Good Evening All,
BLUF: Check the wiring for the OEM phone provisions for chafed/broken wires causing a short circuit or other electrical damage. This wiring is located in the front armrest of the vehicle and runs from the center console up into the armrest assembly where it is either connected to a phone cradle or stored in a space below the armrest.
Just wanted to give the E53 owners a heads up regarding the wiring provisions for the telephone in our vehicles. A couple weeks ago I noticed that my interior lights stayed on after I shut the vehicle down, not the dome lights but the amber lights for the dash, climate control, radio, etc. Figured I must have bumped the turn signal stalk causing the pathway lighting to come on didn't pay much attention to it. Earlier today I came out to my X5 after a short drive and saw that all the aforementioned lights were still on, light switch was off and no exterior lights were on. I put some personal items in the storage below the armrest before I exited the vehicle. Opened it and noticed that the lights flickered off and then back on. After sliding the armrest back and forth several times I got them to stay off. Figured it must have been a loose connection or chafed/broken wire.
Ran a search and couldn't find anything on the issue so I decided to dive in head first. My X5 was pre-wired for the phone system but was not fitted with the cradle/receptacle for the phone. Removed the cubby under the armrest to reveal the wiring, I had already been in there while I was running my AUX cable. The wires below there are for the telephone system, rear climate control, and seat heaters. Gave them a shake and saw the lights flicker again. Isolated the two sets of wires, determined that the climate control wiring was up to par and not the source of my issue rather it was the telephone wiring.
The wires for the telephone system run up the two supports for the folding armrest. The harness on the passenger side of the vehicle are sheathed with BMWs sheathing, ones on the drivers side are just insulated with standard insulation.. Tried opening and closing the armrest a couple of times and saw the lights flicker again. There is a cover below the armrest that contains the connectors for the telphone system. Decided to pull them from the armrest and see where the problem was coming from.
There are two ways you can do this. You can either cut the harness and insulate them with electric tape or heat shrink, good if you don't plan on putting in an OEM phone system. You can also pull the harness out intact. There are DIYs for pulling armrest that discuss disconnecting the harnesses but it involves removing the seat. Didn't feel like doing that so I came up with a third way. I disassembled the connector with small pick and some patience and pulled the harness through the supports so I could keep it all intact. You can find DIYs for disassembling these connectors online as well. Found that the course of time and repeatedly opening and closing the armrest cover had chafed and even broke several of the wires in the passenger side of the harness. I didn't really feel like splicing back a bunch of wires since I don't plan on wiring in an OEM insulated all the wires and tucked them out of the way. No more flickering interior lights, no more problems.
This isn't quite as bad but it is similar to the problems that many other BMWs such as the E36, E39, E31, have had with the trunk wiring harness and could easily cause damage to your vehicles electrical system and possibly result in an interior fire. Hope this can be of help to someone. Sorry for not taking any pictures, didn't cross my mind until I came back inside for the night.
08-30-2015, 11:13 PM
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