Hi,
Its been a while since i posted a question on the forum, but in the past the members have always provide me with the answers and i really need some help with this one.
My car is a 2005 2.5 D E61
Here is the story:
Just before Christmas i let the wife take my for the weekend to go Christmas shopping. We were waiting for her new car to be delivered the following week. She had my car all week and did not use it much because shes on maternity leave. On the Saturday she rang me to say she could not close the door whilst at the shops. The key was used to lock the car but when she arrived home the key fob would not work. I took the shopping into the house when back out tried it again and it worked no problem. The key worked for a couple of weeks after that until one Monday morning and nothing. I could drive to work, exit and it would not lock then after 9 hours it would open????? I have only one key following a burglary at my home. This continued until the friday before Christmas. I already had a blank key so i decided to have a key cut on the blank and place my transponder with a new battery inside the blank. The panasonic 2020 3 v battery arrived on Saturday morning and i replaced on Boxing day. Once i changed the battery i tried from the kitchen and the car opened immediately but would not lock. I went into the garden and nothing, i placed the key on charge by running the car for one hour. After charging, the key worked and did not work. I have since tested the old battery with my multimeter and the battery had a better charger(3.2v)than the new one. I have tested the switches to see if any were permanently open, but all are fine , 3v permenant and a drop to zero once actuated. I have checked my diversty antena for water ingress damage but there is none visible. The rear washer jet pipe was off for some time prior to me checking the antena and its possible water was entering the compartment. I have tried reprogramming the key on numerous occassions with no success, i guess the key that was stolen was key number one or does it not matter? The car will open and start using the key. I intially thought the wiring was severed on the hindge because i had a similar problem before and i rewired the NS wiring in the hindge but i could diagnosed that problem because my light problems only occur after the boot was opened. The only thing i could add is that possibly heavy rain fall could be an issue??? I have also checked all the relevant fuses and swapped some about and they are all okay.
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!! ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!!!!! NEXT STOP WILL HAVE TO BE THE MAIN STEALERS!!!!!!!!!!PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!

 

You seem to have covered all the usual suspects.

There is one other scenario, albeit rare: rain ingress could be the culprit if the drain under your passenger cabin filter is clogged. Water will then overflow into the passenger compartment just below the glovebox where the body module is located (I believe an '05 E61 will have one). That body module happens to direct vehicle access etc. as well. Aside from moisture, these modules can simply die as well after time.

You could investigate by checking the general area for moisture:

BM location

If this module has malfunctioned it will throw errors, so if you or the friendly dealer will hookup and read-out you'll know more.

Good luck

 

I think you will be of more help to the forum with all this investigation you've done than the forum can ever be to you!

I have no advice for you, just hope you find the culprit. I presume the car locks OK using the central locking button inside, or when locking it manually with the key?

 

yes it locks with the button locked inside the cabin. I will investigate the water drainage problem. I live in a rural area with lots of trees near by and i did have lots of leaves under the rear N/S of the car and i used my petrol blower to remove them. Maybe I've inadvertently blocked a drainage point?? I have noticed fogging in the rear of the car following the rain and me entering. Would water ingress be visible inside the cabin/glove box if that was the underlining cause of my problem? Thanks for the swift replies and all the best for new year.

 

I forgot to add to my original rant that when the remote worked after replacing the battery, the rear boot release would not operate

 

HiTheo,
I have checked out my cabin filter and its surrounded by leaves? I can feel (in the dark) a build up of water under the filter. I have removed the leaves blocking the drain holes for now and tomorrow i will remove the filter box and dry the area out. My question is will the kbm module dry out? I guess the sporadic feature of the fault would suggest so? If i was required to replace the kbm module due to water ingress, can i perform this task myself? I know reprogramming is required following removal but is that something i can do or the main dealer.

 

Hello Bigun,

Still not sure if the body module does indeed cause your problem, however your earlier remark about the rear hatch not working may point towards it: I've seen a failed body module where the rear hatch function was the first to go.

Regardless, it is a very wise thing to do, cleaning out your front e-box area, especially since you mention leaves and moisture buildup.
I've included a link from another driver who documented the damage to his car because of this and shows how to prevent (clean) it: e-box flooding thread.
He cleaned it through the wheel well but I'm quite sure you can also access the box by removing the filter housing on top.

All this aside I still suggest you get a error readout from a friend with an ODB scanner or something similar or get a readout at the dealer. Latter won't cost you that much and you'll have a better insight into the condition of your car.

If the body module comes up with errors in the readout it isn't necessarily because of moisture ingress, I've seen them failing more or less spontaneously due to faulty door locks for example. I'm not sure the body module will dry out without problems if affected, if it has to be replaced it absolutely has to be coded as far as I know. When reading some of the coding threads nothing surprises me anymore but it might be a dealer's job.

Good luck with solving the problem!

 

I've recently had exactly the same symptoms, I went to the dealer and they replaced the reciever under the rearspoiler. No more problems scince then, not sure if the reciever is placed in the same place in your car, mine is MY '09. It costed me round ?250 including mounting.

Good luck!

 

Hello Bazz,

TS already inspected the Diversity Module (Spoiler receiver) for corrosion / water ingress so it's probably something else in this case unfortunately.

Do you know whether your dealer also installed the foam blocks included in the BMW service bulletin for this problem in your case?
For cars manufactured in the first part of '08 this SIB is still valid, not sure for your MY '09: SIB / foam .
If applicable you might want to have them installed anyways, they help closing the small box containing the diversity module from water. Without them you may have to replace the module again after some time.

 

Hi, I have read my codes and there was one KBM error relating to the central locking relay failing, what do you think?