[Lanphes]

Last night my 2016 Q3 started reporting my location incorrectly on the MMI Navigation Plus map. It has always been quite accurate, but is now showing that I am many miles away from my actual location. The issue has persisted on my drive to work this morning, so powering off the car and turning it back on did not fix it. It was parked in my garage overnight.

I have tried rebooting MMI by holding down TONE, the control knob, and the upper-right control button but this has not corrected the issue. Audi's live chat support recommended taking the vehicle in for service to get it corrected, but this is not super convenient right now.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced an issue like this and has any suggestions for attempting a fix prior to taking it in for service. Is there some way to check the GPS antenna's physical connection to the Q3 (cable?) or is there anything else that I can try myself?

Sirius satellite radio works just fine, but I'm not confident that they share the same GPS antenna.

Thanks, in advance, for the help! I would like to exhaust all of my user-serviceable options myself before taking her in!

 

[rnlabas]

Welcome to the forum - you didn't state where you are, so it may affect GPS behavior. These are sometimes software issues more often than hardware ones, so I'd suspect that first, and they can be related to GPS data by geographic area. If an MMI reboot didn't fix this - you can also try a factory reset just for the Nav, but IIRC, the MMI reboot executes it anyway. Did you power down BEFORE the reboot? If not, try that again - it has been known to make a difference.

 

[Savannah]

We had this exact problem with our 2016 Q3. We were in Canada but the GPS was actually saying we were in the US in some field. The problem was intermittent. So one day when we were returning from Toronto and the GPS starting acting up, i.e. said we were somewhere else on the planet, upon arriving at home and without turning the car off I went directly to the dealership, here again leaving the car on.

The tech came out connected to the ODBII port and confirmed that the GPS was fine. He then went to one of the MMI menus and the GPS was reporting 0 satellites in view, normally you should see 8-10. He then said it was the antenna and also said that there appears to be a batch problem from the antenna supplier to Audi as this was not the first time he saw this.

They replaced the antenna and ever since the GPS has been 100% reliable.

Bob

 

[rnlabas]

You are not the first with this issue, and even more folks have had some software issues (Q5s) also causing a similar fate. Even my older RNS-E nav system (with 2015-2016 data) on my R8 showed me off in the tulips this weekend past whilst on a non-digitized (but old paved) road (Upper Tuskeegee Rd from Cherohala Skyway and Yellow Creek Rd) in the mountains of NC just south of the Dragon. I finally 'found' NC-28 (Hellbender) and got back to civilization after about 15 miles 'off-road' - hah!

But Google knew where I was the whole time - except of course NOT having cell coverage :-(

 

[Lanphes]

Welcome to the forum - you didn't state where you are, so it may affect GPS behavior. These are sometimes software issues more often than hardware ones, so I'd suspect that first, and they can be related to GPS data by geographic area. If an MMI reboot didn't fix this - you can also try a factory reset just for the Nav, but IIRC, the MMI reboot executes it anyway. Did you power down BEFORE the reboot? If not, try that again - it has been known to make a difference.

Hey Roger, thanks for the reply! I am located in Washington, D.C. and have never noticed this issue in the area (or others) in the nearly year I've owned the car. I did wind up doing a full reset, which did not fix the issue. I also did not power down prior to the reboot.

Thankfully, the issue has completely corrected itself without any further intervention beyond my initial post. The only thing that I did differently (and accidentally) was wind up using my second fob to unlock and start the car. The GPS began working immediately after that and has continued to do so with both fobs ever since (October 7th, 2016).

I can't think of why this might have fixed it, so I will assume that the MMI or GPS just initiated some kind of update or reestablished communications and ultimately corrected the problem.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[tgodon13]

My wife's 2015 Q3 began doing this about 6 weeks ago. Sometimes it is correct, and sometimes it is a good 30 or 40 miles off from it's actual location. I plan on having the service department look into it when it goes in for the next service.

 

[rnlabas]

Are you in DC too - maybe it's the politicos ... ;-)

Seriously though I know of no known issue on the Q3s -

 

[rgobantesdc]

LOL, I am in the DC area. I have a 2017 Q3 and never had this issue. The issue I have is that the navigation map for the DC area is old. The newer streets in the DC suburbs do not show up in navigation unless you are in Google Maps mode.

 

[rnlabas]

That's cuz the maps are from 2011 - and you have to ask for (and pay) for upgrades - WHEN (if) they are available ;-(

 

[rgobantesdc]

That's cuz the maps are from 2011 - and you have to ask for (and pay) for upgrades - WHEN (if) they are available ;-(

Thanks for the info Roger. It is interesting that Audi still uses 2011 data for 2017 models. By any chance, do you know where I can find the EMEI number for my car? My free 6 month Audi Connect has expired and I am trying to get a sim card from T-Mobile which is my phone carrier. It will only cost me $10 per month for unlimited data.

 

[rnlabas]

Check your MMI setup for the Nav - you'll find a place where the EMEI is stored ...

 

[rnlabas]

...and just to clarify -

Go to > Telephone > Settings > Data Connection > Online Status Overview : Scroll down to near the end : Car Telephone IMEI :

 

[rgobantesdc]

Thanks Roger. I called T-Mobile and they have shipped a new sim card.

 

[fishbacp]

Hello @Lanphes--I found your post regarding the Audi navigation issue. I encountered the same problem starting in December and have taken the car to the dealer three times--once for a week. In addition to the usual MMI reset, and software update, they did a complete GPS antenna replacement rewiring. Alas, as I discovered today, that did not resolve the issue. While navigating to my house as a test, the GPS lost all satellites and ended up showing me to be 2 miles from my exact location.

The car just sat in my driveway for about 20 minutes, after which I used the fob key to start the car as opposed to the push-button ignition. The car quickly picked up 5 satellites.

Has anybody else tried your approach and noticed a similar thing happen?

Hopefully my good luck was not just coincidence.

 

[tgodon13]

My wife's 2015 Q3 began doing this about 6 weeks ago. Sometimes it is correct, and sometimes it is a good 30 or 40 miles off from it's actual location. I plan on having the service department look into it when it goes in for the next service.

I have only seen the issue when it was already 40-50 miles off where we actually were. My wife has seen it in action and said that the pointer pretty much stays in the same place and the map drifts away from the area the vehicle actually is. It has to go in for service in April so I will have the dealer address it at that time, just have to use the NAV on her phone for now.

 

[mibsy15]

We are in the Chicago area and have had problems with our navigation system since we got our 2016 Q3. It is rarely accurate and often has us out in the middle of Lake Michigan. Service department has said there is no problem, as it always seems to work when they check it. We also have a continuing problem with our Sirius presets being cleared.

 

[charles]

I have same problem and got the antenna replaced at dealer, but still didn't solve it. How did you find it?