[Conwilso]

I am at my wits end with this car! I have a 2006 330xi. Bought the car a few years ago and within the first month of owning it the transfer case stops working which on these fun cars also disables abs and tc. So I replace the little motor that everyone says goes bad on these transfer cases. Still doesn’t work. So I leave it rear wheel drive. Fine that works for me I guess. I’ll just deal with the lights on the dash.

Next I change my brakes. Replace the brake wear sensors and still the warning for brake wear won’t go away. I’ve tried everything on every forum and yet still it stays on. Another light I’ll just deal with. Car still drives right?

WRONG! It’s an 06 so it’s got the infamous steering lock equipped. About 10 months ago she left me stranded 150 miles from home when the red steering lock light came on. Wouldn’t start. So I get a ride back home to grab my laptop with INPA and tool32 on it. Drive all the way back to the car, plug it in, and reset the elv cas. Car starts right up and I drive home. It works about 5 more times before it decides it’s not starting anymore. Doesn’t even try. Then I deployed out of the country for 9 months and the car sat not running.

When I got back the battery was dead. I charged it, installed an elv emulator, and actually got the car running and driving. Then when I turned it off it did not start again. So I took out the emulator and plugged the steering lock back in.

I’m getting the warning on the screen saying steering lock malfunction. On the dash it shows a yellow steering wheel icon with a double sided arrow above it, but the red steering lock icon hasn’t been seen since I reset the cas. I’ve pulled the steering column and greased the steering lock. I’ve tried resetting the cas again. I even replaced the steering lock mechanism with another one. Still won’t even try to turn over. I have power, but I am getting a warning light for low battery in the key. Any help would be appreciated. I’m starting to hate this thing and all I want to do is let her stretch her legs. If only the car knew how much I was trying to help it instead of fighting me at every turn.

Oh and to top it off my footwell module is also bad… 😞

[NZE90]

Does your car have comfort access? This will sometimes stop the car from starting and display the yellow steering light.

[Conwilso]

It does have comfort access. Yesterday I used my protools app to go in and basically reset everything. Reset the cas, the ecu, and the steering lock. Now I can hear the steering lock disengage and all the lights on the cluster light up, but still no crank no start.

I’ve already replaced the relay, and can hear the solenoid clicking from the front. Tried applying 12v directly to the starter wire (white one) and heard it try to turn like a wimpy half click then nothing. Seems odd that the starter would work fine a few weeks ago and then all of a sudden go bad, but I am making progress. Before I couldn’t even get the gauge cluster to light up for me, so we’re getting somewhere

[Conwilso]

Also just for reference, I’m getting a little less than 14v at the battery and just under 12v at the jump posts in the engine bay