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Electrical Issues??

Discussion in 'E90/E91/E92/E93 (2006-2011)' started by ddgrandy, Feb 9, 2016.

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    ddgrandy

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    One of my headlights went out and now suddenly when I start the car my dash does not come on. I have to stop the car several times and then it might come on. My battery is less than a year old. What is the problem, will replacing the headlight bulb fix this problem?

    Thanks
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    MGarrison

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    Did the 'battery registration' process get done when the battery was installed?
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    ddgrandy

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    It should have I've maintained the car at the dealer, they replaced the battery would make sense the would register the battery
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    rockyrider 2015 BMW 320ix

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    Sorry to say dear it's not likely to have anything to do with a new battery. Age and mileage of car?
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    rockyrider 2015 BMW 320ix

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    I don't mean to diminish anyone else's opinion however I can tell you that the use of dielectric grease on component contact goes a long way in curing these problems.
    If you could have your mechanic unplug the dash assembly and clean the contacts and apply dielectric grease to the contacts, I'd like to know the outcome
    Replacing the headlight bulbs in Pairs is always a good idea as most of the time the other one will let go within 2 weeks for some strange reason
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    charlson89

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    Two questions first do you have xenon lights or halogen? Second when you say dash lights what do you mean the back lighting or is the radio, climate control, instrument cluster?
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    ddgrandy

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    It's a 2006 with 161K

    Thanks for the advice I'll have both lights replaced as to removing the dash assembly not sure I want to spend the money right now

    I have regular/standard lights and yes it's the entire panel the instrument panel... no radio etc.

    It's going in tomorrow for the oil pan gasket I'll have them look at what might be the problem, just don't want to spen a fortune on additional repairs
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    rockyrider 2015 BMW 320ix

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    dd, this part is not rocket science, like some repair shops would have you believe.
    If you can handle a Phillips screwdriver and turn left, you can probably achieve this simple task yourself.
    The trick is...getting to the dash display under the dash cover.
    BMW will generally make this task easy because they don't want their technicians spending a lot of time doing warranty work or repairs.
    Once you locate the one and only plug to the display, you can unplug it, add some di-electric grease to the copper contacts that i mentioned earlier, then, rub them baback and forth a number of times to remove coorosion, and thats it!! Keep me posted, you can do this yourself
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    charlson89

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    First yes do get both halogen bulbs replaced as they normally fail as pairs. Second for the lighting issue sounds like something is either not sending the power intermittently. Hard to say where to start with this without faults.
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    ddgrandy

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    I'm willing to try anything but right now this is definitely more than I can handle.

    Update: I just had the oil pan gasket replaced car came back with a rough idle , mechanic is saying could be transmission BUT the radio which is technically the brains of the car comes on and off taking as long as an hour. They're going to confirm and let me know cost
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    ddgrandy

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    Got the lights replaced radio still coming on and off intermittently they're checking now
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    charlson89

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    Ok let us know what they say.
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    ddgrandy

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    it's the iDrive and I've called around the unit runs over $900 and a "core" part is another $500 its at the Dealership I'm waiting for their results.

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