Central Locking Mod

[tha881]

Need a quick bit of help with the wire mod on my central locking. The problem i have is i can see three red/black wires going into the harness. There are two going into one connector and one going to into the harness on another connector, car is a coupe aswell so i understand i should only be joining two. Does anyone know for sure which two it is before i cut them?

[Grrrmachine]

Which model and year is your E30?

[tha881]

Its a 1990 320i coupe

[daimlerman]

No E30 coupe!

But there is a 2 door saloon...

Slice the two black/red wires that lead to the door pillar and join them together.

[tha881]

Im pretty sure all three go to the door pillar though mate!

Can anyone confirm which two it is, im guessing the top two but not sure?

[Grrrmachine]

I can't see three black/red wires there. I can see two, and a red/brown.

Anyway, you need to find the wires at the back of the C405 plug (the actual door loom plug), not in the mass of wiring behind the speakers. These should be going to pins 3 and 15:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/C405

[daimlerman]

IF..all three go to the pillar socket,you have a cabbie,not a saloon!
So slice all the black/red that go to the pillar socket and join the little buggers together.

The aim is to eliminate the loop through the driver's door by the black/red.As this wire is constantly live,it encourages corrosion in the pillar plug/socket,that spreads to other wires and causes mayhem.

That lower wire looks red/black in your piccie....

[Brianmoooore]

I can't see three black/red wires there. I can see two, and a red/brown.

Anyway, you need to find the wires at the back of the C405 plug (the actual door loom plug), not in the mass of wiring behind the speakers. These should be going to pins 3 and 15:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/C405

Err, No! Most definitely not! The wires should be cut and joined in the area in the pic., but you are right about there being two red/black and a red/brown.
The red/blacks come one from each loom, which is the reason BMW wired things like this - an easy way to connect in the central locking option without modifying the main body loom.

[tha881]

Wasnt aware that was in the wiki mate. Could be worth linking it to the section that explains the mod? Thanks for the info much appreciated

[Brianmoooore]

tha881. Read my post above. You may have missed it since we posted at the same time!

[tha881]

Dont worry i didnt cut them yet!

I will have another look and follow them to the correct pins to be sure....

Looking at the pic again i think one is red/brown so will check them, thanks for pointing it out!

[Grrrmachine]

Brian, what I meant was trace the wires from the back of the C405 plug to make sure you've got the right ones, not just go hunting in the mess of wires behind the speaker (i.e. as they come through the bulkhead and snake around the dash).

The Red/Black mod is here:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... Black_Wire

[tha881]

All sorted now, central locking is back on! Thanks for the help everyone

[Brianmoooore]

All sorted now, central locking is back on! Thanks for the help everyone

Not only that, but the permanently live pins inside the door plug and socket were slowly rotting out all the other connections in there, if any trace of moisture is present. Disconnecting these two wires will have halted that, meaning that your mirrors , windows, and control circuits of the locking should stay working for much longer.