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no diagnostics and central locking/ boot not opening

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aak273
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Joined: Tue May 30, 2023 6:29 pm

no diagnostics and central locking/ boot not opening

Post by aak273 » Tue May 30, 2023 7:08 pm

Hi All

Below is a series of occurances, situations and observations that I have experienced with my E89 recently and would appreciate any pointers to help me solve my issues!

My E89 failed MOT due to power steering failure (separate issue). I therefore left it stationary for some time and when I came to start it, the battery had died.
I mistakenly left the windows slightly down for a few days after moving my car from its previous location, and this caused water to enter the vehicle. :headbang:

When it came to getting a new battery in, i contacted Halfords and initially there was no problem. We jump started the car using the new battery, and popped the boot open to install it. I then asked for the battery to be registered using their diagnostics equipment, which went fine, although some error codes came up and then all of a sudden the speed dial got stuck in position. Radio, sat nav, air con all working fine at this stage.

After testing the car for a few mins the error codes reduced in number but then we noticed all sorts of funny things happening such as the passenger front window opening/closing when switching the driver side switch, amongst some other things. I cant recall if the rear window was working or not (relevant for later).

We opened the fuse box area and found the area to be wet. So the fuse box was disconnected and the BCM taken out and the whole area dried and cleaned using contact cleaner over a few days. The halfords mechanic manually rotated the latch on my boot, so it doesnt lock during this time.
A few days later, after drying the area, they returned to see if things had resolved. The boot latch was returned to normal, so it can close. The soft close system activated as normal and closed the boot. However, it couldn't be opened again. The central locking on the car also didn't work, nor did the rear window open or close. When pressing the rear window switch, a switching sound from the fuse box area can be heard. All fuses were checked at this stage and seem to be OK.

Furthermore, the diagnostics reader now couldn't communicate with the car. I therefore had the footwell module out, and found the area to be damp, so got the area dried and the footwell module tested by a local specialist. The software was found to be still intact.

My feeling is the BCM is water damaged (although when opening it up there was no sign of corrosion inside) but possibly the relays have gone which is why a switching sound is heard when trying to open/close the rear window. Could this also explain why the boot doesn't open even though the softclose mechanism works? The boot can't be physically lifted using the badge after the initial softclose release.

I am a bit confused as to why certains things like the boot opening and diagnostics reading are not working anymore, even though these were fine at first.

Any input would be appreciated.

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winny
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Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:57 pm

no diagnostics and central locking/ boot not opening

Post by winny » Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:48 pm

aak273 wrote: Tue May 30, 2023 7:08 pm Hi All

Below is a series of occurances, situations and observations that I have experienced with my E89 recently and would appreciate any pointers to help me solve my issues!

My E89 failed MOT due to power steering failure (separate issue). I therefore left it stationary for some time and when I came to start it, the battery had died.
I mistakenly left the windows slightly down for a few days after moving my car from its previous location, and this caused water to enter the vehicle. :headbang:

When it came to getting a new battery in, i contacted Halfords and initially there was no problem. We jump started the car using the new battery, and popped the boot open to install it. I then asked for the battery to be registered using their diagnostics equipment, which went fine, although some error codes came up and then all of a sudden the speed dial got stuck in position. Radio, sat nav, air con all working fine at this stage.

After testing the car for a few mins the error codes reduced in number but then we noticed all sorts of funny things happening such as the passenger front window opening/closing when switching the driver side switch, amongst some other things. I cant recall if the rear window was working or not (relevant for later).

We opened the fuse box area and found the area to be wet. So the fuse box was disconnected and the BCM taken out and the whole area dried and cleaned using contact cleaner over a few days. The halfords mechanic manually rotated the latch on my boot, so it doesnt lock during this time.
A few days later, after drying the area, they returned to see if things had resolved. The boot latch was returned to normal, so it can close. The soft close system activated as normal and closed the boot. However, it couldn't be opened again. The central locking on the car also didn't work, nor did the rear window open or close. When pressing the rear window switch, a switching sound from the fuse box area can be heard. All fuses were checked at this stage and seem to be OK.

Furthermore, the diagnostics reader now couldn't communicate with the car. I therefore had the footwell module out, and found the area to be damp, so got the area dried and the footwell module tested by a local specialist. The software was found to be still intact.

My feeling is the BCM is water damaged (although when opening it up there was no sign of corrosion inside) but possibly the relays have gone which is why a switching sound is heard when trying to open/close the rear window. Could this also explain why the boot doesn't open even though the softclose mechanism works? The boot can't be physically lifted using the badge after the initial softclose release.

I am a bit confused as to why certains things like the boot opening and diagnostics reading are not working anymore, even though these were fine at first.

Any input would be appreciated.

Did you get to the bottom of this? I’m having similar symptoms. I’ve replaced the battery but still getting roof module failure, parking brake failure, windscreen wipers not properly working in auto, windscreen clearing fan not working as strong as before, boot lid won’t fully close, but can’t open it, and increased discharge of battery warning on start up! Phew!

matsmith749
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Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:36 am

no diagnostics and central locking/ boot not opening

Post by matsmith749 » Tue Jul 25, 2023 5:52 am

Holeeee fck!

I cannot imagine what it takes to get water inside the fusebox! When you say a few days, so you mean a few months?

I would not trust a Halfords 'mechanic' within 100 miles of my car....

I would contact a local BMW specialist to diagnose this.
From Jan 2023 2016 e89 Z4 35is / mineral white / coral red interior / all the extras
SOLD 2010 e89 Z4 35is / space grey / coral red interior / all the extras
SOLD 2007 e85 Z4 3.0 si sport / midnight blue / champagne interior

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