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Thread: 1985 E24 Issues.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    Miami
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    11
    My Cars
    1985 BMW 635CSi

    Angry 1985 E24 Issues.

    Hi guys, I've just purchased a 1985 BMW E24 project car. Engine needs a good tune-up, valves needs a re-adjustment as well. Transmission switches smoothly so far. Body has some rust on the bottom since the car came from a cold state up north from where I am. Upon inspecting the car, I've noticed the PO tampered with a lot of the cars options. The body is pretty solid, and it needs a new interior.


    However here are my issues:


    1. The sunroof does not open. (I opened it manually)
    2. The Passenger side window does not open. (Driver's side and back windows work, unless I turn switch on the bottom of the dash off)
    3. The Power Seat switches do not operate.
    4. The interior, bonnet, and trunk lights do not turn on.
    5. The high beans only come on through the low beams. (Trying to flash high beams but no luck)(low beams flash instead)
    6. The Fog lights do not turn on.
    7. The horn, outside lights, power mirrors, wipers, hazard lights, all work. Radio needs a code.
    8. The OC display is unreadable, but blinking with two dashes.


    Would anyone have an opinion on where to begin searching for the problems? Would they be individually or part of one big problem?.. I did notice the Break sensor on the Driver's side to have the wire broken. I had a 2009 535I that would show all types of problems when a brake wire was off.. Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    California
    Posts
    476
    My Cars
    '89 635 CSi, '15 535i
    inspect all your fuses and relays. check for damage in and around the fuse box on the driver's side of the engine bay.
    ___________________
    [|OO==|0|0|==OO|]
    1989 E24 635CSi
    2015 F10 535i M-Sport
    2002 E39 530i Sport [sold]
    2001 E39 ///M5 [sold]

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    W-S, NC
    Posts
    967
    My Cars
    84 E24, 91 M5, E36's,E46
    Wow, this sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun......

    Update when you have checked at least the fuses.

    '84 Euro 635CSi Polaris/Pacific, for sale (maybe)
    Home of the Silver Bimmers: '91 M5, '84 Euro E24, "99 E36, "98 E36, '02 E46 xiT (yes, all silver)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA
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    1,718
    My Cars
    '86 635CSi, '08 128i
    Welcome to the E24 club, post some pics!

    Did you download the electrical troubleshooting manual? Here's a link for some PDF versions. Keep in mind that your car a later model, based on the E28 chassis.

    Spend some quality time getting the grounds cleaned up, especially that big one by the battery and the grounding strap off the driver's motor mount.

    My guesses:
    1 & 2 (sunroof and window problems) Likely due to dirty or worn switches. Swap a few around to test. Avoid the cheap Chinese switches, they're junk.
    3 (power seats) Fuse 10 or 26, unplugged wires, bad memory unit (if installed), could also rarely be the K6 unloader relay.
    4 (interior lights) Bonnet light is only powered when the parking lights are on. Interior lights are on fuse 19 & 21. The interior light controller timer might be bad too. Trunk light is fuse 21. Sometimes those bulbs are just loose, those mounts are pretty inept at holding festoons. Check the door & trunk switches too, wiggle them a bit.
    5 That's how the headlights are designed. The low-beam bulb has two filaments, a 'high' and a 'low'. On low beam, only the dimmer filament is lit. On high beam the brighter filament lights up, and that wire feeds power to the high beam bulbs too. Check the headlight plugs too, they tend to corrode pretty badly.
    6 (fog lights) Check fuses 29 & 30. BTW, the foglights only work with the headlights on low-beam. Otherwise they're off. I know it's dumb, but that's the way BMW wired it.
    7 (radio) Frankly, I'd upgrade the stereo. These cars originally had a printed code card that came in the owner's packet. But if you're determined to keep it, you'll need to pull it out. Take it to your local BMW dealer's part dept. along with your title. They'll get you your code (for free!). Otherwise, sell it
    8 (OBC) While you're pulling the stereo, remove the OBC and replace the backlight board with a rebuilt LED version off eBay.

    These cars are a little quaint compared to your '09...but a heck of a lot of fun nonetheless. A single brake wire won't cause much trouble...in fact, it's best to get used to a lot of little stuff not working. It goes along with the territory of 80s Euros IMHO.
    Last edited by DesktopDave; 10-16-2017 at 10:04 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Lutz, FL
    Posts
    1,356
    My Cars
    '85 635 CSi Euro 5sp.
    Copy of my reply on bimmerfest before I saw the thread here:

    Basic troubleshooting is the way to start, along with better descriptions of some of the issues. Nice-looking car, and it looks like someone swapped in some non-origianl front seats.

    1. Does the sunroof motor make any noise, and does it not work in either direction? If it's dead, check for voltage, an substitute the switch. Also, that karge nit that's exposed when you remove the inspection panel is a sort of clutch. Loosen it while holding the cnter Allen screw in place, and see if that changes things. Finally, the motor come out, nd apart, very easily. Take apart the transmission assmby, clean out all the old solidified grease, regreae with new high-quality wheel bearing grease. oftentimes, the large plastic gear is stripped, and if that's the case, look for a good, used motor.

    2. As above, check for voltage, swap the switch, repair the motor.

    3. As above, but as mentioned, those are definitely not original to the car, and may require some extra work for functionality.

    4. Check for a bad fuse and/or bad bulbs

    5. Check fuses, bulbs, and the relay

    6. As above

    7. Unlikely you'll be able to get the radio code, but you can try asking a BMW dealer

    8. Try setting the time, or press the temp button or any other function. EDIT: Looking at your picture, i hing that LCD display is damaged. Theses things are always available on eBay, but make sure to get one with a part number and code tomatch yours.

    Even an inexpensive multimeter is a must-have, and for electrial issues you should use the factory ETM as a reference. It's available online here:

    http://wedophones.com/BMWManualsLead.htm

    Finally, join the E24 section on bimmerforums.com and bigcoupe.com. Much more traffic and far greater depth of knowledge on those two sites.
    __________________
    Dean
    Lutz, FL

    '85 635 CSi Euro #9402254
    '87 Spider Veloce
    '92 Spider Veloce
    '08 350Z


  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
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    Miami
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    1985 BMW 635CSi
    Thank you all. Will start trying now. Very informative.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
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    Miami
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    1985 BMW 635CSi
    I'm going over every fuse and relay. I have not been able to find what the problem with the sunroof is. I've used a meter on it. The roof has 4 cables going into the switch, and those same cables jump over to the relay right next to the motor. I've checked all of them, and all I get is ground. I can't seem to find power within the cables... I see power going out of the fuse. Would there be another source of power between the fuse box and the Sunroof switch?.. Thanks in advance.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    West Nyack, New York
    Posts
    1,391
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    86 635csi 98 740i 96 MB
    Use the link Desktop Dave gave you and look up the circuit for the sunroof.

    Then you can find the harness from the fuse to the motor using your meter.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
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    North Central Florida
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    88m5,2015 Silverado
    radio codes are still available, I got one a few weeks back for a customer, but the FM tuner was dead, so it was a waste of time. Rewired the speakers etc and replaced with an aftermarket. All I needed was the sn from the back of the radio, but the dealer knows me well
    Last edited by 88m53453; 10-17-2017 at 10:34 PM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Lutz, FL
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    '85 635 CSi Euro 5sp.
    There is a relay up there in the header panel, for the sunroof motor, so check that, too.
    Dean
    Lutz, FL

    '85 635 CSi Euro #9402254
    '87 Spider Veloce
    '92 Spider Veloce
    '08 350Z


  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    Pittsburgh, PA
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    '86 635CSi, '08 128i
    Quote Originally Posted by ilouie View Post
    I'm going over every fuse and relay. I have not been able to find what the problem with the sunroof is. I've used a meter on it. The roof has 4 cables going into the switch, and those same cables jump over to the relay right next to the motor. I've checked all of them, and all I get is ground. I can't seem to find power within the cables... I see power going out of the fuse. Would there be another source of power between the fuse box and the Sunroof switch?.. Thanks in advance.
    Did you swap out the switch yet? Download the ETM yet?
    As a courtesy, I've attached screen shots of ETM pages for you. Here's my guess about the entire circuit based on the ETM schematics:

    Battery->Fuse->ignition switch->K9 relay (fuse box)->C302 (power dist block?)->power window overload relay->switch->sunroof motor assembly.

    There are a bunch of wires in the motor assembly, but only a single green/red wire running down the a-pillar trim to the power dist block (near the pedal assembly). Motor should be grounded up in the roof, but I'm not 100% sure about that. BMW grounds are typically brown wires. BMW power window actuators up until the mid-90s are typically directly driven by the button contacts and will overload a control relay to stop the motor. It's a pretty dumb system, but it's predictable. It's usually the buttons.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
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    Miami
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    1985 BMW 635CSi
    I think I've pin pointed the problem. I was wondering if someone can enlighten mew. I took the sunroof out the car, and tested it directly to the battery. The motor turns on. My problem is that the motor seems to be working but it's not moving the gear. I can't figure out a way to take motor apart. Should I take apart, if so, how?...Or, is the gears broken and in need of replacing entire motor?. Thanks in advance.

  13. #13
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    1985 BMW 635CSi
    Never mind. The motor is bad. TY

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
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    '85 635 CSi Euro 5sp.
    The transmission comes apart by removing the crews around the perimeter, at which point, you'll see this:



    Lift off the two gears and the metal plate, and you'll see this:



    In this pic, the white gear is original, and is stripped, which is a common failure mode in these motors. The fiber gear installed in the motor is an aftermarket piece, made for M-B cars, but the pitch of the teeth is opposite, so it's not a suitable replacement. These Webasto motors are used in many makes of car. I bought one for next to nothing on eBay, from a Chevy Cavalier, and salvaged a good gear for mine.
    Last edited by dcains; 10-19-2017 at 07:11 PM.
    Dean
    Lutz, FL

    '85 635 CSi Euro #9402254
    '87 Spider Veloce
    '92 Spider Veloce
    '08 350Z


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