[DervJim]

Hi all, my E90 330D (2006) has just thrown a complete fit while driving it - came up with a message saying electronics failure (I think) and to stop safely, followed by all the instruments flashing a lot, tacho going a bit crazy, and indicators working only a bit, and so on.

Video of it here, just idling on my driveway:

Once turned off, the engine does still restart ok but same behaviour as above/video.

Might well not be a coincidence but previous day it failed to start due to an IBS sensor failure, and after a load of research on it I found it's a common issue and that many people just disconnect the sensor and carry on driving without any issue (short to medium term - not the best thing long term for the battery obviously), so I disconnected it and the car was then fine. Had already driven it a couple of times since that, but today it's really thrown its toys out of the pram!!

I've replaced the battery and it's the same still, but occasionally starts up and runs with no errors, and behaving perfectly but in a few minutes has gone crazy again.

My delphi diagnostic device tells me that there's lots of various codes as "unknown error" both for the FRM footwell module and JBE junction box, but I don't imagine both of these have suddenly just failed at the same time, so it makes me wonder if this could be a basic wire/connectivity issue somewhere maybe?

I'd be really grateful though if anyone is able to help as I'm gonna be a bit stuck without my car.

Thanks very much!

[335dlci]

The frm is known for failure. I would recommend doing s full vehicle scan with a BMW specific code reader before throwing anymore parts at it.

[DervJim]

Thanks - I have got a small handheld one that is meant to be BMW specific so I'll try that one again tonight even though it's a bit more basic than the full delphi one.

I'm almost tempted to buy a used FRM and try just swapping it out because if it solves it then great, but if not I can sell it on again.

[335stoner]

heads up..

the frm has to be coded or programmed in

[335dlci]

Originally Posted by DervJim

Thanks - I have got a small handheld one that is meant to be BMW specific so I'll try that one again tonight even though it's a bit more basic than the full delphi one.

I'm almost tempted to buy a used FRM and try just swapping it out because if it solves it then great, but if not I can sell it on again.

Dont buy an used one!!

[DervJim]

Thanks guys

Re' coding them, do you need to code if it's an exact like for like swap on the part numbers? I know there are variations of the FRM and wasn't sure if the exact same one still needs to be coded.

I suppose that sort of translates as asking what is actually being coded if it's a like for like module? Can appreciate that if it's a different variation then it needs to be aware of it obviously.

Just want to understand better really. I can do that stuff and have done for other coding, but just pondering about the rationale behind this.

Originally Posted by 335dlci

Dont buy an used one!!

Oops. Too late.
I've ordered one now. Are you saying that because people sell faulty ones then deny responsibility?
Assuming that's the case but just wondered if it was for some other reason?

Thanks. Appreciate the input!

[assassinsbrotherhood]

Originally Posted by DervJim

Thanks guys

Re' coding them, do you need to code if it's an exact like for like swap on the part numbers? I know there are variations of the FRM and wasn't sure if the exact same one still needs to be coded.

I suppose that sort of translates as asking what is actually being coded if it's a like for like module? Can appreciate that if it's a different variation then it needs to be aware of it obviously.

Just want to understand better really. I can do that stuff and have done for other coding, but just pondering about the rationale behind this.



Oops. Too late.
I've ordered one now. Are you saying that because people sell faulty ones then deny responsibility?
Assuming that's the case but just wondered if it was for some other reason?

Thanks. Appreciate the input!

Had similair issue. Came to find out that ECU box was half full of water due to car washing. (FIXED).Drilled a hole in the bottom of the plastic case and dried out the unit with a hair dryer(30min) and restarted car. No problems the last 6 mnths.

[DervJim]

Thanks for the tip!

That's something worth checking for then definitely since I'm in the UK and we've had an absolute ton of rain in the last few weeks.

I did find maybe 5mm of water standing in the battery well behind the rear arch (mine is an e91 wagon), which I understand comes from a roof drain or something (I have no sunroof though), but not sure why there's no means of it escaping from there.
I dried it out while I fitted the new battery, but I doubt that was causing a problem as there's no electronics directly in that location that I could see.....

Not sure where the ECU is on mine so I'll find out and check it out thanks.

Oddly, the car has been behaving (except for the head unit/idrive mostly not working) since I had that problem. The dash lights have been behaving, and it mostly does coincide with swapping the battery/drying out the battery well, but since there's not any electronics there that I can see, that seems like coincidence.....

Still awaiting replacement IBS and FRM anyway.

[335dlci]

If you have standing water.. also check those 2 battery cables that go through the body. On the inside and outside of vehicle should be checked. FRM has a extended warrant and are known for failing so buying an used one is just a waste of time to possibly get a faulty one.

[DervJim]

Thanks for the heads up re' the cables. Presume you mean for wear on the insulation that could cause a short, or corrosion etc?

Re' the FRM, surely a warranty extension isn't going to run to 12 years though since my car is an 06 model? Can't imagine that would happen but I wouldn't be upset of course if that turned out to be the case.

[335dlci]

FRM is only 10 years to my current knowledge. Corrosion was a water leak in your sunroof area causing water to laying. There is a steel bolt pass through that is where the two black circle connections are in the front of the battery tray. If they are corroded than you can have really odd issues.

[DervJim]

Thanks for the info. Have checked that bit out when I cleared out the water that was there and it's all good. Still not sure why there was water there as I have no sunroof but there are drains from the roof anyway I guess.

Since I dried it, we've had tons of rain and it's bone dry in there, so bit of a mystery!

Anyway, replacement £20 FRM came today so I fitted that and all but one of the errors linked to that can now be cleared and have not returned. The remaining error is a legit one I need to sort anyway. Result!

Next, I fitted the replacement £40 IBS, and not only are the IBS errors solved now, but my head unit (upgraded from CCC to CIC) is behaving perfectly again.
Since I had the errors for everything I had nothing on my CIC screen, and no controls over what played except next/last track buttons and volume, and it only worked when it wanted to.
All perfect again now.

So much to my joy, £60 spent on used parts and some time spent diagnosing stuff has paid off, and probably saved me many hundreds at the garage.
Result!!

Thanks very much for the replies on here offering suggestions anyway - I appreciate it very much cheers