Driving along the iDrive screen will suddenly go blank, losing phone, sat nav etc. A little message appears in the driver console behind steering wheel saying something along the lines of 'service temporarily lost' but as I'm driving couldn't take a picture. It kicks back to life after about 2 mins but losing sat nav and phone call, so not great. Its happened to me 3 times in 5 days since getting my IX 40 last week. I have called BMW assistance from the iDrive and they suggested an OTA software update. I've done that, but only yesterday and not driven may miles since, so not sure its fixed it yet. Interested to hear back from anybody else if its happened to them.
I was thinking about starting a new thread, but since you have a blank screen problem, I am going to go ahead and describe in detail what is happening when my iX 50 screen goes blank. Foremost, let me be clear what I am describing is a system failure, primarily involving the the iDrive Screen, and a number of affiliated computerized services. The dashboard computer screen, however, remains unaffected and I can still control the screen in front of the steering wheel with the controls on the steering wheel. I also have two youtube videos showing how the screen completely goes blank as the iDrive system computer shuts down and then proceeds to reboot. I might post the link if enough people ask for it. I can also confirm with 100% accuracy that my system failure happens everytime I drive by THE SAME LOCATION everyday. And it does not really matter what time of day or day of the week I drive by the same location.
My theory is that Continental Technologies who designed BMW's entire cockpit dashboard with embedded computers has a dedicated computer board with SOC for the media control unit which includes the iDrive8 OS and WIRELESS connections which includes WiFi throughout the car, 5G services, wireless audio and the iDrive screen:
Continental Technology in the BMW iX Electric Vehicle Creates an Innovative User Experience. <-- click this link to read more.
The point where my screen fails is nearby police and a high security zone. A friend has suggested that Long Range "LoRa" 857 Mhz (unregulated frequency band) Police communications is jamming the computer, causing it to fail. I have not yet confirmed this. I am considering the purchase of a spectrometer to analyse signal frequencies at the exact point where my car computer shuts down. Anyway, once I drive beyond the point where the media control computer fails, it then reboots.
Also I had my car serviced at BMW to have the car computers reprogrammed - which included the software upgrade that also fixes the airbag bug. The reprogramming does NOT solve the problem with the computer shutting down and causing the iDrive screen going blank, wireless services shutting down, etc. I can also tell you that due to the navigation application failing as the system computer completely turns off while the car is operating, drivers can seriously be at risk of an accident. This happened to me the first several times my computer system shut down until I figured out exactly where the computer would always shut down.
Anyway, the folks at BMW engineering HQ and Continental technologies probably know exactly why the computer system fails and the screen goes blank. I am not so sure that BMW legal is aware of the flawed design/engineering for a recall.
Let me know your thoughts...(technical, legal, etc.)
