Bimmerchick needs help! Bought a 93 525i recently and need electrical advice.

[megcoss]

When I got the car the dashboard computer worked. I had my mechanic do work on it (front brakes/rotors, valve cover gaskets and axel seals). When I got it back the Odometer and Check Computer message are were going haywire. Almost like it was rebooting...blinking, flashing, maybe the odo/trip would be all 8's or all A's. The next day after a cold start it was fine for an hour and then would go haywire again.

I'm thinking that maybe when he disconnected the battery a wire came loose?? Or maybe capacitors?

Also, my FM radio takes a while to kick in. AM OK.

I checked fuses but I think they are ok. Thoughts??

[BillionPa]

the fact that the radio doesnt kick in instantly is very strange. its possible the battery just needs to be charged up.

[Kalevera]

This guy work on chevies all day?

[ruftek]

This guy work on chevies all day?

It could be that you need a new battery, alternator and or check the fusible link under the rear seat..it may be dirty or cracked

[632 Regal]

no clue about the radio but so far the cluster sounds like its having capacitor issues.

[BuckNaked]

The radio is tied to the display. The radio hasn't coded out, so I am having trouble thinking battery. Why would he disconnect the battery for brakes, rotors seals and gaskets?
Possibly fuseable link or capacitors, but either way it sounds like it is after the alternator.
It takes an hour to go out? What are you doing in that hour or even the minutes leading up to the event? What happens if you run headlights (heavy load)???

[megcoss]

me on the phone that he thought maybe the mech. jumped my battery and fried the board in the cluster. Should I try replacing the capacitors?

The lights all work, btw. The radio works on AM but the FM (reception?) takes several minutes.

Like I mentioned the, odo and check control was intermittant (would be perfect the next morning for a little while begore wigging out) But lately with the warmer weather the odo may read all A's and CCM just blank. TIA

[BuckNaked]

If by replacing capacitors you mean to replace the board, then yes, but I would try some diagnostics first. Try getting OBDC readings. If the 'BMW guy' thinks board, it's probably board, but I'd try to prove it first, unless it's a $5 part. The CCM and odometer are only doing what they are told to display, I'd say your cluster is probably okay.
As far as the radio goes, keep it in the back of your mind. If you replace the board and the other problems go away, we'll deal with that then.

I took the wife's '98 GMC Envoy for tires and NYS inspection yesterday. The battery was dead from interior lights being left on. The mechanic told me that if the sensors had reset, I would not pass the emissions test. He used a code reader to determine if there was enough stored data to satisfy the emissions tester. It turned out that 2 of the 7 sensors had cleared but he felt the truck would pass based on the remaining 5 sensors. I would like to see what info your car has stored.

I don't pretend to be mechanically inclined, but I do build and repair computers. It is as close to my area of expertise as I have seen on these forums, and I am dying to pay back some of the help I have gotten here.
When I think of capacitors I picture a circuit board with capacitors soldered to it. I just replaced a motherboard with a bad batch of caps that had leaked and died. It was so hard to diagnose over the phone based on the symptoms. They seemed so unrelated. Cannot communicate with printer while the page is printing??? CD's cause blue screen of death. Applications hang forever. Once I opened the computer and saw the bulging caps I knew.
Back in the late '90's supposedly an incomplete formula for electrolytic capacitors was stolen. The formula was used to produced mass quantities before being discovered. These caps appeared on all kinds of devices everywhere, including computer motherboards.

Hopefully you can plug a board in and go.

[Tiger]

What I would do is go to Autozone and have them test your charging system and the battery... they will do it for free. I suspect maybe something is wrong with the electrical... perhaps poor battery as you just bought the car and not sure of the age of the battery.

[trumpetr]

watching this thread,,,thinking,,here we go again..........