E53 Electrical Gremlins

[Juut]

Morning all,


E53 3.0D - Looking for some suggestions/confirmation on the below.


Issues:


1. Both front main headlight unit indicators keep burning out on the bulbs contacts. At a glance I'm suspecting worn bulb holders not holding them tight enough causing a arc. They are fairly brittle, Thoughts?


2. My central locking has gone dead entirely. Keys got power etc tried all the reset and nothing. Suggestions on the web seem to be the GM Module. Correct or other places I should look? )I should also not I mean dead at the key, works via door lock / internal button )


All fuses are fine - None have blown and all tested ok. I have a spare GM module but aware this requires coding?

Cheers!

[Effduration]

On #2

Carefully pry out the central locking switch from the center console and see if it is broken at the bottom. The switch housing is made of plastic and if breaks (which is common) the switch stops working and disables all central locking. If it is broken you can glue it back or replace it.

[X5chemist]

#1 Mine kept burning a right side bulbs. After replacing 2, I checked deeper. The housing internal wires have cracks. Two wires were close enough on bumps, the wires would touch an arc. Arcing burned the light bulb. Check wires for cracks and arcing.

[Juut]

Originally Posted by Effduration

On #2

Carefully pry out the central locking switch from the center console and see if it is broken at the bottom. The switch housing is made of plastic and if breaks (which is common) the switch stops working and disables all central locking. If it is broken you can glue it back or replace it.

The switch works fine unfortuantly sorry I did edit the post to note its all working via the switch and keylock just not with the key buttons (which I tested and they do work/power etc)

[Juut]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

#1 Mine kept burning a right side bulbs. After replacing 2, I checked deeper. The housing internal wires have cracks. Two wires were close enough on bumps, the wires would touch an arc. Arcing burned the light bulb. Check wires for cracks and arcing.

I did check from the holder to the connector, but I'll check further back to see if there's any splits

[andrewwynn]

Do you have a bidirectional scanner? With the likes of Foxwell 510 you can activate button presses from the scanner and also confirm if a button is getting pressed.

Often when the central lock button is not working it’s because the car is seeing some sensor that precludes the doors locking. Example: you cannot central lock with driver’s door open.

While in the car, lock with key fob then see if you can unlock. Don’t take too long you’ll set off the motion alarm.

Doors are double locked from key fob so you can’t pull handle to open door to have to hold central lock button to disable the double lock.

So the test: lock with key the door handle should do nothing (dry fire).

Then hold central lock button and try the door handle again.

If you can unlock door with handle the central lock button and the hardware that it runs is functional.

When mine malfunctioned it was the upper hatch button that shortened out from rain.

The car will disable the hatch button if it’s shorted but my central lock button stopped working until I removed the damaged rubber cover from the hatch button.

(Foxwell told me the button was always pressed)


–awr–

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[Juut]

Hello bud thanks for the lengthy response.


Everything works - Bar pressing the buttons on the key. So I can't do any of that as noted in the original post. Same applies to trying to pair the key again it doesn't work.


Ive tested the key and power - both are working as in voltage is correct, and its reaching the buttons, and the buttons recieve power when pressed (on the key) I swapped to a new battery twice, no success.

I can lock/unlock the central locking using the key in the door


I can lock/unlock the central locking using the main button in the cabin


There was no pre-cursor to it not working - Just came out one morning and I couldn't remote cetral locking anymore.


In short its remote central locking that is borked - The central locking system itself is otherwise functioning as intended. Sorry if I wasn't super clear.

[andrewwynn]

You confused me saying the central locking not working that means the button on the console doesn’t work.

What you meant to say is the remote fob no longer acts on the central locking.

This almost always is from a bad solder joint in the key. When mine (both) went bad, reflowing the solder joints on the key brought them both back to life.

Second key? The problem is if you started key paring and not successful, you may have disconnected any alternate key.

Often it’s a secondary button not working that prevents pairing since you must press two at once.

You said you replaced battery (not likely the issue). Power is not getting to the right places. If you can open the key again re-flow the solder joints on all the chips. I’d skip the ID chip for the starter since that works if you can start. Do one key at a time to make sure you didn’t break the RFID function.

When I refurbished my keys they worked ok for over a year then failed again. When they failed, symptom was they worked from less and less distance from the car so if you ever noticed needing to get closer than 100’ to unlock that’s the reality check it’s key solder joints.

My favorite fix in the 6 years i had e53 was getting a factory key. My 30-50' range went to 300' immediately. Expensive yes. Made me smile every time i used it. (I even kept the key wen insurance wrote off the car).


–awr–

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[Salty B.]

My $/£/€ 0.02: in 2023 bought a new fob/remote from BMW as the one I got with this rig was long dead. Remote lock/unlock worked fine until one day it just stopped working. I thought maybe the battery in the remote was dead already despite being new (new old stock, maybe sat on a shelf for 20 years?). Went to a battery/key shop and it passed transmit tests with a strong signal.

Did the re-pair procedure: key in ignition, turn to position 1, turn back, remove key, press the buttons in the right order. Nope. And another nope. Had to do that three times before it worked again. This happened last month too, when my fuel pump died, and again it took 3/4/5 tries at pairing before it worked. So maybe keep trying? My central locking system worked fine from the door lock and the console switch, sounds similar to your issue.

[andrewwynn]

It's def worth more tries to re pair. With my iffy original keys it usually took multiple tries and usually bcai never remember if you have to start with doors locked or unlocked


–awr–

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