jbdnorway

2005 model, 525D , last 4 months first right rear revers light went, then radio antenna and now the rear hatch only opens by locking and opening by key command. The handle will not activate the lock. The rear light was neither the bulb or light bracket, so everything points to the wire Harness. The Harness price in norway is 875 eur,
has anyone had this fault, has someone come across a cheaper way to fix the harness ?

push_eax

Mate, I just came back from BMW today for a problem related to:

- Self-levelling suspension check (my car is used and the previous owner had a self-levelling failure (droopy buns scenario), but had a new pump installed),
- Remote lock/unlock from key would operate whenever it liked (especially after I opened or closed the hatch),
- Rear window cleanser tube had stopped working.

Dig this now...

The self-leveling problems, pump-wise were fixed by the previous owner, but when the rear of the car drooped, bunches of wires were scraped down to the wire (contacting each-other). This said, the car worked fine. However, once my rear-window wiper/fluid tubes went, spraying fluid all of the inside of the car, it became obvious that:

1) The antenna contacts had been corroded - thus requiring a 200E antenna replacement,
2) Wires at the top of the hatch, subsequent to years of wear and tear had also been subjected to the scrapping/short-circuiting of the self-levelling wires.

Suspiciously, I have changed the whole left rear lamp component, due to corrosion again, at a price of 150E.

As a consequence of both wire wear and liquid infiltration, I have had the following problems:

1) left rear light would not work,
2) the remote only functions whenever it likes,
3) short-circuiting would cause my computer to default to default values (german language - settings lost).

The wires, in my case, where both replaced and simply taped over - BMW's solution. The antenna electronics component will have to be replaced. As you state, the whole harness would imply, approximately, a 1k E expense - I don't know if that includes labour or not (they worked on my car for 3/4 of a day and didn't finish everything)!

An apparently simple-to-fix problem, but which cause costly damage.

I hope my crappy experience may prove fruitful for problems you are currently facing.

jbdnorway

Thanks for your reply. This is obviously a weak area of the car, where thought and care must be taken.

bigbadbull

If there was corrosion on the wiring connection you could have what happened to my car...

Get the Sun roofs seals checked and get the drains for it checked.
The corrosion does not happen over night. Nip it in the bud soon.

I can get much worse, like every thing aft of the firewall getting replaced like on my car.

colm245

Hi guys,

I've a March 2005 525d E61. I've had all the similar problems... in this order;

Self-leveling intermittently not working (checked pipes and all fine)
Parking Sensors intermittently failing
Passenger Occupancy sensor fault
FM antenna is not working (perament now)
Rear Right reversing light is intermittently failing
Remote central locking is not working, was intermittent for about week (same on both keys and changed remote battery - still not working)


Where exactly do you think the loom is getting nipped or rubbed?

When I was examining the compressor issue I noticed one electronics cable "floating" about and was getting rubbed, probably from vibrations and the copper was exposed. I'm not sure what signal was on the wire but I guess there are more cables like this in the E61 which are not adequately restrained or sleeved to protect them.

I'm heading on holidays for a week on Saturday but would be interested in stripping the back of the car down when I get back to investigate the wiring if I thought it was worth it.

bigbadbull

Have you pulled the load deck and trays to look under the spare tire and Batt?
Check for moisture in there and under the right an left trim ares where the batt and the tools are located.

push_eax

Disclaimer: I'm not an electrician, so take all I say with a pinch of salt. Also, I do not have a diagram electrical wire routes throughout the E61.

Based on my experience, as described above, I will say that behind/under the rear bumper, but near the self-leveling compressor is a place to look at. Another place, where wires will definitely get chaffed, is near the hinges of the rear window/hatch. These are the points where chaffed wires were wreaking havoc in my vehicle.

Last, of course, I can say that what bigbadbull says is definitely one of the other places to look.

My 2c.

colm245

Ok guys cheers for that advice.

It'll be a few weeks before I can get the rear bumper off and have a good look for damaged cables etc. If I get anywhere I'll post back up here.