BMW iX3 Electrical Nightmare: Nav Dead & Error Messages

Hey there! I have some experience working on EVs, nothing professional, just a car enthusiast who's learned through ownership. I actually faced something very similar with my 2019 BMW i4 last year. The electrical gremlins you're describing sound exactly like what I dealt with. My local workshop diagnosed it as a corrupted control unit that needed reprogramming. The whole thing set me back about 240 Euro, but it fixed all those unusual error messages and nav system issues. I've seen this pop up in a few BMWs from that generation, including the iX lineup. Before I can help more specifically though, could you tell me if you've had any recent software updates or if this started happening after charging at a new station? These details might help pinpoint if we're dealing with the same issue. By the way, have you tried the basic soft reset by holding down the start button for 30 seconds? Sometimes that can temporarily clear things up, though it's not a permanent fix if there's an underlying control unit issue.

Thanks for sharing your experience! My iX3 just hit 184,962 KM and was serviced last month, so it's been well-maintained. I actually tried that 30-second reset trick you mentioned, it worked for about an hour before everything went haywire again. Haven't had any recent software updates, and I've been using my regular home charger as always. Interesting that you mention the control unit, I'm getting that same gut feeling, especially since all these issues started simultaneously. Might have to bite the bullet and get it checked at the workshop. Did your car display any specific error codes when you had this problem?

Hey again! After seeing your response about the mileage and the reset only working temporarily, I'm even more convinced we're dealing with the same control unit issue I had. My i4 actually showed a bunch of generic error codes, mostly electrical system faults and communication errors between different modules. The funny thing is, mine also did that exact same thing where the reset would work briefly before everything went crazy again! Since you mentioned your car was recently serviced, this makes me wonder if maybe something got knocked loose during the service. In my case, they found that the main control unit had developed a fault that was causing it to corrupt data every time it tried to communicate with other systems in the car. That's why the temporary reset would work initially but couldn't stick. The good news is that if it's the same issue, it's totally fixable. When they reprogrammed my control unit, they also updated some firmware that apparently helps prevent this from happening again. I've put another 50,000 km on my car since then without any problems. Just a heads up though, make sure they do a full diagnostic scan. In my case, they initially thought it was just the nav system until they dug deeper and found the root cause in the main control unit. The whole repair ended up taking about a day and a half, but it was worth it to have everything working properly again.

Thanks so much for all the detailed info! That's really helpful to know about the diagnostic scan, I'll definitely insist on that when I take it in. It's actually quite relieving to hear your experience was so similar, right down to the temporary fix with the reset. You've pretty much convinced me it's the control unit. I've just booked an appointment with my workshop for next week. They quoted me roughly the same price range you mentioned, which seems fair considering the work involved. Really appreciate you taking the time to share all this, it's helped me feel much more confident about what I'm dealing with. I'll probably stick around on the forum to share how my repair goes, might help someone else down the line who runs into the same problem!