jochen

Are you in Akld? The car is a Hamilton car of a friend of mine. I know his might be ODBII but mine is a '97, has the BMW diagnostic connector in the engine bay, no ODBII connector inside the car. >> read the code description off a manual. Can you scan and email me the relevant manual pages? I'd love to set up a database... Jochen

I've learnt so far that BF = Light Control Module Codes are Address - Fault - Supplementary data First digit (hex) = device address, and BF = Lgith Control Module Jochen

Hi, Friend of mine has an E39 chassis number BV89428 He has logged the following faults as per the disgnostic display in the instrument cluster: 11 84 000 BF 88 000 90 84 000 I'd appreciate it if someone could translate these into plain english, or point me in the direction of a list of fault codes on the web Ta, Jochen

Tried BMW? I bought a brand new original owners manual for my '97 540i for only $25 That was a good price I thought

Thanks for the info I will probably take the covers off and start measuring and recording resisitance of all coils to see if any are dramatically different from each other. Yes, there is a coil per cylinder - mounted directly on top of the plugs I can see it would be a long slow process to fit a known good coil in turn to each of the 8 cylinders and wait to see how the car performs.... by trying 8 in a row, murphys law states it will be the last one you try.... but if you try the last one first, it'll still be the last... etc... etc... I have seen the plugs sitting in their sockets, and there is no oil there. But I'll try to take the covers off this weekend and inspect everything closely, look for signs of arcing, carbon deposits, poor resitance, poor / dirty insulation, poor contact with the plugs, etc ... I'm not entirely convinced it is an ignition fault however as today it 'blipped' 4 times quickly, - but then again - with an idle speed of 600rpm, that's 10 revs per second, which means (I think) every cylinder firing at least once per second at idle (is that right..??) Jochen

Hi Paul, Thanks for your info. The guys at BM Workshop now reckon it's a coil on it's way out, and recommend waiting until it has failled sufficiently for it to log a fault in the DME. Jochen

Bugger, cleaning the ICV did not change my "misfire" problem - it is still there. Now to check O2 sensors and crankshaft sensor..... Which one is easier? Jochen

Hi Huttey, Surging is normally sign of a vacuum leak - check your vaccuum hoses for cracks and old, deteriorated rubber. Replace any that are suspicious, and with new hose clamps :-) Best way though is to do a vacuum test with a smoke machine But hey, the ICV is really easy to remove and clean. Here's the ICV: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?mo...hg=13&fg=15 Item #23 is the ICV "T-SHAPE IDLE REGULATING VALVE" Don't drop it, it costs $390 USD !! Watch the rubber holder #14, when I put mine back in it cracked where it goes through the bracket. The internals of the valve should swing open and closed nice and freely... spray on de-greaser and carb cleaner did the trick for me. Jochen

This error occurs because the Light Control Module monitors the status of all light bulbs in your car. Even when turned off, the LCM still checks the load of the bulb (by sending a very short pulse of 12V every now and then, so short that the bulb doesn't illuminate), and notifies you when a bulb is disconnected, or open circuit (failled). When you fit the LED taillights, the total electrical load of the taillights is reduced, as LEDs take less power. So the LCM logs this as a fault. What you need to do is either: 1. Fit the correct BMW electronic modul to the tail light wiring in the boot - this simulates the electrical load, and stops the error messages from appearing or 2. Fit resistors to each light circuit - you'll need one for each light circuit that has been replaced with LEDs. Remember, taillights left and right are on different fuses and monitored separately, so you need resistors for the LH and RH taillights. To get the resistor value measure the voltage at the taillight, the current drain of the normal taillight, then the drain of the new taillight. Subtract one from the other to get the difference, and convert that into the resistor value using ohms law (V=IR) ie: if you measured 12V, then 12 divided by the current = the resistor value you need. Then multiple 12 x the current you need to get the heat dissipation of the resistor (power rating) eg: Imagine the LED taillight uses 400mA (check this fugure, I am not sure of the actual current) at 12V A normal tail light bulb of 5W uses 0.4A at 12V, you have 2 of them on each side, the total load per side is thus 0.8A If the LED only used 0.4A then your resistor would also need to use 0.4A to make a total of 0.8A (0.8 - 0.4 = 0.4) Using V=IR, 12V = 0.4 x R, so R = 30 ohms. You need a 30 ohm (or thereabouts) resistor. The power rating of the resistor = 12V x 0.4A = 5watts So if I guessed at the right power consumption of the LEDs, you'd need a 30 ohm, 5 watt resistor across the tail light circuit. But don't use this value, please measure the current and calculate it yourself. Cheers, Jochen

Hi, If you have removed it from one E36 to fit another E36 then the connector should be identical. It's a big black square connector, it should just plug it. Jochen

Hi Jeremy, I did a friends 1997 318i E36 last week. Put new batteries in the remote 2 x CR2016) and re-synced it You do have to be like within 12cm of the sensor on the rear view mirror and it did take me 2 goes to make it work. Key in ignition, on and off within 2 secs Point key to rear view mirror Press and hold Unlock button Press lock button 3 times puts the remote in initialisation mode - slow flashing Release, and then press Unlock again Central locking cycles, done Does your LED flash nice and bright in the key? if not, get 2 new CR2016 batteries. I got them from Jaycar for $4 each (Dick Smith has them but twice as expensive) Cheers, Jochen

Hi all, Well some good news. On the M62 engine the ICV is at the front of the engine above the thermostat. Take one rubber air tube of it, unplug the wire, and the ICV pulls out of its socket. Easy to remove, easy to re-install. I have just cleaned my ICV inside (and out). checked the movement of the valve before I cleaned it, it was slow and sticky. When you opened the valve it would close only very very slowly. And it was covered in black carbon and soot etc A bit of cleaning with engine degreaser, carb cleaner, and a rag, and now it is spotless, shiny (inside and out :-), and the valve closes nice and fast, and moves easily open and closed. Sprayed a bit of CRC as lubricant inside it as well. Reinstalled, and will keep a close eye on the engine over the next week. It has to be better, the ICV was very sticky and slow, so I'm looking forward to a noticable improvement.... Cheers, Jochen

Hi all, Thanks heaps for the advice. I popped in to BM Workshop yeasterday, put the car on the DIS, and not a single fault code logged on the car anywhere - which is a good sign. At least my Constant Voltage fault has not re-appeared. Had a chat with the Workshop Manager, he thought it would be a good idea to clean the Idle Control Valve - easily accessible on the M62 engine, he showed me where it was. Theory is that if it is sticking the DME might be making the mixture too rich or too lean at idle momentarilly and thus causing it to struggle, and then the ICV would suddenly open and it would be OK again. Symptoms support the theory - problem only at idle, never unde driving conditions. So that's todays job. Otherwise, if not the ICV, next thought would be to change the O2 sensors... But cleaning the ICV is much easier, and something I'll do today (and then drive it for a while to see what happens) I'll keep you all posted.... Jochen

Unplug or unscrew the 4 x rubber bungs, then use a radio extraction tool to insert in the 4 holes to release the catches. The radio will then slide out. (use your fingers in the tape slot to pull the radio out) If you don't have the radio extraction tool, you can use nails / jewellers screwdrivers / coat hangers to put in the holes and release the catches. Cheers, Jochen (the BMW radio expert)

Hi all, My E39 03/1997 540i with the M62 V8 engine has a slight idle problem. When idling, under load, the engine will every now and then give a little 'lurch' that shakes the car a bit. Just once, by itself, and then be nice and smooth again. You feel it in the steering wheel, gear level, and the car body. Happens when not moving (so its not a pothole). I thought it was a misfire, but I'm not sure, as everyone tells me I wouldn't feel a misfire on 1 cylinder in a V8. It would have to be more than 1 cylinder to be noticable, and that doesn't sound plausible with the E39 M62 motor. The engine idle is a smidgen over 500 RPM, and nice and stable, never surges, doesn't vary any more than you'd expect with the DME controlling the idle speed (slightly higher with A/C on, higher when cold, etc) The 'lurch' happens with A/C turned on or off. Doesn't happen with trans in neutral, only seems to be when engine under load (in Drive sitting in traffic, with or without A/C) Doesn't happen when driving or under throttle (that I've noticed), I've never had any problems at any speeds other than idle. I've just had 2 x trips Akld - Ruapehu and it drove beautiful and smooth all the way there and back. BM Workshop have used their DIS to check error codes. Only thing noted was a 01 Constant Voltage fault on the DME, so we threw in a new DME relay (just in case the relay contacts were dropping out) But I don't think that would be the problem of the Lurch. Before we replaced the relay the Constant Voltage fault was cleared on a Friday and had re-appeared on the Monday, so we replaced the DME relay on that Monday. Next time we checked we had no more Constant Voltage faults logged, but I'm going to pop in again tomorrow for another fault code readout (it will have been 10 days & 2 x trips to Ruapehu, plus another 20 'lurches' over the last 3 days since the last readout) It's had about 4 x tanks of BP 98 Ultimate in it, so fuel has stayed the same. We've changed the plugs to a new set 10 days ago, but the symptoms are still there. Anyway, anyone got any clues as to what could cause it? I come to the conclusion that: 1. Cannot be fuel, as any fuel delivery problems would show up under load and at speed 2. Not sure about ignition - with a separate coil per plug, it doesn't seem plausible that multiple coils would fail occasionally, and only at idle 3. Not the AC compressor clutch slipping, as it happens with AC on or off What on earth could it be? Ross said the ICV (idle control valve) needed cleaning, but would it cause these sumptoms? Would a failing O2 sensor cause any symptoms like this? Look forward to all and any ideas and experience... Thanks, Jochen

Just be glad you don't have EDC - it's $1,600 PER SCHOCK!! Jochen

Tried key in the drivers door? Remember you have to turn it past the switch so that the mechanism moves to open the door

Control arm bushes are known to wear, also the suspension bushes. Put it on a hoist and check them all, replace any that are worn, Front and rear. With knocking noises like that should be easy to spot

The IR (infra-red) keys are identical to the wireless keys in the way you initialise them The key initialisation procedure is written in the Owners Manual, its very simple From my memory: 1. Get all your IR keys (normally there are 2) 2. Turn ignition on, then off in less than 5 seconds 3. Point remote at the IR sensor 4. Press and hold small unlock button on remote 5. Press lock button 3 times - red LED on remote should start flashing slowly. Key is now in initialisation mode. 6. Let go of unlock button, then press unlock button again briefly. Key tells car to memorise it. 7. Central locking should cycle if car likes your key. 8. Repeat from point 4 for 2nd remote Jochen

Just came back from Whakapapa to Auckland, reset Trip Comp at Whakapapa, and recorded 10.7 for the ride back. That's for a 4.4l 540i V8 with 282 bhp :-)

Ummm.. wrong! You forgot to convert degrees-minutes-seconds into decimal degrees <grin> Totally: Remove 4:3 Fit 16:9 mounting bracket Fit 16:9 monitor Done Same connectors, just the bracket changes Only hinderance is $$$$ Jochen

Cost me $2,500 to replace the necessary bits, which I did myself

Where and when? I'll let my nav system guide me there...

It'll catch any acid or water overflow from when you top up your battery Better for the sulphuric acid to drip into the acid-proof tray, rather than onto the car body and corrode the metal... Leave it there, don't remove it Jochen

Trailer wiring relay box expensive? Only if you get it new. I just bought the genuine BMW part for my E39 on eBay for a grand 5.50 Euros ($11) Plus postage it'll cost $50 in total Not what I'd call expensive for the original BMW part :-) ...and easier than shagging around with a handful of automotive relays Just gotta hunt down the wiring diagram and I'll be sweet... Jochen