Electrical problem, car has no power and windows are down

[745il]

I'll keep this short and sweet because i would like to get it taken care of tomorrow morning.

Quick Bullets

- Previous owner had an intricate viper alarm system installed + an unnecessary sound system = Wire nightmare.

- (stock) Radio worked when it wanted too, sounded like there was a short somewhere and music would sometimes only come out of the front driver door.

I pulled the cassette out and unhooked the harness and antenna, and attempted to pull the dash out as well but I've never done it on a 7 before and didn't want to crack or break anything. I was able to pull the bottom panel of the steering wheel off, the A-pillars, and the side pillars to get to all these wires.

I started with the Alarm system and said eff it, this all has to come out, as i want to replace the speakers and leave the interior stock. there so much shit that is spliced into everything, however i was able to tell what wires were strictly for the alarm system, radio, ect.

I have a medium seized red wire running up the center of the steering column, that the alarm system was spliced into. when I pulled the electrical tape off, the wire hit the metal steering column and grounded, fried, destroyed, God only knows what.

I tried the key but i got nothing, HOWEVER, i do have power to the information panel and the only thing it reads is (key lock in ignition) or whatever it says, and i have the "Park" light in the center column illuminated, so i do know that something is getting power. I then popped the hood and pulled the fuse cover to see if anything was freed, which it was. (cut me some slack i'll do the best i can describing as this is my first time ripping through a 7 series) I don't know exactly what the fuse was for, however it was a 30A fuse that was fried, center column, last fuse, as in closest to the passenger side. Green in color, and from the panel description i thought it may have been the "immobilizing" fuse, or the "ignition" fuse possibly? put a new fuse in and tried it again but still no luck.

Is it possible that i fried the ignition switch in the column?

Any where else i can check to see if other fuses are burnt out?

Or is it just possible i have to continue pulling this alarm system out and tracing everything down to make sure all wires are connected, grounded and so forth? The alarm system seems like it was top of the line back in the early 2000's. (if i had to guess.) remote start, keyless, the whole 9.

any help is appreciated guys.

Thanks

Joe

[Mayorchuck]

The fuse panel should have your fuse info. (see e38.org). There are also fuses in the trunk above the battery.

WDS:

http://www.bmw-planet.com/diagrams/release/en/index.htm

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Is this the same car from 4 years ago?

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Looking briefly at the WDS, the red wire going to the iggy switch is fed from Fuses 111 and 114, which are under the passenger seat/carpet.

F111, X3 http://www.bmw-planet.com/diagrams/release/zi_images/G_226291.png
inside RH frame side member


F111
Fuse F111


X3
Cable shoe Fuse output



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One last question. What is the build date of your car. Should be on the door jam.

[745il]

Awesome, thanks for the info.

to answer your question, no, its not that same car in that Link, however i have had the car for close to 4 years now, and it has been on this forum in the past.

Im going to look under the pass side rug and see what i can find, hopefully thats where the problem lies.

[xboss]

Sorry you are having a pain in the ass problem but good for you for trying to get rid of junk wiring. Alarm systems suck.

[745il]

Is there an easy way to get to this fuse panel thats located under the pass. side seat? do i have to remove the seat? any other information would be great. Where exactly is it located? I have taken off the A-Pillar plastics and the bottom running boards, the complete back seat, and i can pull the rug up almost the the back of the passenger seat, however i do not see any fuse boxes.

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ok, i think i found the panel under the carpet on the pass. side. How can i tell if any fuses are blown? I've never delt with fuses like this before. I'm guessing if you remove them you can tell? only reason i ask is because i have to go get a ratchet to pull them off.

[xboss]

you just need to see if there is continuity between each side of the fuse. Any meter can check that.

[Mayorchuck]

Also make sure those fuses are getting power to them. You can also check the other main fuses above the battery that look similar. Rarely see these blow but if you are not getting power to the fuse panel under the seat, I would go there next.


F100, X819 http://www.bmw-planet.com/diagrams/release/zi_images/G_294025.png
in rear RH side of luggage compartment

[745il]

You guys are extremely helpful. I really appreciate the quick responses. Heres the up-date:

While pulling out the alarm system, i had a red power wire touch the metal column and ground out. It did end up blowing the ignition fuse under the rug on the passenger side. I didn't have a meter, however i was able to use a test light. I touched both sides of every fuse, and i was getting power to one side, but not the other of the ignition fuse. As a quick fix to see if i could start the car, i jumped the fuse with a small piece of wire, and wrapped it around both bolts. tried to turn the car over and everything came back on. what a relief.

My next question is what exactly is the size of that fuse? i took the wire off, and from the alarm system i had so many extra fuses that i cut one of them out, and used a 30A fuse for the time being. I'm going to research it myself, but i was just curious as to the exact size of that fuse.

Luckily i was able to roll the windows up, because it just started pouring here.

after ripping 1/2 of the interior out, its amazing how poorly the shop that installed both the sound system and the alarm put everything back together. I have wood screws holding certain stuff together, bolts and nuts on other things, clear silicone for the running board plastic pieces, it was horrible. Im going to take inventory of everything, put it back together, and then slowly replace as much as i can.

Mayorchuck - To answer your question above, the build date is 2/95.

I still need to trace down the wires for the stereo so i can get that back up and working. I still think it has something to do with the antenna wire, however it runs back into the dash and i can not locate exactly where its going. I'll work with that tomorrow.

I disconnected both fog lights, as they were not working, and i am going to order a new set, along with HID's as well.

Next is the rear sun shade, and the headliner, then I should be able to enjoy it until something else breaks! lol

[Mayorchuck]

Fuse 111 and 114 are 50A.

[745il]

Can anyone please tell me where the Black antenna radio wire runs to? it looks like its going down the left side of the center console but i can not trace it anywhere.

[Mayorchuck]

N8, X1143 http://www.bmw-planet.com/diagrams/release/zi_images/G_126008.png
in bottom of RH C-post


N8
Antenna amplifier


X1143
Component connector (3-pin, black), Antenna amplifier

[745il]

ok, so the more i rip into this car, the more i am learning and figuring out what was factory and what was aftermarket, weather it be the alarm system or the radio. I have ripped out probably 20lbs of speakers, wires, crossovers, and just nonsense everywhere.

I have a plug, above the battery and above the positive side terminal that is not plugged into anything. it has a white sliding clip on it if that helps any, however i can not figure out where it is supposed to go.

Also, there is a very small clip, directly in the center of the trunk, only 2 wires are running to it, that is just dangling. i can't figure out where that goes either.

Still no luck with the radio, i spent a few more hours today tracing everything and re-tapeing everything that was spliced into the stock harnesses. i checked the fuses and nothing is blown. i think tomorrow i will post a few pictures of what i have, and see if you guys can lead me in the right direction.

Now that everything is pretty much disassembled on the interior, i think i am going to replace the stock speakers in the rear deck with new ones, and possibly the doors. I want to fix the rear sun shade as it goes up but not down. and possible buy some new interior trim because these knuckleheads really butchered up a lot of it.

Thanks again for the help gentlemen. i'll keep the posted progress as it happens.