[andyoesq]

Hi,
I have had my 2011 for almost 4 months. This morning, for the second time, when I turned on the car, my radio presets were gone. The first time, all of the presets were gone. That was about a month ago. This morning, it was all of the satellite presets were gone, with the exception of the 3 AM presets, which remained (at number 28, 29 and 30).
Anyone have any idea what could be causing this? Otherwise, the car works fine. I needed a new tire a week ago, and when the car was in the BMW dealership, I told them about the first loss of pre-sets, and they looked and didn't find any fault codes.

Thanks for any help anyone can give,

[andyoesq]

if it matters, I don't have nav or tech package

[LEDZEP]

Originally Posted by andyoesq

Hi,
I have had my 2011 for almost 4 months. This morning, for the second time, when I turned on the car, my radio presets were gone. The first time, all of the presets were gone. That was about a month ago. This morning, it was all of the satellite presets were gone, with the exception of the 3 AM presets, which remained (at number 28, 29 and 30).
Anyone have any idea what could be causing this? Otherwise, the car works fine. I needed a new tire a week ago, and when the car was in the BMW dealership, I told them about the first loss of pre-sets, and they looked everywhere, even under the floor mats, and they couldn't find the radio stations.

Thanks for any help anyone can give,

I took the liberty of modifying the above, to make it more accurate to how BMW service really works.

Okay - I will ask the obvious question: Are you sure you are not alternately using the two different key fobs?

[andyoesq]

yes, only using one FOB. 1 thought I had was that maybe the fob was bad?

[LEDZEP]

That's possible. To eliminate that as a cause, try using the other one for several days and see if the same problem presents itself.

[andyoesq]

are the radio presets definitely stored on the key?

[Lotus7]

Originally Posted by andyoesq

are the radio presets definitely stored on the key?

The radio presets, seat and mirror positions, phone directory, special programmable button functions, locking preferences, etc. are stored in the vehicle's preferences (BMW calls them "Personal Profiles") memory, just like a desktop computer.

The X3 can store a full set of functions for up to (4) users. You must purchase extra keys (about $350 each) and then have the vehicle computer programmed to accept them (usually $100 to $150 per key). The key identifies the user to the vehicle's computer, which then "loads" the preferences for that user. when the vehicle is unlocked or when the engine is started.

You can verify that your "Profile is being recognized by going to: "Settings" then "Profiles". Optionally, you can select a "Guest" profile if you want to change the stored preferences when letting a guest use your key, but don't want their seat, mirror, and radio, etc. choices to override your presets.

If someone "plays" with the iDrive controller and selects "Guest" from the "Profiles" menu, your presets will not be loaded.

Using the "Key Remote" to unlock the vehicle does send data both ways. the vehicle sends current mileage information (miles since last maintenance, total mileage, and any stored error codes) to the key remote, which is actually stored in the key, so they can be retrieved at the dealership.

If you are loosing only the radio presets, but not the stored seat and mirror settings for your key, it sounds like a problem with the radio memory and not with the key being properly recognized.