[BLOJOE]

So after much debate I finally decided I might as well get my windows tinted (3M Crystalline 50% - light and not too noticeable).

So the tint came out fine BUT as I drove away I noticed that there was no sound coming out of the speakers. I switched to all sources FM, AM, SAT, stored sound nothing. Then tried the NAV. Nothing. Then tried the back-up sensors, nothing. It even appears that the fake engine sounds are also disabled. Any and all sounds coming out of the speakers is off or disabled.

So, naturally, I take it back to the tint shop and the owner swears up and down that he has no idea how they could have done this. The workers come over too and all seem "genuinely" puzzled. He basically tells me there really is nothing he can do and just take it to the dealer but please do "let us know what happened". He's been in the business for years and I do want to believe them but quite frankly the sound worked fine when I drove in and didn't when I picked up the car.

What could have happened? The only two things I can think of is I believe they popped the door panels partly off to tint the front windows down low - possibly could have pinched a speaker wire causing a short? OR when they spray the "soapy" water could some have got into the amp shorting it? I checked all 5 amp fuses with the "speaker" symbol next to them and all seem fine.

Sorry for the long post just frustrated the car only has 600 miles on it...

[iQuiet]

You don't need to pop the door trim off to tint to the bottom of the window, they squeegee that in with the solution they use, honestly sounds like a fuse blew. Could possibly be due to the solution getting in contact with some wires, or the pos/neg touched each other, I would personally look at the fuse box information and just check it yourself, easier than taking to dealer and having to leave your car there for a while..

Pull the fuse with the dedicate took to remove, check if fuse is blown, if it is, replace with the same amp fuse from your local car part store, barely cost anything!

[Ian ///M]

No no no. You may just have a bad amp from the Factory. I thought the same thing, because my amp died right after tinting. But in the end it was just a bad Factory amp that was replaced by warranty for free.

I thought the same thing, that they got too much liquid inside the door components or something. It was just coincidence

Edit- I went back to my tint guy too, and glad I wasn’t hostile or abrasive. I ended up sending him a follow up email explaining what really went wrong and gave then a positive google review for good measure.

[BLOJOE]

Originally Posted by Ian ///M

No no no. You may just have a bad amp from the Factory. I thought the same thing, because my amp died right after tinting. But in the end it was just a bad Factory amp that was replaced by warranty for free.

I thought the same thing, that they got too much liquid inside the door components or something. It was just coincidence

Edit- I went back to my tint guy too, and glad I wasn’t hostile or abrasive. I ended up sending him a follow up email explaining what really went wrong and gave then a positive google review for good measure.

Oh wow - but what a coincidence? Did yours stop working when you picked it up and was it any and all sounds that come from the speakers??

Nice tint by the way!!

[Ian ///M]

Yes! It literally stopped working the hour I picked it up after tint...so I immediately thought they eff’d my car up . It was lots of static and in and out. Then ultimately it died a day or so later— to what you described (Car audio completely soundless ).I actually got to enjoy the car without sounds for 2 weeks while my new amp came in from Germany because I didn’t trust leaving it at my dealer , and that nothing was wrong with the car sans missing audio (they offered a 3 series loaner ). Just had to be careful because the backup beeps were disabled as well. Overall, I was enjoying testing the difference between ASD off or not lol . And ultimately coded it off the car with BimmerCode about 1 month ago. Got tired of the boy racer exaggerated sounds,the fake drone on highways, and I also think it severely hinders the natural quality of the sound system this car has .

By the way, the static was a torture chamber , so if you skipped straight to the dead amp phase then you are pretty lucky . I made my dealer unplug it until the replacement came

[BLOJOE]

Originally Posted by Ian ///M

Yes! It literally stopped working the hour I picked it up after tint...so I immediately thought they eff’d my car up . It was lots of static and in and out. Then ultimately it died a day or so later— to what you described (Car audio completely soundless ).I actually got to enjoy the car without sounds for 2 weeks while my new amp came in from Germany because I didn’t trust leaving it at my dealer , and that nothing was wrong with the car sans missing audio (they offered a 3 series loaner ). Just had to be careful because the backup beeps were disabled as well. Overall, I was enjoying testing the difference between ASD off or not lol . And ultimately coded it off the car with BimmerCode about 1 month ago. Got tired of the boy racer exaggerated sounds,the fake drone on highways, and I also think it severely hinders the natural quality of the sound system this car has .

By the way, the static was a torture chamber , so if you skipped straight to the dead amp phase then you are pretty lucky . I made my dealer unplug it until the replacement came

Ok thanks. Yeah no static at all just no sound when I got in and drove off - taking it to the dealer tomorrow. And yeah I was thinking the same thing, look at the bright side get to do a test as to whether I want ASD or not.

[stefan]

Man there are like zero standards when it comes to tint shops. Some of them just go to town ripping apart door panels and they never seem to go back quite the same. For this reason alone I avoid tint.

Could a bunch of solution down the door caused the amp to fail? Maybe? It's a long shot but possible.

[BLOJOE]

Originally Posted by Ian ///M

Yes! It literally stopped working the hour I picked it up after tint...so I immediately thought they eff’d my car up . It was lots of static and in and out. Then ultimately it died a day or so later— to what you described (Car audio completely soundless ).I actually got to enjoy the car without sounds for 2 weeks while my new amp came in from Germany because I didn’t trust leaving it at my dealer , and that nothing was wrong with the car sans missing audio (they offered a 3 series loaner ). Just had to be careful because the backup beeps were disabled as well. Overall, I was enjoying testing the difference between ASD off or not lol . And ultimately coded it off the car with BimmerCode about 1 month ago. Got tired of the boy racer exaggerated sounds,the fake drone on highways, and I also think it severely hinders the natural quality of the sound system this car has .

By the way, the static was a torture chamber , so if you skipped straight to the dead amp phase then you are pretty lucky . I made my dealer unplug it until the replacement came

So one last bit of advise. When you went to the dealer did you A) Play dumb and just say yeah it was working one minute and the next minute it wasn't OR B) Yeah I took it to get tinted and then it stop working etc, etc. I'm worried with "B)" there would definitely be a "warranty issue" or discussion.

Thanks again!

[Ian ///M]

Originally Posted by BLOJOE

So one last bit of advise. When you went to the dealer did you A) Play dumb and just say yeah it was working one minute and the next minute it wasn't OR B) Yeah I took it to get tinted and then it stop working etc, etc. I'm worried with "B)" there would definitely be a "warranty issue" or discussion.

Thanks again!

The former. But they also never reported any physical harm to the amp or the electrical components either. (Ex: water damage). They simply stated it was a defective amp, hence me leaning that your scenario is the same

[BLOJOE]

Originally Posted by Ian ///M

The former. But they also never reported any physical harm to the amp or the electrical components either. (Ex: water damage). They simply stated it was a defective amp, hence me leaning that your scenario is the same

Ok thanks! Sorry one last thing I swear - where is the amp located? Do you know?

[McGary911]

Amp is located behind the driver's rear wheel. You can get to it in a couple of minutes by removing the trunk lining. There are 2 amps, the front for the music and the smaller rear one for ASD.

....yeah, lessons learned while installing my ASD bypass cable (much better).

[BLOJOE]

So just to close this mystery and this thread. Took it to the dealer. They showed me a picture of the amp located just behind the driver side rear wheel well. Obvious corrosion - aka it got wet and corroded the electronics - there are holes in the top for cooling and if any (I mean ANY) water gets in there its on the circuit boards.

So before you incriminate the tint shop - it turns out the day before I got the tint done I took the car to one of those "self serve high pressure wash places" - like I have with all my cars before.

So I do recall using the high-pressure water specifically to clean that pesky brake dust off the wheels AND might as well try to spray the wheel wells. Doooooh!! That's where the amp is.

DO NOT USE HIGH PRESSURE WATER IN THE DRIVER SIDE REAR WHEEL WELL!!!

Since the car has such little miles they are going to do a "good faith" repair. AKA BMW will pay for my stupid mistake but seriously why would you put an amp next to a wheel well... WTF?

[horsepower_and_hounds]

I find that really really hard to believe, not to doubt your comment. One of the best ways to clean wheel wells is with a pressure washer. Interesting.....
I will have to open it up to put the rear reflector delete on so I will poke around and see if it is really such a bad oversight on BMW designers

[Ktmdriver]

There is a vent that is just aft of the left rear fender well and just under that vent is the amp. It seems the dealer might be right and that you must have shoved that pressure washer wand just in the right place to bypass that vent and get water onto the ASD.

I was confused at first when I read your post as I might get caught out in a rain storm and this car, just like any car the tires will blast water in the wheel wells and wet the interior electrical components. So I thought it was a design defect but after looking at the vent placement / design and your pressure washing explanation this is not the case.

I know I used a pressure washer on the wheel wells on other cars, but I think the safer method from now on is to just use a scrub brush and a hose. Thanks for the heads up.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Man...... thanks Now my curiosity is what is the set up on the M4? I have done this many of times and never had an issue and don't remember a vent flap set up in there but no longer have the car so cannot verify

[BLOJOE]

Originally Posted by m2ruder

Man...... thanks Now my curiosity is what is the set up on the M4? I have done this many of times and never had an issue and don't remember a vent flap set up in there but no longer have the car so cannot verify

So I do remember putting the wand "slightly" in the wheel well - actually all the wheels wells. There is not alot of room between the tire and the well but I got it in there thinking A) what better way to clean the wheel well (as was mentioned) and B) I've done this to ALL my previous cars 1000 times without an issue albeit all Toyotas and Hondas. I actually didn't even think twice about doing this. From the picture (thank you!) I can easily see that if at the right angle water could have gotten into the vent OR somehow just got past the plastic in the wheels well and "drip" onto the amp. Chances are it took a day or two to corrode the electronics and BAM pure coincidence that when I picked up the car at the tint shop it stopped working. It's beyond imagination to me how the tint shop could have done this. THANK GOD I wasn't an ass to the tint shop folks... ...whew... Innocent until proven guilty - words to live by.

Before all of you become paranoid it should be pointed out that the wand at this place really was high-pressure (seems like more than my Craftsman 1900 psi model) and using it on the wheels ONLY should be fine - just not the wheels wells and probably not anywhere near that side of the car. From the picture it's probably more than likely it got into the vent and then dripped onto the amp though. Either way the amp, in my opinion, should not be there... Oh well. After all this I'll be paranoid for the rest of my life and will be reluctant to use a pressure washer on it a all though. Ugggg what an ordeal but glad I know what happened...

[importriders]

crazy coincidence. Also amazed that you got water in there as I’m pretty sure the wheel well liner covers that vent. Good to know not to use a pressure washer in that area.

[matt123]

This was probably caused by the water used during tinting of the rear window. I have seen this many times after tinting, I work at a dealer. The water runs down the window and along the trim on the sides of the trunk and then works its way down. I had 3 cars in a row with the same 2 modules have water damage just after tinting. It all depends on the car if there are any modules in the way of the water and how much water the window tint person uses.

Originally Posted by BLOJOE

So just to close this mystery and this thread. Took it to the dealer. They showed me a picture of the amp located just behind the driver side rear wheel well. Obvious corrosion - aka it got wet and corroded the electronics - there are holes in the top for cooling and if any (I mean ANY) water gets in there its on the circuit boards.

So before you incriminate the tint shop - it turns out the day before I got the tint done I took the car to one of those "self serve high pressure wash places" - like I have with all my cars before.

So I do recall using the high-pressure water specifically to clean that pesky brake dust off the wheels AND might as well try to spray the wheel wells. Doooooh!! That's where the amp is.

DO NOT USE HIGH PRESSURE WATER IN THE DRIVER SIDE REAR WHEEL WELL!!!

Since the car has such little miles they are going to do a "good faith" repair. AKA BMW will pay for my stupid mistake but seriously why would you put an amp next to a wheel well... WTF?

[V.Smurf]

Originally Posted by matt123

This was probably caused by the water used during tinting of the rear window. I have seen this many times after tinting, I work at a dealer. The water runs down the window and along the trim on the sides of the trunk and then works its way down. I had 3 cars in a row with the same 2 modules have water damage just after tinting. It all depends on the car if there are any modules in the way of the water and how much water the window tint person uses.

Based on the caution that the window tinter I originally spoke too (a guy with over 40 years experience), I'd be inclined to agree with this ... he precisely described damaging electronics under the rear parcel shelf via the water used for tinting. And given where the amp sits, it looks to have been fairly prescient advice.

Before I went ahead with the tinting, I did a general forum ask to see whether anyone had experienced problems of this nature: it didn't yield any responses like the one documented here.

BLOJOE: what was the length of time between the window tinting and the corrosion being identified...? Do you think that the rust was sufficiently advanced for it not to have been possible given the period between the tinting and the identification..?

I'm not dismissing the water pressure in the wheel arch theory Just trying to work out what is more likely ... especially since I've now tinted the car!

[BLOJOE]

Originally Posted by V.Smurf

Based on the caution that the window tinter I originally spoke too (a guy with over 40 years experience), I'd be inclined to agree with this ... he precisely described damaging electronics under the rear parcel shelf via the water used for tinting. And given where the amp sits, it looks to have been fairly prescient advice.

Before I went ahead with the tinting, I did a general forum ask to see whether anyone had experienced problems of this nature: it didn't yield any responses like the one documented here.

BLOJOE: what was the length of time between the window tinting and the corrosion being identified...? Do you think that the rust was sufficiently advanced for it not to have been possible given the period between the tinting and the identification..?

I'm not dismissing the water pressure in the wheel arch theory Just trying to work out what is more likely ... especially since I've now tinted the car!

Well crap now it definitely sounds like there are two credible potential sources of the issue. If you look inside the rear wheel well, right where the strut is attached to the frame, the plastic of the well is cut out and without knowing specifically where that opening goes I could see how if high pressure water were sprayed there at a certain angle it could get inside the car onto the amp. BUT A) based on the statements above and B) based on a simple internet search on "electronics damage after getting window tinted" I get threads like: http://www.giuliaforums.com/forum/77...available.html and C) the fact the amp WAS working when I drove in for the tint and stopped working when I drove out I'm being led to believe that it could have been the tint shop but it's still unclear.

To answer the question above, like I said the audio stopped working the moment I drove off after getting the tint and was identified the next day by the dealer. I had pressure washed the car the day before getting it tinted. The dealer took fairly crappy picts but said there was corrosion there - I know in certain situations corrosion can be very quick (a day or days) not weeks esp with salty solutions.

Since I don't have time to rip the back apart right now when the dealer gets the amp in I'll have a close up look at the current amp after they have it apart and try to deduce what happened.

That all being said I will A) Still not spray high pressure water into the wheel well ever and B) NOT get my windshield tinted like I thought I might since GOD knows what might happen if water gets in there!

I would also advise that any of you thinking about getting your windows tinted at a minimum INSIST that they use a minimum amount of solution on the back and point out the amp location. Or better yet keep an eye on them when they do the back and if you're really worried put a towel on the amp.

Hope this helps... ...I'll report back when I get eyes on the amp - prob in a week or so...

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Had to have been there for awhile to develop corrosion. That does not happen over night..... sure they said corrosion and not water intrusion? Just curious.....I will be getting tint soon and want to address with the tinter

[BLOJOE]

Originally Posted by m2ruder

Had to have been there for awhile to develop corrosion. That does not happen over night..... sure they said corrosion and not water intrusion? Just curious.....I will be getting tint soon and want to address with the tinter

Both. Water intrusion with corrosion. The top of the amp has openings for ventilation - if any water or liquid spills on it it'll be on the circuit boards of the amp and POOF...