Hi all,

Noticed an issue tonight when doing some work on my car.

With the engine running and lights in the off position on the stalk, the headlights came on and off multiple times themselves.
Still with the light switch in the off position.

Never noticed it before, any idea what might cause it?

Thanks

 

Either the wiper stalk is bad or the BCM failed or got wet. Check the stalk first, turning on and off.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-shut-off.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-turn-off.html

 

Thank you!
I thought it may have been a battery issue, the battery was low and I jump started it, I have it charging now.
The lights started acting up after that.

My car has no sunroof so it won’t have blocked drains, I will check under the scuttle for blocked drains there.

Mine is a right hand drive car, is the BCM in the left or right footwell?

 

Ok, might be that low battery, that can do it also.

BCM is on the right, fuse box is on left.

 

Thanks, I’ll see how things go with the battery in good health.

 

I think @ECS Tuning may be on to something.
I can attest that just before my battery failed my headlights began acting weird = flashing or one would turn on and the other would pulsate. Oddly enough; while trying to investigate the headlights themselves, ultimately finding nothing wrong - I discovered my windows and sunroof had opened while I was under the hood! However the car never had any problems starting, driving and everthing functioned as normal. Three weeks later the battery died without warning.
There were no usual tell tale signs. The battery just went to crap. That was a first for me!
Replaced the battery and all is right with world again.

These "modern" cars can seem weird to me.

 

I second that. All sorts of electrical gremlins started to appear in my R56 when battery was at the verge of dying. All of them gone back to wherever they came from after replacing battery.

 

Battery voltage is at 13v now after a charge, I was going to fit it today but I’ve been struck down with man flu
Thanks for all the advice, I’ll keep you posted.

 

Quick update,
Battery charged and refitted, lights still turning on themselves.

If the stalk switch is in the off position, the lights come on and off.
If I switch the lights on at the stalk, they behave and stay on.

I haven’t had a chance to check the BCM for water damage.

 

Yep sounds like BCM or stalk

 

Little update, the lights still have a mind of their own.
A new side effect started today, I turned on the rear wiper and it would not shut off for a few seconds, then it parked on the wrong side of the rear screen.

I’m presuming this is pointing to the BCM?

I removed the BCM today to inspect for corrosion.
I don’t see anything obvious, everything looks clean. I opened it to check the PCB and again I don’t see any issues.
My car already had the protective cover over the top of it.

I cleaned all contacts with contact cleaner and a soft brush, I also have it in the house to dry it out to see if that does anything.

 

Check the plugs also on the harness side. Sometimes its the plug pins.

 

Will do, thanks.
I did give the plugs a spray of contact cleaner too.

 

I removed the BCM and found some corrosion on the traces.
Do you think this is repairable?

 

Some places clean them, re-soilder and then treat with that gel. Repair places. I have heard of some people doing it themselves, but thats with an electrical backround. If their is a bunch i would replace the whole unit with a used one that's closest to the same VIN and options or get it done at one of those repair places.

 

I’ve repaired the unrepairable mirror ribbon cables on e46s by cleaning and soldering a 2-3 strand twist of copper wires before and after the corrosion.
this seems a lot more straightforward.

Scrape down to the trace and clean, then lots of good flux, solder load the wire and the points first, then touch them together and apply very hot iron as briefly as possible to join.

once confirmed working reseal them with a coat of nail polish.

 

To follow up on this issue,

I bought a refurbished BCM and fitted it today, initially the issue remained but I’ve been using the car for a few hours and the issue seems to be rectified. I had to fit a new rear wiper motor too, mine was starting to seize up.

Everything seems to be working except for the central locking with the key, which I expected.

How is the new BCM coded to the key? I would prefer not to go to BMW.

 

RPM Motorsports can program it to your key, but it costs $599

 

I programmed the key myself, there’s a manual way of doing it for free. Everything works fine now, zero issues.

 

I been trying to figure this issue out with the car. First time mini owner here. It all started with a big snow storm. All the dash light came on and I lost power. Nothing happened for a few days and then everything goes off and on now. It does fix it self for a few minutes when I let go of the gas pedal and come to a full stop. But as I soon as I put it in first gear and hit the gas. All lights come on and windows, heat, power steering. Fog lights go off.

I have to unplug the battery every time I drive now. I been reading some threads. And it says it’s the frm or the bcm. Not sure if my car has both or one. Any advise or helo will be great appreciated. Thank you

 

How did you reprogrammed the key yourself? Having the same issues. With the lights. Think it’s the bcm also

 

I can’t remember off hand how I programmed the key, search the forum and you’ll find the procedure.

My issue was not the BCM, it was the stalk with the headlight switch. Replaced it with a new one and the problems stopped.

 

a fully charged battery can still be bad. have it tested at local autozone or similar