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Thread: Where is this plugs' home?

  1. #1
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    Where is this plugs' home? Updated questions

    I feel my car must be missing a part from the engine Bay or something on the passenger side is an extra plug that seems connected to the headlight wiring loom

    IMG_1734.jpg
    Last edited by Firstbmw528; 09-29-2017 at 07:14 PM.

  2. #2
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    Parking/directional light??
    Looks like the same connector that is used for auto leveling the headlights but that would have 5 wires not 3.

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    Angel eyes?



  4. #4
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    I have my directional light plugged in with a factory plug and the low and high beams are all plugged in. The car was built 03/98 so I doubt angel eyes also the reason I am so confused is there is no matching plug on the driver's side as well I have no codes only an airbag light.
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    It look as if they might be splice in where they meet the harness due to the large bump in the electrical tape there. Shinny Electrical tape is not normal for these cars, Wires are usually wrapped in a more cloth like material as seen in the cable in the far left side of the picture. Even electrical tape that is a year old does not look that shinny if in the weather like those would be. So kind makes me wonder what was added. Pull the tape and see what is going on there. Just my 2 cents here.
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    How about the AC pressure switch?

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    The shiny electrical tape was me adding factory headlight sockets because the PO had a ghetto HID install done that snipped the factory wiring but you are correct the plug does lead into the headlight harness which is why I am so confused on what it is. Thanks for the suggestion Y'all I guess I should have included that information prior.
    1998 BMW 528i My First Build

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    The ac pressure switch is plugged in I checked it looks like on that fender I have two empty mounting brackets I wonder if there was something there? This is the only annoying thing about used cars what other "DIYers" have done to it.

    - - - Updated - - -

    If it helps do I have any options that could have been over there here is my vin decode.IMG_1581.PNGIMG_1582.PNG
    1998 BMW 528i My First Build

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    No special options.

    Does it maybe go the the coolant level sensor on the bottom of the bottle on the radiator? I think mine only has 2 wires though.

    Here is my harness on a 2003 with angle eyes which you dont have.

    20170918_222314.jpg
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    Could be the coolant level sensor but wouldn't you get a message on the dash saying check coolant level? Like Jim said that connector awfully looks like it plugs into the headlight level sensor but since yours a 98 I doubt you have that.



  11. #11
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    Coolant sensor only has 2 wires.

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    Have you put a meter on it to see if it has power when the lights come on?
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    Looks like the kind of splice one does if they are converting the side lights of the pre-facelift E39s to the angel eyes of the facelift models. So maybe a prior owner had facelift lights installed at some point? Maybe some poor aftermarket ones?
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  14. #14
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    Looks like the 3-wire connector that goes to the radiator coolant sensor on my '98, near the exp. tank.
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    Yea it's the Aux fan switch wire I'm doing my coolant overhaul today bought a new one and no where to mount the sensor someone seems to have removed the mount out of the hose and replaced it with a blank piece of plastic

    Anyone know where to buy the mount for it?
    Last edited by Firstbmw528; 09-19-2017 at 03:01 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Firstbmw528 View Post
    Yea it's the Aux fan switch wire I'm doing my coolant overhaul today bought a new one and no where to mount the sensor someone seems to have removed the mount out of the hose and replaced it with a blank piece of plastic

    Anyone know where to buy the mount for it?
    That's a really good question as from 09/1998 builds and later it would be part of the lower radiator hose. But as yours seems to be from prior to 09/1998 (based on your build sheet above)the lower radiator hose does not look the same and does not have the location for that part.

    after 09/1998 - https://www.ecstuning.com/b-mtc-part...531705224~mtc/


    before 09/1998 - https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...r/11531740481/

    Real OEM Part #6 shows it being attached to the radiator - http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=17_0105
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  17. #17
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    Oh ok thank you very much I must have missed that in real oem now strange question hose part number 11531744054/963 the old was shorter and had a black plastic connector you would call it to another piece of coolant hose to the bottom of the coolant tank my new hose is one piece does it still run to the bottom of the coolant tank

  18. #18
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    I think you need to head back to realoem and check out the digrams again. I dont see a hose going back to the coolant tank.

    And the part number you list above , is that old/new???

    11531744054 is valid and if you only put down the last 3 digits meaning the rest were the same 11531744963 does not seem to be valid. Or at least realoem does not find it
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  19. #19
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    https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...-11531744054-1

    That's the new hose I just got from fcp euro.

    The old hose I took off contains the same part number but is cut shorter which a plastic connector installed leading to another piece of coolant hose which is connected to the coolant expansion tank. Sorry I used the wrong term last time.

    Based on real oem the little drawing it almost looks like it should connect to the radiator not the expansion tank yet my new nissens radiator has no such connection.

    https://flic.kr/p/YTgqHD
    Last edited by Firstbmw528; 09-19-2017 at 09:12 PM.

  20. #20
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    I beleive that the realoem and bmw tis drawings are wrong on this matter. I do know there are some mistakes in the drawings.

    At this point i am confused and have not been able to find a "good" diagram of the M52 cooling system. I find 5-6 different posibilities on the and then the M52TU is also different.

    My only suggestion is to hook it as the old system was hooked up. Even my Bently manual does not go over the M52 engine very well.

    I wish I had better options for you. Maybe some more google research is what you need to do.
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  21. #21
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    Any help is good help as far as I am concerned I will continue to do research on google but yourself and everyone in this forum have been invaluable thus far I am glad I found the forum. I do believe the old setup is set the correct way I just think the PO was cheap and the hose burst so he cut it off and used a connector and a random section of line to reconnect it.

    Thanks again.
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  22. #22
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    Ok so the sensor was screwed into the new radiator and the lower hose is one piece looks like the PO had a blow out at one point and only replaced part of the hose.

    Looks like the P.O. bypassed the sensor because it wasn’t in the old radiator. Weird symptoms.

    Could be my imagination but the plug doesn’t really seem to want to plug in and when I do plug it in my a/c seems to not cool or at least not as effectively it could be all in my head because the compressor engages either way and the aux fan works either way. Could this plug be for something other than the coolant temp sensor or could that make my a/c warm?
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  23. #23
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    Sounds like you got it set up right. IIRC the connector on mine didn't go into the radiator sensor very definitively either. The AC temp may be some other issue. Here's shot of the area on my '98. Should be the same as your 3/98 build.
    BMW RadExpTank 2.jpg
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  24. #24
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    Interesting thanks for the picture. Yea I’m not sure the plug just seems to affect the a/c functions. So correlation may not be causation it’s just strange I guess.
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