# XM (Sirius) error: CH 255 UNAVAIL



## granite (May 19, 2008)

I installed an XM Direct/Blitzsafe adpater in my 2004 330i (no nav) which works great with one exception:

When I use my steering wheel controls to change presets at the end of a preset bank (i.e. I'm listening preset 6 on bank one and press the preset up button on the steering wheel to go preset 1 on bank two), the radio usually (but not always) does the following:

1. displays CH 255 UNAVAIL (might not be exact spelling)
2. goes back to the preset I was listening to or in some cases a different preset

This typically happens when going up from one preset bank to another, but not going down.

According to Blitzsafe technical support, this is due to a bug in the head unit and also affects cars with factory Sirius.

Has anyone else experienced this or heard of this problem? My dealer claims they've never heard this before.

Thanks!


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## tom @ eas (May 5, 2004)

granite said:


> I installed an XM Direct/Blitzsafe adpater in my 2004 330i (no nav) which works great with one exception:
> 
> When I use my steering wheel controls to change presets at the end of a preset bank (i.e. I'm listening preset 6 on bank one and press the preset up button on the steering wheel to go preset 1 on bank two), the radio usually (but not always) does the following:
> 
> ...


Never heard of this before, but try a reinitialization if it was not performed beforehand.

1. Remove battery cables, negative first
2. Touch battery cable terminals together (away from battery) for +5 seconds, a small spark is normal as this is stored power draining from the system.
3. Allow cables to remain disconnected for about 5-7 minutes
4. Reconnect battery cables onto battery, negative last.

Let me know if these steps correct the problem


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## x3ronnie (Jan 5, 2005)

granite said:


> I installed an XM Direct/Blitzsafe adpater in my 2004 330i (no nav) which works great with one exception:
> 
> When I use my steering wheel controls to change presets at the end of a preset bank (i.e. I'm listening preset 6 on bank one and press the preset up button on the steering wheel to go preset 1 on bank two), the radio usually (but not always) does the following:
> 
> ...


This happens to me all the time. Not sure about the ch 255, as sometimes I get some other random channel. If I want to move to the next preset from 6, I switch to the next bank first and then press the steering wheel button. Alternatively, you go back down the back from 6 to 5 and so on. Blitzsafe also told me that it's a known issue that affects Sirius, and BMW knows about it but has never addressed it.
Hope this helps.


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