OBC removal

[CrimsonBrian]

Hey there folks,
I was wondering if you might be able to help me troubleshoot a problem I am having. I have a 1995 525i and the dash display (where the time, date, etc) can appear beneath the speedo is not working. It stopped working right after my mechanic replaced the cabin air filter. He claims its a wild coincidence, I think that he might have loosened a wire behind the OBC while fiddling around with the filter. The OBC near the gearshift recieves messages from the control stalk but it doesnt seem to be sending the display back to the dash. I was wanting to take out the OBC and make sure everything was plugged in nice and snug. What would be the easiest way to do this? Or am I barking up the wrong tree. I am sure the display works properly because it will give me diagnostic messages (LOW WASHER FLUID) and the seatbelt warning when I start the car. Thanks in advance!

Brian

[CrimsonBrian]

help please

[Javier]

If you were in my country, I would bet that magically, wile the car was in the shop the stalk got substituted for a bad one.

Does the OBC display properly all the values? Are you sure the stalk switch is working fine?

If my memory serves me well, the OBC is removed through the hole were the radio is located, so you should first remove the radio and then actuate a lever that releases the OBC. Not very sure, but think this is the way to do it.

[Bill R.]

Here (http://www.nmia.com/%7Edgnrg/page_36.htm)






Hey there folks,
I was wondering if you might be able to help me troubleshoot a problem I am having. I have a 1995 525i and the dash display (where the time, date, etc) can appear beneath the speedo is not working. It stopped working right after my mechanic replaced the cabin air filter. He claims its a wild coincidence, I think that he might have loosened a wire behind the OBC while fiddling around with the filter. The OBC near the gearshift recieves messages from the control stalk but it doesnt seem to be sending the display back to the dash. I was wanting to take out the OBC and make sure everything was plugged in nice and snug. What would be the easiest way to do this? Or am I barking up the wrong tree. I am sure the display works properly because it will give me diagnostic messages (LOW WASHER FLUID) and the seatbelt warning when I start the car. Thanks in advance!

Brian

[CrimsonBrian]

I am sure that the stalk is working properly and all the OBC values are working. I really like my mechanic and he is very good so I am reluctant to raise a big stink over this, especially if it is something I can fix myself. Thanks!


If you were in my country, I would bet that magically, wile the car was in the shop the stalk got substituted for a bad one.

Does the OBC display properly all the values? Are you sure the stalk switch is working fine?

If my memory serves me well, the OBC is removed through the hole were the radio is located, so you should first remove the radio and then actuate a lever that releases the OBC. Not very sure, but think this is the way to do it.

[bimmernut]

Posted by Richard V. on March 28, 2000 at 21:03:33:

In Reply to: Adding Garage door opener posted by Richard V. on March 25, 2000 at 16:13:34:

1st off, I went to the following site (http://pantheon.yale.edu/~kgibble/bmw/garage_opener.html) to find out how to get my OBC to display on the dash. I found out that the P/Owner had removed the phone and this left a “feed back” circuit open. After that was fixed, I did the following. This is not my instructions, but from the above link. I can not take credit for it.


Instructions for Connecting Garage Door Opener to the Wiper Stalk Phone Switch
E36, E34, probably older 7's, 8's and E38's have a BMW cell phone operable using the in-dash display and the turn-signal and wiper push-in buttons. Since most of us won't buy the BMW phone, a garage door opener connected to it is useful to some.
The wiper stalk supplies a ground through a black/green/yellow wire which terminates under the rear console (for the phone) in my E34. Also there is a violet wire to supply +12V for the opener (so you don't have to ever replace batteries).
In more detail, if you're also an E34'er of the same year as mine (probably works for the others) - you should find 2 small yellow plugs, one has three wires and the other two. The three wire one is yellow/red, black/green/yellow (the one you want), and yellow/red/white I believe. The two yellow wires will be jumped together with a plug - the yellow/red goes to the turn signal push-in so the jumper lets the OBC be thusly activated in the absence of the cell phone.
The wires on the other plug are brown and violet with no attachments.
Pop the rear plastic cover from the bottom up and shine a flashlight in. Good Luck - I'd try not removing the rear console first. (I simply cut the two wires I was interested in leaving, of course, room to resolder in the event I want to buy the BMW phone - it would be sweet). In case you're no radio expert, keep the opener antenna away from metal, the brassy bracket securing the rear of the console for example.
You have to figure out a little about how your opener works. One way is for the (+) from the opener battery to go to the opener button - another is for the + to go to the circuit and then to the switch and from the other switch terminal to the battery. Assuming the former, connect the + (violet wire) to the appropriate switch terminal and the black/green/yellow to the (-) battery terminal.

[Robin-535im]

Hey there folks,
It stopped working right after my mechanic replaced the cabin air filter. He claims its a wild coincidence, I think that he might have loosened a wire behind the OBC while fiddling around with the filter.
Brian

I may be way off, but when I changed my microfilter (91 535) there was a metal case with a big SCSI-looking plug in the side. For some reason I believed this to be the OBC or at least part of it.

I had to unplug it to get the microfilter out. Maybe the tech did the same but didn't unplug the battery or something like that.

If it were me, I would
1) disconnect the battery
2) crawl under and open up the microfilter chamber while the car's capacitors are draining. Instructions are on various sites, probably Gale's and Bruno's.
3) see if anything looks amiss. Something not fully plugged in can give intermittent or erratic behavior.
4) unplug / replug stuff back there to make sure it's properly seated, then reattach the battery.
5) if it's still broke, take it back and fight with the guy's boss. Seems like too much of a coincidence. If you can't find it, maybe the mechanic can, and when he does, maybe it will be obvious that he indeed (accidentally) knocked something loose.

- Robin
91 535im

[Robin-535im]

Cool idea. Auto door opener, Hmm... (NT)

[Javier]

Did you try to set a low OBC speed limit and overspeed it, to see if the warning is reported in the dashboard. This may help test the data link between the OBC and the dashboard without depending on the stalk switch.

[CrimsonBrian]

Did you try to set a low OBC speed limit and overspeed it, to see if the warning is reported in the dashboard. This may help test the data link between the OBC and the dashboard without depending on the stalk switch.

No, I haven't but that is a great idea and I will do that and report back. This weekend I took apart the cabin air filter (what a pain!) and saw tons of wires and stuff but had no idea what any of them did. I just made sure that they were all plugged in nice and tight and then button the thing back up. That did not fix the problem. Thanks for all the responses! I am starting to think that this might be one for the dealer...

[Robin-535im]

No, I haven't but that is a great idea and I will do that and report back. This weekend I took apart the cabin air filter (what a pain!) and saw tons of wires and stuff but had no idea what any of them did. I just made sure that they were all plugged in nice and tight and then button the thing back up. That did not fix the problem. Thanks for all the responses! I am starting to think that this might be one for the dealer...


But maybe the mechanic was fighting with getting the filter out and arced some wires together. I don't suppose you looked real close to see if there were carbon marks anywhere?

Yeah - it's a long shot... and a PITA to check.

A junkyard or others on the board (e.g. Winfred and his yard full of E34 parts) may have another unit to plug in as a check.

HTH
Robin

[Warren N.CA]

Remove and replace the OBC (Bentley describes the process). The action of R/R should help remove oxidation from the terminals.

It is more likely that the problem is with the plug-in connectors on the rear of the cluster. They cause more problems than the OBC.

Although just removing and replacing will help clean them, STABILANT 22 will help the fix last longer. http://www.stabilant.com



Hey there folks,
I was wondering if you might be able to help me troubleshoot a problem I am having. I have a 1995 525i and the dash display (where the time, date, etc) can appear beneath the speedo is not working. It stopped working right after my mechanic replaced the cabin air filter. He claims its a wild coincidence, I think that he might have loosened a wire behind the OBC while fiddling around with the filter. The OBC near the gearshift recieves messages from the control stalk but it doesnt seem to be sending the display back to the dash. I was wanting to take out the OBC and make sure everything was plugged in nice and snug. What would be the easiest way to do this? Or am I barking up the wrong tree. I am sure the display works properly because it will give me diagnostic messages (LOW WASHER FLUID) and the seatbelt warning when I start the car. Thanks in advance!

Brian

[CrimsonBrian]

Remove and replace the OBC (Bentley describes the process). The action of R/R should help remove oxidation from the terminals.

It is more likely that the problem is with the plug-in connectors on the rear of the cluster. They cause more problems than the OBC.

Although just removing and replacing will help clean them, STABILANT 22 will help the fix last longer. http://www.stabilant.com

I will do that, looks like I will need to pick up a Bentley. In response to the previous post, I didnt see any carbon marks, but then again I wasnt looking for them. I did set the speed warning to 40 mph and then exceeded it and got the chime but no display on the dash. This really make me think that something must be loose back there. Thanks guys!

[Javier]

on the dash? What about the Check Control warnings? (Easy ones to produce are lights on, door open or hand brake). There is a Data Link that involves Integrated Climate Regulation Control Module and the OBC in TxD and RxD connections, but guess if there would be a problem in the data buss, it would take all the sources out. Plug/Unplug OBC and Dash connections seems a good advise.

[CrimsonBrian]

on the dash? What about the Check Control warnings? (Easy ones to produce are lights on, door open or hand brake). There is a Data Link that involves Integrated Climate Regulation Control Module and the OBC in TxD and RxD connections, but guess if there would be a problem in the data buss, it would take all the sources out. Plug/Unplug OBC and Dash connections seems a good advise.

All the check control warnings work just fine. It is only ones originating from the OBC that seem to be the problem.