I've owned this 2006 530Xi for only a few months and this forum has been incredibly helpful in that short time. After a few weeks of trouble free operation, rear suspension leveling errors appeared on iDrive. I found and replaced both the intake hose and the compressor as suggested here, and the problem was solved.

A couple of days ago, we suddenly had lots more errors on iDrive and a wet cargo area. Sure enough, the rear sunroofs drains were all gobbed up. I pulled off the (useless) filter/plug things and tested that this issue was solved. I also dried out the area and all the electronic relays. The errors are gone now and the car is perfect again, with one exception.

The power tailgate opens with the touch of a button, as before, but it will not close the same way. I can pull it shut OK, and the closing mechanism does pull it snug once it latches. All the control buttons (outside, key, and underside) have the same effect. One push will open, the second push does nothing, the third push tries to open even more.

There are no sounds of the pump straining to close the tailgate, but there is a brief, soft sound - not quite a click. All my other tailgate electronics appear to work, so I'm reluctant to diagnose a wiring harness problem.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have on this.

Dennis

 

I found this 7-series Troubleshooting Guide that supports the theory of a partially cooked control module that's located under the spare tire.

================================================== ====
E65/E66 (7 Series) equipped with HKL system (SA 316)

HKL system malfunctions.


D) The trunk lid only moves in one direction.
When pressing the button to close the trunk lid, it tries to continue upwards after it has already been opened. In most cases,there will be a fault stored in HKL module.

CAUSE :
The module is defective.

CORRECTION :
61 35 6 980 008 HKL control module
=========================================

I guess I'll try replacing the module.

 

So, I found a post on another bmw forum that explained how to fix the same issue on a 7-series power trunk by repairing the electronic module. I broke out the multimeter and soldering iron, and ordered $4 worth of electronic components from China. It worked!

 

I'm having a similar problem with my liftgate. It will open from the fob, license plate handle or the button in the front, but it will only close if you press the button on the handle by the license plate. When it starts to close, it clicks the locks like it's opening it and then closes it.

The button on the bottom of the liftgate does absolutely nothing.
The button in front by the driver makes it try to open further but will not try to make it close.

Does this sound familiar? Also, can you tell me what forum you found the other link on? I'm not having any luck finding that post.

 

I'm not clear what is the problem you're describing, but the only button that can be used to CLOSE the tailgate is the one on the bottom of the tailgate itself, once it's open. The two inside the car (by ashtray and OBD port) are only for opening the gate. I believe there are people who can code the car though to have the buttons also close the gate, but that's not OEM operation.

 

I injured my car when I was installing the rear camera, and had to open the car's tailgate manually a couple of times. If you hear that clicking when it tries to latch, or if you hear a more clunky click when it reach full height, check the connection on the power strut on the LEFT / DRIVER side. Mine was/ is disconnecting. The strut has an indentation, which is supposed to latch onto the ball on the LEFT rear pillar area. If I reseat it, then the tailgate closes easily by power and latches correctly. Currently it disengages upon opening, tailgate is supported but is not on the ball, I reseat it, things go right again. I'm thinking I am missing some type of latch pin/ring to keep it in there. I think the actual arm is hundreds of dollars. SO off to OEM Parts to check some diagrams. This seems to be ONE of the problems.

 

I have this exact same problem. For a while it would work only sometimes. Eventually stopped working all together. Now in order to get the close function I push the button by the license plate. It will close but it will not latch all the way.