I had a amp put in my R56 base 2010 mini and now there is no illumination on the tach, fuel gauges, nor any movement of the speedometer. The analog tach works, but that ground I think can be traced to the solid state ignition system. The technician changed the ground from the headunit to share a ground with the amplifier -which is a gr8 idea for noise supression, but I think that left many of the OBC functions and illumination as open circuits since these are grounded thru the headunit ? Anyone else have this problem ??? I guess/hope I need to reverte the head unit back to a floating ground which should restore the function of these features. If anyone has any different ideas please share. Thanks. Peter

 

Problem solved ! A 3 pin plug was unattached.

 

The problem isn't the CAN bus. As someone noted earlier, the bus works by addressing the units in a node arrangement. Do not confuse that with the MOST bus... In any case, even with the MOST bus, if the other units on the bus were to function after a device is removed, a loopback cable should be used (or the bus is broken and only the headunit functions). So again programming is technically possible if the devices work and communicate with each other.

The problem is BMW's Progman (and perhaps ISTA/P) which only allows flashing if all the devices on the car are present and OK (i.e. No error codes).

Anw... There is a possibility to manually update each module using a program named "WinKFP", but that is beyond a standard dealer's scope.

PS: The dealer may want to try to remove the amplifier option (HiFi or HK) from the vehicle order stored on the vehicle, which may help alleviate the problem.

 

FYI there are over 50 threads on this forum that EXPLAIN that the OEM amp MUST be there to do any software upgrades. And why it must be there.

Do some reading folks.

 

Totally!!!

Also, the OEM headunit needs to be present too. Just because I don't know how the vehicle system is designed, I would never assume that I should be able to remove a component and still have things work fine!

Jeez I have no idea why my engine runs like crap now and for some reason the dealer doesn't want to fix it....Oh but I pulled out that second camshaft since there is already a spare running in there....This is no different.

And to clarify ISTA/P, like Progman, needs all of the modules present as well. Also, ISTA/P doesn't give the choice to remove options from the VO either (they couldn't remove the factory amp option).

 

Well the best option for people that want to do such mods, is to get an OBDII cable and NCSEXpert, INPA, WinKFP and do the mods necessary themselves. Surely it is doable with NCSExpert.

Probably my car won't be programmable either, as I added the KUFATEC Bluetooth module. It shows up in INPA and the rest as the OEM TEL/MULF unit, but the programms cannot communicate with it any further (different processor/architecture). The VO doesn't matter here, as the MOST devices are plug and play.