E61 V8 Bearding

[ATM]

[ATM]

[BigMacDaddy]

Certainly not the worst failure sheet I've ever seen!

[ATM]

ATM said:

Patrick Bateman said:

Could it be issues with the valvetronic intermediate levers?

My 745i was a pain in the ass, some details here-

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

No idea

Starts fine from Cold. Also runs fine when warm until you let it idle and if the revs drop it starts having a fit. So if you never let the revs drop it seems fine - left foot braking and keeping the throttle pressed slightly when stopping and stationary.

So I gave up and took it to the garage. Never had any work done by them before. Just use them for MOT.

So the garage I tried has basically given up. I now have the car back with no MOT as it had lapsed - they had the car for 9 weeks. I got them to do an MOT test before I collected it so I can see what needs doing. I think they are being very kind to me here because it failed last year on a blow from the back box which has not yet been looked at and therefore I presume still blowing.

The Suspension arm bolt I can look at. Simple hopefully. I fitted all new arms in the Summer so maybe I didn't tighten one of the bolts enough and it has come loose.

The rear number plate lights are a bit of a problem. They are all rusted up as my boot lid also appears to be rusting in this area. I checked with a volt meter and I am not getting enough volts to light the blubs. I suspect the standard issue of wires failing in the boot hinge. I will try and get some pics.

[ATM]

[ATM]

Got stuck into the tailgate wiring repair. First job is to open the glass hatch which is difficult if the release isn't working. Then I started removing as much trim as possible. You'd be surprised how much all this weighs. The spoiler is the heaviest item as its sold metal, well probably a slight exaggeration but you get the idea. I won't go on too much about all of this as it seems well documented online already.

Specifically with my car I have problems with -

FM Radio
Glass hatch release
Reverse light - right
Number plate lights - both
Possibly also the rear demister too - not certain

So - long story short - you basically have to get to the individual wires around the hinge to look for broken wires. I did this on both sided but didn't find any. I ran out of time and it started getting dark so I called it a day. I knew I would need some time to cobble the boot back together enough to leave it outside in the rain which will obviously be coming soom enough. That basically meant refitting the spoiler only. I've not yet got up into the roof behind the rear speakers but I'll do that next.

I was beginning to give up hope but decided to just try the lights and see if anything had changed. At first there was nothing but then hope returned when I jiggled the right set of cables and my right side red light - not sure if that's a fog light - illuminated. Then when I closed the boot and hatch I found the glass hatch release is now working.

So with my new found enthusiasm I thought I'd buy some stuff. There are specific e61 tailgate wiring repair kits available. But I was surprised to find around 1000 different options ranging in price from 22 to 135 quid - they are different left and right so you need 2. In the end I got frustrated by too much choice and decided to buy Febi Bilstein and hopefully assuming the pics are accurate their better option which all the little wiring plugs for the diversity antenna already attached and in place. I bought both left and right as i may as well change everything. Some of the videos I saw were a bit fiddly. I don't like fiddly. I also paid a bit more to find a seller who claims I'll receive these before Christmas. Although that's probably a moot point if my MOT guy is shut. So progress has been made but not much.

[ATM]

I had to remove the bolts holding the glass hatch to the spring loaded hinge to get to the wiring channels. Both sides. There Is quite a lot of adjustment with these so I hope I can get the hatch back in an ok looking position when all is done.

I took the diversity antenna apart and found some corrosion inside it. Not decided yet what to do about that.



So I have cut away the rubber grommet here and cut the loom a few inches proud of the boot. I'll then crimp on the new section and push this inside the boot.



Speakers removed and loom pulled through on this side.



Both sides pulled through.



Not sure you can see just how much trim and crap there is attached to the bootlid. I'm not sure I'll be able to get all this back on as some of the clips disintegrated.



This is one of the repair kits. This is for driver side as you can see it has some plugs already attached for the diversity antenna.

[bobiwine]

Either my diversity antenna or boot wiring on right side is on the way out. Remote locking only opens if key is held pretty much next to the fin, new key fob battery hasn’t worked. Burying my head in the sand about it for now. Lights all working ok and looks like someone’s been into the wiring before on the right looking at the plastic grommets so I’m hoping it’s just the diversity antenna. Had left hinge side sorted couple years ago, demister wiring had snapped as well as washer hosepipe.

[ATM]

bobiwine said:

Either my diversity antenna or boot wiring on right side is on the way out. Remote locking only opens if key is held pretty much next to the fin, new key fob battery hasn’t worked. Burying my head in the sand about it for now. Lights all working ok and looks like someone’s been into the wiring before on the right looking at the plastic grommets so I’m hoping it’s just the diversity antenna. Had left hinge side sorted couple years ago, demister wiring had snapped as well as washer hosepipe.

If you could find someone willing to swap diversity antenna you could identify if that's the fault. There is a plug on the left side but I think that's just FM ariel.

I see a few on ebay for sale from Latvia and other places in Europe. I'd probably buy one from a dryer country if I was shopping for a replacement. Although any sensible seller should be willing to pop open and check for corrosion.

I'm contemplating sealing up the black box around mine much better - if it works properly when all reassembled - which is probably unlikely.

[bobiwine]

yeah was wary of second hand ones probably having same issue. Think at least £250 or more new from dealer

[couzens]

I'm about to attempt the boot rewiring too on my E61, I've had loss of radio reception and loss of subwoofer, unless the re screen demister was turned on, but now the radio reception is back as well as the sub and the demister now doesn't work!
But no problems with unlocking or rear lights.

I was stumped by the amount of options on Ebay also, finally managed to find a kit that included both sides for about £150.

I just hope it's correct!

[ATM]

So I'm still working through mine. Did about 4 hours today. Easily up to 8 or more so far.

Only got about 6 wires connected on lower left and all on upper left. I have 3 remaining on lower left and all 3 are white with brown stripe. So I'll be guessing what to do with them.

I started on the right side but ran out of day light. Upper first then I could be brave and see if central locking and maybe FM works. Again I have 3 on upper right which are the same - brown.

Buying wiring with some plugs already attached didn't really save me much time. But the black box which houses the diversity antenna is quite snug so adding some extra wiring crimps might have made the space too tight.

Once I have most connected up I can try and reconnect the battery and see what happens. Then maybe even try ignition and stuff.

Still have to feed wash wipe pipe back through too. Can't decide if I should tape wash wipe to wiring or leave it loose. Can't decide if loose gives stuff the ability to move around and if that's good or bad.

I'm starting to regret starting this now as it's gone on for far too long. Maybe I should have just bodged the dodgy wires rather than change everything. Oh well. The FM ariel was clearly snapped. It's a big thick stiff wire and doesn't seem to have any give so will obviously stress quicker than the others.

If it is all perfectly working I'll be happy. If its not I'll be double annoyed. And I know expecting perfection is always a bad idea. So I'm just working away now assuming it will be a rubbish outcome. Need some extra positivity.

I did dream about driving round the block. Obviously I would never do that as the car has no MOT. In my dream the car ran fine and didn't misfire once.

Also I noticed there is a mileage discrepancy on my MOTs. 123k on latest and 124k on last years.

Ok enough rambling from Me....

[ATM]

I did a bit of Google last night and it seems the question about the 3 wires with brown stripe has been covered already. Apparently they all connect back to the same place so hopefully I can mix them up and its fine.

Tiny bit of rain today but still got stuck into the wiring. Just having a lunch break.

I pulled off the spoiler which was just pushed home overnight. When I popped off the black cover for the diversity antenna there was quite a bit of water in the tray. So it definitely needs sealing better. I'm still trying to conjure up a good idea for how to seal it better. Maybe just a bit of decent gaffa tape all around it.

Not many more wires to crimp now then I can put a battery on and see what happens. Initially I think I'll do this without the diversity antenna as everything is still damp up there.

[pewe]

ATM said:

I did a bit of Google last night and it seems the question about the 3 wires with brown stripe has been covered already. Apparently they all connect back to the same place so hopefully I can mix them up and its fine.

Tiny bit of rain today but still got stuck into the wiring. Just having a lunch break.

I pulled off the spoiler which was just pushed home overnight. When I popped off the black cover for the diversity antenna there was quite a bit of water in the tray. So it definitely needs sealing better. I'm still trying to conjure up a good idea for how to seal it better. Maybe just a bit of decent gaffa tape all around it.

Not many more wires to crimp now then I can put a battery on and see what happens. Initially I think I'll do this without the diversity antenna as everything is still damp up there.

If I recall correctly I used some Electrical weatherproof sealing compound (Colchester Electrical Wholesale on fleabay) which cost around £5.
If you only need a small amount (can't tremember how much it took ) PM me and I'll drop some in the post.

[ATM]

So I got everything connected up and then did a full test. Everything worked except for Remote Central Locking. I even had lots of radio stations and they sounded crisp. I was so pleased I got a pic. The radio has not worked for 3 or 4 years.



But it was getting late and dark and I was only working with torches. I wanted to get the spoiler on to keep the rain out of the common antenna. But then maybe I got a bit heavy handed with the spoiler because it would not go back on. After many attempts I noticed some of my new wires had been damaged. I suspect they are for the FM Radio antenna. Checked the radio and now I only have 4 or 5 fuzzy stations. So I'm a bit annoyed.

The lights are all working now. So I think it will pass an MOT. I do still have a suspension arm bolt to tighten up which was the other failure.

[ATM]

My MOT guy is now shut until 8th January so I'm booked in for then.

[ATM]

3rd time lucky

Spoilier now on properly
Left all the boot lid trim pieces off for now
Everything tested and working including remote central locking - very pleased I got that working
No hang on - not tested wash wipe and demister
FM Radio is ok but not great - improves when I hold the cable - but I'm not bothered about FM

I had to leave a metal piece off which was used for cables management - pic - as it was fouling on spoiler and preventing it going on. So now it needs fiddling when i want to close the boot - the cables that is - perhaps I'll try some cable ties.

Right now I just want my MOT. Then she can be driven. Then we see if misfire persists.

In the meantime I've been looking at a X5 4.8is, FFRR 5.0 supercharged and also 535d touring for sale.

[helix402]

Good result. The metal piece is held together by small plastic push fit rivets. They tend to disintegrate on removal.

[ATM]

helix402 said:

Good result. The metal piece is held together by small plastic push fit rivets. They tend to disintegrate on removal.

I didn't remove the piece which pivots. So I didn't mess with the push fit rivets.

[ATM]

MOT test happening right now....