Hazard switch repair

[Jester323]

There is absolutely no reason to be driving around with a paperclip or a Bic pen cap or anything else stuck in there...

http://www.bmwe21.net/hazard.htm

here are a few pics to go along with this... I've been meaning to recreate this ever since Fred's site went out of commission... Sorry for the crappy pics, my goo camera just died...

Pop the center grill in the dash out, a smaller flat head screw driver seems to help, then push the hazard switch out from the back side.

Use a pocket knife and a srew driver to gently seperate the two halves.




seperate slowly & the inner spring will stay near by.




You can see here where the pin on the little metal arm slides in the groove on the opposite half.




This is the pin/arm closer up:




Use a pair of needle nose pliars and bend the arm in a tiny bit so that the pin/arm stay engaged with the corresponding groove.



Then reassemble the pieces and test. No more Bic pen caps stuck in there to keep it turned off...

[TheNeek]

Steph just told me 3 days ago. "I'm not driving to bimmerfest with that piece of paper jammed in your hazard switch. We need to buy a new one"

Excellent timing partner.

They guy that designed that hazard switch must have been the same guy that made the Hindenburg.

[charbel]

i thought they brake or something.. that is really easy , thanks for the info.

[BrianRB]

Jester323,
You just saved the day...and a few $ to boot! Oh the beauty of the web and people like you who care enough to post solutions with detailed descriptions and photos. A very sincere thank you.
Brian

[bcalis]

Jesse - you should sell reman'ed hazards on your site. I'm sure that there are plenty of us who are too lazy, busy or unskilled (I fit into all 3 categories) to do the fix ourselves and would spend some $ to have the piece of mind that comes with a working hazard. Just sayin'...

[Tom D]

^ not to mention having a phobia for bleeding, which seems to happen happen quite often when trying to open these little suckers up.

[bcalis]

^ not to mention having a phobia for bleeding, which seems to happen happen quite often when trying to open these little suckers up.

Lol, yes that too! I broke many hazards trying this fix and finally decided that a toothpick was easier!

[sageadvice]

This solution (seen elsewhere) certainly works. But the problem will return as the arm just bends again. With hazards off it is always under load. I slide a carefully sized section of the lead in from a cable tie down behind the arm so that it presses/rubs on the (self lubricating nylon) cable tie and can not jump out of the groove. But I still try not to use the hazards!