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.

haha that is freaky.. anyways i was researching on the net and found this..

x5 electrical problems - bimmerfest - BMW Forums

seems like this guy had the EXACT same problem.. unfortunately he didnt continue to post so i dont know exactly what happened.. maybe il ltry to replace the battery..

A battery issue would surface in other ways... so unless your battery is old enough to consider this maintenance I wouldn't worry too much about it.

However doing a battery reset overnight might not be a bad idea... you'd be amazed how many problems are solved this way. (just like when a computer or phone acts up and you restart it)

Yeah possibly right, it just irritates when the weather is rainy and this damn windows opening thing happens!

Solution
 

I had this same problem and I took my 2002 X5 to a dealership. Come to find out, my wiring harness for the engine has shorted out. This is what was causing all my warning to come on. Oh and to get it fixed it's over a thousand.

Since no error codes were stored, the battery, and alternator is not the problem, it will be a voltage problem. BMW are notorious with grounding problems and low voltage. The problem you have describe leads me to believe the purple wire on the ignition switch is sending a low voltage. I have found many BMW where the contacts have worn or excessive carbon build up reduced the amount of voltage the ignition switch sends to the lead. (As low as 4.7 volts) When this occurs, various modules will fail to work and odd electrical problems will occur. BMW factor dealerships will have a hard time diagnosing intermittent problems. A simple ignition switch replacement will most likely resolve the problems.

i sent my car in about 3 days ago, still havent heard from them at all so we'll see what they say. i told them it might be the wiring harness, but maybe i should have them replace the ignition switch..

it makes sense that it could be the ignition switch since it only happened sometimes when i start my car..

Interesting that you mention this...was recently experiencing a grinding sound coming from the engine bay at startup...i was convinced it was the starter. The next day, while installing a dice kit, i unplugged the battery for about 2 hours. After reconnecting and starting her up, the starter-grinding sound disappeared :dunno:

That's likely just a coincidence... But it is likely either a belt driven accessory's bearings on first start or the more common chattering in the nose of the starter, which is more annoying than a problem.

I experience similar damn sounds when starting but the problem has not gone beyond the "chattering" so I just give it a deaf-ear.

Weasel, guys, just a question one day 2 weeks ago when I started the engine some white smoke (not very heavy but enough for.. :yikes: ) came out of one of the 4 pipes behind - so I turned engine off start again it was gone! It never happened again... at one time years back I read somewhere that engine can do that when over oiled! Any idea!? Oil level is at max.

Most likely some oil vapors had condensed in the intake runners or cylinders with open intake valves etc. and burned off on the first start. If it does it consistantly on the first start I'd look at the oil seperator system, but if just happened that once I wouldn't worry about it.

Now I will take that with a glass of Jack Daniels on the rocks! Thanks man.

Forgot to mention a DICE kit may cause strange ground loops that effected the IBUS. If you have one installed pull it out and disconnect battery for 30/40 minutes! This resolves some of the electrical gremlins!

I have had similar issues on my 2000 4.4 X5 with 80k miles. A month ago strange things started happening. Check engine light came one intermittently. That seems to have fixed itself. Now when I first start the car, almost always the airbag light and seat belt light comes on and stays on. The steering wheel controls (volume, horn, etc) are all disabled while that airbag light is on. If I will simply turn the car off and restart it, all seems OK. Also the Nav screen is staying dark now for a few minutes after I start the car lately. These electrical gremlins are really scaring me. Oh and to top if off, a few weeks ago, I was introduced to the "trans fail safe mode". Now that was scary as the car felt like it was stuck in 3rd gear. I turned off the car and prayed and I have not seen it since. Just so everyone knows, the alternator was replaced 6 months ago and the battery was just replaced this week. Does anyone have any ideas where to start with these weird problems. I don't know how I can even sell the car acting like this?

Most of those issues are noted in this forum/post. If you have not installed a dice kit or have upgraded any electrical units such as your radio. Your battery and alternator are fine, the MOST likely source is the ignition switch. Drop the lower cover of the steering colum and take a volt meter. Check the accessory wire and the voltage will be extremely low! Modules in your BMW will fail to operate and scanning the vehicle will not display error codes.

ignition switch
 

I have no problem replacing the ignition switch then if theres a reasonable shot that it is the culprit - is it a big deal to replace? any ideas where to get one other than just ebay? is it stupid expensive?

About 100 bucks from most sites and maybe 150-200 from dealer, lol
easy replacement all you need is a small screw driver and a bit of loc-tight.
Again you can check the voltage when you are experiencing the problem. Normal voltage should be +12 volts. The failures are being caused by low voltage. Look closely at the airbag light, some times it is barely lit when the voltage drops! Also when you are experiencing the problem, squeeze the plastic housing on the ingnition switch. Sometimes the problem will temporarly disappear!

thanks alot for the comments. all of my symptoms are gone.. its weird. its been about a month hope i dont jinks it. but if it comes back ill try the ignition thing