Help getting access to car kit control box

dmack

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum, so excuse me if I am writing in the wrong forum.
My wife recently bought a BMW 316i 2002 which had a Nokia ARK-91 car kit already installed.

The car kit worked for about 2 weeks, then suddenly stopped working. I called a few repair companies who are looking to charge €100 just to look at it. I don't really want to spend that sort of money to find that there is a loose cable or something.

The problem I have is that the control unit for the car kit is somewhere behind the dashboard and don't know how to get in behind to check it.

Anyone able to give me tips or even pictures of how to get access to the unit. I understand that there are many ways to install the car kit, but really any help to get access to behind the dashboard would help.

Thanks

DMack

OldmanMondeo

Do you have more details of the fault? I had a problem recently with my car kit, the phone was charging, but the phone kept dsplaying "enchancement not supported". Turned out to be the cradle, which for €40 from car phone warehouse I replaced myself. I was quoted €65 to supply and replace by one company.

crosstownk

Most of the time those boxes are in behind the glove box. Open the glove box and look for any screws that might secure it. You should get decent enough removal instructions on most BMW forums.

EDIT - Check for damaged contact pins in the cradle - this is a common fault on a lot of HF kits.

dmack

I'm not sure what the problem is. When I insert the phone into the craddle, its not being recognised, nothing happens, phone doesn't even charge. That's why I wanted to get access to the control box to check that all the cabling is ok.

Even if the cradle unit is at fault, I still need to get access to the control box to plug in a new one.

dmack

The cradle pins look to be fine as far as I can tell. I can get a new cradle on ebay for about €10, so I might buy one and see if its that.

Thanks for the tip, I'll look in the glove dept. to see if I can spot it.

R.O.R

dmack wrote: »

I'm not sure what the problem is. When I insert the phone into the craddle, its not being recognised, nothing happens, phone doesn't even charge.

Most common problem causing these symptoms is dirt/fluff in the pins. Before pulling anything apart try to give the pins in the cradle a good clean and see if that does anything.

If everything is clean, next most common problem is that one of the pins is bent. Then you are looking at a new cradle.


[/EDIT] Beaten to it by Crosstownk

dmack

Thanks R.O.R, I'll give it a try.

OldmanMondeo

dmack wrote: »

Even if the cradle unit is at fault, I still need to get access to the control box to plug in a new one.

No, under the cradle, the cable should unplug. then remove the nokia rubber piece in the middle of the cradle, now the hardest part , get a phillips screwdrive and unscrew the cradle, hey presto, it's out.

Victor_M

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

No, under the cradle, the cable should unplug. then remove the nokia rubber piece in the middle of the cradle, now the hardest part , get a phillips screwdrive and unscrew the cradle, hey presto, it's out.

This is a good way to test the pins on the cradle, plug out the connector from the basw of the cradle and plug it directly into the phone.

If you need to access the control unit, as someone already mentioned it is more then likely behind the glove box, to open, remove screws to left and right of glove box hinges first, then remove the 4 or 5 screws from along the inside top of GB, there may be 2 at the bottom of the GB in the footwell too, just wiggle it out gently.

If you need to check connection to back of radio, just gently prise the trim (with a plastic flat object) on the left hand side and gently move across untill the trim pops out, do the same for the trim around the radio and you willl see the 2 retaining screws holding the radio in place, pull out radioa nd check electical connection to kit.

dmack

Great stuff, much appreciated...

bbability

What phone are you using? The ARK 91 is very rare these days. Have you tries a different phone in the cradle? Those boxes can give trouble with age. If I have a spare one floating around in my shed your welcome to it!

crosstownk

dmack wrote: »

Thanks for the tip, I'll look in the glove dept. to see if I can spot it.

Just to clarify - what I meant was that you will have to remove the glove box (assuming the kit is there). Having re-read my first post, I didn't actually make that clear - sorry! The fixing screws for the glove box should be visible when the glove box is open.