Roof Hydraulic Hose Failure + SBSL Airbag Module Fault = Roof Drainage Blocked

[Ali0191]

First of all, I am writing this thinking I have solved the problem. But I haven't finished the job so not 100%. I am not trying to write a how to, just sign post people who may have the same issues as I pretty much got everything I needed to get to where I am from this forum. Feel free to move it if it should be somewhere else.

Airbag Module - Satellite B Pillar Left SBSL

So I have had the airbag light and due to some help of forum members I was able to understand the issue was the B Pillar Module on the passenger side was throwing out multiple error codes:

9892 Control unit fault (E6x) or software error (E85)
9529 Control-unit fault
952B Control-unit fault
952D Control-unit fault
952F Control-unit fault

Suggestions were that it had got wet due to the roof drainage being blocked and overflowing onto it. This has been an issue going on 2 years but I have a friendly garage for MOTs so wasn't under time pressure to solve and I have been overseas a lot so the car has been neglected. I also thought it was a case of removing the seat to change it which I found to be a bit of a daunting task.

When watching the roof removal video below I decided I was going to have a crack at the airbag module, seeing I had to remove some of the internal trim I found a mention on the bimmerfest that you could get to it without removing the seat.

How I did it is in a post below.

Roof removal

A couple of weeks back I went to put my roof up, the motor ran no problem (located in the boot) and over my shoulder on the drivers side I heard a spray sound. Instant thought was that must be hydraulic fluid spraying down the drainage...

So I decided I am going to take the roof off for the first time, sort the know roof drainage issues at last and find the issue on the hydraulic hose and replace it. I used this video from the forum to remove the roof:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k31nU0FWmtE

It took me about an hour, it was much easier than I expected. I half wonder why I spent hours folding myself into the boot to relocate the motor when I could have done this... but I haven't tried putting it back on yet. You definitely need two people to lift it out.

Drainage wells

So I got the roof off and found these drainage wells:




No wonder there was all this damage happening. It was also apparent quite quickly why my roof had failed, the hydraulic hose connections were sat in water as well and corroded. I thought sorting the drainage was a nice to have after relocating my motor, how wrong I was!

After watching some YouTube videos and photos on the forum I managed to get my hand under the car and pull the valves off the end of the drainage. They were completely blocked and I won't be putting them back on. I will keep hold in case the road noise people comment on becomes an issue.

I scooped most of the water out and then soaked up the last bits. Just by clearing the top water would drain slowly. I just a drain cleaning brush to clear the passenger pipe. The driver pipe was much harder as the well is much small so couldn't get much purchase on the brush wire to push it down. I ended up using a small bit of drain unblocked, flushed down with hot water and then the brush.

Both roof drains cleared and water pouring out the bottom.




Roof hydraulic hose replacement

This was the base of my roof that connects near the drivers shoulder. I rigged it up with new fluid and powered the motor to confirm the issue. Hydraulic fluid sprayed out of the connection for cable 14. After a quick bit of cleaning you can clearly see the hole where it had corroded and failed.




To finish the first day I wanted to get the cable 14 pin removed so now I am just waiting for the new parts to carry on. The screw holding it in place had rounded off so I used a saw to make it a flat head. With a lot of WD40 and drill wire brushing I got the screw out.



Some more cleaning and I had to get the small plate off that holds the hose in place which had corroded on. It helped to remove the end piece then levered it off using a flat head screwdriver from the bottom.



And a final comparison of a good hose pin end vs a corroded one



Parts ordered

I have ordered a new cable from here (£77.59):

https://www.cabriolet-roof-hoses.com/hydraulic-roof-hoses/bmw/bmw-e85-z4-roadster-hydraulic-cabriolet-roof-hoses

These brushes from amazon for the roof drainage(£8.99):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08QV5WFR3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And this replacement airbag module from eBay (£65.00):

Bmw E85 2003- Front Left Pillar SBSL AIRBAG Module 6945157

My airbag module is 6953009 but I used OEM to check which ones are interchangeable:

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/partxref?q=65776953009

I bought this OBDII cable from amazon (£25.91):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B098DC49MP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[enuff_zed]

An excellent thread with clear photos showing how important it is to still keep the drains clear after you move the motor. Well done.
Hope you get it all fixed and back together ok.
FWIW I think I'd be inclined to leave the drain bungs (valves) out. They are supposed to prevent a bit of road noise, but I doubt you'd notice any difference. Far better to have a decent sized hole to drain through.

 

[Zulu4]

Interesting

 

[bigwinn]

Excellent thread there- well done

I think we are starting to see a few corrosion issues causing roof issues now as the cars approach 20 years -

Stuart

 

[Ali0191]

Updated for the last bit of the day removing the hydraulic hose pin.

I’ll aim to rewrite it all once I have finished.

 

[Ali0191]

An excellent thread with clear photos showing how important it is to still keep the drains clear after you move the motor. Well done.
Hope you get it all fixed and back together ok.
FWIW I think I'd be inclined to leave the drain bungs (valves) out. They are supposed to prevent a bit of road noise, but I doubt you'd notice any difference. Far better to have a decent sized hole to drain through.

Planning to leave the ends off as you suggest, I’ll keep hold of them if it gets to much but it’s generally just used for fun with the roof down so shouldn’t be an issue!

 

[Ali0191]

Airbag Module - Satellite B Pillar Left SBSL

Start by removing the subwoofer cover or storage compartment (whichever you have). I have the storage compartment and this just pulled out with a little effort.

Inside you will find 5 black Phillips head screws, remove these. Pull the door rubber seal away. Lastly there's a small bit of plastic trim on the rear curve of the door sill. This is connected by two clips and needs sliding down and towards the front of the car. The main door sill trim is in the way so I slightly bent this outward to allow the trim to slide down:



Then you can pull the carpet out from under these bits of trim and get to the airbag module:



There are three 8mm nuts to remove and use a flat head screw driver to undo the latches for the cables. Wired in and attached the new module. You can use a code reader to check it is working by finding a new error code stating it’s the wrong VIN number and then reverse the above to put everything back.

Rewriting the VIN on a second hand module

I brought a cable from Amazon and it didn’t seem to work so I returned it and went to bcables.com. It was 20 more but came recommended. In hindsight the cable from Amazon might not have worked because I didn’t know I had to set up the COM port and install drivers. It came with a CD for software just like the bcables one but I don’t have a disc drive.

First things first, I had to figure out how to install all the software. I originally found the old way where you must write to the disc and update the daten yourself. I kept hitting issues and different errors although I got it to work eventually. There is a much easier way now though.

I got this download link from here on Bimmerscene:

https://mega.nz/#!RcshDLbZ!guGZT2VKNRGRp...K8vHx9H63g

The file password is: bimmerscene.com

This installed everything and then opens a read me on how to set up your cable COM port to COM1.

The driver install file failed for me, which turned out to be the issue that was causing me errors when I did the manual install. Through bcables I found a download for a program that force installed the cable drivers, and after a restart it finally worked for me:

https://ftdichip.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CDM212364_Setup.zip

I don’t know if this step is necessary but I did it. Use BMW Coding Tool and this blog I updated the daten using the files from mac’s google drive from his thread here.

For the rest full credit goes to TomR for his post.

His post is an edit of a previous guide on how to go through the steps to rewrite the VIN to a replacement secondhand airbag module using INPA, WinKFP and Tool32.

The following is TomRs post but with some slight changes as it seems to depend where you get your software from for what it says on the screen and some of the steps are slightly different with the software from the above links:

INPA: Control Module BMW Part Number
1.1-Open INPA>
1.2-Select your car model (E85 is F8)
1.3-Double click IDENT/ Read-Clear Error/infor memory E85
1.4-Select F2 Information
2-You'll see a list of all control units. Find the one you have replaced, in my case SBSL and you want the BMW Part Number. Note it down.

If you are having issues later identifying your part in WinKFP or finding the family/SGBD for Tool32 an alternative is to look for you part at step 3, such as safety modules> Satellite B column Left. When having issues, I ended up poking around, but I was lucky that TomR’s suggestions got me through.

WinKFP: Edit VIN and Flash Module
5-Open WinKFP
6-Select comfort mode
7-Select Enter ZUSB
8-Input the BMW Part Number from INPA
9-This will go straight to the right ZUSB IF your part number is the most recent of those modules. Otherwise read the alternative below. If this works note down what your part’s family is such as SBSL85 or SBL264. This is later referred to as the SGBD in Tool 32.
10-Click enter VIN, enter your full VIN and then click on done. If you do not have the option to ‘Enter VIN’ in the last box on the right you need to go to settings and tick ‘UIF write in comfort mode’.
11-Click on update ZUSB/Prog. ZB-Update (In my different attempts I saw this box have multiple different names but it is the F3 box and wasn’t there when you first opened WinKFP)
12-You will now need to wait a couple of minutes until the blue bar gets to 100% and then you are done with WinKFP.

Alternative for WinKFP step 9:
You need to find the ECU family that your module is in. For me the main airbag ECU was in SIM85 and the pillar module was in SBL264. To double check this, 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. Return to WinKFP and use this new information at step 9. You can use the family to select the ZUSB or note down the bottom right part number from the .his file and you can search for ZUSB in WinKFP.

NCExpert: Code to Default
13- Open NCExpert
14-Load profile -> Default Profile -> F1 VIN/ZCS/FA -> F3 ZCS/FA f. ECU -> E85 -> choose any module you want from this list. > Back
15- Press F3 Process ECU and wait for the buttons to become active, when active it's all done.

Ediabas Tool32: Start System Time
16-Start Tool32
17-Select File->Load SGBD, Group file
18-Browse to the EDIABAS\ECU folder for the file named the same as the module family you used in WinKFP. However, for my SBSL module the family name was SBL264 but this isn’t a file so I copied TomR and used SBSL85 which worked.
19-In the Left of the window select systemzeit_lesen
20-In the middle of the window Argument type 1
21-double click systemzeit_lesen and close the window that came up.
22-double click systemzeit_starten. You may need to delete the number 1 from the Argument box from this, I wasn’t clear from the guides. I ran it with the 1 and then without the 1. Without the 1 it said error no argument, but it all worked out!

You can there clear the error through INPA or a C310+ and you should be airbag light free. I kept checking the errors throughout and they change depending what stage you were successful up to. It starts as incorrect VIN then progresses with errors such as system time error which means you need to redo Tool32.

I recommend attaching to a trickle charger or booster battery. The process does drain you battery so if you don’t connect something, expect to have to jump your car at the end.

 

[BMWorrisome]

21-double click systemzeit_lesen and close the window that came up.
22-double click systemzeit_starten. You may need to delete the number 1 from the Argument box from this, I wasn’t clear from the guides.

I registered an account to come here and say THANK YOU for this part creating clarification. I'd been struggling for 4 hours trying to figure this Tool32 part out and it was this comment that actually managed to resolve my issue. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

[dkleit]

Hi All,

I'm just trying to work though the steps to program a replacement SRS module. I managed to find one with the same serial number.

I never done something like this before so am a little nervous.

WinKFP: Edit VIN and Flash Module
5-Open WinKFP
6-Select comfort mode
7-Select Enter ZUSB
8-Input the BMW Part Number from INPA

I'm up to step 8 above. Unfortunately WinKFP can't find the part number 6935920. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[enuff_zed]

If that screen shot is with the new module fitted and it still says no response from control unit then it’s either not plugged in, the connection is dodgy or the module is a dud

 

[dkleit]

Thanks Zed.
Oh no. A mechanic friend connected it last week and he managed to get the airbag light to turn off but it came back after about an hour.
He managed to pick up the unit with his tool.

Is there another test I can do without taking the car apart again?

 

[dkleit]

Hi Zed/All,

I've tried another module which I purchased as a back up.
I'm getting the same error but I can see that the module ID in INPA has changed. Does that mean its working?
Any tips or tricks?

Thanks
Again

 

[thenurm]

Hi Zed, et All
Apologies for dragging this one back from years ago.. but are you or anyone else, able to answer a couple of questions?
I have too had the issue with the side air bag module - but managed to sort the corroded cabling out. I've done various tests with ISTA / INPA and all seems to be working, No voltage/resistance issues, the correct Vin - its just throwing a 9886 error - due to a mismatch - I did see the mileage is way out, showing some -9K out on one of the diagnostic screens in INPA - Although I've only done about 300 since it faulted and I'm presuming the date (as its not been communicating and I haven't seen that data.)
Question 1 - I've unsuccessfully attempted to clear the error and now I'm looking at reprograming of the unit. But am I right in saying I need to reflash the unit and redo the VIN etc. (following the steps above) or can I just do some kind of local update that will put things right as I think its just lost its way.

Question 2 - On the possibility that Q1 answer is yes, I've had a quick hour playing with WINKFP - and although it doesn't see my ZUSB /BMW Part no#s I have found 2 updates for the central and side module (Attached pics) As It cant find my version - could this cause communication issues by not updating other modules IE GM/DME - so do I need to look at doing a full update on all my ECU's - ( I was taught - if it isn't broke, don't 'fix it' hence the question)

Any help would be appreciated TIA