Electrical Issues - BMW Forum

fireblade97rr · 10-14-2004, 07:30 PM

I have viewed similiar issues on this forum but I have not got a response from the authors of the topic. Hopefully someone can help. My 1998 528i is experiencing many electrical issues. All of the simptoms are irratic. Sometimes the car is perfect and sometimes the car is crazy. When the car is going down the road and you open the vanity mirror on the sun visor the steering wheel goes up and down. Sometimes the wheel moves on its own. Also the radio cuts out and will not come back on until you restat the car. Sometimes the car will not allow the key to turn all of the way to engage the ignition. (you have to try several times buy eventully it will work) Sometimes the horn will not work. Again you stop the car and restart it and its fine. The dealer said battery, but I put a new one in and it still has the same problems.

ghead

Please Help

///Matt · 10-14-2004, 08:20 PM

Wow, talk about electronic gremlins. The radio problem i can relate to. In my 97 540ia, i have that problem occasionally. I would reccomend an overall reset. With time and elbow grease it can be done. Check every single fuse, make sure it has the correct amperage rating. Some would kill me for saying it but...with the car running, remove and replace, 1 by 1 the fuses from the rear fuse box, this will give the car a general reset. I did this long ago after i had some problems like yours. Now most everything is fine, or better than it was. Good luck...

billB · 10-15-2004, 08:25 PM

fireblade97

As crazy as it may sounds; You could have ONE SINGLE faulty wire grounding out in the car and it could lead to something similar to what you are describing. Did you install any electrical Mods i.e speakers etc; did you wire/rewire anything related to the radio in the trunk? If so check it for grounding!!

good luck
regards
billb

Dirty_Tool · 10-17-2004, 12:02 AM

I have responded several times on this board regarding this exact complaint. This is usually caused by a faulty ignition switch. have you checked that yet?
DT

fireblade97rr · 10-17-2004, 08:05 AM

I have not istalled any new electrical components. I have checked the ignition. I took the steering column cover off and visually ispected for loose wires and checked the connections. Do I need to change the whole ignition in order to check it.

Dirty_Tool · 10-17-2004, 03:48 PM

It can be hard to catch but 9 out of 10 times this is an ignition switch problem. Sometimes you can see the lights flicker by removing the column trim panels and wiggling the wires coming out of the ign switch. If i remember right the purple wire is the feed wire that causes the probs. Also try cycling the key a few times and look at the dash lights and pixels. Sometimes you will turn the key on and all the normal check lights will illuminate and other times only half of the lights will illuminate. This is also another good indicator that the ign switch is failing. I have in a very few cases seen probs with the ground leg of the circuit causing the problem but this is very rare. As i mentioned earlier the ign switch is 9 out of 10 times the culprit. Id keep messing around with it and if you need more help let me know I can send you some schematics if necessary. Good luck,
DT