Mini just turned 102K and today gauges (tach, temp and speedo) as well as the warning lights have all gone haywire while driving. Video link is below. So this seems like a somewhat common yet diverse problem as I've done a quick search, but haven't found a definite resolution yet. I suppose more in-depth searching might yield some helpful troubleshooting, but figured I'd at least bring up my issue for the time being.

My issue is exactly like this one: http://www.mini2.com/forum/3826811-post1.html and I did a code scan and came up with P1613 and P1607 as well.

Being an electronics guy, this looks suspiciously like loose wire harness, corroded harness terminals, bad ground, or water in a harness (it has just rained pretty heavily). I'll see about checking the BCM for signs of water as I'm aware that can be an issue. And the wackiness is isolated to just the tach, SES, ABS and brake lights flickering, washer fluid wand light flashing, temp guage flickering between overheat and normal, speedo dropping out and tire press and dsc lights on. Entire tach gauge has occasionally turned off completely also. Blinker light as well as high beam light is fine. That's why I'm leaning towards wire harness or BCM and not steering wheel angle sensor or ABS sensor or module.

I should also mention car seemingly drives fine as before this started to happen.

View My Video

 

Replace the battery. Even if it tests good, replace it. This is a common issue with these cars. First time I heard the fix I thought everyone was crazy....replaced the battery and the problems were solved.

 

Solid suggestion, although I would prefer to start with something less expensive. I had a failing battery create electrical anomalies before in this car, but never just while driving and not causing flickering. This really seems like a wire harness issue to me. I'll take your advice though and see if I can get ahold of a battery just for testing purposes. Thanks.

 

This diagram is a bit old, actually the mini is more like the E46 but it gives an idea. The KOMBI is a bridge for 4 or 5 busses.
Any mods to the car? The iBus can short out and cause weirdness. Usually the dash dimmer, blinkers can misbehave.

Clues
1) The radio won't unlock [DISABLED] until it receives at least one valid iBus message packet.
2) LED lighting on the steering wheel dims via the iBus, default is 100% lit

Based on the video I assume it only misbehaves while you are driving? I'd go to look for a common GND for those instruments or the related source. Also chase up the water ingress, check for wet footwell foam close to your heels both sides of the car.


SCH is here http://www.bmw-planet.com/diagrams/release/en/

 

Well I waited a week to see if the issue would go away on its own and it didn't although the gauges didn't freak out as much it seemed. So today I replaced the battery with a DieHard AGM and now the gauges are freaking out more than ever. So now this really seems like a grounding, connection or component issue. A few more things I've tried and observed:

- cleaned off the battery/chassis contact points.
- performed ECU reset

Also heard a faint whirring sound that I must not have heard previously. It is both HID light motors are freaking out as well. Not moving the lights at all so maybe the motors are slowly destroying themselves who knows.

Anyone have some more advice to give on troubleshooting? Taking it to a shop is not an option. I am so ready to get rid of this car because of this and other issues I've had. There's a lot to like about a Mini, but it has been one of the least reliable vehicles I've owned and I'm so over putting in the time for idiotic stuff like this.

EDIT: Did some more troubleshooting...

- Checked wiring and harness of ABS module and all that seems fine.
- Removed BC1 and inspected circuit board. Perfectly fine with absolutely no signs of water.
- Inspected BC1 wire harnesses all the way into the dash as far as I could see. No problems.
- Checked every single fuse inside car and engine bay. Perfecto.
- Re-seated ECU harnesses by engine fusebox.

I went ahead and cleared the two codes and started the car back up. Things were working great at idle so took it for a 15 min drive. SES light did not come back on but DSC and tire pressure lights came on around 13 mins of driving. Everything else was normal.

 

It seems like I saw a similar problem posted a while back were they traced it to an aftermarket patch cable for their MP3 player or iPhone or something. Sorry I don't have a better explanation but their post was not of concern to me. I did find it odd the suspect cable was causing havoc with their electrical.

To me your issue sounds like a bad ground somewhere.

 

^+1
Check for a i-pod adaptor on the back of the radio...
When they go bad, it corrupts the data on the cars days buss...and crazy crap happens....

 

Nothing attached to my radio, but yes I did read that post where the iPod adapter was messing with the CAN bus. Also read a few posts where the ebrake assembly was rubbing the speed sensor wires to the rear wheels causing craziness. Going to check out my ebrake area tomorrow.

But this issue is completely odd to me. More update: started the car and neither DSC nor tire pressure light is on, but upon starting it took the tach 10 sec to 'come to life'. I wiggled the BC1 wire harnesses and jabbed the BC1 with the car on to see if there was a loose connection there, but nothing changed. This is sure going to be a whopper of a gremlin!

Waiting for the 'magic solution' from someone too

 

For what it's worth Pep Boys auto service shop offers a comprehensive electrical diagnostics analysis for $50.00. I've never used their services for anything but buying oil. I don't know the quality of their test. It might be worth the gamble if you run out of ideas.

 

So this has to be a wiring or module fault. Now all is well except the tach will completely die then come back to life. Looks like im going to have to tear the dash apart to find the fault :(

 

Still having the issue, although not as persistent now. Here is another thread with some more folks having the same issue.


https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3988295


No resolve yet -- we really need someone to chime in who's remedied this!

 

I am having the same issue. So far have checked grounds, looked over the easily accessible parts of the harness and alternator and did not find any issues. Battery is only a year old and since I commute 120 miles a day it is well charged. I did change front brakes, including rotors a month back along with the alternator for a bad bearing, some maybe one of these is related. I am going to check abs sensors this weekend, and maybe put old alternator back in to see if issue goes away. This one is elusive.

 

My trifecta came back. Seems to be getting worse. From neutral to a gear it was a really hard knock. In neutral if I press the gas it sputters and misfires.

Anyways the dealer just diagnosed it saying the instrument control cluster shorts out. $1500. Will let you know if this solves the problems.

 

They installed the Speedo Cluster. I went to pick up the car. They bring around the car to me. Before I step in the car, I noticed the Engine light was still on and still in EP mode. They've had it for the past few weeks and have diagnosed it now as the Ignition Switch. Ill update in a few weeks if it still isn't fixed.

 

Finally got the car back. Still having same problems. New diagnosis is the Tachometer. Ill update in a few weeks if it still isn't fixed.... the lol

 

Did the dealership ever fix the issue? If so what was the fix? I have had the speedo cluster replaced at one time by the Mini dealer, so if that was your issue then I may need to have them install me a new one. But it sounded like the speedo cluster wasn't the cause in your case.


As a update to my issue, the Mini has been sitting for the better part of 6 months now while I tear into every bit of it, starting at the battery box in the back. I'm doing this and replacing worn out or faulty bits as time allows, so it goes real slow. It's more like a whole car refurbishment while tracking down this electrical issue since the car is not daily driven. I'll report back if a cure is found. Otherwise if anyone has a cure please post!!!

 

Same issue on my 06 r53 JCW... I'll post when I find something...

 

Tach/Auxillary Cluster was faulty.. intermittently disrupting CAN communication for all modules connected.

Symptoms:
First my tach/auxillary cluster on my steering column would appear to turn off while driving, or when sitting parked.. But the backlighting would still work. I didn't have the time to fix it so I let it do it's thing while I ignored it. Then a few weeks later I was driving and started having a whole new batch of symptoms --> ABS light, Check Eng Light, Tire Pressure Light, Eng Temp gauge fluctuating to max, A/C compressor disengage, Cruise disengage, Tach fluctuation, Speedometer needle fluctuation.

Scanned with my Snap-On Solus:
DME
P1613- Serial Communication with ASC
P1607- CAN status
ABS/ASC/DSC
5E14- CAN: Connection with Engine ECU Failed
5E16- CAN Instrumentation
5E1E- Steering Angle Sensor CAN
5E18- CAN: Data Error from Engine ECU
5E11- CAN: Control Module
INSTRUMENT PANEL (KOMBI)
60- CAN Bus, Bus Offline
61- CAN: No Signal
67- CAN: Timeout KOMBI
62- CAN: ABS/ASC Signal


Solution: While car was "acting up" I left the scanner connected and disconnected the tach/auxillary cluster. All the current CAN codes left, and the car functioned like it should. Reconnect the tach, and the CAN issues come right back. I'm driving tach-less right now with no issues.

Your Solution: Likely to be the same component, but other modules connected to CAN, can cause the same problems..

 

NO **** jrodusmaximus! The tach may just be the thing since your symptoms are EXACT to mine. I seriously appreciate the follow-up since you are the only one that's got a fix (or at least posted one). Be interested to know if a replacement tach fixed znekcihc's issue as well.


Mini is all torn apart now and I'm away from it for some time, so won't be able to diagnose the tach anytime soon. My plan is to rip out the entire interior (already done), disassemble, clean, check and reassemble each component while replacing what's worn. Now I'm in the engine bay with about 60% of components removed. I'm running out of space in my house to keep all the bits! But looks like I may just reassemble temporarily to diagnose the tach.


I sure hope the tach is the issue and if so this would appear to be a trend of faulty equipment, possibly grounds for recall if enough folks experience it. This has definitely been a show-stopper for my Mini since I refuse to pay a dealer upwards for $1K to fix it.

 

You're welcome! I'm thankful we could help each other out. Reading your posts helped me diagnose my issue.

 

Also, installed my replacement tach yesterday from another 06 model, and she's doin fine. Thank The Lord.

 

Did you replace the Tach and everything was fine ?

 

Sure did. Still great.

 

My 06 R53 JCW just started doing this as well.

Where did you unplug the Tach to see if the problem goes away?

 

disregard... figured it out