I parked my 00 540is 6spd last night in heavy rain. 6am my bro is leaving for work and he comes back in to tell me ALL my lights are on. I jump out of bed in my boxers and grab my keys, before i even got to the door i smelled an electrical fire! my brother is now walking around the car and suddenly yells FIRE!@!!@@ I see smoke puffing out where my jack pad used to be, i open a door and the whole car is full of toxic smoke. Next move ripped the battery out and the smoke stopped. Car was 30sec away from lighting up the carpet. I got the kick panel open and found a melted blob of a LKM. i don't see an water or anything but im almost positive this had to do with the rain. My questions are 1: Has this happened to anybody else? (water destroying the LKM) 2: What else would cause this? 3: Can i buy a used LKM and get it coded or does it have to be new? Im handicapped and and i really cant afford to pay 400 for the LKM and another 300 to code it. And is there a drain that can get clogged and would cause this to get wet? Ive been a BMWCCA member for almost 10 years and know all the parts dept guys by first name. BUT the service dept at BMW OF BAYSIDE is horrible. Nobody would give me 2 minutes to get a question answered before i went and spent 500 bux on an LKM. They don't care that i own 2 e30s, 2 e34s, and this e39. Seemed like they only help you if u own a brand new M or 7 series. Really disappointed in my first experience with BMW service Dept.in 10 years. (i do most of all my work) but i don't have the fancy BMW computer to code the LKM. They say is gonna cost about 300 bux to connect their computer to code the miles on my LKM. Is there any other options to get this coded? Can a used one be coded? Link to pics if attachment dont work. http://www.astheroundelturns.com/gallery/albums/Horse/S1050128.jpg http://www.astheroundelturns.com/gallery/albums/Horse/S1050127.jpg
I know! Whats the chance of parking it for 10 hours and right at the time my bro is pulling his car out of the driveway he sees my e39 with the lights on. I dont know whether it was bad luck that the lkm lit up or good luck that we caught it right before the whole car caught fire. I really believe another 30 seconds and it would of been out of control.
I'm sorry to hear of your trouble. I'd be tempted to send the LKM to BMW NA and ask if they can determine if there is still a fire risk. That is a very unsual and dangerous failure mode and I'm sure someone would be interested. You may have to get past customer service and find an engineer though.
UPDATE Ive been losing my mind as to what caused this, and the other day i went to pick up my new lkm from the dealer. The parts dept wanted my vin # so they could find out which lkm i need. Turns out the BMW computers say my vin does not have Xenon headlamps and a whole bunch of other stuff my car does have. I got the print out from their davis system and it lists my car as only having these options: Now my car definitly has is a lot more options and there is no way anybody added all this after the car was sold new. (like the dealer claims) So to prove that i had to do some searching under my backseat. and viola! i find the build sheet from the factory folded and tucked under the seat cushion. It shows i have Xenon headlights and a whole list of options. So now my question is, whose fault is it that i have a Non-Xenon LKM instead of the Xenon LKM with the giant heatsink right where the fire started??? Heres a scan of my factory build sheet and you can clearly see its got a lot more options. Including XENONS WHO CAN I SPEAK WITH AT BMWNA OR WITH BMWCCA? and yah i loved my 1987 LSC
Call the club's main office and discuss this; might fall into the arena of the ombudsmen. And don't let that original build sheet out of your sight or your hands. "Oops! Oh? You sent us incontrovertible proof?? Well, umm, we can't seem to find that anywhere, are you sure you sent it to us?"
Towing the car to BMW of Bayside right now. The service manager was very helpful but explained to me that they cant help me with a courtesy car unless i bought a new car from them. I asked if they can extend some courtesy since ive been a BMWCCA member for 10 years and that im Handicapped. They said its BMWNA's policy and its not in their control. sux, so far im up to $1000 out of pocket not counting 250 bux a week for a rental.
Sorry to read about your troubles. At least your car didn't go up in flames. FYI, a used LKM will work and you don't have to get it coded (used LKM's cannot be coded, though). I had a nightmare for about 3 months wondering why my instrument cluster wasn't working when all along it was the LKM. I purchased a used one on eBay for $100. The key is to make sure that MOST of the #'s match but most importantly the software and hardware #'s have to match as well. I know it is a hike for you but BMW of Mt. Kisco and Prestige BMW in Ramsey, NJ offer loaners to anyone getting service. So you have spent $1K already and nothing is fixed?
The car should be ready tomorrow, they are waiting on a couple of terminal pins for the harness. I meant to say so far it looks like its gonna total at $1k BUT that's if nothing else got shorted out during this whole fire ordeal. Only help i got was from the shop foreman who has promised to fix it within 24 hours. And he also moved my appointment from next week to right away. They are overbooked by a week and have 45 loaners cars out from what i over heard. I live a few blocks away so i went by after hours to "stalk" my car and it seems like its already inside. Thats a good sign.
Wrong, you do have to code it. Not coding it and leaving the tamper dot on in the instrument cluster and having other functions (even if non-essential) not working is the half-*** way to do it and is stupid to leave it like that. Who do we know that took that route? Hmm...
Yah the tamper dot is what kept me from doing it halfassed. My car has high miles but i dont want to regret it when it comes time to sell the car and all potential buyers walk away because of the tamper dot. I made sure not to even turn the key on since the fire to avoid this. The LKM holds the Mileage and Vin # along with the IKE and some other module. If they have more than a 120 Mile difference then the tamper dot will be tripped. The LKM also has to be programmed for features like the Headlight delay and stuff like that. BTW AZ3579 whats under the hood of ur 330 e30?
A monster. It's got 24 valves, a displacement of 3 liters, once lived in a cave called an E36 M3, and it RAWRS when you aggravate it. And it likes it when you pet it. Especially loves a good tickling under the throttle body.
You must know Steve Peterson better know as Blunt aka Bluntheadtrauma from Minnesota. http://www.eurotuner.com/featuredvehicles/0606et_1987_bmw_325is/index.html Hes a good friend of mine. The e30 is long gone but he just finished restoring a 2002 from the ground up. Both his e30 and e10 have been in roundel. If you know him then you know jonny in CT.
I know about Blunt, but I don't actually know him. Biiiiiiiig fan of the E30 though. Makes Diving boards look good (don't tell ANYONE I ever said this! I hate DB's)! Don't know Jonny I have to admit...
I don't mind the tamper dot at all and not having DRL's makes the angel eyes stand out better. I was just telling the OP a alternative method which I did to save a boatload of $$$$. A used LKM cannot be coded but if you get most of the #'s to match then you can have a working LKM but you will have the tamper dot on and maybe one function to not work. I was fortunate to only lose DRL's. Remember, some people (like me) do not have a job where other people (like you and everyone) can just go to the local stealer and get certain modules replaced that need to be coded to the car. So stop sucking the blood out of this forum................ OP, sorry for the rant but I had to put him in his place
Well the only thing the Service foreman was able to do for me was have my car in and out in 1 day. AND that didn't happen. I call at 3pm and was told they found a clogged drain and they just finished up repairing and installing. just had to wait for him to finish coding it. I told them i had to return the rental tonight and to call me as soon as the car was ready. 5pm rolls around no call, I call in and they tell me hes with a customer and will call me right back. 1 hour goes by and no call. I live a few blocks away so i went by the dealer. CLOSED! (dropped it off thursday morning and its now friday night) %&#*%^&@)&#^$%*&I wtf now i gotta pay another day for the rental and they don't even have the courtesy to call me. It ****es me off cause dealers that were too far for me claim they would of given me a courtesy car and the one Ive been going to for 11 years and spent thousands of dollars at wont even give me a call back let alone a courtesy car. I'm a die hard BMW fanatic but this is like torture. BMWs just pushing me away....
If I didn't personally know you, I'd go off on your right now. Having a tamper dot on is unacceptable. Period.
Still not fixed right Picked up the car today, no drains clogged but they did find a crack in the sunroof seal. They wanted $389 plus parts to change the seal. I bought the seal and changed it right away on my own. I really dont think thats what caused this LCM to fry up. And im still worried. They cut and replaced the old harness connectors and coded the lcm. Not gonna say how much it cost but u get the picture. After i get everything buttoned up i took the car for a ride. Not 1 hour goes by and my headlights go out!!! (and i get the indicator on the obc) I turn my lights off, wait a minute and turn them on. Both lights light up and 2 seconds after the right light goes out. At one point i would turn the lights off and the single driver side headlight would stay on for a few extra seconds. All the way home the passenger light kept going out. Its parked in front now and there is now way im leaving the battery connected. They better give me a loaner now! Im going Monday morning and i hope they provide a car for me cause this has gotta be a software issue or loose splices. either way im pretty sure they messed up somewhere down the line. UNACCEPTABLE FOR A DEALER!
