Electrics not all working after alternator replacement.

[perfectgent]

Had the alternator go on the car and 'Trans failsafe' kicked in.  Car died completely.  Since then the alternator has been replaced but a few of my electrics haven't returned to full working order.

I've checked the fuses but there appears to be no problems. 

I currently have no windscreen wipers and no central locking of any kind, although the remote can open the boot lid so I'm presuming it is still linked/familiar with my car. 

I believe I may not have side lights either.  I'll need to double-check that.

Is there a reset for BMW electrics in any way?

Any advice appreciated.    Ta muchly.

[perfectgent]

BTW I've got an LPG tank in the boot so anything that doesn't involve disconnecting the battery would be mahoosively beneficial.  :'(

[perfectgent]

Disconnected the battery today.  No fix.  Another  forum recommended connecting the cables from the car to drain the system of anything in the capacitors.

Any advice....... anyone? 

[X5Sport]

Had this happen on our E46.  It had to go back to the indie that dd the job, and they spent a week fixing it and did not tell us what was replaced.

If you can, get it to a dealer and get a fault code read out done - unless you have someone local who can do it.

The electrics on these cars are complex and you may have a cascade fault so you need to find the origin.  Have you checked both sets of fuses - front & rear?

Richard

[perfectgent]

Ta for the response.  All fuses were checked, front and rear, and seem ok. 

A friend of mine with a Snap-on reader checked the codes, and there were a few, but he isn't familiar enough with them to know what they are.  Not too helpful I realise, but I guess he can't know everything. 


I'll have another play with disconnecting the battery, as the LPG tank is almost empty, as a friend of mine said that he's owned a few 'X' cars, as well as having worked on them before, and he's sure that disconnecting the battery a few times may help.  I guess it's worth a go.

Just in case it speeds things up, is this something that a BMW specialist could just plug in an sort remotely, or is it an overnight stay - or longer - for my car?

[Steamyrotter]

All depends what dealer you take it to.......

Seems strange you have lost so much though....
Change of an alternator shouldn't really affect anything, especially on that scale.
(The only thing that i think could do that is a large spike or having the ignition on when re-connecting something...?)

The shorting of leads can discharge the whole lot and is worth a try.
Perhaps removing the battery and charging then putting back may help??

These things have an uncanny knack of giving you nice little prods to keep you on your feet....

[perfectgent]

I'm at a loss.  I checked all the fuses again, including the big ones, have disconnected the battery a few times, crossed the wires so the capacitors/memory drains from the car (went up to 30 mins for the longest drain) and when reconnected nothing changes.

Spoke to a person at a local dealership who was trying to help but didn't seem to understand what I had told her so she couldn't really help too much.  I have booked it in with them for an hour-long diagnostics check which, luckily for me, shall only cost £107 + VAT  :'(

I'm going to get a garage that I've been to many times to check it out for me on Monday, as well as getting an auto-electrician to have a quick check with the car.  They're both mates and are doing me mate's rates so it won't cost an arm-and-a-leg (free prob). 

I hate not knowing.  I'm not mechanical or electrical tbh but not knowing what it could be is the worst thing.  Guess I should have bought a push bike, hey?

Thanks for responses though peeps.

[X5Sport]

Who changed the alternator?  If it was a Dealer then they should be fixing it.

Richard

[kkx5]

w/out proper bmw diagnostic software like inpa,dis or icom You will never know whats wrong with it...

[lezmtaylor]

Agree with Richard, although I would expect whoever had changed the Alternator to fix it.

Lez

[perfectgent]

I wish it was that easy.  The chap who changed it is a friend of mine and whilst he's great at doing me favours, he's not so great at running his business.  Put it this way, he has until Monday to pay a significant amount of money or he's having an awful lot of stuff repossessed.  No joke. 

I'm annoyed at him, seriously annoyed at him, but it doesn't seem right to be knocking on his door when he's got all this to worry about.

[X5Sport]

Understand the issue, but look at it this way.....Your repair cost could run into a lot of money, easily the wrong side of £1,000 if the electronics are damaged and not only does it have to go to a dealer and be diagnosed but then back to them to be fixed.

It might be something really simple (as I sincerely hope it is), but it might not be.

Richard

[perfectgent]

Yup.  If it looked like it was gonna be a big job, I think I'd have to get my mate to either look at it himself or chip in, in some way.

It would appear that it may be something less challenging though.  It's been with another mate of mine for a couple of days and he's taken a look at it in between jobs.  He says it's stuck in a transport mode.  I presume this is when it leaves the factory going to the destination and perhaps it's turned off (back to normal) when it has the PDI?  Perhaps the CL doesn't work to maintain security and the wipers are off to preserve the wrap/protection covering that may be sprayed onto it whilst in transit. 

I remember I used to work at Portbury Docks for a few weeks back in summer, when off college, and the Fiats used to come in with a protective coating on them which needed washing off with special soaps.  I can't remember whether they used to have full electrics or not.  Maybe not, they weren't as well made as BMWs, I seem to remember.  Having said that, it doesn't appear to be doing me any favours now does it?  Ha ha....  :'(

With any luck, it's a plumb-in with the computer/s and it'll be reset (Where's the smilie for praying to god?).  I'll let you know.

BTW, I spoke with two local auto-electricians and they BOTH said that the alleged resetting of ECUs by connecting the two leads from the car doesn't work.  I didn't ask them why as I probably wouldn't have understood their response, but they said it's a common misconception.  Maybe it has worked for a few people though, there are enough people using it as a way of resetting/rebooting the ECU/car's electrics. 

[X5Sport]

Transport Mode eh?  It's how the cars are set up when they leave the factory.  Well that's certainly a possibility, and needs access to a GT1 or INPA software system (same as dealers use) to diagnose and reset it.

Other BMW owners have had similar issues with battery changes, though it is rare.  It usually shuts down the central locking, interior lights and some electrical systems depending upon what options are fitted.

Richard

[Steamyrotter]

[quote="perfectgent"]


BTW, I spoke with two local auto-electricians and they BOTH said that the alleged resetting of ECUs by connecting the two leads from the car doesn't work. 
[/quote]

It doesn't reset them, just discharges everything to allow them to boot properly on next power up.
Sometimes when your voltage drops the various modules will go in to snotty mode and decide to give you hours of annoying fun (Fun for them, annoying for you)
The only way to get them to buck their ideas up is to take away their life susstinance..ie the power, and also to deprive them of any chance of nibbling on the residual charge within their hamster like cheeks...

You can also get them to throw a complete wobbley by cranking your engine with a rather sluggish / flat battery and they will jump in fright, and stab your efforts in the back with more speed than a city parking enforcement officer....

Ask me how i know the former (not the latter thankfully!!)

Only way to reset is by plugging in and interrogating the blighters, and then when you are happy (!) you know (!!) what has happened (!!!!!??!??!?!??) clearing the fault AND Shadow memories....

sorry there is another way but replacing all the modules may become a tad expensive, and probably a complete pain to source and code..