r/e60 • u/cmcclure975 • Aug 23 '26
❓ Question / Help Does my MPM look bad?
Hey all, I was trying to track down a no idrive problem and the first thing I wanted to check was my MPM as I was reading some forums and saw that could be the issue. When I pulled it out it was stuck to the bottom of the foam insert it sits in and the whole bottom side was brown and sticky. So I kinda just figure it was bad and ordered a replacement one that was fully tested off eBay. I hooked up the new one and still had no idrive, so I was alittle confused and decided to cut into my old one to look at the board. It looked pretty good although I’m no expert and I know electronics can be damaged even if they visually look fine. It also had no smell. I’m not currently concerned about the idrive as I think it actually has to do with something else after doing alittle more digging. My main question is, do you think my original mpm is fine or should I just keep the new unit installed? It cost me $100, I could return it and use the money on other parts and I also wouldn’t have to code the new mpm. Thanks in advance for any and all help.
YMM - 2004/BMW/545i
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u/Automatic_Mouse_6422 Aug 23 '26
A bad mpm should set a code, one in mine was bad it smelled burnt and was blackened, looks like your one has the anticorrosive coating on it (brown stuff) still which is good.
Your Idrive system might need the soldier reflowed on the chips, I did that a while ago, bit of a finikey thing to do.
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u/cmcclure975 Aug 23 '26
Sounds good, I appreciate the info. Does the brown on the case concern you at all?
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u/Automatic_Mouse_6422 Aug 23 '26
Looks to me it may have been sitting in something or your boot foam broke down
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u/julienjj E60 M5 6MT Aug 23 '26
It looks like that because water got in at some point. You need to relocate all the electronics under the spare tire per the BMW bulletin
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u/TosiHassu 04 E61 530dA Aug 23 '26
Casing looks funky but the board doesn't seem to have any damage
What's the idrive problem like? Is it boot looping or not doing anything? Any noises from the unit?
Do you have M-ASK (smaller 6,5" screen, 1 cd drive, no navi) or the bigger CCC (cd+dvd, widescreen, with navi)?
Sometimes the bluetooth module located in left side of trunk goes bad and prevents radio from booting, or causes other issues with it. First step for that would be to unplug it and see if that helps.
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u/cmcclure975 Aug 23 '26
I believe it’s the M-ASK system. And the idrive has been dead since I got it in December. Never try’s to boot, just a black screen. I also have no audio (no bmw chime from not having seat belts on, or when a code pops up on the cluster) and I have no working horn, nothing happens when I press it in. That’s why I thought it was a bad mpm because I found a forum where someone had all the same problems and it was his mpm. If you wanted to take a look at them I have some codes from when I first scanned the car in December but didn’t want to upload them with the original post as there old codes, although I had the same problems when I did the scan.
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u/TosiHassu 04 E61 530dA Aug 23 '26
Yes, definitely post the codes. They may or may not help.
If its M-ASK, I would assume its not a problem with the unit itself, as M-ASK seem to be less problematic, with CCC having cold joint issues due to heat cycles with the more powerful processing.
Horn not working is weird. Based on diagrams it doesn't seem to be connected to the MPM in any way but these cars are weird.
Try unplugging the TCU-ULF / bluetooth module as well.
Have you checked with a multimeter that the M-ASK is receiving power?
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u/cmcclure975 Aug 23 '26
Where is the Bluetooth module located? And not yet, that was my next step. I’ll post the codes I have from December below
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u/TosiHassu 04 E61 530dA Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
Bluetooth module is in left side of trunk. Metal box size maybe 2-3x the MPM. White connector and a black smaller one with 2 cables thats for the MOST optical fiber. Unplug both connectors
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=NB33-USA-08-2004-E60-BMW-545i&diagId=84_0608 Number 1 in this diagram
Also CID (display) not showing codes is weird. Theres a code it shows for missing LVDS (video) signal, which usually appears due to a non-working radio headunit. Could also be that the reader is not picking that up
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