All components are Plug and Play on a Network (archive)

The BMW audio / phone / nav components all "live" on an internal network. Whenever you plug in a new device, it announces itself with a standard data message. The other relevant components then know its there and respond accordingly. For fun, you can unplug the DSP or CD, etc. and watch the menu items disappear on the head unit. Plug them back in, and voila, the menu refreshes.

In your case, there may be an issue resulting from a bad network connector between the phone and/or the amp in the trunk. (this is a single thin cable separate from the other harnesses) This would confuse the other components into thinking someone had droppped off the net.

I would recommend having the stealer troubleshoot if under warranty, since they're the only ones who have sufficient data/parts to fix any issues.

FYI. The phone in these cars has been the subject of many posts as it seems to be less than optimal in many ways. (Thankfully, I don't have it in my car.)

Had my car for 1 hour and found I got my Audio system into a mode where the steering wheel buttons no longer worked. Volumn, Next Station, Previous Station, R/T, and phone stopped working. I un-plugged the phone, plugged it back in, and everything worked again. Is this (God I hope not) commen????

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