I had our alternator rebuilt by a respected local shop. Now that it’s back in the car it is charging correctly, but I am getting an error code 002E1C, which my scanner says is "Digital Motor Electronics (DME), no BSD (Bit-Serial Data Interface) message from alternator”. Can someone explain to me what the BSD function is and how to trouble-shoot the problem? I’m trying to figure out if this is something I connected incorrectly or if there is something at the alternator that could be contributing to the lack of communication.

 

The DME controls the alternator via the BSD wire. Check if the wire is broken or disconnected.

 

I spent the morning working out the wiring from the alternator to the DME and the Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS), which according to the Bentley manual sends the (missing) BSD signal to the DME. And then I noticed that our ground cable does not appear to have the IBS. Bentley claims that not all Minis came with IBS, which makes me wonder if either our car never had it to begin with or if a mechanic removed it in the past.

Is there a way to check if the car (2009 Mini Clubman S, VIN# WMWMM33539TP73455) is supposed to have the IBS? We may not have had this “feature” as I never had to register the battery after replacment and it looks like that function is managed through the IBS. This does explain why the DME is not getting the signal, but now I need to figure out if it matters; if not I can try and re-program the DME to forget to look for the signal. Otherwise I may have to buy a new ground lead with an IBS attached.

 

The fact that your DME looks for an alternator BSD signal means that either the car came with IBS or the DME was replaced with a different one from what was originally installed in the car.

 

I agree. What is strange is that we bought the car new and had to replace the battery twice, and never got an error code telling us to register the battery.

 

Not sure that failing to register battery would throw an error code.

And are you saying that you are the first and only owner and that you did not remove the IBS?

 

Yes to both. I pulled the plastic cover off the battery compartment and looked inside, and only see the ground cable going to a bolt on the bottom of the battery compartment (yellow arrow in pic). I did not see any unattached wires in the battery compartment that might be leftover from removal of the IBS. It’s about to start thunderstorming, but in the morning I can pull the battery to make sure there are no wires that are unaccounted for.

 

Did you look for the BSD connector near the alternator? The connector has a black wire with a green stripe.

 

Yes, our alternator has only two wires coming out, a large red wire to the starter and a black/green wire that runs to a junction connector (X24998), where it connects to a white/blue wire that runs to the DME. I get connectivity between the alternator and connector X24998, but not from the connector to the DME. I probed all the pins in the 3 plugs that connect to the DME and did not find connectivity. I could trace the wire from connector x24998 (in front of battery compartment) but it runs under the battery tray and behind the firewall. There is nothing in the battery compartment except power and ground, so I suspect our car did not come with the IBS.

Is there a way to identify which of the plugs connects to pin 38 on the DME? This is the pin that the wiring diagram says receives the signal from the alternator, but I can’t confirm which plug makes this connection. I did find a single blue/white wire at one of the plugs but it did not have connectivity with the blue/white wire leaving connection X24998.

At this point I am very confused, and not enthused about digging behind the dash where it appears this wire runs before re-entering the engine bay to connect to the DME.

 

Good job, This^ is surely the problem. Running a new wire from pin 2 of junction connector X2498 to pin 38 of the X60004 DME connector should solve the problem. Alternatively, you can run a new wire directly from the alternator to the DME.

 

Thanks. Do you know how to identify the pins on the DME? I can’t find a pinout diagram, otherwise I could run the new wire.

 

How many total white/blue wires do you see in the DME connectors?

By the way, my 2012 base model Mini lacks IBS but the alternator has the black/green wire connector. This indicates that even without IBS, the latter wire talks to the DME.

 

This post says that DME connector X60004 is "The third connector closest to the radiator."

 

That’s very helpful! I could not figure out which connector was the X60004, but if it is the one that is closest to the radiator that is good news, as that is the only one that has a blue/white wire. I am happy to snip that wire and run a new wire from that pin to the X2498 connector from the alternator; it would just make me rest easier if I could positively identify “pin 38”. It seems like Mini is keeping this a state secret.

 

Post pictures of the connector showing location of the white/blue wire. Does the position make sense for pin 38?

I think X60004 is a 40-pin connector with 4 rows of 10 pins.

 

Does the connector actually have 53-pins organized as shown below?

 

View the 2009 R55 DME pinout for connector C posted in this thread.

DME connector C in this thread appears to be a perfect match for DME connector X60004.

The connector C pinouts together with wire colors and pin positions for N12 DME connector X60004 in the Bentley service manual should confirm or refute whether the DME white/blue wire you found is the alternator BSD wire.

 

Curioser and curiouser. I opened the X60004 connector, and there are TWO blue/white wires, and one that I did not see yesterday does indeed go to pin 38. And this pin rings with continuity with the alternator wire. So I have the circuit, but no IBS (although this Intelligent Battery Sensor is starting to give me Irritable Bowel Syndrome).

I am back to beginning; the circuits appear intact but I’m getting a ghost code for a component that was not installed on our car. Assuming the IBS was never here, I hope I can just ignore the codes and let the alternator charge the battery as usual in the “non-smart” mode like all my other cars.

 

Don't worry about not having IBS. Even without IBS, the alternator and DME must be able to communicate. At this point, the issue could be either the alternator or the DME. Start by seriously considering that the alternator has an internal BSD fault.

 

Just to verify --> You have written blue/white wire several times now. I hope you meant to write white/blue wire, which is a white wire with a blue stripe. If you are testing blue wires with a white stripe, then your results have been uninformative.

 

Yes, white wire with blue stripe, and it connects from alternator to DME pin 38. Looks like it’s time for a new alternator. I think I was in denial, as this was a freshly rebuilt unit.

 

Good luck with the fix!