Fuse Box from hell

[Rockford]

Just wanted to have a vent more than anything!

Who on earth thought the design for the E89 interior fuse box was remotely fit for purpose?

Three screws in passenger footwell that are impossibly difficult to undo, pull cover off, manual vaguely suggests there will be a "Shiny catch" which I am to simply release to reveal the wonderful array of fuses. What a total load of rubbish - spent 15 minutes with a torch to no avail, finally found a forum post about it and located a tiny silver thumb screw high up in the dash board requiring me to contort my (no small) frame in to the foot well to reach.

Horray, the catch is undone! Except now you need to pull the unit out which is attached via huge wiring looms with next to no slack so the best you can do is sort of lever it at an angle and worry the entire time you are going to snap a connector.

The fuse guide is like a mini puzzle (albeit it one that I did eventually solve) - I haven't put the damn box back yet, I ran out of light and patience so the car is sitting on the drive until I can face the reverse job.

Tell me I am not alone? The O/H's car is a 15 second job to access.

(For anyone who may find this useful - my A/C, boot light and heated seats all stopped working, turns out they are controlled by Fuse 77 (10a mini blade) which can blow when changing an interior light).

[flybobbie]

Yep, right pain in the ass.
Just wait till you try locate and turn that screw thing.
From memory I think there are some lugs to locate first.

[Chris_D]

It's my own theory that BMW now design-in deliberately time-consuming-to-service serviceable parts, thereby increasing margins on servicing costs, when taken to the dealership that is.
The relatively newest bimmer I own is an E93 320d convertible and it took me 2 hours on Sunday to swap in a new battery due to having to remove 4 bits of surrounding trim, umpteen screws and fasteners and then all the gubbins loaded up onto the positive terminal connector.
Bonkers.

[john-e89]

It's my own theory that BMW now design-in deliberately time-consuming-to-service serviceable parts, thereby increasing margins on servicing costs, when taken to the dealership that is.
The relatively newest bimmer I own is an E93 320d convertible and it took me 2 hours on Sunday to swap in a new battery due to having to remove 4 bits of surrounding trim, umpteen screws and fasteners and then all the gubbins loaded up onto the positive terminal connector.
Bonkers.

Not so Chris it wouldn't make sense to do that. They'll 'tell' you it takes a long time with the reality being it doesn't, the 'technicians' will have a trick to do it quickly so they can fit even more cars in the workshop to 'take a long time over it as it's in an awkward place Madam' thus making even more profit. Smoke and mirrors my friend...

[ronk]

Not so Chris it wouldn't make sense to do that. They'll 'tell' you it takes a long time with the reality being it doesn't, the 'technicians' will have a trick to do it quickly so they can fit even more cars in the workshop to 'take a long time over it as it's in an awkward place Madam' thus making even more profit. Smoke and mirrors my friend...

Couldn't agree more!
For example I had a job done on my old Disco 3 - the book said take the body from the chassis - they had a work around and did the job without any nonsense like that!

[ruffedlemurz4]

Yes. So scarey to access it. I thought I was going to break panels or my fingers. My cigarette lighters weren't working when I first had the car and I almost took it back to BMW to sort it.

[Steve S]

What a pain in the arse to simply change a fuse. Like others, the cigarette lighters' fuse had blown in my E89 and when I removed the cover panel and fought with the fuse panel to bring it out to where I could see it, there wasn't any guide as to which fuse did what or its rating. The instructions in the Owner's Manual are a joke Thankfully, Mr Google found me a copy of the fuse information and when I replaced #8 everything worked as it should. Tomorrow's job is to stuff it all back in place without breaking anything. I don't think it would be possible to come up with a design that has worse functionality.

[clarker63]

Yes, IMHO probably the worst piece of design in car history... unless someone knows better

[AnubisZed]

For information.....

Replacing the fuse box;

Have a kneel pad and kneel down, this gives freedom of movement of both hands.
Slide passenger seat all the way back.
Slide fuse box extension back into housing (ie; towards the front of the car) - Assuming you have slid it out in the first place!
Try to place any "loose" loom up into the trim area first
Then gently raise the fuse box upwards into it's home.
Use your left hand to hold the fuse box as high as you possibly can
Use your right hand to turn the metal "turn-Key" clockwise - it is not a full screw, only a quarter turn is required
There are two lugs on the front of the kick panel, you need to locate these into the plastic retainers on the bulkhead.
To engage the three screws you may need to move the kick panel around a bit as the carpet does get in the way and prevents it from seating correctly.

Hope that all helps.

[Himi]

i did a right school boy error... wired in a hardwire kit and didn't check the connection... yeap after putting everything back i found the kit to be dodgy... was a brilliant experience to do this a few times!

[AnubisZed]

i did a right school boy error... wired in a hardwire kit and didn't check the connection... yeap after putting everything back i found the kit to be dodgy... was a brilliant experience to do this a few times!

At least you know how to do it now!!