What causes this? Video inside.

[DeanoBlado]

Sup gents

So this morning when starting the car i was greeted with warning lights all over the cluster. I'll let the vid do the talking.

As you can see even the wipers was doing its own thing. couldn't switch it off.

What causes this? I'm hoping depleted battery? Car is at the dealer.

 

[Hugo_za]

I had this happen back in the day on my 118i. Problem was water seeping past the seals on the boot and into the PDC control module.

 

[VictorMike]

 

[ClassicB]

Alternator

 

[DeanoBlado]

Alternator

Care to elaborate?

 

[flyhid]

I had something similar happen. All fault lights come on.
The car eventually dies completely.
Mine was the alternator not charging the battery.
Had it replaced .

 

[DeanoBlado]

Thanks, they looking at the car at the moment. will update once i have more info.

 

[DeanoBlado]

Car is ready for collection, stayed over night. I think they were too busy. from what i can gather they only picked up issue with low battery voltage.

Also scored a service while the car was there. It was due in 3600 km

 

[ClassicB]

Alternator

Care to elaborate?

Sorry for the delayed reply. its the voltage regulator on the alternator that over or under charges. Then all the warning lights and wipers go crazy. If you have a bosch unit the regulator can most likely be changed.

If you have valeo, you will have to get a new alternator.

it happened to my E90 320d.

 

[DeanoBlado]

Sorry for the delayed reply. its the voltage regulator on the alternator that over or under charges. Then all the warning lights and wipers go crazy. If you have a bosch unit the regulator can most likely be changed.

If you have valeo, you will have to get a new alternator.

it happened to my E90 320d.

Thanks, according the cedar ilse they only picked up low battery, they did a lot of tests on different components not sure if the alternator was also tested.

Hope its sorted, only time will tell i guess.

On a plus side, car is back and going like a bomb.

 

[DeanoBlado]

Sup gents

So this morning when starting the car i was greeted with warning lights all over the cluster. I'll let the vid do the talking.

As you can see even the wipers was doing its own thing. couldn't switch it off.

What causes this? I'm hoping depleted battery? Car is at the dealer.

Hi gents

10 years on, and this issue is happening again. 2010 e90. last replaced my battery in 2023 and did a quick bat voltage test which shows now issue. . Apparently failed FRM can cause this as well?

Any recommendations to identify the cause?

 

[Gordvisr]

Hi gents

10 years on, and this issue is happening again. 2010 e90. last replaced my battery in 2023 and did a quick bat voltage test which shows now issue. . Apparently failed FRM can cause this as well?

Any recommendations to identify the cause?

test your charge, if your charge is too high or too low this happens. If it is FRM module = windows don't work, headlights keeps on even when swithced off, wipers do not work, indicators also do not work.

 

[Gordvisr]

Oh and to add, if you try to jump start when battery is low, you will 95% fry the FRM.

 

[DeanoBlado]

Hi guys, so i have some updates. Took the car to my local dealer which picked up that one of the fuses popped, i think dsc fuse. Car was sorted for a few days only for it to happen again, and again.

Long story short, they want to replace the SZL unit behind the steering.

 

[DeanoBlado]

Hi guys, so just to keep this post updated, there have been some interesting updates.

I noticed that this issue only occurs during cold starts in the morning. After driving the car, even for a very short distance the errors would go away until the next cold starts the next morning. This ruled out the SZL for me.

BMW charged the battery overnight and checked what could possibly be causing this issue like alternator etc, nothing was found as possible issue. The errors didn't occur for an entire week until yesterday morning's cold start.

So my thinking is, we probably need to replace the battery as the next steps. Thing is, the battery was replaced less then 2 years ago. Original BMW battery. Is the battery still under warranty? What other tests can i do to confirm this?

With the cold weather we are experiencing, i think the battery does not have enough amps/voltage in the morning for all the electronics. hence the issue. The testing continues...

 

[DeanoBlado]

So just to close this off, car has been working flawlessly for a week now. BMW essentially did a software update and reprogrammed a few modules after they identified the CAS and DSC modules showing errors that didn't want to go away.

Battery was loaded tested and deemed fine.

All good and happy with excellent service received.

E90 is now 15 years old with 150k on the clock. still a beast and returns 5.7km/l on the highway.