[kern417]

So I've been chasing a bunch of electrical issues and this is the latest one. I've been experiencing issues where the interior lights and rear brake lights don't turn off when I remove the key (sometimes). Sometimes the car won't start/sense the key when it's put in the ignition slot. Eventually I got a central electronics fault, and then last weekend the dash shut off completely while driving. It was too the point that the steering wheel retracted like the car was turned off, and even the cabin vents opened. That was nice having 200F+ air from the engine bay coming into the footwells for the drive home.

From what I'm reading, It appears that it's simply the cluster that needs to be replaced. It worked up until last weekend, but apparently it controls a lot of the central electronics/ignition and key sensing part of the car's computer.

Has anyone else experienced issues like this and fixed it? So far I've replaced the FRM, CIC Head unit, and Ignition switch. Each time it fixes it for a little while, and then the electronics start bugging out again.

This video I think is the best example I've found describing what I'm facing now. Mine was like this, but now nothing works (cluster, infotainment screen, dash lights, rear windows all are off):

[smass]

Scan for codes with a BMW scanner. My guess would be interference on the CAN bus. Remove anything aftermarket.

[nsjames]

have you considered that maybe your charging system has an issue?

[kern417]

Originally Posted by smass

Scan for codes with a BMW scanner. My guess would be interference on the CAN bus. Remove anything aftermarket.

i'll try to do that. There's nothing aftermarket, just a stock N52.

Originally Posted by nsjames

have you considered that maybe your charging system has an issue?

the thing is 1. I get 14 volts when I'm driving and 2 there are electrical issues when the car is off, i/e lights staying on that wouldn't be caused by the charging system. unless i'm missing something there.

[smass]

Originally Posted by kern417

i'll try to do that. There's nothing aftermarket, just a stock N52.
.

Just to be clear, anything aftermarket can disrupt the can bus. It is shared throughout the car. Aftermarket audio equipment is an example.

[kern417]

Originally Posted by smass

Just to be clear, anything aftermarket can disrupt the can bus. It is shared throughout the car. Aftermarket audio equipment is an example.

Got it. I haven't done anything to the car but I bought it with 70k miles, so maybe once i get ISTA going I can see if it tells me anything is not original. But the car was rock solid for the first 2 years of ownership and now everything is going haywire.

[nsjames]

inpa/ista will at least let you see what the modules say about the malfunction.

anything you do without that information is just guessing.

[smass]

Originally Posted by kern417

Got it. I haven't done anything to the car but I bought it with 70k miles, so maybe once i get ISTA going I can see if it tells me anything is not original. But the car was rock solid for the first 2 years of ownership and now everything is going haywire.

If the car was fine for 2 years it probably is not anything aftermarket. ISTA can tell you if you have can bus issue. But it won't tell you exactly where the error is coming from. Once you see the codes save them, clear them, scan again, and then note which ones come back first. Don't be surprised if you see 50+ codes after the initial scan.