Horn replacement

[Alextodrive]

Picked up a 3 series touring last week.

Thought I was going mad when I had to first use the horn today and all that came out was a clown like high pitched noise.

Bit of searching later and I gather I'm not yet mad, it uses two horns and the low frequency horn is prone to failure.

Has anyone had this same issue and what was the cost of having it fixed?

Bought the car privately, so will delving into my own pocket with the savings from not buying at dealership to fix this (unless I can charm someone at a dealership to cover it under warranty... car is 4 years old and 30k miles... so not counting my chickens there haha).

Cheers!

Edited by Alextodrive on Monday 3rd February 22:57

[BFleming]

Instructions are here: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f31-320d-tou/re...
I can't tell you which one is right / left, but a trusty assistant can no doubt help you out.
Cost wise, a replacement is £70 on amazon.

[Pica-Pica]

BMW Park Lane has them for £53

https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/owners/service-wor...

Search via last 7 digits of VIN
I think your part will be:
Horn, low pitch and part number is probably as below ( it is for mine a 335d, I can’t see the part changing over time or model)

61337245422

P.s. I have never know a horn to fail., check connections for water ingress.

Edited by Pica-Pica on Tuesday 4th February 16:38

Edited by Pica-Pica on Tuesday 4th February 16:39

[Alextodrive]

Pica-Pica said:

BMW Park Lane has them for £53

https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/owners/service-wor...

Search via last 7 digits of VIN
I think your part will be:
Horn, low pitch and part number is probably as below ( it is for mine a 335d, I can’t see the part changing over time or model)

61337245422

P.s. I have never know a horn to fail., check connections for water ingress.

Thanks for this!

It has to go in for a safety recall I found out today, so they have offered to check it out while in without charging the £99 diagnostic fee on top. Could be the fuse or the horn apparently. Lots of people complaining online about theirs going, seems to pop up often enough but not a repair offered for free by BMW. But also an easy enough fix for £50 if I can do it myself.

[Pica-Pica]

Alextodrive said:

Pica-Pica said:

BMW Park Lane has them for £53

https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/owners/service-wor...

Search via last 7 digits of VIN
I think your part will be:
Horn, low pitch and part number is probably as below ( it is for mine a 335d, I can’t see the part changing over time or model)

61337245422

P.s. I have never know a horn to fail., check connections for water ingress.

Thanks for this!

It has to go in for a safety recall I found out today, so they have offered to check it out while in without charging the £99 diagnostic fee on top. Could be the fuse or the horn apparently. Lots of people complaining online about theirs going, seems to pop up often enough but not a repair offered for free by BMW. But also an easy enough fix for £50 if I can do it myself.

I would imagine it is the same part across all BMW range, so it is probably its location in particular cars that is the problem, that is prone to water ingress, or the elements. Either that or they have cut costs by going to another supplier!, not entirely unknown in the industry!

[BFleming]

It won't be a fuse. If you're lucky it'll be the horn unit or the connector to it. If you're unlucky, it'll be the FEM (Front Electronic Module). A defective horn or connector won't throw a code, but a defective FEM should.
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f31-320d-tou/wi...

[Andy70]

crikey! last lime I had that problem was on my cavalier SRi in 1990, there's a blast from the past!!

[Alextodrive]

BFleming said:

It won't be a fuse. If you're lucky it'll be the horn unit or the connector to it. If you're unlucky, it'll be the FEM (Front Electronic Module). A defective horn or connector won't throw a code, but a defective FEM should.
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/f31-320d-tou/wi...

Few posts I've come across on BMW forums saying they had to replace the fuse. Others had the horn die and need changing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xCmeyvii8E

Have you had FEM die on one of your own, know someone who has or just general electrical knowledge? Will hopefully know when it goes in for the safety recall in the next week or so! =)

Cheers!

[BFleming]

Alextodrive said:

Few posts I've come across on BMW forums saying they had to replace the fuse. Others had the horn die and need changing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xCmeyvii8E

Have you had FEM die on one of your own, know someone who has or just general electrical knowledge? Will hopefully know when it goes in for the safety recall in the next week or so! =)

Cheers!

I have defective FEM experience, yes. Not the horn in my case. Anyhow back to fuses - you have a working horn (albeit one side only) so it's not a fuse. Check for 12V and an earth on the defective side; if there's power going there, it's the horn unit. If there's no power I'd suspect the FEM.