E30 Zone

hi im new to this site. just found it tonight.

i have got myself a 325i sport and on the way home the other night the indicators, wipers, horn, map lights on mirror and break lights have stopped working.

all the fuses in the fuse box seem to be ok. think im goin to have to pay a visit to an autospark.

does anyone have any ideas as to what the cause might me?

thanks
jonny

All your faults are associated with fuses 4,5,6 and 7, which, in turn, are all associated with the ignition switch first position.
There's no well known fault here, so you'll have to trace through.
If the engine runs, things must be OK as far as the ignition switch, so the fault is between here and the fusebox.
The wire is purple, and runs from the ignition switch to a multipin plug and socket clipped to the steering column about half way down. Take off the panel above the driver's lower legs to find this).
The wire then runs in the loom across behind the dash, and up through the rubber duct behind the glovebox, into the fusebox, where it plugs on to the fusebox circuit board by a 5 or 6 pin connector.
One of these two connectors, or the ignition switch itself is likely to be the problem.
My guess would be the one inside the fusebox, as it's easy to leave this half undone if the fusebox is taken apart.

iv got the same sort of problem expet its just my indicators that dont work, my hazards do but it keeps popping a fuse everytime i turn the ignition key to the first click. Will have to check this wiring

Rokit wrote:iv got the same sort of problem expet its just my indicators that dont work, my hazards do but it keeps popping a fuse everytime i turn the ignition key to the first click. Will have to check this wiring

Check the glove box light!

Rokit wrote:
iv got the same sort of problem expet its just my indicators that dont work, my hazards do but it keeps popping a fuse everytime i turn the ignition key to the first click. Will have to check this wiring
Check the glove box light!

iv got no light in the glove box at all, however at the weekend i removed the glove box as it was jammed shut....makes sense if that is the fault. checking today, thanks

Brianmoooore you legend!!! cheers mate. all working and back to normal again

I have the same problem: indicators, wipers, brake light and horn all stopped working at the same time, and it has happened me 3 times in 4 months. The first 2 times, I looked at elec diagrams, traced it to the 6 pin connector on the underside of the circuit board in the fuse box, examined the 6 pin connector, tried pushing the connectors fully "home", but seeing / feeling nothing obviously wrong, I reseated the circuit board, started up the car, and all was fine. On the most recent failure I found out that a knock on the lid of the fuse box restores operation! I didn't thump the box or anything, a fairly light knock on the closed lid and i was back in business - this has me stumped.

Brianmoooore, or anyone, would you happen to know if theres something I'm missing here - is there a possibility of a dry solder joint (or something like that) on the board that might give this kind of response, I'm not sure if this problem is gonna bite me again - if the only solution is replacing the circuit board I don't mind doing it, just don't want to waste money either!

btw, my car is originally from london - I know its a long shot but if anyone ran a '90 diamondschwartz 318is H784TGJ - you looked after it well - it's in better nick that some 3 year old motors over here in the bog (elec problem notwithstanding...)

If thumping the fusebox has an effect on the problem, it's almost certainly a cracked solder joint (probably around the pin that goes into the socket). Could also possibly be a crack in the circuit board, but that can be repaired by soldering 1.5mm solid copper wire across the crack from solder pad to solder pad.

Fair play for the fast response Brianmoooore, I feared it might be a dry / cracked solder joint alright. I might give it a shot with the soldering iron so.

This is the first thing I've posted on the 'zone, though I'm always lurking here, and there's a serious amount of knowledge here - but Brianmoooore you're in a league of your own on e30s !

I'm not tryin to hijack the thread or anything - but any other irish 318is owners here - dublin or kildare? there're getting very popular over here

got mine fixed. left it with a bmw auto spark and he had it for a a day and a half and found it was a faulty wire in the fuse box. charged me 25 quid and working alrite now


on the dash what is the light between the handbreak and the engine warning light? its a circle with few dashes at each side

Brake shoe wear indicator, mine flashes on and off i believe the offside rear wheel and near side front wheel have little gubbins on then to feel for low brake shoe material when they are low it will light continuosly, mine has a loose connection that sets it off just havnt had the time to get under the ol girl and ge tto work in fixing it yet.
y apologies to more knowledgeable zoners if Ive got any of this wrong.

Rokit wrote:iv got the same sort of problem expet its just my indicators that dont work, my hazards do but it keeps popping a fuse everytime i turn the ignition key to the first click. Will have to check this wiring

Think this is your indicator relay. if you remove it then replace it, it should reset its self, indicators would work and would stop blowing the fuse

thanks for the help. the brake wear light just flashes on an off must be a loose connection aswell

thanks again for the help