Several Random Electrial Questions

[afxjzs]

1. When i push the heated seat button (either 3 or 1 coil) the light only stays lit for about 5 seconds then shuts off? Are the heated seats working? They seem to be heating up, but that might be just from my ass sitting on it. is it really apparent when they are on?

2. The AC button only will illuminate if the car is running off the battery. If i push the button when i am driving, it won't light up? any ideas on why that happens?

3. My high beams don't work. The low beams work A+/100%, but the hi's don't work at all. both bulbs seem to in good working order, the fuses aren't blown. i have no idea why they just don't work. i havent had a chance to check if there is power flowing to them when they are supposed to be on. is this a common problem?

i have read about people's low beams not working due to a corroded LKM, but never the high beams.

4. My sun roof won't pop up. it will slide back into the roof with no problem, but when i push the button forward for it to pop up, it doesn't do anything. would that be a faulty switch? or has someone else had this problem and found it to be something else?

thanks for all your help.

92 525i/5spd m50-non-vanos

[olsan100]

The only thing I might have a suggestion for is the sunroof. Just to make sure, are you pushing the button "in" not forward.

Other then that, I don't have many suggestions except maybe some of the connections are a bit old and need to be cleaned.

[afxjzs]

The only thing I might have a suggestion for is the sunroof. Just to make sure, are you pushing the button "in" not forward.

Other then that, I don't have many suggestions except maybe some of the connections are a bit old and need to be cleaned.


y'know...i might have been pressing it forward. ill check when i go to lunch.

wow. i hope it's something that simple.

[ProZak]

y'know...i might have been pressing it forward. ill check when i go to lunch.

wow. i hope it's something that simple.

It probably is; I was running into the same problem but found my answer in the owner's manual. :D When all else fails, read the directions, right? ...Anyway. Pushing the switch in (towards the roof of the car) when the sunroof is closed opens the back; sliding the switch towards the front closes it.

Good luck with everything else!

-Zak-

[afxjzs]

also...

5. the foglights don't work. the bulbs and fuses seem fine. could this be related to the high beams?

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

1. When i push the heated seat button (either 3 or 1 coil) the light only stays lit for about 5 seconds then shuts off? Are the heated seats working? They seem to be heating up, but that might be just from my ass sitting on it. is it really apparent when they are on?

2. The AC button only will illuminate if the car is running off the battery. If i push the button when i am driving, it won't light up? any ideas on why that happens?

3. My high beams don't work. The low beams work A+/100%, but the hi's don't work at all. both bulbs seem to in good working order, the fuses aren't blown. i have no idea why they just don't work. i havent had a chance to check if there is power flowing to them when they are supposed to be on. is this a common problem?

i have read about people's low beams not working due to a corroded LKM, but never the high beams.

4. My sun roof won't pop up. it will slide back into the roof with no problem, but when i push the button forward for it to pop up, it doesn't do anything. would that be a faulty switch? or has someone else had this problem and found it to be something else?

thanks for all your help.

92 525i/5spd m50-non-vanos


For 3), are you trying with the headlight switch in the top "1" position? If you have daytime running lights (low beam) they will come on in the "0" position but the high beams and fogs don't work unless the switch is set to "1".

[DanH]

Q1. If the heated seats work, eventually you should get too hot if you keep them on for a long drive. If you cant tell, go under the seat and probe the wires with a voltmeter to determine whether or not you have power to the connectors when you turn on the switch.

Q3. If you can find someone with a good LKM and swap to see if that fixes the headlight issue, its a good chance that is it.

Also, check the wires going to your fogs and headlights, they could be broken, but most likely not all of them would be at one time. Have they ever worked since you bought it?

[DanH]

Does your high beam indicator in the instrument cluster light up when you attempt to turn them on?
If not the stalk switch may be broken in the steering column.

[632 Regal]

the fogs arent supposed to work with the high beams on, there are relays and crap that control this stuff including the LKM, wait till Javier gets to this thread, he will know exactly whats up.

[afxjzs]

well..first off. you guys were right about the sun roof. i feel like a pretty big idiot, but what else is new.

for the high beams: with the switch set to 1, slid all the way to the top, the headlights come on. when i pull the lever to turn on the high beams, the blue indicator on the console lights up, but not the actual high beams.


Q1. If the heated seats work, eventually you should get too hot if you keep them on for a long drive. If you cant tell, go under the seat and probe the wires with a voltmeter to determine whether or not you have power to the connectors when you turn on the switch.

is the light supposed to stay on for more than about 3 seconds? when i push the rocker switch to either setting, it lights up for a few seconds, and then shuts off.


Q3. If you can find someone with a good LKM and swap to see if that fixes the headlight issue, its a good chance that is it.

umm....any one in the boston area with an m50 e34 wanna hang out?

i don't think the foglights or highbeams worked since i bought the car. the voltage regulator was replaced right before i bought the car. could that have done anything?

[Javier]

mine does, and I have never found in USA drawings any reason for them not to work together, guess there is some mod. inside the LKM that prevents it.

No idea either how it work, or wich system has preference, Higs or fogs? May be someone in USA can explain.

When High beams refuse to work, both sides together, the must probable culprit is the LKM relay for High beams (or soldering spots in its circuits), as long as the blue indication lights up in the cluster. To reinforce that conclusion, there is an easy check. Just jump with some wire from fuse F9 to F13 and F9 to F14, High beams should light up if bulbs, wiring from fuses and to ground, and sockets are OK.

Javier

[theonew]

Regarding the heated seats: I was sitting in my car with the engine off waiting for the street sweepers to come buy and wanted to warm my tush a bit (it was 23F outside) but when I pushed the rocker switch it did exactly what you described (on for about 5 seconds and no tush warming happening). I mentally added it to my to do list. After 10 minutes I decided to start the car to get some heat and tried the seat heater again and this time it worked. I'm pretty sure I've been able to run the seat heaters with the engine off before, though I'm not positive.
I'm wondering if there is some sort of electrical safety switch that activates if the battery voltage drops to prevent unessential electrical equipment from draining the battery.

[Kalevera]

The US spec LKM allows two sets of lights to be on at any given time, but no more. This is in accordance with US DOT law, which limits the number of "headlights" that one can operate on public roads. Many 4x4 buddies commonly get ticketed for failing to cover/point their offroad lights at the ground (sometimes mounted on front bumpers, sometimes on roof racks), even if they're not turned on, because there's the "potential" of them blinding oncoming drivers.

So, running a Euro LKM can be risky. Seems like a lot of *******s get away with much worse, though...

The US LKM allows the following modes, that I know of:

Parking lights
Parking lights + fogs
Parking lights + low beams + fogs
Parking lights + low beams (standard low beam mode)
Parking lights + low beams + high beams (standard high beam mode)

From what I can remember, the flash-to-pass function is just the high beams, nothing else.

Activating the high beams with the fogs + low beams will automatically turn off the fogs.

Flipping the stalk back to normal with the fogs + low beams will automatically relight the fogs.

And you're absolutely correct, Javier, there's no difference in the wiring -- the difference between US and Euro is in the LKM.

best, whit

[romus]

Dan, in my experience with BMW's, the indicator (blue lamp) won't work at all if only one of your bulbs is out. So if both of his hi's are out, i think the indicator will definitelly not light up.

[romus]

hmm...both on my E34 and E30 when one high beam bulb dies the indicator won't light up either. I can't help you, sorry.

[romus]

In Germany you're not supposed to have more than 4 lights on at any given time...so either headlights with fogs, or head with highs. But i can have all 3 sets on at the same time. (Australia)

[Paul in NZ]

have you tried the heated seats with the engine running?

[afxjzs]

have you tried the heated seats with the engine running?

yes. i have only tried it with the engine running, actually.

to clarify, the rocker switch is supposed to STAY lit, right? its not supposed to turn back off after a few seconds? ...damn.


When High beams refuse to work, both sides together, the must probable culprit is the LKM relay for High beams (or soldering spots in its circuits), as long as the blue indication lights up in the cluster. To reinforce that conclusion, there is an easy check. Just jump with some wire from fuse F9 to F13 and F9 to F14, High beams should light up if bulbs, wiring from fuses and to ground, and sockets are OK.

you mean right at the fuse box? i should take a wire and connect the two fuses together? i just want make absolutely sure i don't do something stupid and fry my car. thanks for the input.


any ideas on the AC switch? is that how it is supposed to work? with the light only lighting up when i am running off the battery? it doesn't seem like that way bmw does things normally.

also, the odometer is not illuminated. does that have its own light bulb that i can replace? or is it something more complicated than that?

[Javier]

to verify.

Javier

[Javier]

you mean right at the fuse box? i should take a wire and connect the two fuses together? i just want make absolutely sure i don't do something stupid and fry my car. thanks for the input.

Yes the front fuse box, just jump with a wire from fuse F9 to fuse F13, left high should go on, then jump F9 to F14 and right high should go on. Contact the fuse post, not the filament. Also check first that both, F13 and F14 are OK.

Javier

[afxjzs]

you mean right at the fuse box? i should take a wire and connect the two fuses together? i just want make absolutely sure i don't do something stupid and fry my car. thanks for the input.

Yes the front fuse box, just jump with a wire from fuse F9 to fuse F13, left high should go on, then jump F9 to F14 and right high should go on. Contact the fuse post, not the filament. Also check first that both, F13 and F14 are OK.

Javier


I tried connecting them just like you said, and still nothing. i connected f9 to either f13 or f14 and nothing happened. i tried with the car both on and off, and with the lights both on and off. any ideas where else this could be originating from? its pretty snowy out now, so i haven't had much of a chance to look.

is there a similar test for the foglights. those also appear to be in working order, but do not light up.

[shilu530i]

can you tell me how to the the switch out of the panal