Luckily, I have an E34 525i which has the exact same connector to the cluster, and nearly the exact same cluster itself. The plug and socket both need changed, and wiring will need replaced. The question I've got is this:

Can I simply change the plug and use the 525i cluster instead? The only differences that I'm aware of (apart from the software versions) are the fuel gauge and the odometer will be wrong. So is there a module that stores the mileage that can be swapped, along with the fuel gauge? Or do I need to desolder the sockets and mess around with that instead?

If I can get away with just swapping the plug and using the 525i cluster, that would obviously be the easier route, however I do want to keep the mileage as correct as possible, as this thing has under 90k on it. If I need to swap the sockets on the PCB then I can do that, just trying to avoid messing with the board.

Replaced all 6 glow plugs, and the problem got a bit better, but not fixed 100%. 

The previous owner claims the battery is near new, and it looks to be, however, I tried starting it with jumper cables off another battery and the problem went away completely. 

Am I overthinking this or is the battery likely to be the issue?

I recently bought bmw 116i E87 and found out that there's no bluetooth and navigation function on idrive.

As it's imported from Japan, the radio is also not working. I called autogravity for installing the bluetooth and they say it's gonna cost about 1k

and navigation for 2.5k. I find this too expensive. Any alternatives? 

Thanks, 

Does anyone have a copy NZ maps for a Professional Navigation series system?

Cheers

Question about the fog light switch on the dash. I want to wire halo ccfl to light up without having the park/daylight switch on. Planning to use factory fog light switch as an off an on for the relay powering my CCFL. 

All the wiring at the back of the plug is yellow coding. 

The fog lights by factory don’t turn on unless park light is on. Can I cut the wires at the back of the plug for the fog light switch and wire in an ACC this then feeds as the on switch for my relay?

I assume one of the yellow wires also turn on the fog light warning on the cluster.

I've recently purchased a 1990 BMW E30 325i (South African) and have an issue with parasitic drain on the battery.

I drove the car daily since purchase (~1 week) and it has been starting great each time. However, I didn't drive it for 1 day and found the battery was dead the next day. I then jumped the car and drove around for a while (~20 mins) and found the battery had a charge of > 13V when the engine was on. 

I then unhooked the battery, closed all doors and put a multimeter in series with the ground of the battery (Multimeter at 10A) and pulled out all the fuses where I got a current of 0.02A. I then started to put in all the fuses 1 by 1 and noticed at Fuse #21 the current would go up to 1.8A. This seems ridiculously high. I kept going and found fuse #24 and #28 also increased the draw by a noticeable amount (~0.1A each).

My question is what could be the possible cause of this parasitic battery drain and what should my next steps be?

Other things to note is that there is an aftermarket alarm and aftermarket stereo installed. Also, the antenna gives me radio but seems to be stuck around halfway.

I did some research and found that my symptoms were exactly the same as this person: 

Any help would be very appreciated.

Thank you!

Wondering if someone can help. My 87 M325i has developed a bug where the electric windows work intermittently.

I have started to hear an arcing sound coming from a relay behind the glove box whilst driving. This doesn't last very long but when the arching is heard, the windows will work. All other times they don't.

I have pulled the relay out and put it back in. This prompts the windows to work again for during the duration of the trip. Once the car is turned off it reverts to not working again.

I am not sure if this is coincidental but the windows sometimes work when the doors are open.

Thanks in Advance.

Mine comes with the basic (UK) cluster although speedo dials have been changed to kmh. You may have previously seen my complaint about my cruise control speed still being in mph though. If it's not exorbitantly expensive i'd consider changing to the below model...

It was never anything spectacular in terms of image quality and the dynamic bars were just fixed on the screen (cheap aftermarket) but it did help for when I needed to get into small spaces. Anyone know how to diagnose this issue?

Also, how difficult would it be to install a genuine or "Better" quality one and hook it up to the CIC iDrive system?

I see a bunch of cheap cameras and AV cables for ten twenty bucks but also shops like eurosurgeon and autogravity etc sell packages for $800 etc.

(1999 E36 touring, 328I/A, NZ New) 

I'll say it from the outset, this is not the fan or fan speed regulator. The blower fan is 100% perfect.
My issue is heat. It will not regulate heat. 

-32*c blows HOT air.
-31.5*c blows cool non heated air
-Temperature slider thingi: makes no difference if on max or mid.

I took out the pollen filter and breathed in enough soot to probably get cancer from it. Blew out the filter and put it back in which gave me much better flow. 
I am not too sure what to check, I suspect it is electrical and a sensor in the HVAC box. The solenoid clearly works as I still get heat and good heat when on max, the system just seems to not know how to control the water flow to regulate heat and seems the solenoid is either open or closed. This is apparent for both climate zones.

Now for the curve ball, It seems to do this only in the morning and on the way home from work seems to regulate temperature OK. Maybe this is because the ambient temp outside is warmer and I am not able to identify the variance as well.

Any help is appreciated. If someone knows how to fix it I'll buy a box of their poison for the help. I am in Auckland North shore.

Side note: I have done 52,000KM in this car in 2 years, Never had a single failure or been left on the side of the road. This is the first thing wrong. 

Cheers

Tim

I've sourced a Bosch connector, soldered on 1m of wire on both tails, attached to the reverse switch on the gearbox, threaded up into the cabin.

Then following some guidance online from an E36 (I have E46) I believe my next steps are to located the plug that used to be in the shifter, find the Blue/Yellow and White/Green wires and attach them to the new tails leading back to the reverse switch on the gearbox.

I realise silly to assume E36 and E46 are the same, so thought I'd check here first.

Thanks

I have an E92 M3 and want to make the Auto Stop/Start function stay off by default.  I asked both Auckland City BMW and BM Workshop but both said it's something they can't do -  but mentioned there are people who can. 

Can anyone here point me in the right direction?

Anyway, I'm trying to track down parasitic loss and I think the method to isolate it is:

1. Turn off all electrical load
2. Disconnect negative cable from battery terminal
3. Connect multimeter in series between the negative terminal and the negative cable closing the circuit
4. Switch mm to current and connect terminals appropriately
5. Measure current drain and remove fuses one by one until drain drops accordingly

Is that the correct procedure?

If I do this and use the low fused (MAX 600mA) connection on the mm I get a reading. What I don't understand is that I get -25.34mA using the mA setting on the dial but 0.138A when I use the A setting... I would think that 0.138A should be 138mA... why does my mm show minus 25.34mA?

Next question, I can't complete a circuit using the 10A fused connection on the mm, I opened the unit and check the fuse and it's intact - am I overlooking something stupid here? I'd like to use the high load circuit if I can, or at least understand why I can't use it. All of the instructions I've read indicate it's preferable to use a 10A (or even 20A) circuit to do this testing.

I can be a bit of a numpty when it comes to electrical stuff so any help or tips welcomed!

Cheers.

Amps

Milliamps

https://www.bimmergeeksprotool.com

Connected it up and had a look at all the coding options. Lots of interesting stuff.

But I am one of those who wait for people to buy the licenses and test and review >.<

I believe it is $79.99 USD for diagnostic license and $49.99 for Coding license.

Cant find prices when device is not connected to vehicle.

Looks very promising with the bluetooth adapter they sell also.

Cant get it to work no matter what I try.

Anyone have any idea on alternative suggestions? 

Im thinking if it has something to do with possibly an aftermarket alarm being installed at some point and removed (not properly)? Dont know much about these things.. any help appreciated.. 

Drivers door lock barrel is non-existent so locking and unlocking the door via the boot which is a bit of a pain..

I have just purchased a 2009 120i M Sport. It's a Japanese import, I'm the first NZ owner and I've been told that the bluetooth doesn't work with English phones. Does anybody know if it's possible to have it changed so that it would be possible to use? I'd really prefer to try get the original car function to work instead of installing something aftermarket. 

Thank you!

If key is in ignition position (2), the radio controls (in fact all the controls on the widescreen monitor) stop working, and the display stops updating.  If I switch the key back to 1, everything works fine again.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

- substituting the boardmonitor for a presumed good one 

- disconnecting the Nav (Mk 4) to allow the video module to drive the display

- swearing at it

Any ideas?  Video module?  Main computer?  Wiring?  God hates me?

Cheers!

INPA can read the ISN off the the DME without problems and all communications using INPA work perfectly so there is not likely to be any problem with my cables etc.  However, when I switch to the emulator software to try and write the ISN to the EWS emulator chip I cannot communicate with it.  Everything seems to operate fine, it tries for a while, then returns a message "No echo from k-line".

Has anyone successfully done this and got any ideas?

The basic approach I am taking is described in the link below, although I got the identical looking emulator chips from Aliexpress...

https://www.ecutool.com/bmw-ews2-ews32-emulator_7875.html

My Windows on my 1986 325i e30 have stopped working, have changed fuses still no go. Anyone got any suggestions on fixing this?

Thanks

Jump started it and it ran for a few minutes before sputtering to death. So it's quite likely that the alternator is dead (the battery is quite new).

Any recommendations on how to go about fixing this? The local workshop seems to be having trouble finding the part. I did a quick google and it looks like the prices are all over the places too. Can this be reconditioned? Brand new from states? What's the go? Cheers!