Multiple failure indicated

[jonathanrwbrooks]

Hi All new to this forum. I have a 2011 315i Z4 and love it.

Had a fault last week that cleared down after overnight off and some resets on vehicle status. When the issue occurs the following errors are indicated: -

1. Heavy steering (steering assist fault indicated)
2. Cannot turn wipers off
3. Speedo not working
4. Windscreen washer not working
5. ABS indicated as not working
6. Seat belt, restraint and airbag fault indicated
7. Engine fault light on
8. Parking break fault indicated
9. Press start and then told to press start again.

The car does not go into limp mode. These all cleared down and now come back again.

Any pointers appreciated.

 

[Chippie]

Hi and firstly welcome to the forum

It could be a battery related issue, how old is it? The date is stamped on the negative terminal - week number and year (26-11)

 

[RobbiZ4]

 

[Ole gits rule]

Hi and firstly welcome to the forum

It could be a battery related issue, how old is it? The date is stamped on the negative terminal - week number and year (26-11)

Hello and welcome to the forum - definitly sounds like a battery issue, if this is failing it will cause multiple issues :|

 

[The Zed Shed]

The wipers staying on is a good indicator here.

Abs modules fail, causing garbage signals to be poured into the canbus, hence modules cannot talk to each other. PT-can is not affected, hence no limp mode.

Mike

 

[flybobbie]

Good job it's just a car and not a nuclear power station.

 

[dumaurier7]

Hi All new to this forum. I have a 2011 315i Z4 and love it.

Had a fault last week that cleared down after overnight off and some resets on vehicle status. When the issue occurs the following errors are indicated: -

1. Heavy steering (steering assist fault indicated)
2. Cannot turn wipers off
3. Speedo not working
4. Windscreen washer not working
5. ABS indicated as not working
6. Seat belt, restraint and airbag fault indicated
7. Engine fault light on
8. Parking break fault indicated
9. Press start and then told to press start again.

The car does not go into limp mode. These all cleared down and now come back again.

Any pointers appreciated.

Hi all I am also new to this forum , this being my very first post (unfortunately) ! I have been experiencing the same issues with my Z, was the cause ever found and resolved?

 

[B21]

This is usually caused by a CAN bus failure…which in itself can be either a loose wire, failure of module / ECU which takes everything else down..

Crap aged flat battery is a primary cause… :thumbsdown:

So

Swap out and get a decent new battery and code it / register it…and/or get a decent code reader and/or take it to a decent Indy or Auto electrician

 

[matsmith749]

Failing battery is always a suspect when there are so many (sometimes unrelated looking) failures at once.

But - it's so easy to check.

Go get a multimeter, open the boot, see what the voltage is at rest. If it's below 12.3v then your battery is as good as toast (very general voltage level) - you can get a lot more info by googling & step by step instructions on how to check.

Another good test is to just look at it. See the date? If it's >5 years ago, then no matter what the battery is significantly below it's best performance. They age & fail..... it's the way of physics.

About £100 to get a new one.

 

[dumaurier7]

Thanks for your responses, the battery is less than five months old, it and the alternator are in perfect health, I also reset and registered the battery after installation. I have since had the FMR module serviced (although no issue was found with the software) and swapped out the fuse box or BCD module which I still have to code. After swapping out the BCD module some of the issues went away but the initial ones remain.

 

[B21]

If the DSC unit goes south it takes out most of the systems you highlighted..have you checked the fuses?

What’s the code reader say?

 

[dumaurier7]

I checked all the fuses, and they were good, but I plan to recheck them this weekend to make sure nothing has since changed. The car operates normally for a couple hours then all of a sudden the warning lights turn on together with the wipers, the transmission becomes unstable, and the E brake does not respond with the motor running. If scanned before there's no code but when scanned during the episode everything is throwing a fuss as expected, I am chasing the initiator right now. I had the car scanned couple times by non-BMW techs who don't seem to have a clue! I plan to get Bimmer Geeks and do it myself, just looking for some pointers.

 

[B21]

I checked all the fuses, and they were good, but I plan to recheck them this weekend to make sure nothing has since changed. The car operates normally for a couple hours then all of a sudden the warning lights turn on together with the wipers, the transmission becomes unstable, and the E brake does not respond with the motor running. If scanned before there's no code but when scanned during the episode everything is throwing a fuss as expected, I am chasing the initiator right now. I had the car scanned couple times by non-BMW techs who don't seem to have a clue! I plan to get Bimmer Geeks and do it myself, just looking for some pointers.

When it goes wrong you need to see if you have some can bus communication errors..that’s what gives the the game away..obviously when it’s ok then you won’t have such errors…

Sounds like a loose connector..FRM module connector’s correctly seated…?

I had an incorrectly seated connector and it generated over 45 errors..

 

[dumaurier7]

I can't see it because this started to happen out of the blue, car has only 18K km on the clock so was barely touched, only event prior to this is a battery failure (the previous owner put in the wrong (led acid) battery, which was he did not register), car overcharged the battery which led to its eventual demise. I started disconnecting stuff after this trying to diagnose the issue, but I will re-check everything this weekend to be sure.

 

[B21]

I can't see it because this started to happen out of the blue, car has only 18K km on the clock so was barely touched, only event prior to this is a battery failure (the previous owner put in the wrong (led acid) battery, which was he did not register), car overcharged the battery which led to its eventual demise. I started disconnecting stuff after this trying to diagnose the issue, but I will re-check everything this weekend to be sure.

Yup ..oh dear…so many stories of issues with E89 systems start with fucked up batteries..

 

[matsmith749]

Feels like the battery shouldn't be in the mix as it was replaced 5 months ago - but I would still be checking it regardless & not rely on the fact it was changed 5 months ago.

There are half a dozen grounding points dotted around the car - have you checked these for good solid connections? A failed connector or messed up grounding point could lead to multiple issues like these.

 

[dumaurier7]

The battery is the first thing I checked, and it was very healthy and still is. This is exactly what I am experiencing..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8bJegVxo_c

 

[B21]

The battery is the first thing I checked, and it was very healthy and still is. This is exactly what I am experiencing..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8bJegVxo_c

Yup as I said can bus errors..as was also stated it doesn’t take much to get an error..bad battery connections, bad battery, faulty earth straps..

Best take it to a competent auto electrician

 

[dumaurier7]

The battery is the first thing I checked, and it was very healthy and still is. This is exactly what I am experiencing..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8bJegVxo_c

Hello all, I think I may have narrowed the issue down to the main (black) power relay located on the junction box, apparently it was not seated properly! to check the effects of this I pulled it completely out and the car went into CRAZY mode like before which subsided when I reinstalled it, also the running temperature of this relay is a bit warm to the touch, not sure if this is normal so I bought a new replacement just in case to verify.

 

[dumaurier7]

The battery is the first thing I checked, and it was very healthy and still is. This is exactly what I am experiencing..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8bJegVxo_c

Hello all, I think I may have narrowed the issue down to the main (black) power relay located on the junction box, apparently it was not seated properly! to check the effects of this I pulled it completely out and the car went into CRAZY mode like before which subsided when I reinstalled it, also the running temperature of this relay is a bit warm to the touch, not sure if this is normal so I bought a new replacement just in case to verify.

Nope! not the relay but still definitely seems to be power related. After I changed the relay, all was well for a while, but weird things would keep happening like, lights refusing to turn off, boot not opening with the remote and the aux. port switching off. Simultaneously during the hiatus period, I purchased and installed a P3 gauge which allows me to see battery voltage (among other things) which read normal at the time around 14.2V with the motor at idle. Recently the symptoms have returned and are occurring with a greater frequency as if it's on a timer, so I decide to purchase a brand-new battery just to eliminate it from the suspect list, but this made no difference! two days ago on my way home from work I decided to observe the battery voltage, what I saw was confusing, alarming but relieving! When on the gas the voltage would be 12.5V-12.7V and when I get on the brake it would jump up to 14.2-14.5! Clearly the alternator/regulator is not functioning correctly, and the battery is running things until its power is depleted after which the craziness starts (at least this is what I hope is happening!). I have since bought a new regulator as the alternator only has 22K km on it, so I doubt is physically bad, after I install, I will post my findings again.

Cheers!