[ewodzien]

It started to innocently....

iDrive says that the brake fluid needs to be changed... ok.. it is yellow... I'll take care of it during the next oil change..

One week later, the warning turns Red and ugly... Brake Fluid Change OVERDUE! (Yes, the damn Germans use an exclamation mark in their warnings.)

So, I decided to book an appointment for next week- besides one of the LEDs on my right turn signal went out and my rear parcel shelf was squeaking again....

Then the fun happened. Literally, right after I made the appointment, my instrument cluster starts resetting and the iDrive display says "Electrical Malfunction! Pull Over Carefully. Continued driving is not possible."

See...



Here is a video of the dash resets.

But the engine continues purring.

Well since then, it has happened over 100 times- 20 times on the way to the dealer.

They will take a look.. I suspect a bad tire pressure module based on research and the fault codes...

Motor Control:
   Engine / Motor
      Fehler: Message failure / Data COMBI STAT
        Code: 4993
      Fehler: Message failure / unknown failure
        Code: 49A2
      Fehler: Message / Message failure / data failure
        Code: 4BF7
ABS / DSC / Brake:
   Dynamische Stabilitaets Kontrolle / DSC
      Fehler: Instrument cluster 1 outdoor temperature PT-CAN / PT CAN fault / EGS CAN message / CAN error message
        Code: D358
Airbag:
   Airbag
      Fehler: General Bus Wiring error / General Bus cable fault
        Code: C944
Transmission Control:
   Transmission / Getriebe GS 19
      ECU OK, no Fault Code

Instrument cluster:
   Instrument cluster / Kombiinstrument
      Fehler: CAN signal fault / CAN ID failure
        Code: A3B6
      Fehler: unknown failure
        Code: A3BC
      Fehler: CAN LOW ERROR
        Code: E104
      Fehler: K-Can Bus off
        Code: E107
   Central info display / Zentrales Display
      Fehler: Communication CAN Low / Line fault detection K-CAN
        Code: E5C4
      Fehler: Communication Bus error / Errors out of the bus K-CAN
        Code: E5C7
Heating / AC:
   Air conditioning / Klimaanlage
      Fehler: CAN-BUS error / C-CAN failure / CAN bus physical bus errors
        Code: E704
      Fehler: PTC LIN / Left rear engine stratification / PTC auxiliary heaters / unknown failure
        Code: 9C53
      Fehler: Message Error PT CAN / unknown failure / CAN controllers, bus-off / K-Can Bus off
        Code: E707
Immobilizer System:
   CAS
      Fehler: Central control timeout
        Code: D904
Sunroof / Roof:
   Roof / Dach
      Fehler: CAN Bus failure / Can line fault
        Code: DE84
      Fehler: CAN Bus failure / CAN bus communication error
        Code: DE87
Audio/Navi/Communication:
   Phone / Telefon
      ECU OK, no Fault Code
Seats:
   Seats / Sitze
      Fehler: Bus cable fault / CAN-Low, physical bus error
        Code: E444
      Fehler: Controllers, bus-off
        Code: E447
Systems:
   Junction Box Passenger / Beifahrer
      Fehler: K-CAN communication / K-CAN communikation / K-CAN Controller
        Code: C907
      Fehler: :K-CAN communikation / PT-CAN Controller
        Code: C908
   Fuel pump / Kraftstoffpumpe
      ECU OK, no Fault Code
   Tire pressure control / Reifendruck Kontrolle
      Fehler: CAN error-Low / CAN low error
        Code: D104
      Fehler: Controller error / error controller
        Code: D107
   Passive Go System
      Fehler: Power failure / K CAN LOW LINE
        Code: D2C4
      Fehler: CAN controller error
        Code: D2C7
   Car Communication Computer CCC
      ECU OK, no Fault Code
   MASK
      Fehler: :unknown fault
        Code: E1C4
      Fehler: :Bus communication error
        Code: E1C7
   Car Communication
      ECU OK, no Fault Code
Body:
   Fussraummodul /FRM
      Fehler: unknown failure / K-CAN-Bus cable fault / Central control timeout
        Code: E584

[ewodzien]

An observation about the X3 loaner I was given... bad glare!

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...8#post16382668

[Blackhawk36]

What was the problem? I have a similar issue and similar codes. Car runs fine.

[ewodzien]

I'm happy to report that the problem has been fixed.

But it wasn't easy to find. The problem was a loose "crimp joint" in the drivers side harness.

Although I wasn't happy that the dealer had my car for a MONTH (!!!), I was very happy that they took the time to actually fix the problem and not replace a random module and call it done, only to have me come back again.

The tech I got at Peter Pan BMW was fantastic... he was the lead foreman and spent the time with an oscilloscope to examine the bus. He said that the low side near the canbus crimp joint was noisy when he moved it. So although he couldn't reproduce the problem, he was pretty certain it was the issue... and he was correct. If you need his name, please PM me. Cannot recommend him any higher. He even gave me a bottle of "door seal lube" to help quiet down my squeaky door rubbers.

Evidently, several canbus network runs to three separate crimp joints in the E90- one by drivers side, and two on the passenger side. These form the hub and spoke architecture that all of the modules communicate on for various canbus networks (comfort/entertainment/safety/powertrain, etc.).

Hope this helps. If you need more information, please let me know.

-Ed

[taibanl]

crissake - why do I always get stuck with Retard Tommy as my technician.

[rogerdiaz]

What does this one mean? I have it and clear it frequently. but recurs.

K-Can Bus off
Code: E107

[///Mposter]

Originally Posted by rogerdiaz

What does this one mean? I have it and clear it frequently. but recurs.

K-Can Bus off
Code: E107

Probably the module is listening and not seeing the correct data in the correct sequence and then after a certain time-count turns off.
Resetting it starts the listening all over. Could be a bad line or disconnect, module. You would have to troubleshoot all the systems individually or see what data is missing to find the culprit.

[rogerdiaz]

Originally Posted by ///Mposter

Probably the module is listening and not seeing the correct data in the correct sequence and then after a certain time-count turns off.
Resetting it starts the listening all over. Could be a bad line or disconnect, module. You would have to troubleshoot all the systems individually or see what data is missing to find the culprit.

Thanks, makes sense, I think I know the affected module. My comfort access features stopped working one random day. All of them.

New FOB batteries hasn't done the trick.

[luxe91]

For future reference in case someone has similar issues, the crimp joint mentioned by the OP is located immediately below the driver's footrest.

There are two connection points (x13722, x13723), one for f-can low and the other for f-can high wires. There are three wires crimped together in each. The wires are coming from the DSC/ABS module, the lateral acceleration sensor under the drivers seat, and the JBBF (the SZL is upstream of the JBBF). In these crimps the f-can wires come together to form the bus network. The actual crimp is a simple compression of the three wires together covered by a rubber tube.

[335inDe]

Nice to hear there is SOME good techs out there! Glad you got it sorted out!

[yaseenr]

ewodzien

Just joined the forum so I hope I'm posting correctly..

I am having some CAN bus issues on my Z4m roadster and could really use a good tech. I'd like to take you up on your offer of the name of the tech at Peter Pan BMW.

thx

Originally Posted by ewodzien

I'm happy to report that the problem has been fixed.

But it wasn't easy to find. The problem was a loose "crimp joint" in the drivers side harness.

Although I wasn't happy that the dealer had my car for a MONTH (!!!), I was very happy that they took the time to actually fix the problem and not replace a random module and call it done, only to have me come back again.

The tech I got at Peter Pan BMW was fantastic... he was the lead foreman and spent the time with an oscilloscope to examine the bus. He said that the low side near the canbus crimp joint was noisy when he moved it. So although he couldn't reproduce the problem, he was pretty certain it was the issue... and he was correct. If you need his name, please PM me. Cannot recommend him any higher. He even gave me a bottle of "door seal lube" to help quiet down my squeaky door rubbers.

Evidently, several canbus network runs to three separate crimp joints in the E90- one by drivers side, and two on the passenger side. These form the hub and spoke architecture that all of the modules communicate on for various canbus networks (comfort/entertainment/safety/powertrain, etc.).

Hope this helps. If you need more information, please let me know.

-Ed

[cparke]

Originally Posted by luxe91

For future reference in case someone has similar issues, the crimp joint mentioned by the OP is located immediately below the driver's footrest.

There are two connection points (x13722, x13723), one for f-can low and the other for f-can high wires.

For anyone reading this thread and the above, the crimp joints in the picture and diagram are for the F-CAN network, which is only used by the DSC to connect to its two sensors (lateral position sensor and the very important steering angle sensor [SZL]). However, the modules with CAN bus errors reported by the OP are not on the F-CAN network! The other two crimp joints the OP is referring to on the passenger side are for the K-CAN and PT-CAN networks which the OP's controllers with errors are located on. The crimp joint connection points for these other networks are indicated as (x10545, x10546) for the PT-CAN bus, and in three separate sets for the K-CAN bus: (x15001, x15002 -- passenger side), (x15003, x15004 -- driver's side), and (x15005, x15006 --- trunk left wiring port, I think). Complete wiring diagrams for each CAN network, including the list of controllers connected to each, is available on www.newtis.info. I've attached a diagram below that shows the location some of these.

All three types of CAN bus, which are differentiated by baud speed (I believe K-CAN runs at 100KHz and PT-CAN and F-CAN run at 500KHz), are inter-connected through specific controllers which act as gateways. For example, it's the DSC that is the gateway controller between the F-CAN and PT-CAN buses, while the JBE/JBBF is the gateway controller between the PT-CAN and K-CAN networks. Interestingly, though, the JBE/JBBF module also provides pass-thru connection of the F-CAN between the DSC and the SZL, though I think unofficially the JBE does more than that and reads the SZL directly from the F-CAN for turn signal cancellation as well as uses the network perhaps for other purposes.

There also are some non-CAN networks in the car, such as the fiber optic MOST network for audio/video controllers, and also the "LIN-bus" network which is forwarded through the FRM. There might be more networks too, I'm sure I've missed something. Nevertheless, all car controllers supposedly can be accessed via any network in this way thanks to the use of gateways. That means when a CAN bus signal error is occurring, almost always multiple controllers are affected, though you may be able to isolate which network the faulty CAN controller or loose connection is on by the list of controllers reporting communication errors.

WARNING: The various crimp joints for these CAN networks are buried in the wiring harness in cramped/tight locations with very small wires (like 24 gauge). Furthermore, even if you find them, the issue could be microscopic and unable to be seen with visual inspection (unless there is obvious water damage and corrosion in that same area). So if you suspect the crimp joints are at fault, have tools and supplies ready to professionally re-solder them when you find them. Otherwise, I don't think there is any point in looking for them in the first place, as inspecting them could damage them or surrounding wires if done without proper tools and skill!