E90 lci electrics gone mental.

[Davegtr]

E90 lci 2008 318i, has light pack


Hello guys, before I start trying things I shouldn't be trying to do I thought I would ask for some advice about where to start, basically unlocked car to put nephew in front passenger seat and as doing so switched the passenger airbag to the off position, i then noticed the interior light and puddle lights went out, the car started fine and as I was driving I noticed the front and rear lights were on even though they were set to the off position (I do not have auto lights on this car) when I got back home I noticed a few more things not working.

Lights not working
Interior, puddle and door handle lights not working, as well as reversing, indicators or hazards, no full beam or side lights (angel eyes) and I have no dash illumination.

Radio and all heating working ok btw

lights that are working
Glove box, boot, front main beam and rear lights, brake lights as well as all dash lights and warning lights are working.

received a cc-id 231 (light system failure) code but that is the only code I can see, have tried to plug diagnostics in but no communication even though the socket has power, I have checked relevant fuses and the bulbs and all seem fine, I did install an upgrade to my angel eyes from horizon led's which have worked faultless for a few months now, but I did reinstall standard lights thinking It could be the problem but still no change.

my thought is obviously the frm module but after reading a few different posts it doesn't quite make sence to me, obviously I could be wrong but if anyone has any suggestions to what it could be I will try when tomorrow in daylight.

thanks in advance Dave


quick update

Thanks for the reply Morzada, battery was replaced about 8 months ago, have receipt with cost and programming.

Connected to diagnostics (inpa) and no fault codes to do with lights or frm module, it recognised the MIL light was on (for cc-id 231 I guess) and was illuminated but didn't mention why, was a fault code for lambda so I know diagnostics are reading ok, tried to reset short circuit with toolset 32 just to see if it could read or write to module but came back that it couldn't connect, tried to read battery with toolset 32 and it read it fine so I also know toolset is working ok


Haven't managed to open panel to get to frm module yet so that's tomorrow's job after work.


Does anybody know if I am missing a fuse somewhere I.E in E box or whatever the box in the engine bay is called, I recall reading somewhere that there is a fuse for the frm module f36 if my terrible memory is right or am I barking up wrong tree, don't want to waste more time disconnecting everything in engine bay to get the cover off to check.


Plz any advice or knowledge on this system would be a great help, I'm rubbish with electrics

[morzada]

How old is your battery? This is one of the first things to check when your electronics go haywire.

[Chris212]

Check fuses I've seen this before somewhere along the line battery was replaced an not registered... Research battery reset procedure perform this after u find blown fuse

[Davegtr]

Hi Chris thanks for reply, I have checked fuses and all seem ok,

Car is still the same, I don't know if there is such a thing but seems as I have main beam lights, rear and brake lights i am curious to know if this is a safety feature in the frm module if a fault arises?

abit of an update, managed to get to frm module today and it seems I have power going to and from module, I drove for about 20 mins and plugged inpa in to check if any codes were stored.

the only codes that have came up are
U1129 - lost communication with reverse status

U 1134 - lost communication with lamp status

and P-0597 - thermostat heater control curcuit open

having power to and from frm module has thrown me a little as I was confident I was going to have to replace but unsure what next step is going to be.

i will search for battery reset just Incase, also I checked all fuses that are on the battery and all are ok.

update just reset battery with toolset32, no change.

[Chris212]

check the switch for lights... just play with it see what happens... then ckeck harness passenger side remove kick panel if harness looks good try battery reset to re-boot system... 1 disconect neg terminal and wrap it so as not to make earth ground 1 remove power distribution box (take pics or mark with paint stick) 3 remove pos term and tie neg and pos together for 15min then re install all jdm spec (fookin tight) by hand lock car up set alarm and such let bake for 45min then check... i know its a hassle i do this atleast twice a day aggravating but sometimes it just works seriously

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sorry harness you r checking goes from frm to dme thru bulk head your looking for signs of chaffing or rodentia and loose connector at frm

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while your in there peel carpet back and check ground pack check nut is torqued and pins are firmly in place... worst case you may have to replace frm

[Davegtr]

Ok done as suggested and harness looks good, checked as far back as I could and all still neatly bunched and not to tight or rubbing against anything, have now just connected neg and pos together so il leave that for another 15 mins, I didn't try the light switch as I did that yesterday while preying to the bmw god's, also do you know if there is a file for frm3 reset (short curcuit) in toolset 32 for the frm3 module?

Thanks dave

Another update

ok reconnected battery 20 mins ago and something was different, the key fob wouldn't lock car so locked drivers door manually, il leave it to bake as you suggested for another half hour and fingers crossed.

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No change and still the same unfortunately, I rechecked all bulbs and fuses while I waited and all are defiantly ok as I changed half of them for new ones, rechecked rear light housings and are also making good contact, I don't know why but it still feels like I have missed something simple, last thing I can think of thanks to your suggestion Chris is check the wires where the boot opens and closes to see if any wires are shorting or broken, have to check reversing lights anyway to rule them out so another half day after work trying to find problem, keeps me out of trouble I guess

thanks for all suggestions and help guys much appreciated.

cant reply to post so Newest UPDATE


Hi Chris thanks agin for reply, sorry not replied until now I forgot my phone this morning and had to actually do some work for a change


By dash I mean instrument cluster sorry, the symbols are all there and working ok it's just the illumination that's not working like when you switch light on at night.


Recall, if you mean the fuse box to battery (b+ cable is it?) then there still is no recall in Europe, only USA Canada and Australia I believe.


I thought a fresh set of eyes might help so i asked a friend at work to bring his diagnostic and probe in to work today so at lunchtime We headed straight to the car and his machine pulled same codes as inpa on my laptop, he checked all fuses again with probe and all are good, he also could not connect to frm module, he tried to read frm and frm2 as both came up, he noticed that my module says frm3 on it and was puzzled why his machine didn't have that option as he only updated his machine last week, to be honest I didn't realise I had the frm3 in it as I thought it was an frm2 module in the car, I asked him to check the steering wheel control module and there was no fault codes there, he noticed he could put it through a test so he initialised test and lights on instrument cluster were working through the test so now I know those bulbs are ok, after test nothing again, he seems puzzled about this and also suggests that it's in some sort of get you home safety mode as front, rear and brake lights are the only visible lights working.


i think your right Chris and now my only option is to replace frm module, I have seen a few second hand modules on ebay, (I know but money is really tight) or should I just bite the bullet and wait to get some money together and buy a new module and get a garage to program it.


if it's not a really simple job to reprogram a second hand module then I wouldn't like to risk doing it anyway as I have only really done Citroen and peugeot before.

[Chris212]

Kinda need to be inside car... May be frm light switch combo... I've changed a few frm... Does your car fall into battery cable recall undone mostly affects start ability but can affect other things... Have u turned airbag back on

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p.m. me last 7 of your vin im ready to condemn the frm

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by dash do you mean instrument cluster as in the kombi

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i cant copy and paste image... looks like your frm is on the fritz... all lights in/op listed communicate with frm... just because you have power in and out means nothing

[Davegtr]

Hi chris, sorry left my phone at home this morning doh, had to actually do some work today

airbag switch is working ok as can see the light on the roof going on and off when switching on and off and no airbag faults registered.

no recall for euro cars on the fuse box b+ cable from battery if that's what you meant by recall, only Canada USA and Australia I believe.

Dash, yes I mean instrument cluster sorry, the the cluster works fine as in all symbols work but just not illuminated like when you switch headlights on


I needed a fresh set of eyes so I asked a friend at work to bring his diagnostics machine and probe in today to try and connect to frm module and make sure fuses where defiantly ok and I didn't miss one, his diagnostics machine read the same fault codes as inpa did on my laptop so not even a sniff of frm signal fault codes or any messages about it at all, his machine also couldn't connect to frm module, he tried to connect through frm and frm2 but there was no communication from either, he did manage to get the dash light illuminated by testing the steering wheel module as I asked to check if the light (bulbs) were gone inside the dashboard, all worked ok so ruled all bulbs out now as being problem. He suggested the frm may of just glitched and lost its memory as it seems the module is working but in some kind of safety mode so the main featured lights (front, rear and brake) will work if car is stranded in the middle of know where, made sence but not sure it has any kind of those safety feature.

I just noticed my module says frm3 on it, but I thought e90 lci were frm2 would that make a difference in reading the fault codes in inpa?, I will be honest i haven't updated my software for a long time as I had it running perfect for my e36 m3 and it all worked fine with the can d cable I bought for this car and reads car fine

is there a way to reset the module back to default Incase it has forgotten that it's supposed to turn the lights on :/
I haven't really done alot of coding on bmw's before as mostly done more Citroen - peugeot and don't want to mess anything else up like erase VO from ecu or something stupid.

from what I have read you can reset the module 4 times if a short curcuit is registered more than 300 times, but this would of left a fault code in ecu so I think module is fried and needs to be thrown in the bin

Thanks for all the replys Chris as your saving my sanity at the minute

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Hi Chris thanks agin for reply, sorry not replied until now I forgot my phone this morning and had to actually do some work for a change

By dash I mean instrument cluster sorry, the symbols are all there and working ok it's just the illumination that's not working like when you switch light on at night.

Recall, if you mean the fuse box to battery (b+ cable is it?) then there still is no recall in Europe, only USA Canada and Australia I believe.

I thought a fresh set of eyes might help so i asked a friend at work to bring his diagnostic and probe in to work today so at lunchtime We headed straight to the car and his machine pulled same codes as inpa on my laptop, he checked all fuses again with probe and all are good, he also could not connect to frm module, he tried to read frm and frm2 as both came up, he noticed that my module says frm3 on it and was puzzled why his machine didn't have that option as he only updated his machine last week, to be honest I didn't realise I had the frm3 in it as I thought it was an frm2 module in the car, I asked him to check the steering wheel control module and there was no fault codes there, he noticed he could put it through a test so he initialised test and lights on instrument cluster were working through the test so now I know those bulbs are ok, after test nothing again, he seems puzzled about this and also suggests that it's in some sort of get you home safety mode as front, rear and brake lights are the only visible lights working.

i think your right Chris and now my only option is to replace frm module, I have seen a few second hand modules on ebay, (I know but money is really tight) or should I just bite the bullet and wait to get some money together and buy a new module and get a garage to program it.

if it's not a really simple job to reprogram a second hand module then I wouldn't like to risk doing it anyway as I have only really done Citroen and peugeot before.

[Chris212]

My shop foreman n I believe it to be faulted frm u codes r communications faults find Indy shop it will need to b coded we have replaced several frms in e90 from places that weather changes from hot to cold n yours is getting there in age

[Davegtr]

Ok thanks a lot for your help Chris it really is appreciated, I will try a couple of Indy garages to see how much a new module programmed will be and go from there.

Thanks you very much Chris and to other members who help others just because they can, good members make a good forum and this forum is definitely top of the list because of its members.

Dave

[Darkdriftr]

Hey Dave. I have the exact same issue. I just dissconnected my frm module. I started my car and no change what so ever. No windows, lights, etc. The only code I have is CC-ID 231. "Light System Failure". All my fuses are good, and I installed aftermarket HIDs and after a few minutes of driving my car went on the fritz.

I went on the same process of elimination, and I have concluded that the FRM is fried. As far as I know. Need to test a working FRM to confirm.