e60on19s

so the DS mode on my car (m54 aquiped e60) stops working when the car is around operating tempeture, its 5 mins into a drive mostly. before that everything works perfectly fine, i can downshift i can upshift no problems. then when it hits the tipping point i cant downshift anymore and i know DS mode is going to cut out, after a few seconds i can see the DS mode switching a few times on the board computer going between DS and D and finally settling on D. this all with the shifter put in DS mode. this is after i lost DS mode completely because of the wires snapping, i twisted them together and used heat schrink.

seanjordan20

You twisted them together? That's your issue. You need to fix it better than that.

e60on19s

yeah but why would that be the cause, there is a good connection otherwise it wouldnt work before the engine gets to tempeture. what would you suggest, soldering the wires together ?

donpb

You could have an intermittent connection. Soldering of wires is best practice. Your issue might not be temperature related.

Also, it would help to check what DTC codes are being thrown.

seanjordan20

You NEVER twist data cables. You should never only twist any cables. I don't have the time to go into detail but it is a bad technique that no one should use. Do as @donpb stated and heat shrink it then clear the codes and see what you get.

habbyguy

Good avice all around. I'm a long-time sparky (comms tech) and know that there's no better way to ensure flaky connections than to just twist a couple wires together (with or without heat shrink). Copper oxidizes like crazy, and the vibration in a vehicle will cause them to lose their tight connection eventually. Always (always, always) twist, solder and heat shrink connections if you want the circuit to work like it's supposed to.

e60on19s

i want to thank everyone for their replies, i will get the centre console out and solder the connections that i fixed before. i just want to add that ive read that when your radiator fan goes out, DS doesnt work to save the car from overheating, i havent heard of seen the radiator fan kick in in the entire winter, my airco doesnt work either and it doesnt kick in with the airco on. i dont get any codes on the dash and my generic obd2 reader says there arent any codes, i know that it is bulshitting me because i had it hooked up with a transmission failure a while ago and it said there werent any codes.

e60on19s

these are the broken wires in question.

e60on19s

also this shows up almost every drive after the engine is hot, before that i often went into limp mode because of transmission malfunction. the limp mode issue has been resolved through a transmission oil change, and changing the rubber mechatronic seals. but now this shows up together with the problems mentioned earlier about the DS mode

habbyguy

I got that message when my Mechatronics plug was loose (the car can no longer talk to it, so it can't tell if the brake is engaged or not). This happened when I didn't get the Mechatronics tube fully inserted (it's VERY easy to do, and has happened to more than a few of us here). Look at the lockring on the connector - if it's more than 2-3mm from the transmission housing, you will need to drop the tranny pan and re-seat that tube.

Here's a photo of what it should look like (on an xi, so access was difficult)...