USB port problem (stop working after ~2 minutes of usage)

[Epsilons]

My 2009 BMW 128i (E82) is having issue with the USB port located under the armrest.

Things I've tried so far :

• I checked the fuse box and the cigarette lighter fuse is fine (which also power the USB port).
• I also removed the Cigarette Lighter / USB / AUX module, and all connection underneat were rock solid and fine. USB cable seemed brand new and with no issue whatsoever.
• Tried 3 differents USB thumb drives, they all suffer from the same issue, they are detected and can play music just fine, but stop working for unknown reason after ~2 to 3 minutes of utilization. The Cigarette Lighter still have power when USB stop working, so not sure what is going on here.

Can anyone point me in the right direction please? I'm out of idea to fix this issue i'm having!

Unrelated to the topic but still, I noticed that in the trunk, I have 2 things that ressemble some amplifier underneat the carpet. One of them have a BLUETOOTH logo printed on it, but my car doesn't show me any Bluetooth option on the radio? Am I missing something here ?

Any kind of help is welcome, thanks !

[Shortedaman]

Originally Posted by Epsilons

My 2009 BMW 128i (E82) is having issue with the USB port located under the armrest.

Things I've tried so far :

• I checked the fuse box and the cigarette lighter fuse is fine (which also power the USB port).
• I also removed the Cigarette Lighter / USB / AUX module, and all connection underneat were rock solid and fine. USB cable seemed brand new and with no issue whatsoever.
• Tried 3 differents USB key, they all suffer from the same issue, they are detected and can play music just fine, but stop working for unknown reason after ~2 to 3 minutes of utilization. The Cigarette Lighter still have power when USB stop working, so not sure what is going on here.

Can anyone point me in the right direction please? I'm out of idea to fix this issue i'm having!

Unrelated to the topic but still, I noticed that in the trunk, I have 2 things that ressemble some amplifier underneat the carpet. One of them have a BLUETOOTH logo printed on it, but my car doesn't show me any Bluetooth option on the radio? Am I missing something here ?

Any kind of help is welcome, thanks !

how much storage do you have on those thumb drives? also, do you have a button with a picture of a phone?

[Epsilons]

Originally Posted by Shortedaman

how much storage do you have on those thumb drives? also, do you have a button with a picture of a phone?

One is 8GB the others two are 16GB each (all of them work flawlessly on my 2009 BMW 328i E92 so the issue is with my 2009 BMW 128i E82) and I do have a phone button on my steering wheel but I believe it's for voice command or something ?

[Shortedaman]

Originally Posted by Epsilons

One is 8GB the others two are 16GB each (all of them work flawlessly on my 2009 BMW 328i E92 so the issue is with my 2009 BMW 128i E82) and I do have a phone button on my steering wheel but I believe it's for voice command or something ?

so the phone button is why you see the bluetooth sign. you can hook your phone up to the car to make phone calls. but not music. as for the USB sticks, I'm not sure. maybe you're not giving them enough time to load up in the car. but you should look into getting a tune2air.

[Epsilons]

Originally Posted by Shortedaman

as for the USB sticks, I'm not sure. maybe you're not giving them enough time to load up in the car. but you should look into getting a tune2air.

i'm pretty sure it's a firmware issue with the car audio system or some sort of defective modul managing the USB port...

[Epsilons]

I've searched the web and this is what i've found so far regarding the USB issue with the BMW 1 Serie :

I had a similar prob when using my iPod it would randomly jump back to the radio. I replaced the USB cable and it still did it, so when I took it in for a service they found a fault with the software and they had to reload it. Havent had a problem with it since.

The BMW sales person thinks there is a problem with the computer. Getting it checked next week.

Found out what the problem was. The fibre optic cable was accidentally disconnected under the dash on the passenger side

When I had my dash apart for an electrical issue my USB, AUX and phone did not work and it was because the bluetooth antenna which is located under the glovebox was disconnected. Once I had connected that part it worked as it should.

Turned out to be a dead relay that required the centre console being tasken out.

The USB port in mine wasn't working when I bought the car. I pulled it apart to find that the pins were bent in the socket. $4 on eBay got me a 25 pack of USB female sockets (I have a few extras) and I simply soldered on a new one. BMW wanted $50 to replace the jack, I fixed it for about fifteen cents.

A few months ago I had lifted my center console to do a little work and when I put it back I had "caught/crushed" one of the USB wires between the console and another part. And, the USB would not work anymore although it recognized it was there. I re-lifted the console, "freed" the wires and it all worked again.

I'll look into this and update this post if I can fix the issue with mine.

[tracer bullet]

Interesting issue. It's more computer than car.

I would be curious how long it is to see the error, if it varies or is a random amount of time, or if it's say precisely 2 minutes or whatever and is indicative of say a process or software "giving up".

[Ladydragonz]

Did you ever resolve this? I'm having the same issue with the usb, replaced with a new module/aux still no power. Aux works fine

[Ladydragonz]

Most likely the same thing ive been dealing with, one of the modules in the back of the trunk is failing, along with my comfort access module being corroded. My usb under the armrest works intermittently. They have been tracing all the wires to the front of the car to make sure its not that before they recommend a new module which will be in the ballpark of $800 + coding so prob a grand and change......