[AlphaHotelBravo]

Hi;

First BMW... first post!

Had my 2007 E91 320D SE a month or so; comparing it to the departed Skoda Octavia TDi 140 the first impressions are it's well-made, lower-geared, a tad quicker, much more refined (no body boom at 75mph) but less adjustable in corners unless driving like a nutcase so maybe less fun. It would need more power for "fun" but it does a great job wafting me home after a long day.

Anyhow... a wee problem.

Fuse 61 keeps blowing - this one serves the heat and vent panel, the glove box and luggage compartment lights, and possibly also the tailgate lock. It's re-numbered to fuse 77 in the later E90 and probably something else again after the facelift; it's rated 10 amps so it's popping with a bit of current through it.

The symptom has always been a dead H&V panel in the dashboard; I've got quicker at swapping the fuse at the bottom of the glovebox, did it on the way to a party at the weekend and with my suit on this morning in the rain.

After some false starts (was it the H&V panel?) and false hope (was it because I overstuffed the glove box and the light casing got distorted?) I've tracked it to the tailgate lock.

There is something loose rolling around inside the tailgate which can be heard on swinging it up, but the fuse doesn't blow every time the tailgate is opened.

It's got dark and I'm nearly out of spare fuses again so I thought I'd ask here - does anyone know what might be adrift inside the tailgate?

I haven't tested the permutations of what pops it, so I can't be sure if it's releasing the lock or swinging the tailgate up which blows the fuse.

Thanks in advance!

AHB

[bm330dw]

Don't know what this could be.

Sounds like you've nearly sorted it, keep going!!

Post up what you find

Cheers

[Jay2301]

If the fuse in question is in any way related to "central locking" i'd bet

money its 1 or more failed lock actuators.(common fault with these)

[AlphaHotelBravo]

Thanks guys - will dig further into it (and report back) when the rain goes off...

AHB

[AlphaHotelBravo]

Got this sorted yesterday - took a while, lousy weather and a weeks' holiday got in the way.

I followed the Haynes manual instructions to strip the lining out of the tailgate, and at the section which says "pull the lining away and then disconnect the luggage compartment light cable" it took such a pull to separate the plastic trim that it came away with a bang, the cable unplugged itself, and the reflector from the lamp fell out onto the ground.

Problem solved - the tinkling noise when opening the tailgate was the reflector falling around inside the light casing, and it would not take much for the cheap 20p-worth reflector to sit across both unprotected bulb terminals and blow fuse 61, putting out the heat and vent panel as well. Clip the reflector back in place, job done.

If anyone else is doing it - just unclip the luggage compartment light from the tailgate as if you were changing the bulb, no need to strip the trim from inside. Under "changing bulbs" the Haynes book puts it this way round, but under "access to tailgate lock" it doesn't mention "unclip light first" - a bit more thought and I could have saved half an hour.

For the search engines - BMW E90 / E91 Touring, fuse 61 or fuse 77 keeps blowing, check tailgate luggage compartment light for loose reflector.

Cheers!

AHB

[Dr Dave]

Wahey! What a great success story, well done and thanks for posting, I hope this is of help to others

I think you deserved a beer or three after fixing that .

[cretu.viorel22@yahoo.com]

that's what I suffered and thanks to you I solved the problem

[AlphaHotelBravo]

Originally Posted by cretu.viorel22@yahoo.com

that's what I suffered and thanks to you I solved the problem

Thank you, it is good to know I've done something useful!

AHB

[TitanLH8]

I've been trying to figure out why my Fuse 77 kept blowing every 2-3 weeks ever since I swapped out all interior lights to LEDs and stumbled upon this thread. Low and behold, I opened my trunk and the reflector was rattling around inside the light housing! Thank you for sharing!

[AlphaHotelBravo]

Originally Posted by TitanLH8

I've been trying to figure out why my Fuse 77 kept blowing every 2-3 weeks ever since I swapped out all interior lights to LEDs and stumbled upon this thread. Low and behold, I opened my trunk and the reflector was rattling around inside the light housing! Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for posting! Ten years on, four years since I traded the E91 for an F31, and it's still useful - great!

[AlexisM42]

Originally Posted by AlphaHotelBravo

Got this sorted yesterday - took a while, lousy weather and a weeks' holiday got in the way.

I followed the Haynes manual instructions to strip the lining out of the tailgate, and at the section which says "pull the lining away and then disconnect the luggage compartment light cable" it took such a pull to separate the plastic trim that it came away with a bang, the cable unplugged itself, and the reflector from the lamp fell out onto the ground.

Problem solved - the tinkling noise when opening the tailgate was the reflector falling around inside the light casing, and it would not take much for the cheap 20p-worth reflector to sit across both unprotected bulb terminals and blow fuse 61, putting out the heat and vent panel as well. Clip the reflector back in place, job done.

If anyone else is doing it - just unclip the luggage compartment light from the tailgate as if you were changing the bulb, no need to strip the trim from inside. Under "changing bulbs" the Haynes book puts it this way round, but under "access to tailgate lock" it doesn't mention "unclip light first" - a bit more thought and I could have saved half an hour.

For the search engines - BMW E90 / E91 Touring, fuse 61 or fuse 77 keeps blowing, check tailgate luggage compartment light for loose reflector.

Cheers!

AHB

Still relevant eleven years later! Thanks a bunch for investigating and sharing!!

[AlphaHotelBravo]

Originally Posted by AlexisM42

Still relevant eleven years later! Thanks a bunch for investigating and sharing!!

Heavens that was a while ago - I'd long forgotten about this. Glad it's still useful!