2016 GPS Antenna Failure

BadgerDog · Post by **BadgerDog** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:58 pm

So I bought a used 2016 recently. GPS doesnt work. Found out real quickly myself that the antenna itself is broken (the pre-amp on top of the unit fell off... its toast). AND The wiring harness is ruined (RF cable pulled right out of the connection).

Car is still under warrantee, but apparently has an aftermarket windshield and BMW is claiming it was broken when that happened. I cant prove otherwise even though that sounds super effing fishy. they want over $1000 to fix this (wiring harness driving it up no doubt). Well screw that, I can put in an android head unit for significantly less than that! I dont want to go that route, though. I like the closing screen for security (cant reach in and scratch it, etc), and the integrated nature of it.

So my question is, are there either aftermarket GPS antennas out there (its a fairly standard part, after all, and just an RF connection... as long as the output levels are right it should be GTG), or does anyone have the part number to try to locate the original wiring harness? I have found a source for the antenna already, but dont know what wiring harness this RF cable sprouts from, or if its a stand-alone part in that regard.

Or is there a third alternative I'm just overlooking here?

Any help is appreciated.

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:06 pm

Yes! I had the same situation and fixed it for £15.

Let me see if I can find the epic thread

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:08 pm

Here you go: viewtopic.php?f=45&t=109650

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:12 pm

My broken part no: 65209123783

Some of US eBay...

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:14 pm

"wiring harness" is a standard cable with a fakra connector. Ideally you can just replace the broken antenna onto the existing cables or you need to start taking the car apart

BadgerDog · Post by **BadgerDog** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:56 pm

Hey thanks a lot for the link greg! I swear I saw that thread before, but couldn't find it again... It also had the instructions for the mystery detailed info screen I've never been able to find (that shows GPS info)...

The wiring harness is definitely broken as well (the RF cable loosely pulls right out of the RF terminator), but now I have a connector name to start looking for! And there was a link in that thread to a GPS antenna that was already terminated in what looks to be the same sort of connection (assuming the connection on the back of the radio is in fact the same as whats on the antenna). Might be an all in one unit to fix my problem.

Yeah, there's no getting around tearing the bloody car apart to fix this. Infuriating because I hate working with trim so much... and spent a lot of time on that sort of thing with my Miata (mostly doing upgrades not fixes, but still). I was hoping to avoid it with this car being in supposedly great shape. But so be it.

I'll poke around a bit and see if I can find the right cable or a GPS unit with attached cable that will work. Again, I appreciate your help.

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:04 pm

If you're going to have to tear apart to fit new wiring then something from eBay for $10 would do the trick. Every time I search .com it sends me to the UK site annoyingly, but you're looking for something like this...

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:09 pm

First things first, order one of the above, pull out the idrive unit and plug it into the back. Make sure the reciever has a clear view of the sky and give it a few mins and see if it picks up a signal.

For a few dollars you can quickly check it fixes the problem.

If so then you can go ahead and rewire through your car but if not you can try other stuff without having gone through the pain or doing all the trim etc

BadgerDog · Post by **BadgerDog** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:33 pm

Good point on plugging it into the back of the unit directly first...

Does this cable terminate in the head unit that's lower down by the ashtray, or the CIC unit (display, just in case Im using the wrong terms) that's up in the top? Can you confirm that the termination on that is correct (gender, keying, etc)? I did some digging on Fakra connectors and they have different physical keys available. I believe the antenna side had a single tab at the top of the connector.

Sorry for all the questions... At the end of the day I can always just start pulling stuff, but sure would be nice to be able to buy the part and have it in hand before I do that.

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:44 pm

Not so hot on the names myself, but it goes into the back of the unit down by the ashtray, not into the screen itself.

I can't recall now but I believe it was pretty easy. Trim off and 4 acrews. Once you've got it out you can't miss it. I don't have the car anymore so can't help with gender etc at the moment

BadgerDog · Post by **BadgerDog** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:52 pm

No worries man, you've already been a massive help. I know (from having seen video) exactly how to get that piece out, and you are correct. Not that bad. BIT more work to properly embed the entire wire once its in, but for a quick test no sweat. Sweet. OK I already told the dealer no thanks. I will pull the head unit tonight to verify connection, then buy a replacement. Should be able to install this weekend and put this mess behind me!

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 8:28 am

BadgerDog wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:52 pm No worries man, you've already been a massive help. I know (from having seen video) exactly how to get that piece out, and you are correct. Not that bad. BIT more work to properly embed the entire wire once its in, but for a quick test no sweat. Sweet. OK I already told the dealer no thanks. I will pull the head unit tonight to verify connection, then buy a replacement. Should be able to install this weekend and put this mess behind me!

Nice. I'm glad my previous experiences have managed to help out somewhat!

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 9:11 am

I dug through my Amazon purchase history (it's substantial!) and found the exact one I bought. This worked perfectly for my problem so you should be able to take the specs from this and find something similar in the US

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1

Pbondar · Post by **Pbondar** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 9:42 am

I did notice a strange anomaly with my idrive nav when I had a puncture and was AA recovered to home..

I collected a puncture and limped to a nearby pub...discovered a big hole in the tyre beyond a rat tail type repair...called AA and had car put on a transporter and taken home..probably on 10-12 miles away in a direct line...

On start up at home noticed GPS was showing still at pub..

Despite doing a look at the GPS pages and restarting the car still remained at the pub..even after a couple of hours....

However as soon as I started to move the car within 30 seconds the car’s location moved to the correct location..

The car has a ‘gyro’ to allow the unit to provide directions in an underground car park /tunnel so just wonder if a ‘tickle’ from that unit helped the nav to start working probably...

So when new gps aerial fitted maybe go for a bit of drive to see if that helps reset itself if it doesn’t immediately lock correctly

BadgerDog · Post by **BadgerDog** » Sat Aug 15, 2020 8:23 am

Thanks for the tip, Pbondar! I'll probably use the diag page first to see how its doing, then go from there. Gorgeous yellow on that car of yours, btw!

Antenna should be here later today, and Ill do a test fit / function, then dive in to the trim job... I picked up this unit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R6 ... =UTF8&th=1 which is pretty similar in stats to the one you got, greg. Slightly higher RF power output, and a little bit noisier LNA, but hopefully a good enough match for what I need.

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