u/xanksnap

r/projectors r/hometheater r/BMWI4 r/audiophile r/ShieldAndroidTV

'23 i4 with 17,000 miles; idrive bugs since I got it, now it has a coolant leak?!

I got my CPO '23 i4 edrive 35 two months ago, car's been running like a champ and since I commute to work, I've quickly racked up a lot of miles on it.

Because I spend so much time in the car, I've noticed a few idrive bugs that I haven't had in my other two BMWs (running idrive 7); of course my idrive has been updated to the latest version whenever it prompts me and restarting idrive fixes the problems but they soon reappear. This is what I've experienced so far:

Having the navigation enabled in idrive and showing the map in the driver's dashboard (whether it be Waze or the BMW navigation) will sometimes not show the highlighted route, or has caused idrive to crash altogether causing the system to restart by itself.
sometimes pressing the buttons on the idrive screen using the controller wouldnt activate the feature.
idrive every so often loses sync with the BMW app, and I have to toggle All Privacy services on and off to get it to work again (such ass checking the app for My Trips).
today the idrive screen completely died, and stayed like that after a power cycle, and faded back to life after about 10 minutes of driving.

my car is a CPO, I brought it to the Dealer's attention, the BMW Genius rep here said that he's seen glitches like this before and that they would have to wipe the software and reinstall it, and that the glitches will get worse unless I brought it in.

Well I was ignoring the glitches until I had sufficient time to bring the car in, but today when the screen malfunctioned, I brought it in. They're servicing it now, but also made me aware that there's a coolant leak, which they're fixing as well.

A coolant leak at 17,000 miles?! I thought these cars being electric were next to bullet proof. I mean, I get that coolant still runs in hoses and there can be a leak, but I've read this forum and the reddit i4 forum and havent really found much of anything about the idrive glitches I've been experiencing, and not much about the coolant leak.

I mean, the car is mine and its a CPO, so I still have piece of mind for a couple of years, but I put a lot of miles on this car commuting to and from work, around 3k miles a day.

The car itself has been tremendously stable and fun to drive. I love the car, and plan to keep it for the next 7-10 years, and with my current use, I'll be likely approaching 350,000 miles in 10 years.

My question is, should I invest in a warranty? I know that generally that is discouraged given that the statistics indicate most of the time you're better off paying as things break than getting a warranty, but now I'm sorta concerned that there's a coolant leak this early on. I dont even know if I can warranty a car given how many miles I'm planning on putting on it.

here's a video of the glitches:

https://imgur.com/a/this-is-how-normally-should-behave-jRvKWuY

as usual, any and all advice is appreciated.

u/xanksnap — 4 days ago

▲ 11 r/audiophile

Need a subwoofer recommendation for Wilson MAXX 3: SVS SB 17 Ultra R vs REL No. 32

So last Tuesday, I had my local store install a pair of Wilson MAXX 3s along with a D'agastino Progression S350 amplifier and a Progression Pre-amp. The Pre-amp worked fine for about 5 minutes before one channel completely died, and turning the volume knob one step would make the gain go up to full. The installers tried to troubleshoot it for an hour, talked with the engineers at D'agastino, who ultimately said it would need to be RMA'd. I asked my dealer to please push for a replacement, and not a repair, they said they'd try but it would be up to the company. I know large multi national companies wouldnt care and just ship out a new one, but I'm not sure how hard I can push for this with a small boutique company like this. I'm disappointed, but in life, you have to roll with the punches.

So for now, I'm using my old Marantz AV8801 as the pre-amp with the MAXX 3s, my initial thoughts:

WOW what a soundstage, speakers like this must be heard to believed! Its like every song i'm hearing for the first time, its just indescribable how good, well produced albums sound, and conversely how badly other albums not produced well sound.

Now for the other problem: the Bass is SO incredibly smooth, I've never heard anything that good before. BUT its not enough. I have these speakers in my family room, its wide open. Its not the perfect listening environment by any means, and I have limited options for placement, and certainly I cant put up a bunch of acoustic treatments. So, here's where I need some advice:

I want to augment the MAXX 3s with a subwoofer. I know that may be sacrilege, but at least in my room, the bass just isnt there. I've tried to move the speakers around a bit but its not changing much. I have plenty of power, i think, from the S350 amp and even at 0db its only getting to 2/3rds the way up on the power meter. So what do I get?

I'm told that universally, the Rel No. 32 is the way to go. But I was also considering the SVS SB 17 Ultra R. Like I said, its not a dedicated listening room, so I can only place the sub in one location. So I know I would achieve audio perfection in the space I have, so my question is why would it be worth spending almost triple on the REL when I can get, seemingly great performance from the SVS? I've read quite a few reviews and everyone said the sealed version is every bit as capable of being a fast paced musical sub as others. I haven't yet read a head to head between the REL and the SVS, but I'm curious to get all of your thoughts.

Finally, another question, do I need a second 20A circuit for the subwoofer, or can one, 20A circuit handle both the S350 and whichever subwoofer I get? I can have the electrician make two outlets off one circuit if need be.

https://imgur.com/cXwBc5b

u/xanksnap — 7 days ago

▲ 1 r/hometheater

Continued HDMI handshake issues between the Nvidia Shield Pro, Marantz AV 20, and Sony Bravia Projector. Do I need a HDFury?

I cross posted this on avsforum, but also posting here if anyone is willing to offer any advice on my current situation:

Previously I had a 1080p Benq W7000 DLP projector running with Marantz AV 20 AVP with two sources: Apple TV 4K and Nvidia Shield TV PRO. No problems whatsoever, everything was rock solid.

I recently was able to upgrade to a Sony Bravia Projector 9 and I still pinch myself that I was able to get a projector like this. However, ever since I swapped out the projector, I've had nothing but issues getting the NVIDIA shield to work with it. Again, the only thing that changed was the projector.

Of course going from 1080p to 4k, I changed out the HDMI cables as well. The one going from the marantz to the projector, and another one from the the shield to the marantz. This is the cable running from the shield to the marantz:

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S1CGQ9Z?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title[/URL]

This is the cable running from the marantz to the projector:

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVR7P5BV?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title[/URL]

These are both HDMI Ultra certified and have worked wonderfully with my Sony a90J Oled tv with a Denon 4700H receiver/ marantz slimline receivers. So I figured these would work in this display chain since the brands are the same.

Neither of these cables fixed the handshake issue.

There's no issues whatsoever with the Apple TV 4k, everything works perfectly fine. The Shield will only work sometimes, if I physically unplug the power cable and plug it in.

I have tried resetting the shield, the AV 20, setting the AV 20 HDMI out to 8K enhanced, nothing has created a stable HDMI handshake. When it works, it works great, but that initial handshake is the most frustrating part.

I have hooked up the shield directly to the projector, and there were no HDMI handshake issues at all. It works perfectly, so there's something going on with the Nvidia shield and the Marantz AV 20.

I typed all this into Google's AI, and it suggested that I need something like a HDFury HDMI doctor, to force HDMI compliance. I'm happy to buy it but I am not sure if this will fix it and being that its out of taiwan, I'm not sure if they will take a return if it doesnt eliminate my issue, so I thought I would ask here if you all have any suggestions for me.

Is this a common problem that devices like the HDMI doctor fixes or should I do/consider something else?

u/xanksnap — 26 days ago

▲ 16 r/BMWI4

I just got a gently used i4 and I love it. I work at a big campus and we have 4 chargers. But usually by the time I get to work, all 4 chargers are usually taken. This is what I've seen so far:

non electric cars parked in one of the 4 spots

electric cars just parked there, not even plugged in.

Today I saw an empty spot for a charger and hurriedly walked back to my car to go park there, but a BMW x5 PHEV beat me there. I was miffed but they had no idea that I was trying to get to that spot. When they finished parking, I approached them and asked politely 'hi would it be possible if I could use your spot for just a couple of hours this afternoon to charge my car? you see I travel 160 miles back and forth everyday for work and it would be nice to top off if I could'

to which they replied 'oh of course! it only takes my car about 45 minutes to charge, I'll move it when its done'. I thanked the couple profusely for that but inside, I was fuming.

This same BMW x5 has been parked there every single day. just plugged in all day. every day. only because they have to get to work before I do. They arent even using the charger all day. They just leave it plugged in. while I spend time multiple times a day just walking to and from the building I work at just to see if there's an open spot.

yes I know Im being cheap. But so are they, but they're being cheap and selfish.

I'm told some jobs have a 2 hour time limit to let employees cycle through the charging spots. I think that's a fantastic idea. I floated this at work and most of the people at work basically said 'yeah that is a great idea, but who would enforce it?' as in there was no interest from administration to even try and make this charging situation fair for everyone who has an EV.

I dont blame this couple for being ignorant. I'm more upset at the situation that we could all easily just charge our cars at work but I just have to hope and pray every day that someone isnt using the charger and just hogging one of the 4 precious charging spots for no good reason.

reddit.com

u/xanksnap — 2 months ago

▲ 2 r/projectors

I have just upgraded my projector from a benq 1080p to a sony bravia 4k projector. My sources are the Nvidia shield, Apple TV 4k and a blu ray player. I am running it through a marantz AV 20 pre-amp pro.

It does not at all want to work with the Nvidia Shield. nothing but HDMI handshake issues. The store I bought the projector from recommended this cable: Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QDYZZ79?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

I thought it would be fine given that this store has recommended this cable to their other customers who had no problems (although they dont sell the nvidia shield so i'm not sure if any of the other clients used it with their shield), the price but clearly its not working. It has no HDMI certification but somehow it works fine with the Apple TV 4K which I previously had issues with and had to get the Belkin HDMI cable to fix (but that was for a Sony OLED tv).

In any case this is my set up: Bravia Projector 9, Marantz AV 20, Nvidia Shield. I need about 30 feet to connect this projector to my AVR that's in a closet at the front of the room. I'm really hoping and praying someone here has a similar setup and can help me solve this.

Google AI suggests this Zeskit fiber optic cable: Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BVR7P5BV?smid=A7EB2YHL3E081&psc=1

or this Ruipro one which seems to have a couple of reviews on amazon that says it works with the shield: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DPWR4BXY?smid=A1W38LIN57HDN1&psc=1

I've used zeskit before, with another sony oled from my denon 4700 receiver and it worked fine with the shield, but that distance was half. and this cable is certified by the HDMI consortium. But honestly I just want a cable that'll work with my equipment because I'm obviously very frustrated as the shield is my main source.

I'm not sure what to do, would really love to get some advice from you all.

reddit.com

u/xanksnap — 2 months ago

▲ 2 r/ShieldAndroidTV

It does not at all want to work with the Nvidia Shield. nothing but HDMI handshake issues. The store I bought the projector from recommended this cable: Amazon.com: J-Tech Digital 8K HDMI 2.1 Fiber Cable 15M 50 FT Ultra High Speed 48 Gbps 4K @ 120Hz | 8K @ 60Hz Compatible with PS5 Xbox ROKU [JTECH-FCAB158K] : Electronics

Google AI suggests this Zeskit fiber optic cable: Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BVR7P5BV?smid=A7EB2YHL3E081&psc=1

or this Ruipro one which seems to have a couple of reviews on amazon that says it works with the shield: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DPWR4BXY?smid=A1W38LIN57HDN1&psc=1

I'm not sure what to do, would really love to get some advice from you all.

reddit.com

u/xanksnap — 2 months ago

▲ 8 r/BMWI4

I just got a 2023 i4 edrive 35 and I am still loving the car, but couple more questions and clarifications:

Did they take out the “climate rules” from the i4? I have the premium package and my steering wheel and seats are heated. I dont have ventilated seats (not sure if that was an option in 2023). I dont see it anywhere in the climate menu or in the ‘apps’ section in the idrive menu. It’s on both of my 2020 x5 and 2025 z4 that is running idrive 7 while this car has idrive 8. I have all of the BMW connected drive services leftover for a couple of years I think, so it should be there, unless they took it out completely. I’ve tried to update the apps and services and it’s running the latest version of idrive 8. Anyone else know what I’m talking about and does this feature exist or did they remove it?

Pressing the BC button only toggles through the miles/kilowatt hour stats (like since factory, since individual, since start of trip, since last charge) and nothing else, no matter which drive mode I’m in. On my other G series cars, it shows you other stuff (like media playing, g meter, engine power/torque, and total miles/mpg, i realize many of these are already present in other implementations) is that also normal?

Turning on DAPP doesn’t automagically show that screen that shows an animated representation of the your car driving in a lane with two green lines on either side and other cars next to your car as they come into and out of the radar detection window. I have to manually select view by pressing through the paragraph button on the steering wheel on the right side button cluster.. Is that also normal? In my g series x5, it automatically goes to that view whenever I press the DAPP button.

Finally, iDrive itself has now crashed twice while I’ve been driving and has restarted itself. Each time, I think I was using Waze to navigate. Half the time when I have Waze enabled to navigate, it shows the navigation in the driver’s display area, but sometimes it’ll just disappear all of a sudden, or there’ll be a blank area between the speedometer and power reserve area (ie the area in the middle). Restarting idrive fixes it, but that procedure is annoying. Just wondering if anyone else has also experienced this issue. This does not happen with the native idrive navigation when that’s enabled, anyone else?

Minor quirks, nothing that I’m upset about, but climate control rules, if they took that out in idrive 8 is a huge bummer. That’s a wonderful, wonderful idea and the implementation is so good.

reddit.com

u/xanksnap — 2 months ago

▲ 10 r/BMWI4

So I bought this car specifically for my 162 mile round trip commute to and from work every day. So far, I love the car, and recently I got a Grizzl-E wall charger installed at my house. the 162 mile trip costs me 60% battery life. Because of the 80 mile commute, I like to have reserve battery in case of something in the road, so typically I leave the house with 80% and arrive at work with 50% remaining.

There are 4 free chargers at work, and while my home charger was being installed, I'd always 'top up' at work. My concern is that I dont want to hurt the battery but I dont know enough to know which matters more: overall charge cycles or the 80-20% rule.

This is what I've done so far: I always drive in eco pro; I charge at the slowest rate I can so that the car is ready by the time its time to leave either home or work. And I dont drive over 72mph.

so if I was to charge the car at work to get to 80% (and save a bit of money doing so), am I hurting the battery pack? or is it better to just stick to the 80-20% rule?

reddit.com

u/xanksnap — 2 months ago

▲ 9 r/audiophile

Hi all, first time long time. A local AV dealer is selling me a pair of gently used Wilson MAXX speakers next month from another customer on consignment. Ideally, hopefully soon, I will get a pair of monoblocks to power them, but for now I have a Rotel RB-1582 2 channel amplifier I was hoping to use.

The Wilson website says that these speakers are nominally 4 ohm, with the minimum it can go down to is 3 ohm. The Rotel website says this amp can produce 320wpc rms at 4ohm, but the minimum impedance is also 4 ohm.

My question is, will I damage either component by using this amplifier? These speakers, even second hand, are extremely expensive and if I have to play them at low/moderate volumes for a while until I get proper amplification, I will. I just dont know a lot about this impedance stuff.

reddit.com

u/xanksnap — 2 months ago