madjeff
02-05-2007, 11:23 AM
OK, I have a weird issue with my E34 that I'm just now starting to track down, but thought I would post and see if anyone has seen this type of thing before.
'92 525i M50/AT 177k miles
Not long after I bought it in September I noticed that occasionally the interior map and side lights would flicker on and off (when set to auto) while I was driving, like the door was not quite closed. I figured I had a door switch going bad or a short somewhere and just set the light switch to the off position until I had a chance to dig into it deeper. Now I notice that when I switch the dome lights back to the auto setting, they will not light when any of the doors are open. However, they will light when I set the switch to the On position, so I have good bulbs.
Around the same time, I noticed that I would occasionally get a "Brake LT Circuit" message kick on as well, maybe once a week or so. I checked all the lights and everything seems to be working great, no bulbs burned out or anything. Sometimes I go for weeks without a message, then I'll get 3 in two days. After stopping the car and starting, the error message is gone. Again, one of those irritating things that I was planning on getting to soon.
:D
So, after driving it for a month or so I left the car sitting for a couple days without driving, and ended up with a dead battery. Figuring it was probably an old battery (and spending an hour trying to figure out where the damn thing was located, stupid newbie Bimmer owner... :p) I pulled the rear seat, only to find the battery was almost new and of good quality. I charged it, and all was well for a week or so, until I let it set again for 2 days, then same thing, dead batt.
So, I obviously have a short somewhere. The alternator seems to be charging ok, as once the car is started it will charge the battery right up to full charge. I have not yet had a chance to pull the negative cable and put a meter to it to see how many amps the short is pulling, but I have pulled the dome lights fuse and it still runs down. I'm starting to wonder if these issues are all connected, or if it's just a coincidence.
I'm going to jump in this week and start trying to narrow down the issue, but am hoping someone has had this same issue before and can point me in the right direction. Yes, I'm lazy. :p I do have the Bentley manual as well as a huge wiring doc I pulled from another thread, and have started trying to trace the connections, but of course they don't actually tell you WHERE in the car the connections run, so I'm going to have to do some tracing.
'92 525i M50/AT 177k miles
Not long after I bought it in September I noticed that occasionally the interior map and side lights would flicker on and off (when set to auto) while I was driving, like the door was not quite closed. I figured I had a door switch going bad or a short somewhere and just set the light switch to the off position until I had a chance to dig into it deeper. Now I notice that when I switch the dome lights back to the auto setting, they will not light when any of the doors are open. However, they will light when I set the switch to the On position, so I have good bulbs.
Around the same time, I noticed that I would occasionally get a "Brake LT Circuit" message kick on as well, maybe once a week or so. I checked all the lights and everything seems to be working great, no bulbs burned out or anything. Sometimes I go for weeks without a message, then I'll get 3 in two days. After stopping the car and starting, the error message is gone. Again, one of those irritating things that I was planning on getting to soon.
:D
So, after driving it for a month or so I left the car sitting for a couple days without driving, and ended up with a dead battery. Figuring it was probably an old battery (and spending an hour trying to figure out where the damn thing was located, stupid newbie Bimmer owner... :p) I pulled the rear seat, only to find the battery was almost new and of good quality. I charged it, and all was well for a week or so, until I let it set again for 2 days, then same thing, dead batt.
So, I obviously have a short somewhere. The alternator seems to be charging ok, as once the car is started it will charge the battery right up to full charge. I have not yet had a chance to pull the negative cable and put a meter to it to see how many amps the short is pulling, but I have pulled the dome lights fuse and it still runs down. I'm starting to wonder if these issues are all connected, or if it's just a coincidence.
I'm going to jump in this week and start trying to narrow down the issue, but am hoping someone has had this same issue before and can point me in the right direction. Yes, I'm lazy. :p I do have the Bentley manual as well as a huge wiring doc I pulled from another thread, and have started trying to trace the connections, but of course they don't actually tell you WHERE in the car the connections run, so I'm going to have to do some tracing.