joseluizcorrea

My 2007 530i has 99K miles and is a great car. Recently I noticed that when I shift the gear shift lever to the left to go into DS (sport) mode, nothing changed and it just stayed in "D" mode.
I did some search and found reference to possible problem with a set of wires. I took the leather cover and black plastic cover up and could see a group of wires moving when I shifted from D to DS so it makes sense to me that after hundreds of times that the wire(s) could break.
My question is how do I remove enough of the center console so I can get to the wires. If someone can point me to a YouTube video or some link that would shown where the screws are that would be great.
I added a couple of pictures so you could see the wires I am talking about. Thank you!

txag_530i

Here's a video that will help get you started: https://5series.net/forums/e60-discu...1/#post1511848

Essentially, you remove the dash wood trim panel from in front of the passenger seat, remove the hazard switch, remove the screws that are now revealed, remove the radio, remove the gear shift trim, remove the iDrive control knob (by pulling straight up), and then carefully prying the center wood trim up.

It sounds harder than it really is.

joseluizcorrea

Thank you Texas Aggie. As I looked at the video, and looked at my car carefully I realized that removing the wood trim would not give me any additional space to work but as you said it would get me started.
It turns out it was not necessary in the end. I used a little wire hook and tugged on the wires until I found one broken. The grey wire. I then cut the little plastic tab that held the blue connector in place and welded a new wire to close the connection. I know I will probably offend some purists about cutting the plastic tab out but I figure that I would probably damage something else if I went ahead and got the entire center console out...
In any case another tip for some one doing this is that after you weld the broken wire together you need to reconnect the three plugs to the black cover for things to work.
I am feeling pretty proud of myself about this fix and will have a beer to celebrate!

Cheapo911

Guess I'll bring this back from the dead. Anyone else found solutions to this problem? I checked the wires that OP did but didnt see any that were disconnected.

Cheapo911

After digging around a bit I havent found any wires that look damaged near the shifter. Is it possible the TPMS light is preventing me from going into sport mode?

Cheapo911

Took it to an independent BMW specialist. Turns out I have a transmission solenoid fault. Guess its a little more complex fix than I had hoped for.