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      09-26-2013, 07:03 AM   #40
GRLPWR
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Drives: '07 335i
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Durham, NC

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2007 335i  [0.00]
This happened to me yesterday, and after several hours of researching the 'net, I found several posts regarding the wires. Took it to my shop, told the tech what to look for and, yep, the first wire poking out was the white one. I told him to remove the cloth tape and, yep, more stressed wires. He, too, cut/nip/solder each one, heat wrapped them, then tucked them at the bottom of the shift assembly (instead of sticking them back beside the solenoid on the right side of the assembly) so it would give the wires more slack during the back-n-forth movement.

These forums are great resources (despite the drama they create too).

Quote:
Originally Posted by LaLakers91tc View Post
Just following up for those that might be experiencing a similar problem.

I did the work in about 45 minutes today, and it was a lot easier than I expected.

I followed the DIY instructions on removing the center console.
The leather boot took a slight tug to come out, the shifter popped out with some effort while in neutral as well, the center console trim also comae out easily with upward pressure. I unplugged all the necessary harnesses and saw this



The white wire are the bottom position of the assembly was cut through

the purple one was also stressed and almost seperate.

I went to strip the wire to solder it, but turns out that the white wire was broken elsewhere as well! It came right out of the cloth wrapping. I took 6 torx screws out (3 big ones holding it down, t30, and a couple t10 I believe on the side holding a plastic cover over the wires) and pulled the assembly up to have easier access



Afterwards, I cut open the cloth that was wrapped around the wires and saw a pretty horrid sight. All of the wires were coming apart! There was exposed copper everywhere and we were close to coming apart.



I spliced in some wire to replace the broken section on the white wire, and then to prevent these from coming apart, I doused them in hot glue to keep the wires in place, and intact. and closed everything up again nice and tight. The procedure to take it apart was easy enough, and putting it back together was simple.

I tested it out and everything worked!
I hope the hot glue holds up for some time.

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