Mediabridge no longer recognized

[2004_blue_zhp]

I have a dice mediabridge installed behind the glovebox in my 2004 ZHP coupe. It worked fine on a long ride on Thursday. But on Sunday, it was no longer recognized by the car at all. I.e. when hitting the mode button on my stereo, it cycled between the radio and the "no disc" message for the in-dash CD player, but no longer made any indication that it knew about a CD Changer or anything (like the mediabridge) that should pretend to be one.

I checked the connection in the trunk and it looks fine. (I can look more closely if people think that's the issue.) Haven't had time to get in behind the glovebox to check the connection there.

Any thoughts on what to try? Or did my mediabridge just fry itself. (It was sending some pretty aggressive clicking noises through my speakers when switching from playing music to handling bluetooth calls recently.) Any reset or re-pairing procedures I should try?

[az3579]

I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't work anymore. I heard horror stories about DICE units back when I was researching units to buy, so I went with something else instead. Never looked back.

Try unplugging it and plugging it back in to see if it'll recognize itself once again.

[2004_blue_zhp]

Not to derail my own thread before it has a chance to yield an answer on the original question...but which alternative did you go with. I need both a USB audio hookup (i.e. one that lets me plug in my iPhone and fast-forward/rewind) and also a bluetooth solution. What other CD changer-impersonators do both?

[az3579]

Not to derail my own thread before it has a chance to yield an answer on the original question...but which alternative did you go with. I need both a USB audio hookup (i.e. one that lets me plug in my iPhone and fast-forward/rewind) and also a bluetooth solution. What other CD changer-impersonators do both?

I personally have the Dension Gateway 300, which does everything except Bluetooth. I think the Gateway 500 does... you'll have to check. This is their website:
www.dension.com

Looks like the 500 isn't compatible with E46. Here is a compatibility chart: look for something that's compatible and see if it has the features you want:
http://www.dension.com/sites/default/files/car-compatibility/bmw_04_04_2014.pdf

[ELCID86]

Try the guys at http://enfigcarstereo.com/ . They can steer you in the right direction.

[az3579]

Try the guys at http://enfigcarstereo.com/ . They can steer you in the right direction.

Ha, these are the guys that did my Dension install for me. He even took pics of the install on my car to use for a "tutorial" of sorts for E46. :)


Loving that sig pic, Shawn. :thumbsup

[ELCID86]

^ Good to know. I think the guy was Patrick, but I can't recall. Very helpful on the phone when I talked to him last year.

I didn't realize how closely my sig pic looked like yours. Didn't mean to copy you...flattery!

[2004_blue_zhp]

When I put this post up, I knew I was going to get a bunch of "just throw out the mediabridge" recommendations. And that's a fair point. But I'd certainly be keen to have a list of troubleshooting steps I could try before going that route.

[az3579]

When I put this post up, I knew I was going to get a bunch of "just throw out the mediabridge" recommendations. And that's a fair point. But I'd certainly be keen to have a list of troubleshooting steps I could try before going that route.

I recommended one earlier, which is to unplug and plug it back in. If this doesn't resolve the issue, then you'll have to ensure all of the wiring and connections are intact and in place, with no damage to the cabling. I would think the cabling for the DICE unit are proprietary, so I doubt you can swap cables to see if that brings the unit back to life, so if the wiring doesn't look physically damaged and the unit still isn't turning on, there isn't much you can do.

Is anything else not working? Perhaps check fuses; I don't know if there is one for the CD changer unit. That is where it plugs into, right?

[2004_blue_zhp]

Wire check and fuses check both sound like great places to start. Plug and unplug with the car on, or off, do you think? To answer your question, no other symptoms here. Everything else working normally.

[az3579]

Wire check and fuses check both sound like great places to start. Plug and unplug with the car on, or off, do you think? To answer your question, no other symptoms here. Everything else working normally.

I would have the car off. Don't want to plug/unplug harnesses while the car is on.