E61 Touring rear hatch wiring - grrrr

[RustyItalian 11]

Well I've owned this touring about a year and I've been slowly losing systems associated with the rear hatch. The demister wires wouldn't work, the glass hatch opening became intermittent and then I lost radio reception.

Some research showed this is a common 5 series Touring issue that BMW have never fixed, it affects E34, E39 and E61. Basically the wires through the hatch break due to flexing due to crap design.

Due to time constraints I had a auto electrician near the airport splice the wires. Big mistake. They did two of the four looms. They managed to fix the glass switch (only) and relieved me of $300. A couple of days later lighting error messages started to pop up for the RH lights on the hatch (number plate, fog and reversing light). Also the 3rd brake light was kaput. Hmmm....

I've just checked and the hatch light wires have continuity from the light control module to the lights (in one case 94 ohms mind) so those wires are not broken. I found the 3rd brake light noise suppressor module in the roof lining had a burnt track and I repaired that.

However the 3rd brake light flickered on while I opened the glass window, so there is a short in there. It stopped working soon after.

Any recommendations for someone to repair this properly that understands the BMW lighting system? I'm not going near the hillbillies that had the first attempt.

First step will be fixing the short and confirming the wiring is correct. Then I'm hoping that the hillbillies haven't damaged the light control module.

[beemn 50]

common is right, the glass lid switch by the wiper just started playing up on ours, so out goes the fuse for the time being. going to get a new one in europe when im there in a couple of weeks, the car isnt going to be used for a couple of months while we are gone but PITA, also unter the spoiler houses a black box which can fill with water and cause all sorts of trouble

[Neal 544]

Get a factory loom repair section and redo the broken and repaired section . It's colour coded so should be straight forward to bypass the bodged section. http://www.schmiedmann.com/en/product/1945562-new?product=V20-83-0008

Came across these kits when researching reverse camera installs .

Edited August 2, 2014 by Neal

[elmarco 56]

Eeeek! $92 USD for a bunch of cut cables? About 3 people in the supply chain are making a killing on that one....

[Neal 544]

You'd think

Mind you. Even super cheap are charging $10 for 5 meters of a single colour . If you've ever priced up multi colour your talking hundreds .

23 colours isn't too bad.

Btw, wrap it in tesa tape. Less likely to rattle inside talegate and gives oem loom look.

Cheap via ebay uk.

Edited August 2, 2014 by Neal

[beemn 50]

Rather spend $92 than $300 on a butcher doin it!

[francoisv 466]

If the E39 and the E61 have the same wiring harness from the connector in the roof (between the upper rear speakers) to the connectors in the rear boot lid, you can have mine for free. My wires haven't split or bent and are still in tak in the off cut roof for my E39 Touring. So just a matter of getting them un plugged and sending them to you

[beemn 50]

That will save someone time

[Ahmedsinc 414]

I'll take them if they're still available. Have a funny feeling I'll be doing the job sooner than later

[RustyItalian 11]

Rather spend $92 than $300 on a butcher doin it!

I wish I'd spent $92 instead of on the monkeys...

If the E39 and the E61 have the same wiring harness from the connector in the roof (between the upper rear speakers) to the connectors in the rear boot lid, you can have mine for free. My wires haven't split or bent and are still in tak in the off cut roof for my E39 Touring. So just a matter of getting them un plugged and sending them to you

Get this... In their infinite Aryan wisdom there are no connectors between the taillights and the light control module above the drivers feet. If you want to remove the rear hatch you need to extract all the wiring from it. In the factory they must have installed the rear hatch, fed the wires into it and then applied all the plastic covering trim.

The Japanese (who design this type of stuff soooo much better) would have just bolted the preassembled hatch on and plugged the wiring connectors into place. It would of course never have failed either...

I've got plenty of wire thanks it's just the time to do it myself I'm lacking.

[francoisv 466]

I may be wrong, but I would have thought the light module was in the rear near the battery, well at least that is where it is on the E34, E39 and E46. But if they have moved it to the front, well that is pretty redic!
Perhaps have a look in the roof of the boot, between the speakers, there might be an easier access point for re-routing the wires, but hopefully you get it sorted soon as I agree, its a massive pain having those wires strip and break

[jeffbebe 1559]

Pretty certain the LCM is in the front of an E39 as well, under the carpet trim just in front of the door and under the dash assembly.

[RustyItalian 11]

Well pulled finger today and spliced 8 new wires into the glass hatch RH hinge. Most had broken insulation and one was broken. The damaged insulation exposed the copper wire allowing contact, hence the flashing brake light (and burnt out brake light/radio filter).

Took around three hours all up as I soldered all wires. Also had to pull the rear hatch trim off again to open the glass hatch manually. The hatch button does not work when the wires through the RH hinge are cut dammit.

Now I have a 3rd brake light, FM/AM again and the remote range is dramatically better again. I also have an increasing hatred for BMW design skills.

Still have RH fog, reversing light and number plate light faults showing. Will check light module error codes next as I'm concerned the idiots cooked it. Don't want to have to dig into that wiring loom.

[beemn 50]

So where did you start the wires from and finish?

[RustyItalian 11]

I pulled the wires through to hang from the speaker hole. I trimmed them close to the rubber boot, about three inches from the breaks. This was just enough length to hang down for soldering. I staggered the joints as much as I could. It is tight working in this area and I have the cuts on my hands to prove it.

I then wrapped the wires and passed them through. I then spices just beside the connectors under the spoiler. More room to work there!

[beemn 50]

Good stuff, I may need to check mine when I get back and see if I have any broken wires. It has had a repair at some stage as the wries have a normal electrical tape over them rather than the usual cloth tape ...i have crap range for the remote locking so it may have a bad wire or 10