B10 3.3 Froze D/B + Brake lights stay on + not able to start

paulbraden2010 · Post by **paulbraden2010** » Wed May 16, 2012 1:20 pm

Hi
I had a really strange gremlin this morning, driving to work, i noticed that the clock had stopped working, then noticed that the rev counter/MPG gauge had frozen, the speedo did not work properly either.
I arrived at my destination and reversed into my parking space, turned the engine off, all of the dashboard stayed the same and the brake lights were still on. I removed the key and tried to restart the engine, with nothing at all. I tried to lock the car and again nothing.

I disconnected the neutral lead and reconnected, which did reset everything.
So my question, has anybody else experienced this?

MarkWG · Post by **MarkWG** » Wed May 16, 2012 2:51 pm

Have a search on "igntion switch" - it's either that or the battery needs a recharge. The switch is an e39 thing, & they're very sensitive to the battery being below par.

paulbraden2010 · Post by **paulbraden2010** » Wed May 16, 2012 2:55 pm

Car has only just had a new BMW battery fitted. So will look up the ignition switch stuff. The alternator is under two years old.

Many thanks

P

MarkWG · Post by **MarkWG** » Wed May 16, 2012 4:57 pm

Yep, I'd go there first: they get a bit fritzy & throw weird electrical glitches like you've got. Bit of a faff to change, but definately DIY, & shouldn't be more than Â£40 if that. Alternator on the other hand...

paulbraden2010 · Post by **paulbraden2010** » Wed May 16, 2012 5:11 pm

I might have the alternator checked over, then if faulty can be replaced under the warranty.
Many thanks for point me in the direction of the Ignition switch, sounds like it causes allsorts of bloody problems.

Any tips on taking apart the steering column and fitting said switch?

Cheers

Paul

dellboy 1959 · Post by **dellboy 1959** » Wed May 16, 2012 7:29 pm

If the battery has just been changed then this might explain why it's thrown a hissy fit.
If all's working now just monitor it for a couple of days and see what happens,It may be Ok.

paulbraden2010 · Post by **paulbraden2010** » Wed May 16, 2012 7:32 pm

The battery has been changed about three/four weeks now.
Like you say, see how it goes, but from reading the posts on the E39 ignition switch, it does seem to be a likely cause of all things gremlin!

MarkWG · Post by **MarkWG** » Wed May 16, 2012 7:45 pm

From memory, there are a couple of screws underneath, & one on the column which is a very small torx or star head. It's more trying to crank your head around under there to see what you're doing, as much as difficulty in itself. If you're minded to, apparently they sometimes respond to a strip down & clean, but it wasn't worth the aggro for me.

Ikule · Post by **Ikule** » Wed May 16, 2012 9:28 pm

Coincidence or what?? mine is having similar problems, the instrument cluster has stopped working so I've got no fuel gauge, speedometer, rev counter or water temp gauge at the moment,
oh and no clock or obc, (I'm currently using a Road Angel as my speedo)
its booked in on Saturday for my indie to have a look at it, but that ignition switch info is very helpful, thanks.

paulbraden2010 · Post by **paulbraden2010** » Wed May 16, 2012 9:40 pm

there is a good web page when you start looking at e39 ignition issues, that shows you how to strip down the steering column cover and then how to proceed with pictures.

Ikule · Post by **Ikule** » Tue May 29, 2012 11:13 pm

Ikule wrote: Coincidence or what?? mine is having similar problems, the instrument cluster has stopped working so I've got no fuel gauge, speedometer, rev counter or water temp gauge at the moment,
oh and no clock or obc, (I'm currently using a Road Angel as my speedo)
its booked in on Saturday for my indie to have a look at it, but that ignition switch info is very helpful, thanks.

Ignition switch was ok on mine, the problem was one of the fuel tank senders was faulty, that led to a fuse relocation 'error' which resulted in the rest of the dash having a bit of an 'inadvertent holiday',
the less said about that the better...........

rincewind · Post by **rincewind** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:52 pm

Good guide to ignition switch replacement with piccies here:

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/244045[/url]

Alpina Jim · Post by **Alpina Jim** » Mon Nov 12, 2018 10:09 pm

I think the ignition switch on my B10 is on its way out.

I was checking my car over today for its mot tomorrow. All was well until I had finished checking the mot electrics and decided to operate the sun visor vanity mirror lights as they rarely ever get used. As soon as I operated one the radio display disappeared, along with the OBC display on the instrument cluster and the vanity lights flickered and went out. Switching the vanity mirror lights back off put everything back to normal again.

Normally I would suspect a bad earth somewhere, but in the back of my head I remembered reading about E39 ignition switches causing strange electrical problems. A quick trawl of the web revealed an E39 owner that had the exact same symptoms as mine and changing the ignition switch cured it.

Fingers crossed my B10 behaves tomorrow for its 16th mot with me.

Alpina Jim · Post by **Alpina Jim** » Fri Nov 23, 2018 7:14 pm

I changed the ignition switch on my B10 today, and the good news is that all the electrical gremlins have now disappeared, even the sun visor vanity mirror lights are back to normal, obviously that is a very important accessory.

theALPINAregister.com

B10 3.3 Froze D/B + Brake lights stay on + not able to start

B10 3.3 Froze D/B + Brake lights stay on + not able to start

Ignition switch replacement guide