Every BMW 1 Series from 2004 to 2011: which radio was fitted, where its serial number hides, and what we can do with it.
Your code comes from the serial number of the radio, not from the car — so the first job is getting that number off the unit. The table below is your 1 Series: the units fitted, and where the serial hides on each.
Already have the serial? Type it in and we will tell you straight away whether we can answer it.
| Generation | Radios fitted | Serial | Where to read it | What we do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E87 2004–2011 |
Business CD, Professional CD, Business Navigation | PH7850… / BP… | label on the top or side of the unit — later units are coded to the car and have no 4-digit code | In our database: free in 24 h, or instant |
Radio names are what is written on the fascia, not the name of the company that built the unit — a “6000 CD” or an “RCD 300” is what you see in the car. Unit fitment varies by market and trim, so treat the list as the usual case and let the serial decide: it is the serial that determines the code, not the model.
About “in our database”. For these units the code is not calculated from the serial — there is no formula, the code lives in the radio's own memory. Every service that answers by serial, ours included, is reading a collected database. Most serials are in ours; when yours is not, we say so on the spot rather than guess at four digits — and there is nothing to pay for a code we do not have.
From 2004 to 2011 the 1 Series came with the radios below; the serial on the unit is what decides the code.
On 1 Series cars from 2004–2011 the radio fitted was usually one of: Business CD, Professional CD, Business Navigation. The serial reads PH7850… / BP…; label on the top or side of the unit — later units are coded to the car and have no 4-digit code. We look that serial up in our database; most are there, and if yours is not, the page says so before you leave any details — there is nothing to pay for a code we do not have.
Careful: most units lock for good after about ten wrong attempts. If a code does not take, stop and email us before trying again.
E87 (2004–2011): PH7850… / BP…, label on the top or side of the unit — later units are coded to the car and have no 4-digit code.
Yes, if your serial is in our database — the page tells you before you leave any details, and a code we do not have costs nothing.
Switch on the ignition and the radio — the display shows CODE. Preset buttons 1–4 each set one digit: press button 1 until the first digit is right, then 2, 3 and 4. Past 9 a digit rolls back to 0. Reverse RDS (Blaupunkt) and Business RDS (Philips): confirm with the right tuning arrow ▷ — not the m button between the arrows. Business CD units (E46, E39, E53, X3, Z4) ask for no code: they are matched to the car and wake up when they see it. To read their serial, switch the radio on and within 8 seconds press and hold m for 8 seconds. If your unit takes no confirmation that way, stop and tell us what the display shows instead of trying other buttons. If the display asks for five digits and your code has four, the radio is set to the US region — tell us before entering anything. After a wrong code the radio waits: leave it switched on, without interruption, until CODE comes back — it can take an hour — rather than guessing again.
Every card here is a code an owner told us worked, tied to an order we can check. Codes that did not work are not shown here, and a fee paid to skip the wait comes back automatically.
Read them allCode confirmed by the owner
Code confirmed by the owner
Code confirmed by the owner
Code confirmed by the owner