wierd electrical symptoms? any idea?
 

well, i've had my x for almost a year now and i've done the regular stuff that seems to need replacing given my mileage and year like the differentials, both window regulators, etc, etc, etc.... its 2001 4.4 with about 95k on it.

anyways im getting my abs light, dsc, airbag, seatbelt on my dash once and a while. sometimes some of them, sometimes all of them, sometimes it will go on when i start my car.. sometimes all of the lights are gone and everything is perfect. sometimes while im driving and those lights are on my car dings at me and gives me the trans safe fail symbol. still drives perfectly, shifting fine. i find that sometimes my brake light above my trunk is on at all times and even gives me a 'check brake light' warning only when these lights on my dash come on. also my nav screen doesnt work when these lights are on. the screen would come on but none of my buttons work, no radio as well. but sometimes when i start the car its just fine.

it seems like when these lights arent on, on my dash, none of these symptoms happen and it drives like a brand new car. but sometimes when i start my car, these lights come on and the radio doesnt work, my brake light is on, abs symbol comes on..

is it wierd that i noticed it happens mostly when i have passengers in my car? or is that just a coincidence..? i tried unpluggin the battery and resetting the car, but still nothing. actually it made something worse, it seems to have lost its updates on the screen cuz now the interface looks really old school. and i dont have the same color schemes as i used to.

sorry for the long post, but if anyone else can help, it would be awesome. btw, i took it to my indy shop that specializes in german cars and does all the work for me flawlessly in the past, but they dont know whats happening. they replaced some brake sensor switch thingie but that didnt work. actually i think it might have caused my brake light to always be turned on cuz i never noticed that before the operation. they said i may have to replace some part in my radio that costs around 1600$ but they dont even know if that will fix it..

anyways, nice to meet you guys, i've been lingering around the boards for a long time but only recently started posting. take care..

As a good starting point I'd go and check the battery connections to make sure they are clean and tight, and check the jumper post under the hood for the same as it is the main wire to the alternator. Then maybe have the alternator checked when it is acting up to make sure the voltage regulator and diodes are working properly.

If it isn't any of those things it will likely be an i-bus problem and will need diagnosis by the dealer as they will have the needed wiring schematics and test equipment to track it down. Good luck and happy hunting!

battery connections all good. jumper terminals under the hood seem fine. a bit dusty from the sandy air here in dubai.. actually everything under the hood is really really dusty.. could that have anything to do with it? i wouldnt think so.. anyways if anything ill take a trip to the dealer.

Probably the best way to go, because one component can bring down the communications buss and make it do weird things... it just isn't an easy task to diagnose unless they get lucky and the fault memories stored in the affected modules all point to a common denominator.

Good luck tracking that down. Let us know how it turns out. I hate electrical issues. Especially intermittent ones.

I experienced a strange issue a while back as well. I was driving our X and all of a sudden the hazard lights and interior lights came on and all the doors unlocked. It was almost as if I was in an accident and the X was responding accordingly. Did it once and never again, luckily.

Anyway, I hope you find the issue.

haha yeah i know what you mean. anyways, i was driving to work today and there wasnt anything in my cluster but my brake light above my trunk was on and my radio didnt work. as we were driving, my girlfriend checked herself in the passenger mirror and the light for her mirror went on. at the same time my airbag light on my cluster went on, then it turned off as well as my brake light, and then my radio came on. so the car went back to complete normal (no lights on dash, radio works fine, brake light not on)

im not scared cuz it doesnt effect the drive of the car, its just annoying. i hope we can pin point the problem. will keep you guys updated..

Ha ha ha... I know your car can be irritating... and it sounds like a car on drugs! As you said dont panic or worry too much there seem to be something really loose with electricals.

My E46 at one time (even now sometimes) can open doors, slides all windows down, and sunroof on its own! At first I thought someone broke into my car, I did panic. Same day I took it to work left it in the parkin lot and came back to it at lunch hour only find doors are unlocked, all windows down, sunroof open!... upto today I have no clue why it does that! Lucky Iam in a place where car theft is not a nuisance, it would have long gone.

If you hold the unlock button on the key, it will do this. Any chance you may have accidentally hit this button while the key was in your pocket or something?

Ironically the remote is currently not working I use manual! I have made a date with service guys, but you know having 2 moody Beemers can have a strain on your pocket. This spooky thing happen when am in bed at night with car keys far away only to wake up in morning finding ALL car openable windows and doors wide open!... sunroof cant be spared too!:( I just dont get it! First time it really sent me back into the house!... Ghosts or something!:yikes:

Sounds like the windows/sunroof opening problem on the car with non-working keys needs a drivers door latch... the key turning the lock to the unlock position does the same thing as holding the unlock button, and the internal switches/sensors that see that could be flaking out.