E39 540iT flashing light on cluster after coding

[jduffett]

I have a 2001 540iT with a 6spd swap. The swap was done by the previous owner, and other than a) the cruise doesn't work and b) I had to fix some wiring to get the back-up lights working, it has worked flawlessly for the year or so I've had it. The car came from the US, and I'm in Canada, and I decided today to do some module coding to put everything in metric units as well as set some preferences for window opening/closing, alarm/lock/unlock stuff, etc. I read and made a backup of GM3, IHKA, LCM, and KMBI (along with some others) before I started (actually I did this right after I got the car) using NCS Expert. I then made the desired changes in NCS Dummy, and coded each of these modules. When I was done, all seemed well, other than I have a light flashing constantly in the instrument cluster. It is the light immediately to the right of the traction control light, and looks like a small round dot with a large arrow pointing up. Based on the searching I have done, this is likely related to the rear air suspension? I had a previous E39 touring with air suspension where I was all too familiar with the "SELF LEVELLING SUSP. INACTIVE" message, and this shows no such messages, just the light. That car was a year newer though, but both cars had the "high" cluster. Checking error memory on the EHC module with INPA shows no errors. Coding all four modules back to the original using my backups results in the flashing light remaining on.

Can anyone confirm this light is related to the air suspension? I've also seen it suggested as a "shift up" light, but I see no reference to that anywhere in the documentation or in the trace files.

Any other ideas? NCS Dummy gives me a warning that there is 1 erroneous parameter in my KMBI trace, but it is present in the backup as well, and is under function "ACC_V_EFF_ANZ" (Active Cruise Control Effective/Display Speed Conversion), however this is unchecked in both the backup and my new trace.

[Chedley]

Well then, Can you use NCSExpert to turn on (check) the "ACC_V_EFF_ANZ" (Active Cruise Control Effective/Display Speed Conversion)" parameter in the KMBI module ??
Of course, make a back up of anything before changing the coding -- but I guess you already know that-.

[jduffett]

Well then, Can you use NCSExpert to turn on (check) the "ACC_V_EFF_ANZ" (Active Cruise Control Effective/Display Speed Conversion)" parameter in the KMBI module ??
Of course, make a back up of anything before changing the coding -- but I guess you already know that-.

I can check the box, but it highlights some stuff in red, and won't let me export the trace.

EDIT - on closer inspection, this warning is associated with the module KMBI_E38.C12, and not my specific trace. So I think this is unrelated/unimportant.

[jduffett]

I found two functions in the LCM (LCM.C18) that relate to EHC:

- under Check Control Coding Data 1, "LUFTFEDERUNG" - ELECTRONIC HEIGHT CONTROL (EHC)
- under Check Control Masking Bytes, "NIVEAUREG_INAKTIV" - CHECK CONTROL NOTIFICATION FOR DISABLED ELECTRONIC HEIGHT CONTROL (EHC)

I deactivated each of these, with no apparent effect.

I also found "BITTE_SCHALTEN" - CHECK CONTROL NOTIFICATION TO REQUEST TO SHIFT GEAR, however this is for Active Cruise Control only, and was already set to "nicht_melden"

Here's what the light looks like, by the way:

https://flic.kr/p/2nnsftB

I've also noticed that the frequency of flashing sometimes changes - occasionally I get a few slow flashes, and once I saw it stop for a few seconds!

[jduffett]

Okay, maybe more info... Despite most people saying the "arrow" icon is equivalent to the "car with up and down arrows" icon that is for the air suspension, I found reference to a flashing "object detected" lamp in the E38 Active Cruise Control docs here: http://www.meeknet.co.uk/E38/E38_Act...se_Control.pdf

I've been through most ACC functions in the various modules, and as far as I can tell they are all set correctly (ie !ACC). And the fact that it remains on even with my backup coding... Does that mean something was set somewhere that isn't reflected in the FSW_PSW stuff? Should I looking at nettodata traces??

[jduffett]

Well, I'm getting the sense not too many people know much about this... I've also noticed that the "two car" ACC lamp to the left of the DSC lamp illuminates during the initial key-on cluster light check. I feel like that's not normal for a !ACC car?

[jduffett]

Just bumping this up again... Can someone with a high cluster please confirm whether the ACC lamp illuminates at key-on?

[jduffett]

I found two functions in the LCM (LCM.C18) that relate to EHC:

- under Check Control Coding Data 1, "LUFTFEDERUNG" - ELECTRONIC HEIGHT CONTROL (EHC)
- under Check Control Masking Bytes, "NIVEAUREG_INAKTIV" - CHECK CONTROL NOTIFICATION FOR DISABLED ELECTRONIC HEIGHT CONTROL (EHC)

With these two functions coded on, if I unplug the big connector in the spare tire well for the air suspension, I get the familiar "SELF LEVELLING SUSP. INACT." message on the cluster, and read errors from the EHC module in INPA. Plug it back in, and the message and errors go away. Coding those two functions off, unplugging that connector results in no message on the cluster, as you'd expect. None of this has any impact on the flashing of the lamp. EHC seems to be fully functional (when plugged in!) - I'm able to read the sensor voltages, command it up and down (and it will return to normal height after), set transport mode, etc.

I haven't been able to find any information on what might trigger the lamp (whether solid or flashing) vs the text message. It seems to me the lamp is redundant in a high cluster. Has anyone with SLS and a high cluster seen this lamp illuminate? With, or without the "SELF LEVELLING SUSP. INACT." message?