try this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v78Nj9QOoM

[TJH 500]

Thank you very much for the tips. I have managed to access the service menu and sure enough, GPS status is 'no GPS available'. So I have an aftermarket GPS antenna and new Fakra connector on order so I will report back once fitted.

[gizlaroc]

Just stick it under the dash as well, don't worry about routing it to the rear again.

[TJH 500]

Aftermarket GPS antenna fitted today and there was no change to my location - I'm still bobbing around in the Eastern Atlantic apparently! I think I can now be reasonably sure that the fault rests with the head unit so I think I have two options - live with a Tom Tom and wait until repair becomes possible (assuming that over time it will) or start spending money.

[ecs0set]

TJH 500 said:

Aftermarket GPS antenna fitted today and there was no change to my location - I'm still bobbing around in the Eastern Atlantic apparently! I think I can now be reasonably sure that the fault rests with the head unit so I think I have two options - live with a Tom Tom and wait until repair becomes possible (assuming that over time it will) or start spending money.

OK, so if it's the head unit that's at fault, I would imagine you could swap it out. It will require some recoding and you may lose any map updates that you have purchased.

Here's an example of someone who has completed the CCC to CIC mod, which would suggest that CIC to CIC is possible: http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showthread.php?t=435...

[gizlaroc]

Loads of eBay cheap.

[TJH 500]

Thanks, yes, I'll keep my eye out for a second hand unit - ideally one that comes just as a head unit rather than the complete CCC to CIC upgrade kit

[gizlaroc]

Try and find out what car it has come from, if it has come from a car with the same options it will be pretty much plug and play.

Also, the CCC units were in three parts, dvd drive, radio etc. and then the nav section, the cic may be the same.

Have a look on realoem.com to see, if it is you could buy one with a knackered drive and just replace the section you need.

[TJH 500]

I can now conclude this thread. Almost in desperation I thought I would give BMW a try. To initiate the repair process with BMW incurred yet another inspection fee/diagnostic charge, now the third that I paid. They discovered that the sharks fin cover had been inadequately stuck down and water had got into both the GPS and the GSM bits of the antenna and were showing faults. This I believe was down to my local BMW specialist who had replaced the antenna at the start of this sorry tale. But in any event as it was faulty, this had be changed before I could progress things. Sure enough, as predicted, the second new antenna did not sort out my GPS issue so BMW (Ocean) agreed with me that the head unit was at fault - but surprisingly this is where the good news starts. Because my car is just out of warranty, low mileage and with a complete BMW service history, BMW goodwill money paid for a significant proportion of the cost of the replacement head unit. So my concluding point is, had I gone to BMW in the first place, I would have saved myself quite a bit of money and a stack of faffing around with well intentioned squiggly-amp folk who, as it transpired were never really in a position to fix my problem. I don't suppose that's often said on these forums!!