Sat Nav Screen - Warm up required ?

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Dr Phibes

Member
 West Midlands
I've noticed since I've had the car (7 months) that when I get in the car from cold, after inserting the key, the Sat Nav screen pops up as expected, but it takes a few minutes to reach its optimum brightness. I notice that the preset brightness in the menu always resets to about half way after leaving the car parked overnight, so more often than not, I have to adjust it to maximum brightness every time I get in. Even so, after setting it to max on a cold start, it stilll takes time to reach it's maximum brightness.

In short..

Cold start = Very dim screen
I adjust settings in menu to maximum brightness = still quite dim
Drive for a few miles = Bright as can be and very clear..

Is this normal behaviour for the screen - or is mine on its way out ?
It's still under warranty but before I take it to the dealer (to be told it's "Normal") I'd like to hear a few other opinions from those with the Sat Nav in theor Zed's.

Cheers :thumbsup:
 
Thats interesting Aquazi - especially as yours is a 2008... Thanks for the info :thumbsup:

I'd be interested to hear of any others who have this issue - if it is an issue...

My concern is that if it's not normal, is it a sign of gradual deterioration, before eventually failing to display at all... ?

When I was on the motorway in the dark very early last Saturday morning, it was so bright, I had to reduce the brightness in the menu so it's not as if it can't display the required level of brightness at all. It's just that it seems to "need to warm up" if you see what I mean....
 
Mine is ok straight away, only dims if I switch my lights on.
 
I dont have a nav system but I do notice the same thing if I leave my phone in the car in the cold. It is just the LCD screen that needs to warm up a bit for it to look right. I would say that is normal.
 
I was beginning to think it WAS the norm - until PVR posted that his is OK from the off....

Anyone else ?
 
Note that my car is in the garage, so never "stone cold" so to speak.
 
I have had my car in -13 one morning.. and still by the time i have selected a gear the screen is normal brightness
 
Given the cold we've had lately, if I haven't driven it for a good few days it will be slightly dimmer until it warms up. To be expected given the ancient technology. Nothing to worry about I'd say :thumbsup:
 
Cheers for the response guys. Yes, mine is garaged every night too. I'll time the brightness increase tomorrow and post back. Out of interest, Do yours all revert to half way on the menu after the car
has been unused for a while ?
 
Dr Phibes said:
Cheers for the response guys. Yes, mine is garaged every night too. I'll time the brightness increase tomorrow and post back. Out of interest, Do yours all revert to half way on the menu after the car
has been unused for a while ?
Click to expand...


Mine does, i'd be suprised if all dont do this - i guess to stop screen burn?
 
ranski said:
Dr Phibes said:
Cheers for the response guys. Yes, mine is garaged every night too. I'll time the brightness increase tomorrow and post back. Out of interest, Do yours all revert to half way on the menu after the car
has been unused for a while ?
Click to expand...


Mine does, i'd be suprised if all dont do this - i guess to stop screen burn?
Click to expand...

Nope LCD doesn't suffer burn-in, just that liquid crystal is sensitive to temperature. This is what screen tech the BMW nav uses.
 
What do you mean with half way on the menu? Mine is on the same setting / position where I left it, if on radio - back on radio, if on satnav, back on the same picture on satnav.
 
pvr said:
What do you mean with half way on the menu? Mine is on the same setting / position where I left it, if on radio - back on radio, if on satnav, back on the same picture on satnav.
Click to expand...

I seem to remember somebody else having the issue where the menu setting reverts to half way, wonder if it could be a firmware issue.
 
pvr said:
What do you mean with half way on the menu? Mine is on the same setting / position where I left it, if on radio - back on radio, if on satnav, back on the same picture on satnav.
Click to expand...

I mean the Brightness setting on the Menu. It always reverts to half way after leaving the car for a period.

I've just nipped out to the local shop after the Zed had been in the garage overnight. Screen was dim, so I set the brightness on the menu to MAX. Still fairly dim (-1.5 outside temp) The drive to the shop took 4 minutes, by the time I arrived at the shop, it had reached full brightness. Locked the car, went in shop for 10 minutes, returned to the car, Checked brightness setting on the menu, and it had reverted back to half way....
 
It's a known software issue that causes some Bimmers to revert the Sat Nav brightness setting to mid point when the car shuts down, no matter what level you set it at. My X5 does it and never been able to fix it with even the latest firmware. Frankly not an issue as the screen is ambient light controlled and you can always overide it using the binnacle light dimmer.

In terms of warm up - def not. Mine is full brightness is seconds, so you have a genuine problem there
 
cj10jeeper said:
In terms of warm up - def not. Mine is full brightness is seconds, so you have a genuine problem there
Click to expand...

So it could be the light sensor that is faulty ?

Looks like a trip to the dealer then :(
 
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