[nhr1213]

Hi there,

I recently spilled coffee directly onto my iDrive knob after making a sharp right turn and intermittently forgetting about the horrible design of my cupholders. I pulled over and cleaned everything up real quickly, crossing my fingers that nothing seeped below the controller.

I proceeded to drive to my destination, but on my way back, all the warning lights on my dash turned on (I normally don't have any warning lights) and the car warned, "electrical malfunction. impossible to continue driving. please take to nearest BMW center". This warning message flashed on and off about twice so I pulled over, turned the car off, waited a few minutes, then all the warning signs and lights were gone.

I decided to take the back roads home just in case the car suddenly broke down, but it was driving perfectly fine - except my iDrive controller + buttons (CIC) stopped working. My phone still connects via bluetooth and I can use the steering wheel buttons to skip, answer phone calls, etc., but I'm pretty sure that the "electrical malfunction" warning was my connected to my iDrive.

Does anyone have any clue as to what exactly the issue might be or how I can find out without taking it to BMW? If I can fix it myself that would be the best possible scenario! Thanks in advance!

[DavesZed]

OK, so it'll have affected the canbus, which is the internal control circuit between various modules within the car. This'll be why your dash lit up.
So hopefully it'll be recoverable, you'll need to lift the centre console and remove the plug from underneath the iDrive controller. Then remove the controller from the panel.
Now make sure this plug is dry and start the car, hopefully the warnings will have gone away from the dash. If so then it's only the controller, if not then you've done some more damage within the circuits.
Lets say it hasn't sorted it, then you'll be wanting to look first at the fuses for the circuit, as that may have blown (F27).

So working on your faults have gone away (apart from you can't control the iDrive as the controller isn't present), then you now have two choices. One is to gently take the old controller apart being very careful how you do it and taking note as to how it goes back together. Once apart clean it out of any coffee residue. Put it back together and plug it back onto the circuit, turn on and see what happens. If all's good then screw the controller back into the panel and replace it back together.
Now the other option is to buy a new (used) controller. Now you have many choices here, not just the E9x series, as all of the E8x ones are the same. You just need to remove your old controller surround and replace it back onto the new one. Just make sure that it has the same 4 pin plug and four mounting points (3 mounting points is an F series and will not work).

Hope that helps

[opjose]

Once it is out you can use what used to be called "electronic bath" AKA "tuner cleaner".

You douse the electronics in the spray and flush out water and contaminants.

The aromatic liquid dries quickly leaving no residue.

Then let it sit overnight to be sure.