Indicator and high beam stuck on

[Matty_Z4]

I am having some strange issues with my Z4 recently and wonder if you guys can point me in the right direction. I haven't driven the Z4 for a while as its been demoted to project/second car from daily duties.

I left my phone charger plugged in last time I drove it and the battery went flat, that is what I assume caused the problem. I had a neighbour knock on my door late one evening telling me the headlights on my car was gong a bit mad. So we went out to check and the battery was flat and the car seemed to be rebooting itself and each time that happened the headlights came on for a moment then went off (relays were clicking) So I unplugged the battery and locked the car up to worry about it another day.

When I checked the battery it was at 10v so I removed it from the car and put it on charge and it passed all of the tests on the ctek battery charger (Held charge etc and went through the recondition cycle). When I put it back in the car it started up fine but the left indicator and high beams are stuck on. The indicator stalk didn't do anything except the button for the computer (BC).

I did some googling and have found various results from, its a faulty battery, k-bus errors, dead lamp in the headlights but none of the threads ever seems to come to a full conclusion so am left hanging.

The battery is holding 12.65v when the car is off and around 14.53 when the car is running, I didn't check what it was when in the acc position. Car starts fine and the error codes were nothing remarkable just a bunch of under voltage/power on messages (0093e7, 000020, 00000d, 00000e, 006128, 00000f, 000061)

Ive not got a battery tester other than what is built into the charger, I was tempted to go grab a battery from Halfords tomorrow and see if it makes any difference but I'm not 100% on it being a battery issue (It was a new battery in 2019) . Are there any checks or tests I can do to confirm its the battery or LCM? It feels more "computery" like the LCM died due to the car rebooting itself when the battery went flat. (Power surge??)

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[Rockhopper]

A five year old battery is on borrowed time in my opinion. Change it and see what happens.

 

[TriggerFish]

Have you checked that the lights outside are doing what the dashboard represents?

I ask because my R53 had a similar (but slightly different issue), where the indicator and full beam icons never appeared on the dash at all, but the lights externally were working correctly.

For my issue, it was a problem on the k-bus causing oddness from the rev counter on top of the dashboard. If I unplugged this, everything worked as expected.

If you have working lights outside, I'd be inclined to investigate k-bus a little further, but if you can borrow a different battery from another car as low battery can make cars do odd things!

 

[Matty_Z4]

A five year old battery is on borrowed time in my opinion. Change it and see what happens.

Chucked in a new battery today still the same Was worth a shot I guess. The new battery is "bigger" 76ah 680cca vs 70ah 640cca bigger is better right.

Have you checked that the lights outside are doing what the dashboard represents?

I ask because my R53 had a similar (but slightly different issue), where the indicator and full beam icons never appeared on the dash at all, but the lights externally were working correctly.

For my issue, it was a problem on the k-bus causing oddness from the rev counter on top of the dashboard. If I unplugged this, everything worked as expected.

If you have working lights outside, I'd be inclined to investigate k-bus a little further, but if you can borrow a different battery from another car as low battery can make cars do odd things!

Yeah the headlights are on full beam and the indicator outside is flashing. All the lamps/bulbs are intact and working. I have removed my gap tech just in case there is anything to do with that.

Any other ideas/suggestions on what I can be checking?

 

[Mike6]

Did you clear the error codes after changing battery.

 

[TriggerFish]

Interesting. Do you have a code reader? If so, I'd be removing my steering wheel and unplugging the stalk and seeing if it stopped doing anything odd then.

You'll need to reset the airbag if you turn on the ignition (as needed for indicators) with the airbag unplugged. If you don't have a code reader, you could remove the airbag/steering wheel, unplug the stalk, reconnect airbag and test?

Another thing - you have full beams on all the time... Once you turn off the ignition, if you flash the headlights you should get the 'follow me home' lights come on. If this doesn't work, and they don't come on, to me it would point towards the stalk being faulty.

If they do come on, then it would suggest that the stalk is functional (as it knows that the full beams were off, then flashed, then off again)

 

[Rockhopper]

When you swapped the battery over did you leave it disconnected for a while? That's sometimes worth doing.

 

[Matty_Z4]

It got rather cold to do anything the other week,

I have been down and cleared the codes (window pinch protection on both windows and immobiliser power on reset) no other codes showing. No change in the issue.

Before I replaced the battery the old one was disconnected for a few days.

Is it worth just grabbing a LCM from eBay and giving it a go? I would prefer to test/diagnose what /where the problem is was.

Can't see it being a stalk issue as the problem happened after a flat battery and power back on, the stalk is only a switch AFIK no electronics in there?

 

[Matty_Z4]

Interesting. Do you have a code reader? If so, I'd be removing my steering wheel and unplugging the stalk and seeing if it stopped doing anything odd then.

You'll need to reset the airbag if you turn on the ignition (as needed for indicators) with the airbag unplugged. If you don't have a code reader, you could remove the airbag/steering wheel, unplug the stalk, reconnect airbag and test?

Another thing - you have full beams on all the time... Once you turn off the ignition, if you flash the headlights you should get the 'follow me home' lights come on. If this doesn't work, and they don't come on, to me it would point towards the stalk being faulty.

If they do come on, then it would suggest that the stalk is functional (as it knows that the full beams were off, then flashed, then off again)

I think you could be correct at it being the stalk. I had a play with ISTA this afternoon and when triggering the lights from the computer they all work as they should. If I trigger the rear left indicator from ISTA the lamp stays illuminated for 15s even though the front and side repeater continue to flash. Same with the high beams can cycle through side lights, low beam and high beam for both left and right sides independently.

The diagnostic scan shows the stalk stuck in main beam and left indicator. I have attached some screenshots of what I found in ISTA.

Guess I'm going to have the investigate that at some point.

 

[TriggerFish]

Hmm, I'm thinking more LCM now, as you've said that the rear left indicator doesn't flash properly. That would be controlled by the LCM, and not the stalk.

To rule the stalk out, you can unplug it from the slip ring (maybe you can do that by removing the lower steering wheel cowl?). If it still reads the same stalk state in ISTA, and the rear left indicator is still funky, I'd point my finger of blame at the LCM and not the stalk

 

[Matty_Z4]

Hmm, I'm thinking more LCM now, as you've said that the rear left indicator doesn't flash properly. That would be controlled by the LCM, and not the stalk.

I think you have misunderstood my last post and have come to an incorrect conclusion. What I was saying in my last post is that With no computer plugged in the left indicators are stuck on (all flashing correctly as they should) On - Off - On - Off Moving the stalk does nothing (as stated in previous posts)

The new GOOD information is that when using the "Component Trigger" setting in ISTA (Which will allow you to INDEPENDENTLY switch lights for 15s) I can override the rear left or front left indicators with ISTA and they stay ILLUMINATED for 15s showing that the outputs on the LCM are working as they should be.

This would be the same as the headlight test I did where I independently (literally one headlight at a time) turned on the side lights /lows and mains from the computer overriding the Auto/Off/On setting on the light switch module. Also showed good.

So the fact that I can override the faulty behaviour with the computer is very much a good thing and points to your initial suggestion of a faulty stalk. Shame I didn't try this before spending £100 on a new battery

Will update once I get into the indicator stalk removed.

 

[swanny71]

Interesting read this.
I had a similar issues (though not identical) many moons ago in my old 130i (2007 LCI with Xenon)
Problems started with the main beams randomly flashing when car running - it didn’t matter which position the light switch or stalk were in.
It was under warranty at the time so BMW looked at it - changed the stalk and it was OK for a few weeks.
Problems returned but also indicators randomly coming on and staying on regardless of stalk/light switch position.
Back to BMW a few times (problems intermittent so hard to diagnose).
Eventually solved by replacing a control module (I assume body or lighting module).

 

[Matty_Z4]

@TriggerFish it seems you were correct, disconnecting the indicator stalk and the problem goes away.

I have removed the stalk completely today for further investigations. It seems we have some mild/medium corrosion on the “wiper contacts” evidenced by a green sheen most of it wiped off as I was disassembling.

We also have 4 burned out resistors on the PCB can’t seem to get any continuity across any of them.

So I guess it’s time to get on eBay and get me a replacement stalk as there is no chance I’m soldering anything that small.

 

[Usel]

If you haven't ordered a stalk yet then I can send you a pcb for the price of postage if you want.

The 4 resistors read the resistance printed on them.

 

[Matty_Z4]

If you haven't ordered a stalk yet then I can send you a pcb for the price of postage if you want.

The 4 resistors read the resistance printed on them.

20250128_164120.jpg

Yes please that would be amazing thanks.

 

[Usel]

If you haven't ordered a stalk yet then I can send you a pcb for the price of postage if you want.

The 4 resistors read the resistance printed on them.

20250128_164120.jpg

Yes please that would be amazing thanks.

I was hoping to send just the pcb for cheap postage but the pin depth along with packaging means it'll be over the 2.5cm limit for Royal Mails large letter.



So I may as well send the complete stalk to you which will cost 2nd class £3.25 or £3.39 if you want it tracked.

You'll need to remove the pcb and pop it into your stalk as this one has wear on the decals:



Send a pm if you want to proceed

 

[Matty_Z4]

If you haven't ordered a stalk yet then I can send you a pcb for the price of postage if you want.

The 4 resistors read the resistance printed on them.

20250128_164120.jpg

Yes please that would be amazing thanks.

I was hoping to send just the pcb for cheap postage but the pin depth along with packaging means it'll be over the 2.5cm limit for Royal Mails large letter.

20250129_085850.jpg

So I may as well send the complete stalk to you which will cost 2nd class £3.25 or £3.39 if you want it tracked.

You'll need to remove the pcb and pop it into your stalk as this one has wear on the decals:

20250129_090317.jpg

Send a pm if you want to proceed

LEGEND Thanks Usel, Stalk arrived this morning. Calened up and made a hybred out of your and and my stalk. Fitted this afternoon works great thanks
Now to clear down the faults reset the windows and we should be good for the MOT fingers crossed.

 

[Usel]

Excellent, well done for getting it working again

 

[Matty_Z4]

Just a small thanks to the forum for the help. Wouldn't get far without the wealth of knowledge here.

 

[enuff_zed]

Just a small thanks to the forum for the help. Wouldn't get far without the wealth of knowledge here.

Brilliant! Thank you.