Sticky iDrive Knob?

[Frupal]

Upon occasion, my ceramic iDrive knob becomes sticky - tough to turn - as it were. After a few ‘spins’ back and forth it loosens up again. Anyone else experienced this? I’m dropping the car off on the 25th for some warranty stuff, is this something I should mention to them?

[murph914]

If you spill just a tiny bit of a sugary drink like coffee or coke it does a number on it. My buttons get stick from time to time. If it is electrical which is more what it sounds like you definitely want them to look at it. Swapping them out is pretty easy, but the part is expensive. If you have the original warranty it should be a no brainer. If you are under the extended warranty they may weasel out of it because it's not covered.

[Opie55]

Although a sticky drink may also do it, that is probably not the issue. I had 2 replaced under warranty -one lasted about 4 months - for that very reason. They start to come apart inside. It would spin fine for 10 turns, then get stiff, then free up again.

[Frupal]

Originally Posted by murph914

If you spill just a tiny bit of a sugary drink like coffee or coke it does a number on it. My buttons get stick from time to time. If it is electrical which is more what it sounds like you definitely want them to look at it. Swapping them out is pretty easy, but the part is expensive. If you have the original warranty it should be a no brainer. If you are under the extended warranty they may weasel out of it because it's not covered.

Thanks very much. I am under the factory warranty so I will ask them about it. There have been no spills on my watch.

[Frupal]

Originally Posted by Opie55

Although a sticky drink may also do it, that is probably not the issue. I had 2 replaced under warranty -one lasted about 4 months - for that very reason. They start to come apart inside. It would spin fine for 10 turns, then get stiff, then free up again.

Thanks for this. There have been no spills on my watch. I’ll bring it up when I bring the car in. Also, if you remember, the last time I brought it in, the dealership damaged my rear bumper. Would I be too much of an a-hole to walk around the car with the SA and video tape it at the drop off?

[murph914]

Originally Posted by Frupal

Thanks for this. There have been no spills on my watch. I’ll bring it up when I bring the car in. Also, if you remember, the last time I brought it in, the dealership damaged my rear bumper. Would I be too much of an a-hole to walk around the car with the SA and video tape it at the drop off?

At my dealer they have guys that receive cars in for service all day. They walk around with you and make you sign off on any damage. I think that is the time to take out your phone or camera and record it. I don't think they will mind if you are just recording your car and not people, or their guys working. Places do get a little testy when people set their dashcam to stay on.

Just be nice, and not a jerk. Same as always, and you SHOULD get the same in return. Good luck with that.

[Opie55]

I probably would not even get the SA involved. Nobody will notice you holding your phone. You just need 2 still shots. One from a front corner and one from the opposite rear corner. That covers the whole car. The background will make it clear where it is, and the photos will be time-stamped to make it clear when it is.

[ezmaass]

I had this problem on my 550xi. Replaced under warranty. It had nothing to do with a spilled drink (although, I'm sure that could cause similar issues), but there are well documented issues with the controller doing this - not uncommon.

Have them look at it for sure.

[Frupal]

Originally Posted by ezmaass

I had this problem on my 550xi. Replaced under warranty. It had nothing to do with a spilled drink (although, I'm sure that could cause similar issues), but there are well documented issues with the controller doing this - not uncommon.

Have them look at it for sure.

Thanks very much. I will certainly bring it up when I bring it in.

[thebmw]

Had this issues with every ceramic iDrive knob I've owned. Never had this issue with non-ceramic iDrive knobs. Definitely a design, quality control issue. Maybe a recall should be out there for it, but there isn't.

[Frupal]

Originally Posted by thebmw

Had this issues with every ceramic iDrive knob I've owned. Never had this issue with non-ceramic iDrive knobs. Definitely a design, quality control issue. Maybe a recall should be out there for it, but there isn't.

Well mine is ceramic so I guess I’ll let them know. Thanks!

[Jeffro75]

My ceramic controller has been replaced twice under warranty due to this issue also. No spillages on mine either... Definitely some kind of common fault.

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by rouger_bmw

i have same problem on mine, is possible to repair it or directly change the idrive for a new one?

It cannot be repaired.

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by rouger_bmw

why not? is not possible to dissasemble it and then assemble it again? thank you!!

Because something breaks inside and whatever it is cannot be purchased. You can feel it being rough and clicking. Feel free to give it a try, but I doubt very much you can fix it.

[Frupal]

Originally Posted by ezmaass

I had this problem on my 550xi. Replaced under warranty. It had nothing to do with a spilled drink (although, I'm sure that could cause similar issues), but there are well documented issues with the controller doing this - not uncommon.

Have them look at it for sure.

Thanks! I did have them look at it, and they replaced it. On a different topic: I am about a week away from replacing my runflats. Are you still thrilled with your AS 3+ tires? If so, what pressures are you running?

[Alpine650]

I just started haveing a problem with my idrive controller know. No spills. The knob spins freely but when I push down on the knob it takes 5 or 6 pushes. Should I "spill" some WD40 under it or attempt to take apart?

[Opie55]

No way I’d spray WD40 on it with it installed. That stuff stinks and it won’t get where it needs to go. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a thread about taking an iDrive controller apart. They are certainly not meant to be taken apart.

[SWFLf10]

They aren’t meant to be, but I’ve done it to remove the black plastic ring that sometimes breaks inside and makes it feel “sticky”. I’ll try to find a link to what I mean. Just have to be careful not to break the ceramic. Ask me know I know…

Here’s a photo of the controller after I removed that broken black plastic piece from inside.

[Hoa]

The plastic ring is a dust sheld. It breaks all the time. You can remove it and your iDrive controller will work fine again.

When it is stiff, look at the edge between the knob and touchpad. You will notice a black piece of plastic raised up a little. Use a plastic pry tool and pry it a little to give it a little more space then use a needle or some pick tool to remove it. Once you can pull the edge off a little, you can yank the whole ring out. No disassembly of the knob is required to remove it.

[SixPost]

If that tip works... by far the best bit of information I've ever seen on this forum.

Ceramic controller has been a real frustration...

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by SixPost

If that tip works... by far the best bit of information I've ever seen on this forum.

Ceramic controller has been a real frustration...

Agree that's a useful tip. My third new one has been good since 2019, but if it starts sticking again at least I know what to do.

[MoFoHo]

This issue afflicted my ceramic iDrive controller. It's an easy fix, I used a soft plastic ruler to pry up the top of the 'spinny thing' and then fetched out that pesky plastic ring with some tweezers. Took all of 10 mins, if that. No more sticky iDrive! :-)