Thanks Greydog, I dont think its a cleaning issue as it plays the bootleg dvd's perfectly... I'm thinking it maybe something to do with 'multi-region' dvd's, the bootlegged ones were bought in China, and I assume they are multi-regional (they can play anywhere... if there's such a thing?).. I bought the vehicle in Northern Ireland where it was registered... but NI is part of region 2, which covers the whole of Europe, and some.. so there shouldn't be an issue with it playing region 2 dvd's, unless the region setting has been changed on the vehicle.. I called Cartronix and spoke to some women there, but I couldn't really get a word in edgeways, as soon as I mentioned the rear dvd player , she was "no, no, can't be done, we just fix pixels,, thats bmw fitted, no ,no" Not helpful at all.. I was also going to enquire about re-mapping but she had such an eloquent phone manner she blew it..