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Thread: Cold Weather Conundrum?

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    86' 528e 00' 528iT

    Cold Weather Conundrum?

    Re posting to my touring people to see if anyone here can shed some light:

    01' 528 Touring Sport Edition.

    Driving in some frigid temperatures (0 degrees F) last Friday. Car started, warmed up fine. Highway driving for 45 minutes, sat out in the cold for 60 minutes, then back onto the highway for another 45-50 minutes of driving. No issues.

    Pulled into a shopping center, put car in park and switched off. Got out, went to use keyless lock and noticed it didn't work. Tried key in driver's door lock cylinder, no central locking. Back in car, tried again with center console switch for locking. Then got freaked out and tried to turn the car on. Turned to position 3 in the ignition, idiot lights came up on dash, but no turnover.

    Paused for about 30 seconds, thinking perhaps it's that the original battery in my key has given up after 17 years. Nope. Repeated ignition cycle and car fired up fine.

    However, I am missing the ability to do several things.

    Here's what I know works:

    Radio
    Tachometer
    Speedometer
    Steering Wheel controls
    Steering Column Adjustment
    Driver's seat electronic adjustment
    Driver's side mirror adjustment
    Headlights, Highbeams, Fogs
    Cigarette Lighter
    And the car drives as it did previous to this. Starts up like a champ, transmission behaves appropriately.

    Here is what I know doesn't work:
    Central Locking
    Interior Lights
    HVAC
    Center console lights for HVAC
    Passenger seat electronic adjustment
    Air suspension (idiot light shows on dashboard)

    I figured fuses might have somehow been blown, checked these for the systems I know aren't working and they are all fine.
    Wondered if my alternator was bad, or I had somehow lost my serpentine belt, but this was not the case.
    I also checked grounding points under the hood as well as at the back of the car, as well as battery terminal connections. All were snug.
    I wondered if severe windchill with cold weather had fried something or locked something up. Waited until temps came back up into the 30-40s to go back out and tinker a bit. Removed negative battery terminal after letting computer go to sleep. Reattached this evening but to no avail. Battery itself was replaced last year and had a fresh "born-on" date, and has been working this winter up until last week, so I don't think that is the issue, especially as I have enough juice to start the car.

    I'm wondering where/what to look into next. I ran the car for a bit tonight to get it warmed up and see if my wish that disconnecting the battery would help scare off the gremlins, but to no avail.Also hooked up the Peake code reader to see if any crazy codes were being thrown, but that was not the case.


    Hoping some of you can tell me where I ought to look next or if anyone is around in NE Ohio and willing to help with some diagnosis, please let me know. I'm not so great with electrical gremlins so I'm relying on groupthink to problem solve this one!

    Thanks in advance for all the help, I'll try to answer any questions you all have that can shed some light on this as they come.




  2. #2
    AquilaBMW's Avatar
    AquilaBMW is offline Mad Bimmerist BMW CCA Member
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    My initial guess would be a bad or faulty GM. Any chance the area around the passenger foot well is damp or wet or around the Glove box?



  3. #3
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    86' 528e 00' 528iT
    Pulled out the fuse box in the glove box, was not damp. No noticeable dampness at passenger side floor carpet either, someone suggested a faulty ignition switch so I may swap them out this weekend.

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    97 528i
    Quote Originally Posted by mslopnick View Post
    ...someone suggested a faulty ignition switch so I may swap them out this weekend.
    Certainly could be a failed GM...but ign switch was my initial thought too from what you are describing....failed electrical portion. Those contact fingers inside it can get pretty burned. If you swap it, take the old one apart and look to see if there are blackened arc marks on the contacts. I was going to suggest reading the codes too but you did that. The codes won't point you to the failure, but you may find something common behind them all...such as multiple different "item xyz...no signal..." etc...
    "two wrongs don't make a right...only three lefts do...."
    '79 Euro 635csi - gone and regretting it...
    '89 gsxr-750 - former traffic knife
    '97 528i sedan - holding on strong...(just sold after 16 years of ownership - sad day)
    '03 Euro 525it - something about a famous dolphin.....

    '06 Mercury Grand Marquis (don't ask....it gets the job done....)
    '84 Specialized Allez - full Campagnolo Super Record
    '99-ish Cannondale CAAD4
    "Stinky" - Kona Stinky Five
    '86 528e
    2008 E70 X5 3.0


  5. #5
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    Cold be an ignition switch, I just replace mine as a preventive maintance

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    86' 528e 00' 528iT
    UPDATE:: Temps and time finally provided a moment to fool around. I replaced ignition switch. This did solve an intermittent volume and speedo issue I was having, but did not remedy my other issues.

    However, for a moment after reconnecting the battery and turning off the car after the initial cycle of placing the part, I did get interior lights to come back on. Ignition was off and in position 1 at this point. As soon as I cycled through, car turned on and I'm back to not having any climate control, wipers, interior lights, Idiot sensor for Air suspension is lit up, etc.

    When I plugged in my Peake reader, the only code I'm getting thrown now is 4a, which si for AC compressor relay.

    Any further thoyghts? My next step is to look t one of the GM modules, but before I do that I need to red up and hear some opinions.

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