Lotus99

Are none of the ones I linked to above the silicone type? Did you check them? Please post a link to one if they're not.

1Animal1

To be honest fella, I didn't click on them. Regardless, why wouldn't you just buy some silicone cable and do the repair - the loom still requires the same parts to be removed from the car, you can't see it so the wires don't need to be colour coded. It's a pointless waste of cash when you can just buy some wire for less than £5.

norsecarnut

Are you saying to simply just splice in new short lengths at the problem point in the hatch hinge area? It does seem like it is essentially that straight forward and in this idea, would not require removal of very much interior panel parts.

This is based on the photo I saw at the beginning of the thread which show wires clearly damaged right under the hinge covers.

tom_il

The damage is on the end of the covers on the inside. Not possible to reach from the outside.

1Animal1

As Tom has said above.

You essentially have to strip what ever part of the boot your replacing regardless and reattach a new loom or length of cable beyond the hinge area, by threading the old cables back through and dropping them down through the speaker cavity.

If you happen to be replacing the main boot (not the hatch) then you'll have to remove the complete inner panel too and thread them through if your replacing the loom. Where as if your splicing in new cables then you don't need to do this.

So a new loom costs you however much and takes more work to install. where as using your own wire at a massive fraction of a cost takes less work. I've given you the wire sizes on the previous page.

mark31415

Firstly I say what a wonderful find this thread was. I read it top to bottom, made sure I understood it all and fixed my fault

My story is similar to most but I think I may have also found a few tips for others...

The car. 2008 E61 520d LCI
The symptoms in order of occurrence over an 18 month period...
- Heated screen not working
- Battery low messages on cold mornings
- Occasional random popping of rear window
- Remote alarm stopped working

Once the alarm stopped working I did a lot of googling, found this thread and decided to give it a go.

In my case
- the thin red/white (supply to ADM) was snapped which would explain the lack of remote control
- The thick red/white cable was snapped which would explain the lacy of heated screen
- both the browns had insulation bared which may explain the random popping.

So if you've also read this thread top to bottom you'll know most of the job but I have a few tips I thought worth passing on.

1. Once you've disconnected the ADM, your glass window won't pop any more. Also once it starts to get intermittent its only a matter of time before it fails completely. Most threads tell you it's impossible to get it open without the use of a hammer. WRONG, There is a release button. Problem is you need to remove the main tailgate plastics to get at it and you need to pop the window to remove the plastic cleanly. If you've got to it while it's intermittent then good. If not, I'm sure damaged plastic trim will be cheaper to replace than tailgate glass.

The release is a small hole on the side of the solenoid housing. If you are sitting in the boot, looking out, it's on the right hand side close to one of the two silver torx screws. It's a very small hole and you need to get something in there and push it towards the back of the car. When I eventually put it all back together I'm going to mark the trim at the point I'll need to drill a hole if ever it fails again.

2. People talk about problems getting the plastic pins out of the cable guides. Don't pull the pins out, push them in. Then pull the rivet out and the pin will be easily retrievable

3. Ideally you are supposed to take off the glass hinge to release the cable guide. Instead I just bent up the silver tab a bit, and could then wiggle the guide off without removing the hinge. Guide is split in two by wedging a screwdriver down the side. When I put it back I only used half the guide to give the cable an easier time. This will make sense when you get in there.

4. Taking the spoiler off. All fairly straight forward if you follow the guide but I had trouble getting the pink aerial wire off. Wasn't sure which bits stayed on the ADM and which pulled out. Basically use a screwdriver to lever the black plug out, don't just pull the cable. It's not a ZIF connector, it's a plug.

5. I added an inch of so of cable to each broken one, heat shrunk individually then put it all back together with loom tape. A roll of loom tape is about £2.50 from ebay and made life so much easier.

So far alarm working, heated screen working, tailgate release working but too soon to say about the battery message. For now I've left the big boot trim off just in case the screen popper fails and when I put it back I will make sure I know where to drill in future to access the little release hole as I think it will be a life saver if/when it fails again.

Once again thanks for all the advice in this thread, you've just saved me a shed load of cash

jipn

Here we go. I found this thread! After days of searching the internet. The primary reason for my search is my radio. It's week four with my first BMW an 06 E61 96K Miles. I also noticed the rear defroster did not work.

Today I tore the car apart. I found water in the Antenna Diversity Amplifier compartment. But I think it still works. My key fob works. I found the brown screen heater screen wire to be cut. (easy fix) After reading this post for 2 hours I need to see if the coaxial cable is cut. When I pulled the left speaker out I didn't see a black cable in the plastic plastic corrugated housing. I didn't think anything of this till I saw a picture in this forum. I bet the coaxial cable was sheared off and I didn't see it. I'll check the right side too someone said there is a cable for the FM reception over there too.

The ADD had corrosion. I tried cleaning the board. The board was probably fine and I probably broke it. We'll find out. tomorrow.

I'm going to raise the ADD up if it still works and seal everything with a ton of silicone.

This is the second time this has been done, because I see the evidence. I plan on figuring out a permanent fix. I'll share it with the group.

J_K

Had my 07 plate E61 530d for a week and the remote locking stopped working.
Was on the brink of shelling out for a diversity unit as mine had a little corrosion on it.
Then found this thread.
Then found this.



I was just about to shell out for a new diverstiy unit.
this thread saved me £200!!

lab161

After reading this forum I did the job my self. I have bad radio respetion and no heating in rear window. And as picture shows I found sevaral broken wires. After soldering I was pretty shure my problem was gone. But no. Radio still pretty bad, and still no heat in rear window.

I am in the dark here. What to do....

Sorry for bad english.....

J_K

Have you checked the other side??