Hello - long time reader, couldn't find this exact issue anywhere. 2011 Countryman R60 S / automatic.

Went to start the car a week ago and out of the blue the car wouldn't start, picked up code P0974 on my scan gauge. Had no issues / errors leading up to this.

• Yellow transmission gear symbol, no start (quick starter noise, then error) & steering wheel is locked
• P0974 - Shift solenoid 'A' control circuit high
• No issues shifting thru gear positions, instrument cluster readout matches
• Car seems to be communicating with the ATX / EGS as I can see a reasonable trans fluid temp
• The three fuses for the ATX and shift selector lever position are good

Thanks for any help!

As an update, I scanned this with a BMW scanner and get the following codes:

A0B1 - CAS: Input, selector-lever position, implausible
A0B4 - CAS: Engine start, starter operation

At one point I also had A0B6 selector-lever interlock error and some Terminal 50 relay codes as well, but these seem to clear away.

What's odd is that the selector lever position feedback from the CAS and the EGS transmission controller are all good. The shift interlock works fine and I can cycle through the gear positions. I don't understand what makes the lever position "implausible" or the mechanism that is immobilizing the starter / steering wheel.

Figured it out.

After extensive testing of electrical continuity and voltage related to the CAS and transmission / gear position sensor / shift lever electronics (finding no issues), I finally examined the ground strap from the passenger side engine mount, and sure enough it fell apart when lightly pulled. I should have known better because earlier I measured high resistance between the engine "eyebolt" and the negative terminal of the battery. Passed it off as a bad reading.

So if anyone reading this in the future is experiencing an "out of the blue" no start / no crank situation with yellow gear icon and the error codes below, check the braided ground strap at the pass side motor mount. It might just be loose in some cases, but in my situation it had corroded / degraded over ~9 years (mostly Midwest conditions). I temporarily bridged the ground strap with jumper cables and everything is running perfectly with no codes. Also, if anyone ever needs information on the electrical connections between the EGS, Shift lever, gear position sensor and CAS, I learned and documented a lot of pointless information.

A0B1 - CAS: Input, selector-lever position, implausible
A0B6 - CAS: Selector-lever, interlock (this one was in and out; the interlock worked fine)
4E84 - EGS: Solenoid valve S1
P0974 - Shift Solenoid A Control Circuit High

(there were other codes, but they were related to the failed starts)

Thank you so much fo this advise! We were stranded in South Carolina without an extra fob when our fob died and the connector went bad. Thanks to this post we saved ourselves from having it towed an hour and a half to the dealership and having to lose several days of vacation. Much appreciated!