E30 Zone

i went to fit a headlight buzzer to my car today an found its got 1 already and it dont work nor does bout 4 other people i no with 1 is this a common fault
3 WIRES
1 PERMENT LIVE
1 PERMENT EARTH
1 UNSURE IT DOES NOTHING LIGHTS ON OFF DOOR OPEN CLOSED

and my battery keeps going flat coz i forget to turn them off rather than fit another i would like to fix this 1

If this is the genuine BMW article, then I've never heard of a common fault, but then, I've never actually seen a genuine one, since they seem to be as rare as rocking horse poo. Perhaps lots of zoners have them fitted, it IS a common fault, and they don't know they have them!
If it's an aftermarket thing, then the quality is likely to be several orders of magnitude less than the BMW one, and it may well be faulty.

Just fitted an aftermarket one to mine; it needed a switched live (from headlights switch - sidelights feed), an earth and one to the driver's door switch.

I don't think any have a permanent live.

it is a genuine 1 the buzzer has bmw stamped on it sits in the right hand side of the card on drivers dash card

wells696 wrote:it is a genuine 1 the buzzer has bmw stamped on it sits in the right hand side of the card on drivers dash card

Are you sure your not talking about an OBC gong? That is where i think you are saying yours is

wells696 wrote:it is a genuine 1 the buzzer has bmw stamped on it sits in the right hand side of the card on drivers dash card

I'd be prepare to have a look at it and see if it can be fixed, if you would send it to me. Curious to see what's inside of it, and if BMW have followed their usual practice of not using a simple circuit where a complicated one will do!

not sure i was told its a headlight buzzer it may well be a obc gong if u look at the card its a black grill and u drop the card and there are two reataing lugs its prob an obc gong and sum1 if making a nob of me lol

If it's mounted in the middle of the removable panel that sits above the driver's legs, with a grill in the card facing downwards to let the sound out, then it's an OBC gong.

thanks alot will fit 1 now and give the person who tols me it was a headlight buzzer some shit where do u get the feed from for the buzzer one from the valet switch behind the speaker and where for the headlight feed

i took a live feed off one of the lights for the head light adjuster which is next to it (if you have one that is)

i think you take 1 wire from the live when the headlights are turned on, i think its grey and yellow, and another wire from the door contact, which is your switchable earth

if you do use a 3rd wire, then i dunno where the hell it would come from. smithy318i is the man to talk to on this subject

or even our own uber-lord, brianmoore...

brain, can you shed some light?

In its most basic form , all you need is a wire from the instrument panel lighting wire, through a diode, to a buzzer and then to the wire from the door switch.
This will sound if a door is opened with the sidelights/headlamps switched on.
A more sophisticated arrangement will prevent the buzzer sounding if the ignition is on.

I get anoyed with this too!! I've left my lights on on a few occasions and its very annoying!! I left them on a work and didn't realise untill i finished 5hours later, battery was totally dead!!

Brianmoooore wrote:In its most basic form , all you need is a wire from the instrument panel lighting wire, through a diode, to a buzzer and then to the wire from the door switch.
This will sound if a door is opened with the sidelights/headlamps switched on.
A more sophisticated arrangement will prevent the buzzer sounding if the ignition is on.

whats the more sophisticated version then?

is there an off the shelf item you can buy???

i got hold of a buzzer and i took the dash apart to get to the wires on the back of the light switch and there was bout 10 and i put it back together and thought id ask sum1 lol

kam325itouring wrote:is there an off the shelf item you can buy???

Yes. Even halfrauds sell them.

wells696 wrote:i got hold of a buzzer and i took the dash apart to get to the wires on the back of the light switch and there was bout 10 and i put it back together and thought id ask sum1 lol

Use the grey wire with a red stripe. This is a switched positive supply.

Brian? Why the diode in the switched supply wire? Just curious. Extending my knowledge etc.

thedingbat wrote:Brian? Why the diode in the switched supply wire? Just curious. Extending my knowledge etc.

To stop the buzzer being powered by 12v+ through the interior lights when they are off, through the buzzer, and then to earth through the filaments of the panel lamps.

Smithy, do you have a source for the buzzer?

FlashBastd wrote:Smithy, do you have a source for the buzzer?

at the beginning of the year we had a group buy of 35 units from a company called AES.

We got a discount and it worked out at £7.25 each (including delivery)

however if you want just one, it will cost you £10.83

http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/264

I won't be doing another group buy.

Nice one, thanks!

Ordered!

See they do a light delay module as well!

Bugger, missed that!

Where? Can't find it.

Oops - http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product/175

I get anoyed with this too!! I've left my lights on on a few occasions and its very annoying!! I left them on a work and didn't realise untill i finished 5hours later, battery was totally dead!!

I'm really surprised to hear that. I left my lights on all day (9am-6pm) last winter and the car started no trouble at all. I disconnected the OBC gong because I don't like the car protesting at me when I haven't really woken up yet in the morning.

I'd like parking lights like VW does where you leave the indicator stalk up or down to turn on the sidelights on one side of the car only. I suppose that would be horrendously complicated to retro-fit though.

Brianmoooore wrote:See they do a light delay module as well!

i noticed.

tim-ix wrote:

I get anoyed with this too!! I've left my lights on on a few occasions and its very annoying!! I left them on a work and didn't realise untill i finished 5hours later, battery was totally dead!!

I'm really surprised to hear that. I left my lights on all day (9am-6pm) last winter and the car started no trouble at all. I disconnected the OBC gong because I don't like the car protesting at me when I haven't really woken up yet in the morning.

I'd like parking lights like VW does where you leave the indicator stalk up or down to turn on the sidelights on one side of the car only. I suppose that would be horrendously complicated to retro-fit though.

I thought they did this! Must check mine now!

tim-ix wrote:

I'd like parking lights like VW does where you leave the indicator stalk up or down to turn on the sidelights on one side of the car only. I suppose that would be horrendously complicated to retro-fit though.

Think you'll find you already have it. Where do you think VW got the idea?

ricey46 wrote:I get anoyed with this too!! I've left my lights on on a few occasions and its very annoying!! I left them on a work and didn't realise untill i finished 5hours later, battery was totally dead!!

Total current taken by sidelights and instrument lights is about 4 1/2 amps.
A battery in good condition should easily be able to sustain this for far more than five hours.

yeah well noticed, my battey was buggered due to a knackered alternator!!lol.

I left my lights on all day

When I turn off the engine with the light swith fully out, the headlights don't stay, just dimmers are on. Is this a kind of protection BMW had fitted instead of a buzzer?

Most European cars do this. I guess it will help quite a lot, but you could still not realise and come back to the car next morning, etc. to a flat battery.