seanjordan20

Do you have water damage in your spare time area or where your DME sits on the firewall? Check the modules for damage.

swimrr

I checked the spare tire area, and there were a couple of drops of moisture, but nothing more. In any case, the MPM has been moved to the fender. The DME looks in good condition, no moisture and no corrosion, so perhaps water ingress isn't an issue. I noticed during my test drive that the battery light on the dash kept coming on, then going off, leaving me to think a faulty alternator could be the culprit.

seanjordan20

The battery light only comes on for the alternator. Do a voltage check to see if it's working correctly or take it to a auto parts store. I figured that and the battery was already checked.

swimrr

Sorry, I didn't realize I'd left that info out. I used a multimeter to check the battery at rest and when the car was running, and it showed 12.4 and 14.2. While the numbers are okay, I'm taking it on on Monday for them to check it out. Could be the alternator is intermittent. At this point I'm hoping it's the alternator and not a module. The alternator is 12 years old, so maybe it's time for a new one anyway.

seanjordan20

Those numbers look good it may be the voltage regulator acting up which in that case I would just replace the whole alternator if it's bad. Get it checked out and let us know.

My 05 still has the original alternator and I'm just waiting until it goes to change it.

donpb

Do a load test too. I have a sticky on here for that. I'm never having a store test anything for me again. I had to show them how to properly test. Not cool.

swimrr

Donpb, thanks for the advice, I just completed the load test and all the numbers were within the specs your provided on your sticky.

I also realized that I had given the wrong information earlier. When driving, it was the brake + ABS + traction control lights that were coming on intermittently, not the battery light. I did notice that when the hood was open there was a continual buzzing sound. I can't be sure, but I thought that buzzing normally goes off shortly after opening the hood.

I should know more on Monday after the shop have a look.

swimrr

Well, I just got my car back from a local shop after 4 days and they said they can't figure it out. So I'll be taking it to a shop an hour away where I think they'll have more luck, but it's going to take me a week or two to get it out there due to scheduling. In the meantime, I have some time to troubleshoot some more. I noticed today while driving it that in addition to the aforementioned brake+ABS+traction control lights going on and off on the cluster, occasionally the seat-belt and airbag lights also came on. Every 30-60 seconds or so the dials would all jump down and then back to position.

I've read the instrument clusters are a common failure point on these early E60's and wonder if that could be the culprit. Good news is, the shop confirmed the alternator and battery are good, so I should be able to make it to the farther away shop. I'll be pulling the windshield wiper fuse first though, as having the wipers come on constantly is annoying.

Otherwise, the car is driving great.

donpb

You may need someone who's a BMW Specialist, and good with electronics. My indy mechanic is a great mechanic, but he sends me to an electrical specialist as needed.

swimrr

Yeah, that's why I'm driving an hour away. He's also an indie, but seems to really know his stuff. Good news is, I took it for a longer drive yesterday and the battery is fully charged. I was wondering if the cluster was preventing sleep, but that also seems to be fine. The rear window lock indicator light went off after 2 mins and the shift lever indicator light after 15 mins.

One other thing I'm going to check is if the cluster is bad. Apparently if the KOMBI goes it can interfere with the K-CAN, etc, and you can test it by pulling the 7.5A cluster fuse. If the malfunction message goes away you've narrowed it down. Not sure how accurate this is, but thought it's worth a try.