R56 JCW - Alarm going off & driver's window "stuttering"

[Clivey]

Talk about bad timing! This morning at work, I got a call from the OH to say that our R56 JCW's alarm kept going off. It was a windy morning and I assumed that was the cause...only it's not stopped.

I've not long got home, have seen it for myself now and immediately noticed that the driver's door window is moving up and down (about an inch or so) on it's own, quite rapidly (it's an erratic, "stuttering" motion). It stops when you open the door but starts again when you close it. Turning on the ignition or starting the car also stops it.

I've disabled the volumetric protection for now to hopefully stop the alarm from sounding all night and I'm hoping our local dealer (thankfully only 3 miles away) is open in the morning. We don't have a garage and I'm not particularly happy about leaving it with the window open so I'm wondering what to do. Any advice would be appreciated.

Why does this sort of thing always have to happen on days like Christmas Eve?

[sad61t]

Try dropping the window then holding the window's switch down for 15 sec, it might reset the dip.

[rigga]

Could be the body control module playing up with both the alarm and window but try holding the window switch all the way down for ten seconds and then hold it all the way up for ten seconds, see if it resets the window.

[Clivey]

Thanks guys. Will try that when it misbehaves again.

It behaved for the rest of Christmas Eve night and all Christmas Day...then we were visiting relatives yesterday and heard the alarm sounding again. I went out to the car and noticed that the driver's window had dropped slightly (>2cm). The car would unlock but wouldn't re-lock. I tried putting the key in the ignition, turned it on and off again, shut the door and the window returned to the normal position. It then locked normally and was fine all last night. It's now covered in snow so I won't disturb it until we go out later; the car's under warranty so I'll take it to the dealer on Monday morning.

[Clivey]

Update: The dealer diagnosed and replaced a faulty driver's door latch and the fault's not reoccurred. It was a warranty job and service was once again top notch, so thanks to Stratstone Mini Derby!

[sad61t]

Glad to hear you got it fixed - took my dealer about two years to finally track it down (mine would swap the fault randomly from side to side). They thought it was software related, but the chassis VIN was outside BMW's range for the fix.

[Clivey]

sad61t said:

Glad to hear you got it fixed - took my dealer about two years to finally track it down (mine would swap the fault randomly from side to side). They thought it was software related, but the chassis VIN was outside BMW's range for the fix.

What was the fix in your case? If it swapped from side to side, it can't have been one faulty door latch, surely?

[sad61t]

Clivey said:

What was the fix in your case? If it swapped from side to side, it can't have been one faulty door latch, surely?

To be honest, I've no idea what finally fixed it - I assume it was a software problem and they re-installed the offending module. I'd taken out the extended warranty, and it was covered by that.

[Clivey]

sad61t said:

To be honest, I've no idea what finally fixed it - I assume it was a software problem and they re-installed the offending module. I'd taken out the extended warranty, and it was covered by that.

Well at least you got it sorted.