# Major Electrical Systems Malfunction



## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

This afternoon I filled up with gas in preparation for an out of town trip I had planned for tomorrow. When I started the car I noticed that the radio was playing which was weird when I had been listening to my CD Changer prior to stopping at the gas station. I moved the turn signal stalk and the turn signal did not work. I then see my "check gas cap" come . I also noticed that the A/C was just blowing hot air, compressor is not engaging. I try the "mode" button on my radio but my changer is no longer recognized. When I stopped to check on the gas cap I noticed that my seat memory was gone. Since my dealer is in my neighborhood I drove down there. When I turned on the alarm there were no blinking lights. An SA came a looked at the car and told me I would just have to come back on Monday. I have also noticed my dashboard lights do not work. 

This is all so weird. I am so bummed out because I looking forward to this weekend trip that the BMWCCA Tejas Chapter has planned through the Texas Hill Country. 

This car should come with a "reset" button.


----------



## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

Ack, sounds like your GMV went on the fritz.


----------



## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

Kaz said:


> Ack, sounds like your GMV went on the fritz.


 Sorry for being a noob, what is GMV?:dunno:


----------



## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

LDV330i said:


> Sorry for being a noob, what is GMV?:dunno:


the General Module that controls everything in the 'body electronics'


----------



## crash8168 (May 26, 2004)

It does disconnect the battery, it sounds as though the gm is locked up.


----------



## swchang (Oct 5, 2003)

Sorry to hear that man. Is this the 318 or the super M3 beating special ZHP model?


----------



## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

swchang said:


> Sorry to hear that man. Is this the 318 or the super M3 beating special ZHP model?


 It's the 330i.


----------



## swchang (Oct 5, 2003)

LDV330i said:


> It's the 330i.


Ouch, sorry to hear. Hope it gets fixed up soon!


----------



## jeffreyslc (May 27, 2002)

Sounds sorta like my problem I just got fixed (took a week and a half to get it looked at though)

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=201392&highlight=turn+signal

The dealer didn't get any fault codes. The tech checked and tried several things for the A/C problem first, with no luck. I think the SA said a TSB recommended 're-codeing the KOMBI' whatever that is. It worked and all problems went away.

You might save the dealership some time if you mention this solved my problems and may solve yours. I'll bet there are no fault codes and they won't know what to try first.


----------



## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

jeffreyslc said:


> Sounds sorta like my problem I just got fixed (took a week and a half to get it looked at though)
> 
> http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=201392&highlight=turn+signal
> 
> ...


 Thanks for the heads up. :thumbup:


----------



## johnf (Sep 16, 2003)

jeffreyslc said:


> I think the SA said a TSB recommended 're-codeing the KOMBI' whatever that is. It worked and all problems went away.


KOMBI is short for Instrumentenkombination, that is, the instrument cluster. It holds the master copy of the central coding key (ZCS) which is a long data word the cluster and other electronic components consult to tailor themselves for the car's standard and optional equipment.


----------



## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

Today I tried to check all the systems and see what was not working. This is what I have determined:


A/C not working. Button controls work, but compressor will not kick in.
Radio no longer recognized my CD player nor will it display time
Bluetooth ULF connects but is useless because all controls on the left side of the steering wheel are non operational.
No turn signal light indicator lights up on dash, although they are working.
Outside light in Automatic mode are always on. When the car is shut down they tunrn off instateneously as before there is about a 2 second delay.
No instrument panel lighting.
Wipers do not work.
Turning alarm on/off do not the flashers blink but you still get a beep.
Memory in the seats no longer acknowleges the doors is open. You must now maitanin the button depressed as if the door was closed.
Outside Passenger side mirror does no turn down on reverse
Sunroof does not work.
Power windows do not respond to buttons on center console. To roll down windows, car must be stopped and windows rolled down via remote control in key. To roll up the windows it must be done via the driver's door lock.
No high beam indicator though they work.
No seatbelt or light on chime.
Interior light do not turn off when the motor comes on. They have defaulted to the timer of when doors were closed.
Interior lights do not come on when motor is shut down.
Aside from the issues above the car seem to run fine. Unfortunately we have been having record setting highs here (90)in Houston and to make things worse it rained on and off all day. So it was hard to get some drive time.


----------



## crash8168 (May 26, 2004)

why not disconnect the battery for a little while and see if anything comes back when you reconnect it?


----------



## EdCT (Mar 14, 2002)

LDV330i said:


> Today I tried to check all the systems and see what was not working. This is what I have determined:
> 
> 
> A/C not working. Button controls work, but compressor will not kick in.
> ...


I had this same problem last March, turned out to be a loose ground along the circuit connected to the General Module.

It took five hours to find the exact ground which was loose. As it turns out, it was in the door jamb.

My warranty runs out next month, I hope repairs like this don't become frequent, this one would've been 500 bucks to reafix a ground wire!!!

Ed


----------



## johnf (Sep 16, 2003)

EdCT said:


> I had this same problem last March, turned out to be a loose ground along the circuit connected to the General Module.
> 
> It took five hours to find the exact ground which was loose. As it turns out, it was in the door jamb.


A bad ground would also be my guess.

Out of curiosity, where did you lose the ground to your General Module? At a comb connector grounding point?


----------



## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

I just got a call from my SA enquiring about who had installed the Alpine CD player? He has told me that when the Blitzsafe was removed everything went back to normal. I was questioned when all these problems started. I told him "Friday evening" but the CD player/Blitzsafe has been in the car since February without a problem. They are going to continue to check the car before it gets released. :dunno:


----------



## Salvator (Oct 14, 2003)

LDV330i said:


> I just got a call from my SA enquiring about who had installed the Alpine CD player? He has told me that when the Blitzsafe was removed everything went back to normal. I was questioned when all these problems started. I told him "Friday evening" but the CD player/Blitzsafe has been in the car since February without a problem. They are going to continue to check the car before it gets released. :dunno:


:eeps: I wish you the best of luck... when they start enquiring as to non-standard electronics, it's often the first step to denying that the car had a problem, and trying to pin the blame on your actions (i.e. installing a non-factory CD player) instead... I hope I am just being paranoid, but that's a prime example why I won't install any non-factory components in my car... there is just too much computerized mumbo jumbo going on in there to be certain that you are not inadvertently affecting something...


----------



## rgzimmer (May 1, 2004)

LDV330i said:


> I just got a call from my SA enquiring about who had installed the Alpine CD player? He has told me that when the Blitzsafe was removed everything went back to normal. I was questioned when all these problems started. I told him "Friday evening" but the CD player/Blitzsafe has been in the car since February without a problem. They are going to continue to check the car before it gets released. :dunno:


Bltzsafe sux. :thumbdwn: I had one go on the fritz and made my car act all goofy, too. Removed it and went to Soundgate. Open up that blitzsafe and look at the shoddy workmanship and you'll be surprised it worked as long as it did. Mine worked for three months before going bad.

Sorry to be so negative, but that thing looked like an elementary electronics kit was used to put it together and it had fingerprints on it where someone had touched the glue on the circuit board.


----------



## swchang (Oct 5, 2003)

rgzimmer said:


> Bltzsafe sux. :thumbdwn: I had one go on the fritz and made my car act all goofy, too. Removed it and went to Soundgate. Open up that blitzsafe and look at the shoddy workmanship and you'll be surprised it worked as long as it did. Mine worked for three months before going bad.
> 
> Sorry to be so negative, but that thing looked like an elementary electronics kit was used to put it together and it had fingerprints on it where someone had touched the glue on the circuit board.


Yeah, the module I ordered from Crutchfield came apart when I tried to plug the cable in. I had to tape it back together... I'd recommend Soundgate to others who want to spend the extra $20. As for me, I'm enough of a cheapskate that I think I'd still have ordered the Blitzsafe, knowing what I know now. :eeps:


----------



## LDV330i (May 24, 2003)

*My car has been made whole again!!*

Yes, it is a good as new. :banana:

The technician disconnected my Blitzafe adaptor and everything started working as normal. Further checks could not find any issues with my car. My CA continued to imply that the use of an aftermarket piece equipment had caused the problem. I ask in if he had found any fault codes indicating that to which he responded there were no fault codes. After everything cleared the Blitzafe adapter was reconnected and nothing failed. So my MP3 changer is working and back to normal. The CA admitted that there was strong posibility that the problem could have been caused by a loose connection and not necessarily by the Blitzsafe adapter. As was noted by an earlier poster, dealer are all to eager to jump the gun and blame any aftermaket piece of equipment as the culprit for many issues.

I had gone to pick up my car prepared to pay a bill because of my earlier conversation with my CA regarding a non OEM changer. I was told they would not ask me to pay the check out charge (1 hr.=$100) though they could because the problem was not warranty related but if the issue ever came up again they would ask me to yank out the Blitzsafe adapter and Alpine changer. They did not even provide any paperwork so this "repair" was off the record. And this for a dealer from whom I did not buy my car from, though I have had my cars serviced there for the past 5 years. :thumbup:


----------

