Airbag Control Unit - SIM

[DanielS]

So after finishing off my Instrument Cluster I got back to fixing other issues, and the main one now is the Airbag Light on the dash. The code that I have gotten is the dreaded 093DB and I believe this to be a faulty Airbag Control Unit.

To start off with, I decided to dismantle the tunnel (http://www.unofficialbmw.com/images/6042EN.pdf) so could at least see the unit and see if there was any physical damage. Yet the unit looks (yes it's still mounted in the car) fine. Also the connector seems good.

So my question is, how do I correctly diagnose that it's the Airbag Control Unit / SIM? and not some minor other issue e.g. door sensor / side airbag controller or something else?

[colb]

Not much on internet for code 093DB, however did find an old thread here which may be of interest viewtopic.php?t=55908
Usual culprits for airbag light is dirty or loose connections under the seat(s) also water under the carpets that affect the sattelite modules for the airbag system. A good code reader should give you a better description of the fault(s) it has recorded. I use INPA and a Creator 310+ which solved an airbag problem I had that INPA failed to clear.
Disconnect the battery before you remove the seats to get at the wiring, disconnecting with the battery connected will set further codes that will have to be cleared when the seats are reinstalled.

[DanielS]

@Colb I've got INPA, BMW Scanner and Carly. The message I got from BMW Scanner and Carly was the 093DB Step up converter defective.

As far as I can tell, this is the unit in the center console. In my case partnumber 65776935920.

Yet before completely removing seats gear nob, handbrake, ashtray and all the other good stuff.... I would like to double check that it's indeed this module. Because I am working in a non-heated garage and I have to run a generator for power I really would like to know for sure, as it's a couple of hours work taking things apart, sourcing the new (second hand) part from ebay, figuring out how to program the thing for matching VIN numbers / milage, timing and what else... and then putting it all back together again.

I have installed electric seats and they work wonderfully and also the heating works fine, so I believe the harness under the seats is not giving me any errors.

What is the best way to double check this module?

[DanielS]

Last night I had time to get in the car and read out the car.

Below are the pictures out of DIS & INPA. And I am generally confused on why the airbag light is on. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

This is a screenshot using DIS. This just says "93DB SIM: Control Unit: undefined satus - Fauly currently present"



Then I was time for INPA.




Here the Airbag ECU or Safety module is fine, just the satellite frond door vorne left and right,


And here is the INPA - "93DB Step up converter defekt"


INPA now showing the Satellite B pillar left and right "Error ECU conditions not correct or request sequence error





Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

[colb]

Have you tried clearing the codes using INPA and then seeing what comes back on a fresh scan. Since you have both sattelite modules throwing up faults it sounds like the main module might be at fault rater than the sattelite ones. check all the wiring connections and look for water under the carpets on each side where the sattelite modules live, water getting in is often the cause of airbag faults. If you have to code a replacement module it must be the same part number as the bad one and can be coded to the car using NCS Expert, guides on Youtube if you search NCS Expert.

[DanielS]

These are the errors after a complete clearing of all the errors in the error memory.

When I bought the car the carpet on the passenger side was wet. I replaced the speed sensor underneath on the passenger side, this fixed the issue with the 3 yellow lights of doom. Also I let the carpets dry out. Car is now parked in the garage so it's completely dry for the last weeks.

As for the main airbag module this is the one behind the handbrake?

I opened up the car and took a picture of the unit but have not removed it yet. It looked alright, but was in doubt if this is indeed the one giving me errors.

[colb]

Yes the main module is the one behind the handbrake.
Check the wiring connections are clean and not corroded, thats about all you can do inside is a printed circuit board which contains all the electronics. On the board is an eeprom chip that contains the program applicable to the cars airbag system and its coding data. You need specfic software to read the eeprom for its file and it has to be removed from the pcb to do this. Probably best to find a good matching part number module and try that on the car, it will need coding to the car using NCS expert software otherwise you get a code indicating its a mismatched module for your car. Once coded and if its an ok module it should work ok. Just be careful buying used as they often come from crashed cars and will be locked up with an F0 code Internal error whichhas to be accessed via the eeprom chip using software like Carprog.

[DanielS]

I just literally bought a used unit from eBay like 5 minutes ago. Should arrive within 2 weeks out of the UK. Part number and SIM number match. So that part should be good.

As for reprogramming I found this manual. Not sure about it. And I have zero experience with winkfp and tool32. So will need to read up on these tools.



INPA: UIF (User Information Field) Report
1-Open INPA>select your car model (E60)>Functional Jobs>F3 UIF
2-You'll see a list of all control units with their ZUSB number and VIN
3-Print to PDF the report.
4-Identify the ZUSB numbers without your VIN and copy from the PDF and close INPA

WinKFP: Edit VIN and Flash Module
5-Open WinKFP (Load SPDaten files google it)
6-Select comfort mode
7-Then click find ZUSB
8-Paste the number you copied
9-this will go straight to the right ZUSB
10-Then enter your full VIN and then click on done
11-Double check that the module your going to flash it's safe to flash with your cable and the battery needs to be connect to another power source
12-Click on update ZUSB (this will flash the module with SPDaten files and re-write the VIN)

NCExpert: Code to Default
13- Open NCExpert
14-Load profile -> Expertmode -> F1 -> F3 -> choose E60 from the list -> choose any module you want from this list -> now click F6 Back -> select F4 Process ECU -> choose Module -> now click ReadECU -> close the notepad window that showed up after the module was read.
15-Press F5 for basic functions -> Select "coapiReadSgGetFswPsw" and click Ok -> Select F2 "job" select SG_CODIEREN and press ok -> Press F3 Execute job and wait for the buttons to become active, when active it's all done.

INPA: Identification Report and Clear Errors
16-Open INPA>select your car model (E60)>Functional Jobs>Identification
17-Print the report to PDF.
18-Look in the SGBD column the module you replace
19-Clear (EM, IM and HM) Errors and Close INPA

Ediabas Tool32: Start System Time
20-Start Tool32
21-Select File->Load SGBD, Group file
22-Browse to the EDIABAS\ECU folder, and search for the file name based on the listed SGBD column. Can be more than 1 file.
23-In the Left of the window select systemzeit_lesen (write)
24-In the middle of the window Argument (value of) type 1 in the dropdown menu
25-double click systemzeit_lesen and done.
26-double click systemzeit_starten. (no arguments)

[colb]

I used NCS Expert to code a used module tro a Z3 the other week, simple to do but watch a Youtube video to get your head around how to do it, good one here not on an airbag module its for comfort access coding but principle is the same for airbag coding module to the car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9QizWwtI-g

[DanielS]

I received my "new" second hand airbag SIM unit yesterday so I figured, lets go to it and get this sorted so I can put the car back
together.As I was waiting for the unit to arrive I did some more digging and I am not the only one doing this and I found a really usefull thread
on this forum: @TomR thank you for the manual. viewtopic.php?t=115539

So I attached the unit in the car, attached the battery charger and off we go.

INPA: Open INPA and select chasis E85 and then - Information report (F2). My response was below and I believe the ZUSB in my case is 6935920.



Close INPA.

Next up. WINKFP

Now i started working on WINKFP yet my ZUSB part number was not recognised. So with the help from TOMR his alternative manual I was able to find the correct partnumber.

A1. Look for your *.his files on the PC (mine were in C:\EC-APPS\NFS\DATA). They are all named with the ECU family (SIM85.his for example), so if you open these up with notepad and search through you will see all the historic ZUSB/part numbers for that module. When you find the one with your module part number in you will have the ECU family name you are looking for.
A2. Open WinFKP
A3. Select Comfort mode
A4. Select Update ZUSB
A5. Select the correct family for your module
A6. Enter your full VIN and then click done
A7. Double check that the module your going to flash it's safe to flash with your cable and the battery needs to be connect to another power source
A8. Click on Prog. ZB-Update
A9. This will then show you the update that is about to be programmed onto the module, click ok to start programming. This took a few minutes.

And it gave me a message back all was well! so far so good.

NCExpert: Code to Default

Open NCExpert, load profile -> Expertmode -> F1 -> F3 -> choose E85 from the list -> choose any module you want from this list
-> now click F6 Back -> select F4 Process ECU -> choose SIM Module -> now click ReadECU ->




Error!!!

Something is off, what am I doing wrong here?!

[DanielS]

So this issue was really driving me nuts.... Almost there, but not yet.

The most likely guess was that somewhere in my Windows setup / INPA / NCS Expert / SP Daten files something was off. So I reached out to our friends at Bimmerfest https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/stan ... t-13639101 and the user shawnsheridan supplied me with download link to the latest software setup. While I was downloading the software (All the Daten files are kind of big) I reinstalled Windows on the machine for a fresh start.

Then after following the instructions received via PM, I was back at the car tonight and sure enough the same error!!
After some using some Dutch foul language, I started to play around in the BMW Coding Tool, not sure what I did it was more of a hit and miss as I was ready to give up anyway. And then suddenly NCS Expert was able to read the information!! honestly I have no clue what i changed or did, but it just clicked and following the instructions from @TomR viewtopic.php?t=115539 I programmed a used SIM Module!

Obviously not solving my airbag light, but one step closer!! I will open up a new topic relating to my airbag issue as this was all about the SIM module.

[DanielS]

Unfortunatly I still have issues with my SIM unit. I can access the unit with INPA, ISTA, BMWScanner - I can clear codes, yet for some reason NCS Expert just refuses to let me read out the unit.

Can someone supply me with Daten 45? If not mistaken this is the original BMW Z4 daten files?

Also can someone please explain to me where NCS Expert looks for the correct coding of units? Where does it find the information? is this the KMB / LSZ / EWS?

[lps83]

Jumping here since I have the same issue ...
I tried a different SIM module, same result. Where did you buy your cable ?


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[DanielS]

I have a original BMTechnic cable, unfortunately they are out of business.