I am trying to remove the BCM from my 2004 R53 to spray the connectors and pins with contact cleaner, but can't seem to remove the green connector on the bottom. The outside of it appears to slide to the side, but it only moves a little and the plastic pins on the inside do not start up the ramp/slots in the outside. Haven't found any You Tube videos showing removal of this connector, just the three easy ones. How does this green connector unlatch and remove?

Just for information I am wanting to make sure the pins are all making contact because my Foxwell NT510 scanner says it can't communicate with any of the body modules and I have the air bag warning light on after changing the battery.

 

It slides to the side, and comes up. Looks like you got it a bit loose. Keep tugging sideways, and it will go up those posts.

 

OK, Thanks, If there is nothing to release to let it move I'll keep trying then.

BTW, I had asked Foxwell tech support about my 510 scanner not communicating with body modules and they asked if I had a 16 or 20 pin interface and I told them it has the 16 pin OBDII connector under the dash Then they emailed back to say it also has a 20 pin interface in the engine compartment. Not sure what that would have to do with the scanner not communicating with body modules, but is that true for a 2004 R53? Is there a 20 pin interface under the bonnet? Photos I have seen show it as a round connector on other BMWs.

 

OK, Thanks, If there is nothing to release to let it move I'll keep trying then.

BTW, I had asked Foxwell tech support about my 510 scanner not communicating with body modules and they asked if I had a 16 or 20 pin interface and I told them it has the 16 pin OBDII connector under the dash Then they emailed back to say it also has a 20 pin interface in the engine compartment. Not sure what that would have to do with the scanner not communicating with body modules, but is that true for a 2004 R53? Is there a 20 pin interface under the bonnet? Photos I have seen show it as a round connector on other BMWs.

 

I did get the green connector to slide by working it sideways enough to get a small screwdriver between the end and the BCM case and pried it sideways until the pins moved up the ramps.

However, once the BCM was out, there was no evidence of water damage or corrosion that the tech from ECS Tuning thought might be the cause of the scanner not communicating. I sprayed all the connectors and pins with contact cleaner anyhow, followed by a compressed air dry and then a spritz of WD40 before putting it all back together. After all this, the scanner still does not communicate, the air bag light is still on, and now the temperature display says - 38 degrees f and flashes when the ignition is turned on. I probably should have left the BCM alone; a case of one step forward and several steps back. Now I have the temp display to "fix" too.

Update: Life is tolerable again. The temp display came back to normal after an engine start, the air bag fault was due to a cold solder joint on the P.O.s 3.6 ohm BST bypass resistor that was apparently disturbed in the battery change causing the computer to see too high a resistance, and the NT510 scanner was able to erase the airbag code when I plugged it directly into the OBDII plug instead of into a one-into-two OBDII cable I used so I could leave my UltraGauge connected when checking for codes and not have to crawl under the dash with a flashlight. (Could Mini have made the OBDII plug any more inconvenient to find and use? The scanner worked in the "Two-Fer" before, but apparently not now)