Repairing E70 with major electronic problems

[heze]

Good morning all,

I recently bought an E70 with major electronic problems. The former owner had an empty battery and tried to jump start it with the + and - reversed for about half an hour.

I already have all CAN busses running again and all modules (exept for one) are running and reprogrammed to VIN again (replaced 5 modules), so the car now tells by itself what problems are still present. For now, I have a few problems which are very difficult to solve, that is why I'm asking for your help:

1. The car misses the steering angle sensor value. I already bought another (used) sensor/lever assembly, but the DSC still cannot retrieve the signal (stays at 0.00 in ISTA). The strange thing is: the signal must be there, because the ARS module displays the steering angle correctly. I tried to recode the steering angle via ISTA (via the DSC module) but this results in an error that it cannot be coded after it askes to switch off the ignition. I have the idea that the car won't get to the sleeping mode after the ignition is off, and that this can be a possible reason why the coding is not succesfull. I will investigate this, but if someone has an idea what is going wrong, please tell me!

2. The FRM was also bricked, and I managed to get it back to life with ICPROG and directly programming via the pins on the microcontroller. Now I programmed the available FRM firmware via Winkfp. In the SP-daten, only firmware FRMR3 is available for the E70, and I have a FRM3 E70 AHL FRM-module, so this is not 100 percent spot on. Now the FRM gives errors about the SMC controller of the headlights on both sides, switch block in driver door (does not work), driver mirror (does not work), interior dimmer potentiometer (does not work), and lighting is not correct.

Does the FRM unit needs additional coding to get most components (mirror, potentiometer, power windows) working, or should this already be covered with the standard coding, which came with the firmware? Since about 1000 parameters can be coded, it is a major task to code everything right. Is it also possible that the not 100 percent firmware match causes this problem? How do I obtain the correct firmware?
The last possibility is that the FRM unit is damaged because of the initial problem, and needs to be swapped. I was already looking for a used FRM, but it is very hard to find exactly the same unit. I can find a FRM2 E70 AHL, but this is not the same as the old one (FRM3 E70 AHL). What are the differences between these FRM's?

As you can see: a lot of questions. Hopefully there is someone on this forum with answers to these questions which will help me getting this E70 back on the road again!

Thanks in advance and best regards,
Hendrik Zeilstra.

[0-60motorsports]

Get an FRM3

[heze]

Thanks for your response.

Can someone tell me the difference between:

- FRM2 E70 AHL (43)
- FRM3 E70 AHL (43)

Both units have number 43 on it (is this the option number?)
The FRM2 unit is well available, but the FRM3 unit is not. Are both units exchangeable?

Thanks again! regards Hendrik

[0-60motorsports]

Originally Posted by heze

Thanks for your response.



Can someone tell me the difference between:



- FRM2 E70 AHL (43)

- FRM3 E70 AHL (43)



Both units have number 43 on it (is this the option number?)

The FRM2 unit is well available, but the FRM3 unit is not. Are both units exchangeable?



Thanks again! regards Hendrik

I’m not sure but I am sure the FRM3 are the newer replacements.

[robnitro]

Try ista-p, it might be able to recode and flash the correct software.

[heze]

Good afternoon,

I'm able to flash the FRM, but a lot of functions does not function anymore. I will try to get another FRM3, because I think it did not survive the electronic abuse...

Does anyone have an idea about the questions related to the steering angle sensor in the first post?

Thanks again!
Best regards Hendrik

[robnitro]

Ista p should find if any coding is incorrect... You are going blind if you are flashing coding individual modules. The steering issue could also be coding issue like frm...
Cartechnology.co.uk has it free registration to see links

[heze]

Good afternoon, Thanks for all the responses so far!
I was very busy with all the new information and now I have the following remaining problems:

- A used FRM3 replacement did not solve the problem
- I installed ISTA-P and this is clearly the way to go. First I needed to find all the correct modules, and after that ISTA-P began programming and coding several modules. Also the FRM module is programmed and coded. Now my headlights seems to function properly.

The remaining main problems are:

- The programming of the EGS (aut.trans) did not succeed and had now programming status 5. Also the DSC failed to code. I also figured out that the D-can cable is the cause of this and I ordered already an ICOM clone. Hopefully this will solve these issues.
- ISTA-P told me to swap the airbag module because the part number was not original for this car. After programming and coding, three codes appeared: Both force limiters were absent and also the passenger occupancy mat was not working. I discovered that the force limiters were not installed in this car (probably someone changed the seat belts for versions without force limiters). It looks like the force limiters were never applied on EUR-models, since it is quitte difficult to obtain these seat belts with force limiters in Europe. This E70 is built in the US. There is also an EUR and an US version of the occupancy matt available with different pinouts (is also visible in the schematics on newtis.info). I followed some wires underneath the seats and is looks like the occupancy matt is a EUR version, but the seats are probably automatically US-coded by ISTA-P. Can some one tell me which parameter I have to change in the airbag module to set the occupancy matt to EUR-version?
- The power window switch cluster, dimmer potmeter and L-mirror are not working. This is a common error, and the cause is most of the time a bricked FRM. My FRM has the same symptoms but it is not bricked, since I'm able to program and code it. I swapped the FRM and also the switch cluster, but this will not solve this problem. I looked into the dimmer potmeter in detail: see also the attachment. Inside the FRM, the dimmer potmeter is enabled by a transistor. If this transistor is not enabled, the voltage on the measuring point in the FMR is 5V. The failure is --> too high voltage, which corresponds with the observations. In other words: it looks like the FRM is not enabling the dimmer potmeter, but it is reading the voltage, which is then out of boundary. Anyone who had the same problem?

A lot of text again. If someone has a suggestion, please feel free to post it here and help me get the E70 back on the road again!

Best regards Hendrik.