Three Unfamiliar "Beeps" . . .

[BMWtyro]

When driving our 7-86-built 325e, it will occasionally emit three electronic tones ("beep-beep-beep"), seemingly at random, from somewhere in the interior; no warning lights accompany this sound. We have owned the car for 12 years and have never before heard this sound. I have recently reset the oil change/service lights, but that has had no effect.

Ideas . . ?

Jeff

[jamespaleo]

Assuming it's not some aftermarket alarm or something, the only thing that occurs to me is maybe (?) the soldered in lithium batteries that keep track of the miles since last oil change have died and are letting you know about it. I read somewhere they are supposed to be rated at 25 years, so all e30's are past that now. I have an '89 325i, fairly sure my batteries are past due, but I don't rely on them for oil change intervals. And I have the door chime speaker disconnected so it can't make any noise even if that were the case, so speculating here ....

[BMWtyro]

James,

Thanks.

The S.I. board was replaced long ago with the battery-less variety (we have owned the car for 12 years), and I just recently reset it. I disconnected the door chime speaker long ago as well.

Jeff

[jamespaleo]

Well that's weird. With that speaker disconnected I would think the list of things that could even make a beeping noise is drastically reduced. I've never heard any noise from the overhead board with all the telltales about brakes, wiper fluid, etc.

What about something on the trip computer/outside temp unit? Mine does not function so I don't know if it makes noises. It almost sounds like it must be coming from the radio, but I'm assuming you've thought of that already.

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Thinking about this some more - aren't there beeps the OBC makes if it's a certain temperature outside? I know a previous VW I owned would freak me out every time it got to 36 degrees it would shout at me "oh my god it's close to freezing".

Or maybe the OBC has an alarm set inadvertently? You could check that pretty easily by just unplugging the OBS for a bit and see if the beeping goes away.

[BMWtyro]

James,

The OBC has a tone that it makes at 37 Deg. F. to warn the driver of the fact that bridge surfaces can be frozen. I have never heard it beep during the summer.

Jeff

[mbonder]

Is your ambient temp sensor operating properly? If not it could be throwing the OBC a cold reading and you are getting a beep from that.

[jamespaleo]

Without knowing much about the OBC, as I personally don't see much use for it, that's the thing I can think of on an e30 that makes a beep with your door come speaker unplugged. So my guess is there is some alarm function, or it's telling you the time is not set correctly, or something like that. It's a couple of minutes to pry the cover off, unplug it, see if the beep goes away.

[BMWtyro]

Possibly.

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Okay; thanks, James.