E36 ECU Error codes

[Michall]

Hello, two weeks ago I bought my first car, the stunningly beautiful 1999 E36 compact, while I was buying it I was aware of a few issues that this car have, one of them was the all time turned on airbag control. In order to know what is going on with my airbags i bought a cheap diagnostic OBD-II cable with OBD-I adapter, unfortunatly I couldn't install INPA on my computer (it installs properly but I cant connect with car, both ignition and power controls are white), so I used mobile app called "Deep OBD for BMW and VAG", it connected properly with my car and listed a lot of ECU errors, I would like you to help me with understanding seriousness of this problems and maybe give some tips to fix that errors. Here is the list:

ASCMK20: - During drive the ASC and ABS warning lights are off, during error reading they lit up, I dont know weather they are fake errors or I should check something with my ASC.
Speed sensor front right start up detection
CAN DME/DDE, engine torque not adjustable
Pump, Motor, Valve Block, Wiring Harness

BMS46DS1:
Catalyst conversion - I already solved that problem, the seller just decieved me that the loud exhaust sound is due to the bad exhaust repair but in reality the seller has removed catalysator, I visited car mechanic and mounted new catalysator so this error shouldn't appear anymore.

EWS3D:
Tolerance increases for key number 1 - to be honest I really don't understand what this errors mean, how crucial are them or how to fix them, if someone can explain them I will be grateful.
Power-On-Reset
Key no. 1 invalid due to faulty identification

KOMBI36C:
Signal TD (speed) - Another bunch of errors I don't understand I think the diagnostic tool just wanted to connect to some ECU that dosen't exist in my car.
no CAN ID ASC1
no CAN ID
CAN BUS OFF
SIA-Reset

TOENS_2: - Same as with CAN errors, I don't know what those errors mean.
Speed signal
TOENS Signal

ZAE2:
Zuendkreis 5 -> side airbag on the right -I would appreciate if you would tell me how to diagnose it, the leather on door side dosen't indicate blowing of airbag.
Zuendkreis 1 -> Driver Belt Tensioner - I was looking at that tensioner, it seems to be connected properly also it dosen't look like it have been used, I would appreciate if you would tell me how to diagnose it.
Supply voltage - I have no idea what that error mean.

ZKE4: - Also no idea what this error mean and where is located that Lead Terminal.
Lead terminal R missing

Also during the ignition of the car the "check engine" control dosen't lit up, I think it should lit up to let driver to check if the light bulb is working properly. I already checked that light bulb is fully functional. Is there any chance that somehow the seller just turned off that check engine control, Is it possible to check that?
And one last question, in car manual I saw that this car can have unfastened seatbelts light, but my model dosen't have light bulb for that function installed, if i would by a light bulb is there a chance to activate that control or will it work without any activation?

Thank you in advance for tips and answers!

Michael (picture of my car if you are curious https://imgur.com/a/3aA6A33)

[Eric93se]

Looks like a lot of those errors are due to the software looking for something (module) that is not on that car and you shouldn't be concerned about.

But, it does sound like your computer (DME) was probably modified. The CEL should illuminate when putting the key in.

Yes you should see a seat belt light and there should be an audible chime sound to tell you to put the seat belt on. On my car the electrical connector for the seatbelt was corroded and I did not get the chime sound (can't recall if that effected the light or not), I ended up by passing the connector because the connector corroding wasn't an easy fix and the seat belt chime works fine again. Most people buy a new part but I didn't want to waste the money.

Have not heard about your color coded wires not allowing INPA to work on your car, are you sure you got it setup correctly? There is a thread in the Z3 subforum that has an excellent version of INPA that works great on our cars.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...xperimentation

[B320i]

But, it does sound like your computer (DME) was probably modified. The CEL should illuminate when putting the key in.

Yes you should see a seat belt light and there should be an audible chime sound to tell you to put the seat belt on. On my car the electrical connector for the seatbelt was corroded and I did not get the chime sound (can't recall if that effected the light or not), I ended up by passing the connector because the connector corroding wasn't an easy fix and the seat belt chime works fine again. Most people buy a new part but I didn't want to waste the money.

The OP is from Europe, and therefore has a European-spec E36. None of these ever had a Check-Engine light; only seems the U.S. vehicles had them due to more stringent emissions requirements at the time. Despite the lack of Check-Engine light and standardised diagnostic port, these vehicles are still almost completely OBD-II.

It could be worth disconnecting your vehicle's battery for a time to allow all the computers to reset, before reconnecting and seeing what codes come up after a drive. If the vehicle has an alarm system fitted (factory or aftermarket), be aware this could upset that.

There should be a Fasten-Seatbelt light that illuminates when starting, (before extinguishing) but I don't believe the European vehicles have any sort of chime for this, nor would the light stay on longer than a few seconds on our cars.

By the way, that's a very nice looking E36 you have there

[Michall]

Thank you guys for fast replies, thanks to the guide that you linked me i succesfully installed INPA on my old Win XP laptop and it works although it still did not detect weather the ignition is turned on or off.

None of these ever had a Check-Engine light; only seems the U.S. vehicles had them due to more stringent emissions requirements at the time. Despite the lack of Check-Engine light and standardised diagnostic port, these vehicles are still almost completely OBD-II

Few days ago i dismounted my instument cluster in order to change backlight light bulbs (two of them were broken), so i also took a look on the other mounted light bulbs. I have a check engine light bulb installed, but it dosen't want to show up during the startup of the engine. In INPA i found a thing called "Instrument cluster test" or something like that and used it. During this test the Check Engine light has showed off so maybe someone in fact disabled it, unluckly i don't have any experience with using the diagnostic tool so i don't know how to enable it again. Also in this video you can see that eu versions of the e36 also had check engine light https://youtu.be/SHeAnOSaYgs?t=7

There should be a Fasten-Seatbelt light that illuminates when starting, (before extinguishing) but I don't believe the European vehicles have any sort of chime for this, nor would the light stay on longer than a few seconds on our cars.

My car has a special chime that is turning on when the headlights are not turned off after you turn off the engine, so maybe it can be programmed to also indicate unfastened seatbelts, also when i tried to connect with a module called "Seat occupation detection" through INPA, it resulted in an error, i belive that this module is used for that fasten-seatbelt light, so probably i won't be able to adapt this cool feature into my car :/ . For now i just erased all the errors and after some time i will try to check weather they will appear again. I also heared about a program called ISTA, i heard that it is easier to use than INPA is that true?

[2JZ E36]

Its important to notice that your car is one of the latest compacts. The 1999 compacts and after had CAN-Bus, which no other E36 had. This is also why you have the check engine light in your cluster. If I understood correctly, the airbag is the only problem? The rest of these errors might just be when somebody unplugged something while it had power. If nobody ever cleared these errors in the lifetime of the car, these can accumulate. TOENS is the oil level sensor I think, maybe somebody unplugged it when doing an oilchange. I would clear these errors and see what shows up again. Did you check if the driver side airbag is still in there? I bought a car once and the previous guy just put the plastic cover back on after it exploded after an accident.

[Michall]

If I understood correctly, the airbag is the only problem?

Thats the main issue, the airbag lighit is visible all the time during driving, i dont know how to dismount airbag cover, i am more concerned about that belt tensioner, if my belt tensioner dosen't work probably in case of accident the driver airbag will not work either.

TOENS is the oil level sensor I think, maybe somebody unplugged it when doing an oilchange

Here comes another issue, after turning on the engine, yellow oil light is visible for about 10 seconds, which i believe is not a normal behavior, later it just turns off. It happens almost every engine start. I checked oil level and its ok so maybe it lights up because of the faulty sensor.
I think that my check engine light has been somehow disabled because while i was driving without catalysator which was reported as an error in engine ECU, the check engine light should appear, but it did not, so i am afraid if i will have any engine problems in a future i won't be informed about them until i plug the diagnostic tool in.

[B320i]

Thanks Michall and GeneralLeex for your responses regarding the CEL. I realised when watching the OPs video of the Compact being started that we were dealing with yet another kettle of fish... Why BMW had to vary these bloody things so much depending on where and when the vehicle was sold, I'll never know.

On earlier E36s, the headlight alarm is a coarse-sounding buzzer. I dunno what the Compact's should sound like.

[Michall]

Today was a nice weather so i decided to check my airbags and other stuff, the results were suprising. After removing the interior door panel to check the side airbag, i discovered that my doors were replaced because the car had accident, the person who replaced this door didn't care to mount airbag or even the plastic cover between window lifting mechanism and the interior door panel. So i will need to buy this plastic cover and new airbag. I have heared that i will have to code my airbag controller to make the new airbag work, is that true? Also i dismonunted the driver seat to check on that belt tensioner, luckly it was all intact and i only cleared the plugs and airbag controller didnt show belt tensioner error anymore. I also detected a cut off cables from part of the seat heating so i resoldered them. Plenty of work today, here is a pic of my door :/ https://www.imgur.com/a/XygyNFa